Latest Equinet Updates

This call invites applicants from east and southern African countries to participate and share experiences in a three day skills workshop of the EQUINET pra4equity learning network on an ‘Participatory action research in people centred health systems’ being held on 4-6 October in Cape Town South Africa, following the Global Symposium on Health Systems Research (30th Sept–3rd October). It includes at the same venue on the first day (4 October) the one day post GSHSR workshop on PAR hosted by EQUINET and ALAMES (for which there is a separate call open to all regions), and the following two days (5-6 October) the skills training for the east and southern African delegates, hosted by EQUINET.

This call is for applicants for grants for policy research into global health diplomacy, and particularly in relation to the manner in which African interests around equitable health systems are being advanced through health diplomacy. Applicants are invited to indicate their capacities and proposals for implementing the work in ONE of the three areas:
1. On the reflection of African interests and issues around equitable health systems in the stages of motivating, negotiating, implementing, monitoring and reporting of the WHO Code on international Recruitment of health personnel.
2. On collaborations on access to essential drugs through south- south relationships with China, Brazil and India, particularly in relation to medicines production, distribution and regulation across countries within the ESA region, the alignment with and outcomes for national health systems, regional and global health diplomacy processes and the lessons learned for health diplomacy.
3. On the involvement of African actors in global health governance, particularly in relation to the participation, issues raised, outcomes and thus influence of African state and non-state actors on the decision making processes in the WHO and Global Fund, particularly on universal access to prevention, treatment and care for HIV and AIDS, and the lessons for health diplomacy.
Visit the website for information on the work, the grant call and the necessary information to include in the applications.

This call invites applicants for the second round of student research grants.

The Regional Network for Equity in Health in Southern Africa (EQUINET) promotes policies for equity in health across a range of priority theme areas (See www.equinetafrica.org) EQUINET has over the years, organized its work in various theme areas, including: economic and trade policy and health; human rights, governance and participation, equity in health sector responses to HIV/AIDS, human resources for health; monitoring and surveillance and others. Within these areas of work EQUINET aims to identify, recruit and build capacity and analysis. EQUINET is now implementing a programme of student research support that provides small research grants for students at college or university in various programmes in east and southern Africa. The programme will support student research applicants who propose projects in areas of research relevant to EQUINETs priority areas of theme work, and who provide evidence of supervision from expertise in these areas.

This second round of the EQUINET student research grant programme (SRGP) is being implemented in November 2004. EQUINET will award a number of small grants to post graduate students and undergraduate students in East and Southern Africa for research proposals in the areas of
- Equity in Human Resources for Health
- Equity issues in food security and nutrition
- Equity in health sector responses to HIV/AIDS and treatment access
- Using health rights as a tool for equity in health
- Health equity in economic and trade policies
- Fair financing in health
- Governance and community participation in health
- Understanding and analyzing policy processes

The grants are for students to carry out supervised, small research projects in the course of their studies and are set at a maximum of $750. Applicants are requested to provide brief information in 2-3 pages on

- The name, institution, course and year of study of the student
- The name, department and institution and contact email/fax for the proposed supervisor for the study
- The theme area of the proposal
- The hypothesis, research question or research objective(s)
- The methods to be used, and indicators / (quantitative, qualitative information) to be collected and the intended analyses to be carried out
- The time frames and budget

The application should be supported by a letter of commitment from a supervisor who is a professional working in the relevant area of the study in an institution in east and southern Africa. Preference will be given to supervisors who have worked in EQUINET programmes and activities so this should be made note of in the letter. The grants will be open to all EQUINET members, undergraduate and postgraduate students, students from all disciplines. Applications should be submitted to admin@equinetafrica.org with STUDENT GRANTS in the subject line or by fax to 263-4-737220 by November 31 2004.

The selection of grants will be made on the basis of relevance of subject area and quality of proposal but with some attention to ensuring equity in the distribution of grants across countries in the region. Applications in French or Portuguese will be considered.

EQUINET web based resources, newsletter and expertise in the theme areas will be available to the students. The reports of the research projects will be made available on the EQUINET website. Publication from the research is encouraged, with acknowledgement of the support from EQUINET. EQUINET will also have the right to use the research in its theme work and will encourage the students participation in future EQUINET activities and information exchange.

Focal points for queries on this programme are Dr R Loewenson and G Musuka at the EQUINET Secretariat (TARSC) and Dr A Muula at the Malawi College of Medicine/ Malawi Health Equity Network. Please send queries through admin@equinetafrica.org)

EQUINET is commissioning and calling for applicants to prepare, through desk review of existing data and literature on the east and southern African region, a situation report on gender related dimensions of equity in health, and the policy measures and options for addressing gender inequalities. Specifically the report will provide evidence, data and analysis on priority dimensions of gender equity in health in east and southern Africa within the context of the overall framework of progress markers for equity in health defined by EQUINET. The gender equity analysis will be expected to broadly provide
1. Evidence on and an analysis of trends over the past decade (2001-2011) (drawing on available secondary data) in terms of gender-related inequalities in health (including in access to social determinants of health and health systems) in East and southern Africa, and identify gaps in addressing these inequalities.
2. An overview of key priorities, policy options and specific measures for improving gender equity in health, drawing on evidence from policy analysis and evaluation, analysis of trends related to gender inequalities and case studies
3. A discussion of the implications of (1) and (2) above for the organisation and financing of health systems and the allocation of resources to and within health systems.
Applications should be emailed by 5:00pm June 30 2011 to admin@equinetafrica.org with GENDER EQUITY in the subject line and must include information as in the longer version on the website.