Equinet Africa

EQUINET, the Regional Network on Equity in Health in East and Southern Africa, is a network of professionals, civil society members, policy makers, state officials and others within the region who have come together as an equity catalyst, to promote and realise shared values of equity and social justice in health.

EQUINET gathers people to overcome isolation, give voice and promote networking using bottom-up approaches built on shared values. We have come together in a spirit of self determination and collective self reliance working through existing government, civil society, research and other mechanisms and institutions in East and Southern Africa.

EQUINET is building a forum for dialogue, learning, sharing of information and experience and critical analysis. We do this to build knowledge and perspectives, shape effective strategies, strengthen our voice nationally, regionally and globally and to buiild strategic alliances to influence policy, politics and practice towards health equity and social justice.

EQUINET's work covers a wide range of areas identified as priorities for health equity, within the political economy of health, health services and inputs to health, covered in the theme areas shown on this site. EQUINET is governed by a steering committee with representatives from institutions in the region, has leads co-ordinating major areas of work and a secretariat at the Training and Research Support Centre Zimbabwe.

In 2022 our EQUINET Conference and various steering committee meetings have identified key areas of work on health equity within our three strategic areas - Reclaiming the resources; Reclaiming the state; Reclaiming collective agency and solidarity. We are building on past work and alliances, renewing network leadership and developing a programe of research, work, dialogue, and engagement to put the resolutions of our Conference into action. To give time for this we will not have the quarterly newsletter in March 1 2023. Watch out for our next newsletter on June 1 2023- it will be a bumper issue!

Meetings

EQUINET REGIONAL MEETING MARCH 2023 - Expanding promising practice on urban health and wellbeing

EQUINET is hosting a regional meeting in Nairobi Kenya on March 15 and 16 on Expanding promising practice for sustained urban and periurban wellbeing in east and southern Africa. The meeting is gathering people from different sectors, local authorities, civil society and technical organisations working in various areas of urban health, as well as organisations working on climate justice, and on extractives as sites of peri-urban growth, to share and review evidence on practice features that could be scaled up across countries. The meeting will explore the implications for engaging on commercial practices and responses to climate change. The meeting will involve parallel sessions to build photojournalism skills to strengthen communication of promising practice. Read more on EQUINET work on urban health this site.

EQUINET CONFERENCE 2022 - Watch key sessions and read the resolutions

In 2022 EQUINET hosted a regional conference under the overall theme "Catalysing change for health and social justice' . The conference was online, in three separate thematic days (already held) and a fourth half day held on 17 November on the future networking and organisation on health equity. It was an exciting four days, with alot of evidence, ideas, experience from and exchanges within the region. Please select EQUINET CONFERENCE on the side tabs and visit the conference pages for more information, for the programmes, video recordings and the resolutions adopted at the conference

Grants

Read the report on health-related food standards in east and southern Africa

An open grant call was used by EQUINET, in association with ECSA HC and MoHCC Zimbabwe to commission a desk review of the laws governing food standards in east and southern Africa. The report, produced by William Kasapila, Malawi is now available on the EQUINET website. The report recommends with draft clauses areas for updating and improving legal standards in the region.

Watch this space for EQUINET grant calls in 2023

Working with partners in the region EQUINET will be making a number of open grant calls on key areas of work identified as priorities for our work in 2023-2025. Watch this space for further information.

Latest Equinet Publications

Steering Committee briefing: Will a new leadership unleash new potentials for health?, August 2002

Loewenson, R; TARSC (2002 August)

Themes:

Equity in health, Governance and participation in health

Country

Southern Africa Regional

URL: SECBRIEFequity082002.pdf

Steering Committee briefing: Global Forum 6 conference, 12-15 November 2002, Arusha, Tanzania

Loewenson, R; Ngulube, TJ; CHESSORE; TARSC (2002 December)

Themes:

Equity in health

Country

Zimbabwe

URL: SECBRIEFequity122002.pdf

Steering Committee briefing: Briefing on EQUINET workshop on resource allocation and deprivation issues, June 2002

McIntyre, D; Health Economics Unit, University of Cape Town (2002 June)

Themes:

Resource allocation and health financing

Country

Southern Africa Regional

URL: SECBRIEFfin062002.pdf

Steering Committee briefing: Can we better support parliaments to turn protocols into practice for equity in health in southern Africa?, September 2004

Loewenson, R; TARSC (2004 September)

Themes:

Governance and participation in health

Country

Southern Africa Regional

URL: SECBRIEFgov092004.pdf

Steering Committee briefing: Investing in our health workers: approaches to the scarcity and loss of health personnel in southern Africa, November 2004

Ntuli, A; Health Systems Trust (2004 November)

Themes:

Human resources for health

Country

Southern Africa Regional

URL: SECBRIEFhres112004.pdf

Steering Committee briefing: Policy analysis work currently underway in EQUINET, April 2003

Gilson, L; Centre for Health Policy, University of Witwatersrand (2003 April)

Themes:

Values, policies and rights, Monitoring equity and research to policy

Country