The first edition of Global Health Watch (GHW) was launched last year, and the Global Health Watch 2007/8 will be published late in 2007 or early 2008. The full edition of GHW and a shorter advocacy document Global Health Action can be downloaded from the GHW website. People's Health Movement (PHM) would like to ensure that indigenous health issues are highlighted in relation to all the areas that will be covered in the second edition of Global Health Watch, and request your assistance and input in this regard. They would like to provide chapter co-ordinating authors with information on indigenous health issues that can be integrated within the various chapters.
Equity in Health
The Global Health Watch and Indigenous Health 2007
People's Health Movement
The spirit of those early hours: From Mathare to the world
Ong'injo JA: World Social Forum 2007
The author describes a personal experience in the days of preparation for the World Social Forum 2007. After spending a few days in the company of young people like me from Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe and many other African Countries, I discovered that same early spirit of my community. To me the WSF is beginning to be and will be a deeply emotional experience. It’s emotional because we have been working very hard to make this day happen.
Tutu warns ahead of World Social Forum, war on terror cannot ignore poverty
Nzwili F: Ecumenical News International, 19 January 2007
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Desmond Tutu, the former Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, has warned it is not possible to win the war on terror as long as conditions that drive people to desperation continue to persist. "There is no way anybody is going to win the war on terror as long as there are conditions in so many parts of the world that drive people to acts of desperation because of poverty, disease and ignorance," said Tutu. Some people attending the forum in the past have questioned whether it has made a difference, but church leaders say it has brought the concerns of poor communities onto the global agenda.
World Social Forum: just another NGO fair?
Manji F: Pambazuka News 288, 26 January 2007
The World Social Forum, which took place in Nairobi, Kenya for the first time in Africa, was supposed to be a forum for the voices of the grassroots. But Firoze Manji writes that, despite the diversity of voices at the event, not everyone was equally represented.
World Social Forum: Small ways to solve big problems
Mulama J: OneWorldSouth, 22 January 2007
According to global anti-debt organisations, African countries spend about 15 billion dollars per year repaying debts, in a continent where more than half of the population lives on less than a dollar a day. The continent also has been dogged with the highest rates of HIV/AIDS and illiteracy. Analysts argue that this situation could be reversed if governments spent more money on health care, education and other public service sectors, rather than on debt repayment. The issue of HIV/AIDS dominated the addresses at Uhuru Park, as speakers reiterated that it remained the greatest challenge African countries, and offered suggestions for countering the challenge.
Heads, tails or equality? Men, women and reproductive health in Zambia
Centre for African Family Studies
This report is on male participation in sexual and reproductive health (SRH) examined within a wider context of gender relations and the family. It is the result of two collaborative surveys, one quantitative and one qualitative, which were conducted in rural and urban areas of the Copperbelt Province in Zambia. During the quantitative survey data was collected from men and their partners. The qualitative survey collected data through focus group discussions, in-depth interviews and two small community workshops.
The State of the World’s Children 2007
UNICEF, December 2006
This report examines the discrimination and disempowerment women face throughout their lives – and outlines what must be done to eliminate gender discrimination and empower women and girls. It looks at the status of women today, discusses how gender equality will move all the Millennium Development Goals forward, and shows how investment in women’s rights will ultimately produce a double dividend: advancing the rights of both women and children.
The World Distribution of Household Wealth
World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University (UNU-WIDER)
A new study on The World Distribution of Household Wealth by the World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University (UNU-WIDER) launched on Tuesday 5 December 2006. The most comprehensive study of personal wealth ever undertaken also reports that the richest 1% of adults alone owned 40% of global assets in the year 2000, and that the richest 10% of adults accounted for 85% of the world total. In contrast, the bottom half of the world adult population owned barely 1% of global wealth.
Women facing mental-health problems in Darfur
The Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), 15 December 2006
A significant number of displaced women in South Darfur, western Sudan, suffer from depression and experience suicidal thoughts because of largely unaddressed mental-health problems, according to a study by the International Medical Corps (IMC).
21st Plenary Assembly of SADC Parliamentary Forum held at Mogale City, South Africa
Southern African Development Community (SADC) Parliamentary Forum, 10-16th November 2006
The 21st Plenary Assembly of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Parliamentary Forum was held at Misty Hills Country Hotel, Mogale City, South Africa under the theme: Enhancing the Role of Parliaments in Governance and Development at Regional Level: Trade and Development Issues Relating to the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP)/European Union (EU) Negotiations. This document highlights the key points raised at the assembly.