Like many other developing countries with forbidding landscapes and isolated communities, radio is to be the most effective way of communication in Nepal, where the majority of population lives in villages and the half of it cannot read and write. This manual draws from both the grassroots experience of community media and from international broadcast practices. It considers the issues that are the real basis for the success of community media: public accountability, community representation, locally relevant programming, diverse funding and acknowledgement of staff, including volunteers. It covers in details many key success factors, such as participation and ownership, content, management, volunteerism and networking. It can be applied across a wide range of contexts, from policy issues to the assessment of a local station.
Governance and participation in health
This paper focuses on three crucial issues when analysing human rights and health: the importance of social class in community participation, the pivotal role of power and empowerment, and the role of the state, which refers to the concepts of claim holders and duty bearers included in a rights-based approach to health. The concept of ‘health through people's empowerment’ is proposed to identify and describe the core aspects of participation and empowerment from a human rights perspective and to put forward common strategies. If marginalised groups and classes organise, they can influence power relations and pressure the state into action. Such popular pressure through organised communities and people's organizations can play an essential role in ensuring adequate government policies to address health inequities and in asserting the right to health.
The twenty African countries included in the Afrobarometer include many of the most politically liberal countries on the continent, including seven countries ranked by Freedom House in 2008 as ‘free’. However, when one assesses the quality of these regimes based on popular attitudes and perceptions, one does not find any consolidated democracies among them (although Botswana comes close). In fact, some are consolidating as autocracies, but most countries are best understood as unconsolidated, hybrid regimes. They exhibit some key elements of democracy, such as regular elections and protection of core individual freedoms. But either the popular demand for democracy, or the perceived supply of democracy, or, in most cases, both, fall short of the standards of full democracy. But the trajectories of individual countries are extremely diverse, with some exhibiting sharp declines away from democratic consolidation, while others are steadily advancing.
Zambian civil society fears the imminent introduction of legislation designed to regulate non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that may compromise their independence and even result in a clampdown on their operations. The new 2009 NGO Bill calls for ‘the registration and co-ordination of NGOs, to regulate the work, and the area of work, of NGOs operating in Zambia.’ If the bill becomes law, a 16-member board will be established by the community development minister to ‘receive, discuss and approve the code of conduct [of NGOs], and ... provide policy guidelines to NGOs for harmonising their activities to the national development plan of Zambia.’ NGOs will be compelled to re-register every five years and submit annual information on their activities, funders, accounts and the personal wealth of their officials – failure to comply could result in the suspension or cancellation of registration. However, civil society leaders and human rights activists fear the proposed new law could be used by government to silence critics and erode civil society.
This guide examines the basic issues that a country or organisation should consider when developing and producing a governance assessment. It is by no means the ‘last word’, but should serve as a starting point and outline for those interested in conducting a country-led governance assessment. The paper explains the trade-offs of various approaches and methodologies in terms of quality and costs. At the same time, it provides some basic background on the technical aspects of conducting a governance assessment. The guide attempts to answer the rather complex question: how can country-led governance assessments be carried out with broad stakeholder participation at a reasonable cost, and at the same time produce meaningful results that can be used by civil society and governments alike?
The AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA), a Namibia-based partnership of health and human rights groups from the Southern African region, today launched a YouTube video clip entitled ‘Lords of the Bling’, linked to a public petition that presents a ‘moral challenge’ to African leaders regarding their commitments to funding health. The clip highlights the cost of lavish expenditure and corruption among various African leaders and calculates how many people could, for equivalent sums of money, have received life-saving treatment for HIV and TB, which jointly claim almost two million African lives every year. The video clip and petition are intended to serve as an awareness-raising campaign and a platform for solidarity on holding African governments accountable for their commitments to health. ARASA is seeking sign-ons from organisations and individuals, which will be presented to leaders on International Human Rights Day in December 2009. ARASA intends to mobilise civil society around this critical issue and claim the right to health.
This 2009 edition of the Commonwealth Local Government Handbook is a complete reference book to local government in the Commonwealth. Updated and revised, it details the systems of local government in the 53 countries of the Commonwealth, looking at how local government is structured, how elections take place, what services local government is responsible for, how local government is financed and what reforms are envisaged. The profiles are in a format that allows easy country-to-country comparison. The 2009 Handbook includes a preface by CLGF Secretary-General Carl Wright, a foreword by CLGF Chairperson Basil Morrison, and an introduction by Hubert Ingraham, Prime Minister of the Bahamas.
In 2007 a group of HIV-positive people in Machaze founded Tchitenderano (‘accord’ in the Ndau language) to campaign against stigma and discrimination in their district, where HIV prevalence is 16.7%, slightly higher than the national average of 16%. So far the group has helped more than 3,000 people. Tchitenderano has 25 activists who hold lectures at various public institutions to educate people about HIV and other sexual and reproductive health issues. They also visit health facilities to encourage patients to adhere to their antiretroviral (ARV) treatment, and provide home-based care. Samuel Doris Campira, president of the organisation, said they were slowly helping to free Machaze district of discrimination and stigma. ‘There were people who would spit at us when they walked by where we were meeting, but today there are families with HIV-positive individuals at home who seek us out to become better informed,’ he said. ‘The stigma is still very strong, despite the legislation and the campaigns,’ he noted, but with time, information and patience, he believed communities would eventually change their attitudes.
Effective management of public health emergencies demands open and transparent public communication. The rationale for transparency has public health, strategic and ethical dimensions. Despite this, government authorities often fail to demonstrate transparency. A key step in bridging the gap between the rhetoric and reality is to define and codify transparency to put in place practical mechanisms to encourage open public health communication for emergencies. The authors demonstrate this approach using the example of the development and implementation process of a public health emergency information policy.
At their meeting in Sirte, Libya, held from 1–3 July, nearly half of the 53 African Union (AU) heads of state and government reached consensus to establish the African Union Authority to replace the African Union Commission. Libyan Leader Mouamar Kadhafi, supported by Senegal’s President Abdoulaye Wade, argued to speed up continental integration but others, notably Nigeria and Tanzania, argued against it. Commenting on the consensus reached, Jean-Marie Ehouzou, the Benin Foreign Minister noted, ‘African leaders are in agreement with ceding a little of their sovereignty to the AU Authority’. To enter into force, the AU Authority must be approved by the Parliaments of all AU countries. African leaders also discussed the integration of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) into the organs of the AU and adopted a resolution ending cooperation with the International Criminal Court in the Hague. They also decided to reinforce agriculture and food security and to enlarge the powers of the AU Commission into foreign, trade and defence areas.