The author argues that the stalemate that emerged following the contest between Jean Ping of Gabon and Nkosasana Dlamini-Zuma for the position of African Union Commission Chairperson in Addis Ababa had repercussions for South Africa's foreign policy in Africa, paralysed the institution and divuded it at a time of need. He argued that South Africa should rather have sought consensus among African leaders than choosing a public and political way of challenge, which he observes created camps along lines of language and politics. Naidoo warned that South Africa’s desire to be the dominant economic force on the continent should not raise barriers to effective African unity and urged African leaders to resolve the stalemate before the next AU head of state conference in July 2012.
Governance and participation in health
International capital mobility has long been associated with financial and banking crises. The Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) contain multi‐lateral rules to govern global capital flows. For some countries, especially those in the developing world, the IMF Articles of Agreement remain the core framework under which they have autonomy to regulate cross‐border capital flows. For others, these rules have been partly superseded by more recent trade and other economic integration agreements. Thus what used to be a regime of ‘cooperative decentralisation’ has become a patchwork of overlapping and inconsistent governance structures that pose significant challenges to nations attempting to regulate global capital flows for stability and growth, according to the author of this paper. He traces the history of governing global capital flows and presents a framework for understanding three distinct eras in the modern governance of global capital. The framework emphasises how power, interests, ideas, and institutions interact to shape each era in different combinations to yield different outcomes.
A petition backed by over 50 non-governmental organisations and charging Uganda's government with failing to prevent the deaths of two expectant mothers, Sylvia Nalubowa and Jennifer Anguko, was thrown out by the constitutional court on 5 June, but the petition's supporters plan to appeal. The Constitutional Court argued that upholding the petition, which urges the government to boost health services, would have forced judges to wade into a political issue that was outside their jurisdiction, saying that it was the work of the parliament to review the efficiency of the health sector. However, the petitioners said the court relied on outdated international law in making its decision and overlooked its constitutional obligation to protect Uganda's mothers. In throwing out the case, the justices suggested the petitioners seek an order from the High Court compelling a public officer, such as a government health worker, to carry out his or her duties, or to request compensation for individual deaths from the government.
Two lawsuits have been filed against the Ugandan government for alleged negligence in the handling of nodding disease. The disease has killed at least 200 children since 2009 and currently affects 3,500 others, according to the Ministry of Health. A local charity, Health Watch Uganda, has filed one lawsuit, and two members of parliament have filed a separate case. Health Watch Uganda has accused the government of violating the rights of affected children by not providing them with adequate health care. In February, the government rolled out a plan to fight the disease, opening three specialised clinics and training 99 health workers, but critics say it is overdue and inadequate. The Health Ministry says lack of funding has made it difficult to implement the plan. The government has vowed to fight the lawsuits, arguing that it has been conducting research into the disease in cooperation with the World Health Organisation.
A group of leading international humanitarian, development, social justice, environmental, and workers' organisations have warned that June 2012’s UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) looks set to add almost nothing to global efforts to deliver sustainable development. The warning from Development Alternatives, Greenpeace, the Forum of Brazilian NGOs and Social Movements for Environment and Development (FBOMS), International Trades Union Confederation (ITUC), Oxfam, and Vitae Civilis comes at the end of two weeks of negotiations between governments on the conference outcomes, with less than 50 days before the summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 20 - 22 June. The group warns that the current negotiating text does not adequately capture human rights and principles of equity, precaution, and 'polluter pays', despite the urgency provided by the current financial crises, growing inequalities, broken food As a benchmark against which to assess the outcome of Rio+20, the organisations have set out a 10-point agenda that includes global goals for sustainable development, designed to eradicate poverty, reduce inequality and realise justice and human rights, while respecting the finite limits of Earth's natural resources.
This research explored communities’ views on the elements of public health services that they find particularly problematic. It aimed to quantify the priority placed on each of these aspects of public service delivery that requires attention. Communities view the routine availability of effective medicines as the greatest priority for improved public sector health services; the least important priority is treatment by doctors. Routine availability of medicines is ten times more important than treatment by doctors. A thorough examination and clear explanation of a patient’s diagnosis and treatment by health professionals are also highly valued community priorities. Communities tolerate poor quality public sector service characteristics such as long waiting times, poor staff attitudes and the lack of direct access to doctors if they receive the medicine they need and a thorough examination and if a clear explanation of their diagnosis and treatment is provided.
The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between health systems outcomes and equity, and governance as a part of a process to extend the range of indicators used to assess health systems performance. Using cross sectional data from 46 countries in the African region of the World Health Organisation, an ecological analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between governance and health systems performance. Governance was found to be strongly associated with under-five mortality rate (U5MR) and moderately associated with the U5MR quintile ratio. After controlling for possible confounding by healthcare, finance, education, and water and sanitation, governance remained significantly associated with U5MR. Governance was not, however, significantly associated with equity in U5MR outcomes. This study suggests that the quality of governance may be an important structural determinant of health systems performance, and could be an indicator to be monitored. The association suggests there might be a causal relationship. However, the cross-sectional design, the level of missing data, and the small sample size, forces tentative conclusions. Further research will be needed to assess the causal relationship, and its generalisability beyond U5MR as a health outcome measure, as well as the geographical generalisability of the results.
The NCD Alliance is calling for a global coordinating platform for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), housed within a United Nations agency, driven by Member State champions, with an independent Board and Secretariat, to be a catalyst for coordinated action on NCDs. The Alliance argues that key gaps in the current global and national response to NCDs are a result of a lack of multisectoral action, a problem which could be addressed by the proposed platform. In this paper, the Alliance lays out various partnership options for a global coordinating platform (GCP) on NCDs: simple affiliations, lead partners, secretariats and joint ventures. The Alliance recommends a secretariat structure, similar to platforms like the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and the Global Health Workforce Alliance. It argues that an effective GCP on NCDs should be based on a set of best practice principles in order to effectively catalyse action on NCDs and coordinate the multisectoral response needed to reduce preventable NCD deaths by 25% by 2025.
A conference on Migration and Social Policy: Comparing European and African Regional Integration Policies and Practices was held on 19-20 April 2012 in Pretoria, South Africa. It brought together participants from the South African government, UN organisations, national research centres and NGOs to underscore the potentials to develop more effective regional social policy, improve policies for social protection and meet the social protection needs of cross-border migrants. Three main themes emerged. First, lessons can be drawn from cross-regional research experiences, in particular new directions of regionalism and its implications for migration and socioeconomic and political rights. Second, stakeholders should consider going beyond "migration management", toward more coherent governance systems that advance the social dimensions of migration. This approach could lead to more positive development outcomes of migratory processes. Third, looking at regional integration through the lens of the free movement concept was considered a useful approach to map out the advantages of advancing free movement in a regional context, for example with regard to already existing institutions and common regulations. Other issues raised during the conference included challenges presented by informal labour markets, irregular migration and insufficient formal social protection mechanisms; the lack of political will to promote free movement; and the need to construct a regional identity, in particular among civil society.
The single most important message of this paper is that development outcomes in poor countries depend fundamentally on the political incentives facing political elites and leaders. Political will has usually been treated as an inexplicable ‘black box’. The authors seek in this paper open up the black box, to say some definite things about the specific contexts in which political ambitions are shaped and policy choices are made in different parts of the world and at different stages of countries’ development processes. They argue that economic growth without economic transformation is limited. The authors raise the case that democracy depends on the formation of social classes, including productive capitalists, and organised professional groups and wage-earning workers. This only happens as a result of economic diversification and the accumulation of technological capacities. If the formal sector cannot generate adequate incomes and taxes for state revenues, the ruling elites draw resources to meet the demands of crucial coalition groups from various kinds of off-budget transfers and informal sharing of rents. The paper explores country contexts in Africa where there is evidence of diversity in the relationship between ruling elites and state bureaucracies, to better understand the reasons for this diversity and its implications for development aid.