The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York is implementing an African Academic Diaspora Support to African Universities Program. In the early part of 2019, Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa intends to recruit 50 doctoral students in the social science and humanities from accredited public universities in Africa and place them under the College to benefit from the mentorship program. As part of this initiative, CODESRIA intends to recruit 15 senior academics from the Diaspora to complement existing academics who are already serving in the College of Mentors. Selected mentors and mentees will be brought together at a ‘College of mentors’ summer institute scheduled to take place in August 2019. The institute will provide the opportunity for mentors and mentees to get to interact directly learn more about each other’s research interests and get to establish supervisory unions on the basis of shared interests. The call specifically targets senior African Diaspora in the social sciences, humanities and higher education studies based at universities in North America, Europe or Asia. African academics based at universities or other higher education and research institutions in Africa but outside of their own countries may also apply. Mentors will be compensated with a modest honorarium after a midterm review of the project. African academics in the Diaspora wishing to be considered should send detailed current CV’s and a brief note expressing interest to serve in the College.
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The special issue will examine emerging new forms of public health activism, and associated novel sources of collective agency, that are evolving in the fight for health-enabling conditions. Attention to structural forms of power, and the strengths and weaknesses of individual agency have long been cornerstones of critical public health, rooted in a long-established structure-agency binary. The editors seek to disrupt this binary by calling for papers that draw attention to alternative, distributed, networked, disruptive, bottom-up sources of agency that characterise emerging new forms of activism. New and resurgent social movements include attention to issues of anti-austerity, disability rights, new feminisms, defence of public services, housing justice, urban regeneration, anti-racism and advocacy targeting commercial determinants of health. Alternative forms of health-enhancing agency and efforts to connect grassroots collective agency to traditional axes of power are emerging. Papers on any of these, or other, locations of collective agency with potential for innovative public health activism would all be suited to the special issue. The editors invite papers from the full range of public health disciplines, exploring the possibilities of public health activism in contemporary conditions, especially papers with strong empirical bases in studies of recent/contemporary activism. Creative responses to crisis are most often generated in practice rather than theory, and papers rooted in activist and collaborative praxis are particularly welcome.
IFRA-Nairobi invites applications for fieldwork grants from Masters and PhD students who conduct research in social sciences and humanities in the East African region (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, and Eastern Congo). IFRA will prioritize support to the following research themes: workers, labour, and employment; decolonizing knowledge and practices in the social sciences; and gender & LGBT in words and in practice. These research areas target studies on workers in industries, in factories and on plantations in East Africa, focusing on working conditions, workers relations (considering gendered issues), workers/employers relations, organized protest or consent, the growth of a working class culture, entertainment and reading practices, political consciousness, etc. Both case-study approaches and comparative approaches are welcome. Read more at the website.
Applications are invited for an International Fellowship for early to mid-career urban scholars from the Global South, on any theme pertinent to a better understanding of urban realities in the Global South. The Fellowship covers the costs of a sabbatical period at a university of the candidate’s choice in the Global North or South for the purpose of writing up the candidate’s existing research findings in the form of publishable articles or a book under the guidance of a chosen mentor in their field of study. Funding is available for a period ranging between 3-9 months. Applicants must be early to mid-career urban scholars with a PhD obtained within the preceding 10 years who currently work in a university or other research institution within the Global South. Candidates must also be nationals of a country in the Global South, defined here as countries on the OECD’s current ODA recipient list (2018-2020). Preference may be given to candidates from least or low-income countries but middle-income countries on the list are not excluded if the need for support is justified. The candidate must make suitable arrangements to be mentored by a suitably experienced senior urban scholar at the candidate’s chosen research institution.
The Africa Health Agenda International Conference 2019 (Africa Health 2019) in Kigali, Rwanda is geared to be one of the largest health convenings in Africa, with over 1,500 participants expected. Africa Health 2019 will serve as a platform to foster new ideas and home-grown solutions to the continent’s most pressing health challenges, with a focus on achieving universal health coverage (UHC) in Africa by 2030. The conference will be a key opportunity to map a pathway from commitment to action on UHC and to build momentum among diverse stakeholders, including policymakers, civil society, technical experts, innovators, the private sector, thought leaders, scientists and youth leaders.
The African Health Economics and Policy Association (AfHEA) is hosting the fifth Scientific Conference in Accra, Ghana from 11 to 14 March, 2019. The broad theme of the conference is: Securing PHC for all: the foundation for making progress on UHC in Africa. This broad theme acknowledges the important role of PHC in the achievement of UHC. Strengthening PHC improves equity, accessibility and quality of care. Similarly, UHC ensures access to needed good quality health services irrespective of ability to pay. The two are therefore closely related. PHC is the main gateway to healthcare for the majority of the population, especially for those living in rural and underserved communities. A well-functioning PHC system will be able to respond to the health care needs of most of the population, including preventive, promotive and non-specialist clinical care, at a much lower cost than if similar services were provided at higher levels of the health care system. The conference will explore how securing PHC for all is a more cost-effective way to move towards the UHC agenda of any country, particularly for low income and lower middle income countries (LICs/LMICs) where the resource constraints are more severe.
UNRISD invites expressions of interest from researchers to prepare papers that will feed into the development of a research proposal for a project on the relationship between universities and social inequalities in low- and middle-income countries. With the persistent and rising inequalities of present day encompassing not only income and wealth but also inequalities across race, gender, ethnicity and geographic region, it is critical to reinvent, reimagine and strengthen a wide range of policies and institutions that can play a role in overcoming inequalities. This call and the subsequent research project to be developed focuses on universities as one such institution. The project proposal will focus on the role of universities in reinforcing or lessening social inequalities in low- and middle-income countries. It will explore the following questions: What potential does higher education have today to increase social mobility, reduce inequality and contribute to the advancement of society through the production of knowledge and skills? Are institutions of higher education contributing to inequality rather than equality, and if so, through what specific actions and mechanisms? How can the transformative potential of such institutions be fully harnessed for overcoming inequality?
This conference aims to provide delegates with an opportunity to present and learn about new evidence-based knowledge concerning health systems/services/practice to enable public health nursing to contribute to the achievement of the targets of Goal 3 of the UN Sustainable Goals. Because of their global significance and relevance to Public Health Nursing, it was agreed to explore the contribution of public health nursing to achieving Goal 3 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ‘good health and well being’ as a working title for the conference. The sub themes will focus on the role of public health nursing in achieving the targets of Goal 3 at every aspect and every population group including the elderly, maternal and child groups, people with disabilities, health care systems and safe environments. The focus is on; HIV/AIDS testing, disclosure, access and adherence to care; adolescent reproductive health; public health leadership and governance; health systems integration; rural, county and national levels; infectious disease management; community health strategy; public health workforce, labour relations and mental health.
The O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University Law Center (Washington, DC) has launched a guide to Health Equity Programs of Action. The Institute offers a systematic, systemic, and inclusive approach to reduce unjust health gaps between populations. It aims to empower the people who experience these inequities and help to establish a sustained national focus on health equity. This implementation framework is based on seven principles: Empowering participation and inclusive leadership; maximizing health equity;
health systems and beyond: social determinants of health; every population counts; actions, targets and timelines; comprehensive accountability; and sustained high-level political commitment. The O'Neill Institute is interested to discuss collaborations and opportunities for taking this approach forward.
Organized by the Africa Centres for Diseases Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and Virology Education, ICREID is a global platform that will bring together experts from around the world involved in emerging diseases in an interactive conference setting. Being the first to be held on the continent, the organisers invite healthcare professionals, researchers, public health experts and policy makers involved in treatment, research, discovery and development of drugs and vaccines in the field of re-emerging infectious diseases. Presentations include reflections on 100 years of Pandemic Flu and other Emerging Infections and analyses of the World Bank and Pandemic Preparedness. There are also talks on lassa fever, cholera and Rift Valley fever, on health economics in outbreak management and on the standardisation of research ethics during public health emergencies in Africa.