The Global Symposium is an annual event that has developed a worldwide movement through a global partnership with civil society and educational organizations to establish sustainable development, world unity and world peace. This is an opportunity for many to meet some amazing people, aside from being able to directly help address major issues confronting the world today. The purpose of this international gathering is to strengthen cooperation among the civil society to unite their efforts in world interest and to act and achieve our common goals by laying a strong foundation of a nuclear-free, democratic, sustainable, just and peaceful world order and creating a widespread awareness about issues like scarcity of safe drinking water and more equitable distribution of resources. Register now. There is no registration or participation fee. All delegates from abroad will be provided with complimentary boarding and lodging (accommodation and meals) facilities.
Jobs and Announcements
On 13 August 2009 the Rural Health Advocacy Project was launched at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, coinciding with the launch of the Wits Centre for Rural Health. A renewed focus on access to health care in rural areas is vital in a context of worsening key health indicators in South Africa, a 34% national vacancy rate for doctors and inequitable access to quality health care. The Advocacy Project aims to tackle these inequities by achieving measurable improvements in rural health services through: contributing towards policy development including human resources policies for rural health at provincial, national and international levels; advocating for improvements in rural health care in cooperation with rural communities and stakeholders such as government, academic institutions and the private sector; and highlighting challenges and achievements in rural health care.
The Second Access to Healthcare in Africa Conference will concentrate on challenges to quality, product availability, access and management in effective health care, with a focus on HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Participants will be able to share their experiences in health care management with their peers while tapping into the knowledge and insight of experts in this field. Topics include the current global recession, donor’s responses and the challenge to make choices regarding accessibility, quality control, efficiency efficacy and health economics around health intervention programmes. These issues are not addressed properly at the global conferences but they are the difference between success and failure of the intervention at ground level. The Conference aims to put those topics on the table for discussion. Key international speakers will introduce each theme, followed by a high-level interactive panel and participant discussion.
It's time to register for the 16th Canadian Conference on International Health (CCIH). This year's conference is being held on October 25–28, 2009 in Ottawa, Canada. The Conference convenes more than 500 participants from 44 countries. It also creates a unique networking forum for practitioners, researchers, educators, policy makers and community advocates working at the intersection of health and development within and outside Canada, to share knowledge, experience and promote innovation and collaborative action. It provides a peer review process for individuals and organisations involved in health development, building knowledge and strengthening programmes in international health. The themes of the Conference are: Pathways to Global Health Competence; An Ethical View of Health Equity: Trends and Challenges; Global Health Diplomacy: A Tool for Global Health and Justice; and Thinking Globally/Acting Locally: The Reality and Challenges for the Future.
The Division of Dramatic Art, in collaboration with Drama for Life, Wits School of the Arts, is organising the 2009 Africa Research Conference in Applied Drama and Theatre. This year's conference will aim to facilitate dialogue across disciplines concerning the role of drama and theatre in HIV/AIDS education, prevention and rehabilitation, with the theme, ‘Interrogating drama and theatre research and aesthetics within an interdisciplinary context of HIV/AIDS’. The conference seeks to offer an opportunity for in-depth research, innovative practice and network building for academics and practitioners working within applied drama and theatre, and associated fields of study. The conference conversation will centre on research paradigms, the aesthetics of the art form, and interfacing with other disciplines. The main topics are: interrogating research as practice and practice as research in applied drama and theatre in the context of HIV/AIDS, the aesthetics of drama and theatre within the context of interdisciplinary demands, and applied drama and theatre as an interdisciplinary field.
The World Health Organization is inviting authors to submit articles as a contribution to a special theme issue that will explore the challenges of health worker retention in remote and rural areas. Much is known already about the factors that influence health workers’ choices of location and their decisions to go to, stay in or leave these areas. However, there is very little evidence on specific operational solutions and recommendations that countries can adapt to their specific context in responding to this challenge; in particular evidence is lacking on the design, implementation and evaluation of these strategies. Papers should aim at filling the gaps in the current knowledge on costs of implementing rural retention strategies and incentive schemes, and the extent to which context influences the design, implementation and the impact of various strategies. Innovative methodological papers that examine the monitoring and impact evaluation of various strategies are also encouraged, in particular with a view to understanding the long-term effects and sustainability of retention strategies.
Poverty and inequality are getting worse in developing countries as a result of the global economic crisis. Poor families are eating less, being evicted from their homes, and having to pull children out of school. All of this is exacerbated by the effects of high food prices, the failure of rich countries to deliver on their aid promises, and the growing harmful impacts of climate change. Oxfam was at the G8 Summit in Italy lobbying to get rich country heads of state to boost development aid, tackle climate change, and invest in developing country agriculture so that poor countries are less reliant on food aid. Once again, the G8 leaders let down the world's poorest by reneging on the promises made at the previous Summit. Take action – join Oxfam's Big Promise and let's all show world leaders how to keep a promise!
The theme for the Geneva Health Forum 2010 is 'Globalisation, Crisis, and Health Systems: Confronting Regional Perspectives'. Abstract submission is now officially open. The list of abstract themes has been finalised: health threats and access to health at times of crisis, health governance and policies, healthcare delivery and access to medicines, mobility and migration, trade and health, and health information, training and technologies. For more information on the Geneva Health Forum in general, you can visit their website: www.genevahealthforum.org
If you are an aid worker and have an opinion on how poorly (or well-) funded your organisation is, how competent your fellow aid workers are or how well the international humanitarian system works with local authorities, the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action (ALNAP) is looking for your input in their new ‘state of the humanitarian system’ review. Despite various evaluations and analyses of the humanitarian system some ‘very basic information’ on its size, reach, scope of action and capability remains unknown, said Paul Harvey, a humanitarian aid expert leading the review for ALNAP. The report will provide a descriptive mapping, a general performance assessment, and an analysis of major new developments in the humanitarian aid sector over the past three years. Any contributions to the online survey are welcome.
The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) internship awards provide exposure to research for international development through a program of training in research management and grant administration under the guidance of IDRC programme staff. The internships start in January 2010 and are designed to provide hands-on learning experiences in research program management in the creation, dissemination and utilisation of knowledge from an international perspective. The intern will undertake a program of research on the topic submitted when competing for the internship award, and will be trained in the techniques of research management through hands-on experience with the Centre's policies and practices for grant administration under the mentorship of a Programme Officer. IDRC’s research activities focus on four programme areas: social and economic policy; environment and natural resource management; information and communication technologies for development; and innovation, policy and science.