In just two weeks, nearly half a million people have signed the global petition against Uganda's proposed law to sentence gay people to death and jail their friends. But more is needed. Extremists are escalating their rhetoric, with one pastor showing gay pornography in order to whip up rage. But very few Ugandans know the harsh details of this draconian bill. And no public opinion poll has asked whether the Ugandan people would support such mass execution. The Ugandan movement against the bill hasn't had the resources to inform their fellow citizens about the bill's deadly provisions. If enough people contribute, Avaaz can help launch radio spots, newspaper ads and billboard campaigns that reach millions of Ugandans with the truth and a call to protect human rights. Donate now to fuel the defence of rights in Uganda.
Jobs and Announcements
Diplomacy is undergoing profound changes in the 21st century - and global health is one of the areas where this is most apparent. As health moves beyond its purely technical realm to become an ever more critical element in foreign policy, security policy and trade agreements, new skills are needed to negotiate global regimes, international agreements and treaties, and to maintain relations with a wide range of actors.
The summer course will focus on health diplomacy as it relates to health issues that transcend national boundaries and are global in nature, discuss the challenges before it, and how they are being addressed by different groups and at different levels of governance. Deliberations include Intellectual Property Rights, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the International Health Regulations, the creation of new finance mechanisms such as the Global Fund for Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria or UNITAID, and the response to SARS and Avian Flu. The course director is Prof. Dr. Ilona Kickbusch. Tuition for attending the programme is 2,800 Swiss francs, excluding travel costs, accommodation or other living expenses in Geneva.
DL4D (Distance Learning for Development) offers postgraduate training to those working in the field of international development. This site has information on over 140 short courses available to study at a distance. They cover the range of skills and knowledge areas expected of the international development professional, including: essential skills for implementing and managing projects in developing countries; introductions to macro-level economic and policy-making practice; and advanced courses in health, sanitation, agriculture and environmental studies. All courses are available as stand-alone units of study. They may also contribute towards a broader programme of learning, leading to internationally recognised higher-level qualifications. Some courses are only available at certain times of year. Check the details of the courses you are interested in for more information.
The Susie Smith memorial prize of £3000 will be awarded to a single piece of already published writing on HIV and AIDS from sub-Saharan Africa. Any type of piece – (e.g. poetry, fiction, article, chapter of a book) – of up to 10,000 words, in English, and published since January 2006, will be eligible. The judges will focus on two key elements: Quality of the piece itself (writing, analysis, insights); and evidence of impact of the writing in the media and/or with people, governments or other institutions. All submissions must be received by 18th April 2010 and include a cover letter outlining what kind of impact the piece has had and/or what it has achieved sent to Susie Smith Memorial Prize Submission
Oxfam Great Britain Oxfam House John Smith Drive Oxford OX4 2JY.
The European Development Fund is offering grants for its ARIAL programme. The overall objective of the programme is to promote the political recognition and engagement of the local authorities (LAs) as important players and partners of development. The specific objective of the programme is to promote and strengthen the capacity of LAs in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. In particular it seeks to strengthen LA representative institutions from the national level up to the international level so that they will be able to take part in the implementation of development policies, in particular with the European Union, and play a political role as provided for by the Cotonou Agreement. The core target group will be existing national and regional local authority associations, which are still to be identified by the successful candidates. Applicants will explain the methodology with which they plan to select/or have already selected the associations who will receive their support. Any selection process should ensure the effective representation of all ACP regions, and, where possible, all ACP countries. The successful candidate will ensure that existing associations, who most effectively represent local authorities, will receive support.
The 2010 Humanitarian Fund is now accepting applications. The Fund, supported by donations from the BMA and Royal College of Nursing, offers grants of up to £3,000 for projects taking place in developing countries. Projects must offer clear health benefits to the local population, must involve at least one current National Health Service employee and should have a sustainable impact. The grants will cover incidental costs such as travel and accommodation only (not equipment or drugs). For more details on the Fund please contact the BMA’s International Dept at the email address given or complete and return the application form on their website.
World Health Day, 7 April 2010, will focus on urbanisation and health. The theme was selected in recognition of the effect urbanisation has on our collective health globally and for us all individually. Tell the world about what is happening in your city and exchange ideas with people from around the globe. Go to the campaign social media site to join the discussion, upload your videos and photos and nominate your urban health hero. With the campaign 1000 cities, 1000 lives, events will be organised worldwide during the week of 7 – 11 April 2010. The global goals of the campaign are: 1,000 cities – to open up public spaces to health, whether it be activities in parks, town hall meetings, clean-up campaigns, or closing off portions of streets to motorised vehicles – and 1,000 lives – to collect 1,000 stories of urban health champions who have taken action and had a significant impact on health in their cities.
This will be the first time MEDINFO is held in Africa. The Congress aims to boost exposure to grassroots healthcare delivery and the underpinning health information systems, as well as to open the door to new academic partnerships into the future and help to nurture a new breed of health informaticians. The theme for the Congress is ‘Partnerships for effective e-health solutions’, with a particular focus on how innovative collaborations can promote sustainable solutions to health challenges. Information and communication technologies may have enormous potential for improving the health and lives of individuals. Innovative and effective change using such technologies is reliant upon people working together in partnerships to create innovative and effective solutions to problems with particular regard to contextual and environmental factors. To this end, the Congress brings together the health informatics community from across the globe who are seeking to work together and share experiences and knowledge to promote sustainable solutions to global health challenges.
As part of the African Governance Institute’s activities programme in policy dialogue and advocacy for democratic and participatory governance in Africa, this seminar is designed to allow governance experts, governance practitioners from the public and private sectors, and civil society activists to engage in an intellectual dialogue on the major challenges facing Africa and to propose ways in which to rethink governance in general, and developmental governance in particular, with a view to satisfying the people’s aspirations for peace, human rights and development. The development challenge for Africa is to institute policies, institutions and processes that would help eradicate poverty and enhance socio-economic transformations as a means of reinforcing human security and ensuring self-sustaining development. Given the challenges of globalisation and the worldwide hegemony of liberal ideology, it is imperative that in the current rehabilitation of the pan-African project of continental unity, those in position of authority in politics, bureaucracy, civil society and the private sector, be challenged to generate new African thinking on developmental governance.
The goal of this petition is to get 10 million signatures (globally) in 10 years and to moblise support to force world leaders to implement anti-poverty policy changes. Ten solutions are proposed to end poverty. Full equality between men and women, a worldwide minimum wage of $20 per day and the end of child labour are proposed, as well as guarantees of shelter, healthcare, education, food and drinking water as basic human rights. Land redistribution, an end to private monopoly ownership over natural resources, the termination of intellectual property rights on pharmaceutical drugs and the cancellation of third world debt are also mentioned. Total transparency is demanded for any corporation with more than 100 employees and a 1% tax on all benefits distributed to shareholders of corporations to create unemployment funds. Other solutions include the termination of tax havens around the world, cancellation of taxes on labour and basic consumption while introducing global taxes, equal voting for developing countries in international organisations such as the IMF, and a commitment by industrialised countries to decrease carbon emission by 50% over a ten-year period, as well as reducing by 25% each developed country’s consumption of natural resources.