The University of California (UCLA) Sonke Health and Human Rights Fellowship will provide specialised training in the United States to top graduates from South African law schools for careers as impact-oriented public interest lawyers in the areas of health, human rights, HIV prevention, and gender equality. The Fellowship offers a full-tuition grant to enroll in UCLA Law’s Master of Law Program (LL.M.), assists fellows in securing living and travel expenses for their studies, and offers the opportunity to apply for a one-year fellowship placement with Sonke in Cape Town or Johannesburg. Courses include Problem Solving in the Public Interest, and Human Rights and Sexual Politics. Upon completion of the LL.M. degree, each fellow will have the opportunity to apply for a year-long fellowship placement with Sonke in South Africa. If awarded, the fellow will undertake cutting edge legal work to address the gender inequality dynamics driving the spread of HIV and examine how to engage men and boys as stakeholders in gender and health equity. The Fellowship is open to experienced lawyers and new law graduates holding LL.B. degrees classified second class (division one) or higher from South African law school programmes. Competitive applicants will also have a demonstrated commitment to health, human rights, or gender equality, and work or volunteer experience in this area.
Jobs and Announcements
The African Programme on Rethinking Development Economics (APORDE) is a high-level training programme in development economics that aims to build capacity in economics and economic policy-making. The course will run for two weeks and consist of lectures and seminars taught by leading international and African economists. This call is directed at African, Asian and Latin American economists, policy makers and civil society activists who, if selected, will be fully funded. Only 30 applicants will be selected.
The CUD (Cutting-edge International Trainings and Courses for Development) Scholarships Programme for the year 2011-2012 is available for applicants from developing countries. Courses include Masters in Public Health, Master in Development, Environment and Society, Master of Science and Supplementary Environmental Management in Developing Countries, Management Systems in Health Services, and Methodology in Support of Innovation in Family Planning. Some of these courses and trainings are in French and candidates should be familiar with the language before applying for them. Nevertheless, selected candidates also need to learn French while participating in the programme. Only candidates from specific countries may apply, including South Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Eligible candidates will be those holding a graduate degree comparable to a Belgian University graduate degree. After completion of the programme, selected candidates should return to their country and pursue work in the field in which they have undergone the course or training.
The Sustainable Livelihood Approach (SLA) is a people-centred approach used by non-governmental organisations and researchers to identify the main constraints and opportunities faced by poor people, as expressed by the people themselves. It consists of a framework and a set of guiding principles that aim to protect and foster the resources and livelihood assets of poor people, such as their natural resources, technologies, skills, knowledge, capacity, health, access to education, sources of credit and their networks of social support. The approach is intended to help stakeholders to navigate the complex reality of the development context and ensure people are at the centre of development. Some critiques of SLA point to its limitations in dealing adequately with some issues such as power, gender and governance, and many in the development sector incorrectly assume that SLA is only relevant at the micro level. At the sixth and final seminar on Sustainable Livelihoods Approaches (SLAs), taking place at the Institute of Development Studies on 26 January 2011, you can take part in the online debate. Some directions for debate include what the future holds for SLAs, how SLAs are relevant to current development challenges and how SLAs need to adapt, as well as research, policy and practical implications for the future. To register, please email the seminar administrator at the address provided.
This conference will consider the link between and contributions of the social sciences and humanities to HIV research and action. The International Association of HIV Social Scientists, which is organising the event, argues that social science emphasises a critical, reflexive stance and willingness to confront the social, ethical, and political dimensions of scientific investigations of the HIV epidemic, which has made it instrumental in successful HIV prevention efforts such as the normalisation of condom use against sexual transmission and the introduction of safe injecting equipment for injecting drug use. Social scientific research has also provided insights into issues related to the treatment and care of people living with HIV and AIDS, and has addressed the broader social and political barriers to effective responses to HIV. Yet there have been few forums in which scholars from different social science and humanities disciplines can come together to develop connections among the various phenomena we study, and between ourselves and our biomedical, policy and community based colleagues. This conference is a forum for those keen to extend the scope of the social sciences and its capacity to trace connections between all kinds of phenomenon, notably those that contribute to the complexity and changing nature of the epidemic. Themes include: treatment as prevention, HIV and the body, social epidemiology and social networks, global politics, and responsibility and risk governance, as well as new directions for HIV and AIDS treatment.
This symposium considers infectious diseases in Africa, including bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic diseases, which comprise a major cause of death, disability, and social and economic disruption for millions of people in Africa’s developing countries. This conference will aim to look at the borderless effect of infection, its impact on children and the importance of intervention. International speakers will talk about how to help prevent the spread of infectious diseases and discuss new diagnostics vaccines and drug treatments.
The Second Conference of the African Health Economics and Policy Association (AfHEA) will be held in Saly Portudal (Palm Beach), Senegal from 15-17 March 2011. The overall theme of this conference is ‘Toward universal health coverage in Africa’. Universal coverage is understood to mean providing financial protection against health care costs for all, as well as ensuring access to quality health care for all when needed.
The Second Global Forum on Human Resources for Health is intended to build upon the successes achieved in the previous Global Forum, held in 2010 in Kampala, and will provide a platform to review progress made in fulfilling the commitments outlined in the Kampala Declaration and the Agenda for Global Action. It will be an opportunity to further galvanise and accelerate the global movement on human resources for health (HRH) towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals and Universal Health Coverage. Expected outcomes include sustaining the global movement on HRH and sharing of knowledge and experiences and measuring the progress made since Kampala through concrete examples of global and country actions. The Forum will also be expected to find strategies for coping with new and emerging issues and challenges in HRH.
The Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) has decided that its 128th session should be convened on 17 January 2011, at WHO headquarters, Geneva, and should close no later than 25 January 2011. The Board further decided that the thirteenth meeting of the Programme, Budget and Administration Committee of the Executive Board should be held on 13 and 14 January 2011, at WHO headquarters.
The Best Practices in Global Health Award is given annually by the Global Health Council to celebrate and highlight the efforts of a public health practitioner or organisation dedicated to improving the health of disadvantaged and disenfranchised populations, and to recognise the programmes that effectively demonstrate the links between health, poverty and development. The person or organisation selected for this award must be able to demonstrate the success of their programme(s) and measurable results in the field, as well as possess the ability and expertise to share, inspire and extend best practices for improving health. If you would like to nominate someone, visit the website address given.