SHAPE Consulting Limited, in collaboration with the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) and First Quantum Minerals, announce a training course in Health Impact Assessment (HIA) for the energy, mining and infrastructure sectors, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries. The course will be held at the First Quantum Kalumbila Mine in North-Western Zambia. This setting will allow the unique experience of gaining theoretical knowledge and practical experience in an actual operational mine in its human and natural environment. The objectives of the course are to introduce the concept of HIA and equip participants with knowledge, methods and tools to undertake an HIA in a low- and middle-income country context; to enable participants to apply the theoretical knowledge provided in the course into real life situations through use of case studies and field visits in the project area; and to equip attendees with the ability to commission and review HIA’s, including development of adequate terms of reference and effective review of outputs.The content of the course will include theoretical and practical elements specific to the extractive industry sector: Introduction to the concept of HIA and current global practice; HIA standards, guidelines and links to relevant best practice documents; The phases of HIA and respective tools and methods; Application of the phases of HIA based on case studies.; Integration of HIA into social and biophysical studies and sustainable development planning.; Field visits to the First Quantum Kalumbila Mine project area, where specific contents of the course will be revisited in real life situations (ongoing activity throughout the course) A certificate of attendance will be presented on completion of the course.
Jobs and Announcements
As ICASA Zimbabwe coincides with the MDG target year, the International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa is offering the strategic first forum for post-MGD to leaders, activists, scientists and community to take stock of the outcomes of the MDG high level meeting challenges and to pave the way for a new, innovative and efficient approach towards an Africa AIDS free generation.
The theme of this World Congress is a challenge to Action Learning / Action Research practitioners the world over, whether working in resource rich or more socio-economically challenged contexts, to explain how they are contributing to the creation of a fairer world. The ALARA World Congress 2015 will create a space for dialogue as we ponder questions such as: How do we know we are asking the right questions to promote sustainable learning? How do we capacitate people to address the intricate interplay of social, economic, political and cultural factors that combine to preserve injustice? How do we ensure authentic collaboration between stakeholders across all levels? How do we use AL/AR to forge innovative, sustainable responses to contemporary complex challenges? How do we know we are successful in mediating sustainable change?
What are the challenges the UHC system is facing in your country? Is it a learning system? Do the government actors who are leading the charge know how to dialogue with and involve other stakeholders (civil society, NGOs, the media…)? In your own organisation, do experts on UHC share their knowledge and experience with other team members? What analytical capacity is in place? Are there mechanisms for identifying good practices and promoting and verifying they are being applied well? These are some of the questions asked in this competition. To enter put the idea on paper - describe the situation you want to share. To make a good cartoon, your idea must be clear and precise. This contest is NOT limited to Africa. You can submit as many ideas as you have. A jury made up of experts familiar with UHC challenges and learning organisations will then select the best ideas to submit to the cartoonist. All those participants selected in this first round will get a prize. And it is from this pool that the cartoonist will choose what to draw. To participate in this competition, please send your ideas in English or in French, in a Word document (one scenario per file please) to Yamba Kafando, FAHS CoP facilitator (cdpafss@gmail.com). You will get a confirmation you’re your scenario has been received, as well as a number for that scenario. Include your name and surname, the country in which you work, and your job title or role.
The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) announced the fourth in its electronic publishing conference series. This year’s theme focuses on the open access publishing model with particular attention to its possible impact on the future knowledge economy in Africa. This conference will explore core concepts and ideas, and help identify new technological and conceptual configurations. It will provide a rare opportunity for academics, librarians, publishers and policy-makers to come together for dialogues, discuss new research directions, methods and theories, and reflect upon the evolutionary issues about open access and their implications on research dissemination in Africa. With this scope in mind, the major topics of interest include, but are not limited to: Open access in the context of Africa; Value-added and marketing of African scientific information in the open access era; Africa in the emerging global politics of open access; Opening indigenous knowledges; Open access and Africa’s knowledge economy; The politics of open access. CODESRIA will provide funding support to paper presenters who show evidence that they are unable to cater for their participation.
The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) has launched an African Diaspora support to African Universities program. This call for proposals targets academics based in African universities, and those in the Diaspora within Africa and outside Africa (Europe, North America, Canada, Australia), in the SSH, both of whom have attained their PhDs in the last five years, or are at the advanced stage of their PhDs, to submit proposals for post-doctoral research, preferably, but not exclusively on issues related to one of the following themes: The African academic Diaspora and the revitalisation of Higher education in Africa; Current trends in economic theorisation on African social and economic development; The Social Sciences and the Place of African Higher Education in the World; African Citizenship, migration and economic mobility within and outside Africa. Individual applicants selected under this call will be invited to attend a methodological workshop in the early stages of implementation of their research projects.
The mobile revolution, geopolitical power shifts and a radically altered global economy constitute some of the evidence to demonstrate that the world is changing, and so is the way that people fight for their rights. In order to be effective, Amnesty International’s (AI) International Secretariat needs to change how it works. That’s why the Southern Africa Regional Office needs research expertise on the ground and is advertising for this position. This is a permanent position.
The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York has recently launched a program that seeks to encourage and facilitate African Diaspora support to African universities. As part of this initiative, CODESRIA intends to constitute a ‘college of mentors’, a grouping of senior academics from the African academic diaspora who are willing to devote some time to mentoring students enrolled in post-graduate (masters’ and doctoral) programs in African universities. Mentors will be put in touch with one or several students who they would guide by reading draft chapters of their theses and dissertations, and journal article manuscripts; suggesting relevant reading material; and exposing them to scholarly debates they need to be aware of. Mentors might also be called upon to provide academic leadership in some of the initiatives that will be undertaken under the program. Interested mentors should send in a detailed current CV and a 5 page concept/ expression of interest note outlining their areas of interest and their vision in the program.
The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) invites applications from suitably qualified African professionals to fill the vacant position of Director of Publications in its pan-African Secretariat located in Dakar, Senegal. The position is a senior one and the successful candidate will work as a member of the Secretariat management team under the overall supervision of the Executive Secretary of the Council. The ideal candidate will be a scholar who also has a robust experience in academic publishing. African professionals who combine a robust experience in academic publishing with a solid training in the social sciences/humanities can also apply.
The University of Cape Town (UCT) Graduate School of Business is now inviting applications to its pioneering MPhil specialising in Inclusive Innovation in 2016 – a hands-on postgraduate degree that aims to generate practical and scalable sustainable solutions to African challenges. Inclusive innovators who take this learning journey will travel through a rigorous academic curriculum right through to practical prototyping of new business models, processes, services or products that will help create a more inclusive economy and society at large. You will work together in a “living lab” environment, where expertise, life experience, passion and innovation all converge to support new possibilities and ideas. In this rich, integrative space, commercial, technological and social innovations all combine to further Africa’s future. You will also be exposed to some of the most exciting thinkers and practitioners working in the field of social innovation and entrepreneurship at this time. Applicants should be passionate and creative individuals who have a postgraduate degree, work experience, and a passion for a better, more inclusive future.