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Poverty Reduction and Regional Integration

A comparative analysis of SADC and UNASUR health policies

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Project Events

Stakeholder Engagement Workshops

  • SADC stakeholder engagement workshop 2 June 2014.
  • UNASUR stakeholder engagement workshop 19 June 2014.
  • SADC stakeholder workshop, 13th September 2015, SAIIA, Johannesburg, South Africa. View event agenda, photo and prestation one, two, three.
  • UNASUR workshop, 'Regional cooperation in health: the case of UNASUR Health', 5th October 2015. View event agenda [ES], photo, and summary.

    Workshop Summary: The Second Forum discussed principal findings and preliminary conclusions of the FLACSO-led elements of the PRARI research project. Focusing on the terms, progress and challenges in UNASUR regional health policy, four themes were discussed:

    1. new experiences of regional South-South cooperation;
    2. regional integration process: Construction of health agendas. Progress and Challenges;
    3. UNASUR and its role in health diplomacy; and
    4. mechanisms for regional development and implementation of effective health policies, scope and impact.

    This was achieved through a review of the origins of UNASUR Health, how regional policies translate into national and local policies, the value of UNASUR in addressing health and its contribution to reducing social inequalities, and finally, UNASUR’s actions from a new perspective of health linked to its principles and fundamental values: health as a right, universal access, equity and social justice, and addressing social determinants and causes of the major population health problems.

    The discussion was organised through four panels and presentations by Pia Riggirozzi, Jorgelina Loza and Maria Belen Herrero, members of the PRARI project team, and with the participation of expert commentators on this subject (Dr. Gonzalo Basile -President of Médicos del Mundo (Doctors of the World), Coordination ALyC-, Dr. Mario Rovere -Secretary for Policy, Regulation and Institutions, Ministry of Health of the Nation, Argentina, Dr. Oscar Feo -Asesor the Ministry of Health Venezuela and Dr. Carlos Arosquipa -Coordinator Subregional Cooperation for South America PAHO). Also participating in the discussion were Mariana Faria (Chief of Staff of ISAGS) and the former Minister of Health of Bolivia, Dra. Nila Heredia. The event closed with final reflections based on the discussions and outcomes of the project, as well as with recommendations for calibrating research and decision-making. Contact: PRARI@open.ac.uk

Indicators Development Workshops

Research Workshops

Policy Seminars

  • PRARI Policy Roundtable: Políticas Regionales en Salud: La incursión de UNASUR en la Diplomacia en Salud (Regional Health Policy: the incursion of UNASUR in Health Diplomacy), 8th July 2015, UNU-CRIS/ISAGS/UASB, hosted by the Simon Bolivar Andean University, Quito, Ecuador. Speakers included Jaime Breilh (Director of Health, UASB), Mariana Faria (ISAGS-UNASUR), Carlos A. Emanuele (National Director for Cooperation and International Relations, Ecuadorian Ministry of Public Health), and PRARI team members Pia Riggirozzi and Ana B. Amaya. The Roundtable was attended by representatives from public health agencies in South America, postgraduate students and scholars. View event materials, photo, and summary.

    Summary: the PRARI Policy Roundtable discussed achievements and challenges of regional health integration as advanced by UNASUR, particularly in relation to health promotion, medicines, and the disabilities agenda at the WHO. The Director of International Relations of the Ministry of Health of Ecuador, Carlos Emanuele, stressed that health has ceased to have an exclusively curative approach in the continent in favour of ‘a culture of rights’, while Jaime Breilh proposed a reassessment of existing policies and a new framework for South-South integration that is not guided by power relations: "It must be based on the four ‘S’: sustainability, sovereignty, security and, above all, solidarity." Panellists also discussed the risks of excessive ‘hyper-presidentialism’ in integration processes and the need to involve partners from civil society in the development of social and integration agendas.

Conference

Southern regionalisms, Global agendas: Innovating inclusive access to health and medicines in a context of social inequity, 4th December 2015, an international conference organised and hosted by The Open University, Milton Keynes.

The global system that has emerged in the early 21st century has generated vigorous debates amongst scholars, policy-makers and activists worldwide about how to enhance social standards, extend the coverage of social provision, strengthen health systems, and improve population health, well-being and security. These debates, long aired in national spheres of governance, are also now being taken to regional fora where state and non-state actors are mobilising around a set of policy agendas that ask how regional integration can be harnessed to support social equity in development. Read more.

Speakers and papers include:

Global social regionalisms: innovating research and policy agendas (Nicola Yeates, The Open University)

The Poverty of Regionalism: what do Southern African and South American regionalisms tell us about poverty reduction through health governance and diplomacy? (Pía Riggirozzi, Southampton University)

SADC Pharmaceuticals Programme: mandate, policies, strategies, initiatives and issues addressed in the region (Joseph Mthetwa, Southern African Development Community Secretariat)

Universal access to medicines in UNASUR: Price Database and Mapping of Productive Capacities (Mariana Faria, Institute for South American Health Governance)

Regional health governance and participatory monitoring systems (Ana.B. Amaya, Stephen Kingah, Phillipe de Lombaerde, United Nations University Institute for Comparative Regional Integration Studies)

Regional health governance and participatory monitoring systems: Reflections on experiences and issues arising during research (Themba Moeti, Health Systems Trust)

Panel sessions:

  • Access to health and medicines: regional diplomacy for inclusive development?
  • Embedding social equity and health in regional governance: participatory approaches
  • Implementing the SDGs on health and poverty: what role for regions?
  • Innovating regional and inter-regional action for universal health and social protection coverage: what is to be done?

Conference agenda

Participants from global agencies, research institutes, universities, regional organisations and non-governmental organisations spanning Belgium, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Ecuador, South Africa, Switzerland, UK and the US.

Conference photos:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

Please note this event is by invitation only. If you would like further information about this conference please contact the conference organisers: PRARI@open.ac.uk

last Updated: 5 March 2019

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