Positioning AIDS Activism in India: Civil Society Responses Between Development Aid, Global Health and the State, 1989 to 2001

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reiko Kanazawa
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Reproductive Health ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
International Development ◽  
Development Aid ◽  
Indian Government ◽  
Health Movement ◽  
Political Critique ◽  
Aids Activism

Abstract This article brings histories of medical activism in conversation with studies of international development to understand Ford Foundation-supported AIDS non-governmental organisations in India. While there were organisations with far-reaching visions for change through the voluntary sector, the article argues that the advocacy, caught between political critique and service delivery, was ultimately awkward and ambiguous. It demonstrates this by focusing on the Foundation’s support for Indian civil society after the Emergency, how it ‘learned’ activism from mainstream global and national responses and how AIDS was subsequently subsumed under a resurgent reproductive health movement after the 1994 Cairo Conference on Population and Development. Finally, it argues that AIDS activism declined after the early 2000s because the Indian government absorbed the developmental rhetoric and services of the NGOs. Ultimately, Ford’s career in AIDS activism showcases the limitations of sustained political critique by civil society and non-governmental actors.

When numbers eclipse narratives: a cultural-political critique of the ‘ethical’ impacts of short-term experiences in global health in Dominican Republic bateyes

2021 ◽  
pp. medhum-2021-012252
Author(s):  
Brenda K Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Dominican Republic ◽  
Medical Humanities ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Ethical Concerns ◽  
Stakeholder Groups ◽  
Health Movement ◽  
Political Critique

With the rising demand for short-term experiences in global health (STEGH) is an ever-increasing volume of literature that focuses attention on ethics and ethical concerns, such as the effects of STEGH on host populations. Such concerns have driven the development of ethical principles and guidelines, with discussions and debates largely centred around normative questions of positive/negative and benefit/harm for us/them. Using a critical medical humanities lens, this paper blurs these dichotomous framings and offers a more complex understanding of the effects and effectiveness of STEGH on hosts. I explore STEGH that send volunteers from North American universities to the Dominican Republic to participate in service-learning activities aimed at improving the lives of impoverished Haitian migrants living in bateyes. I address the following questions: What perspectives about the impacts of interventions on host communities manifest through STEGH? What tensions emerge through interactions among diverse stakeholders related to those perspectives, and with what effects? Drawing together critical theory and ethnography, I examined the perspectives of three stakeholder groups: student and faculty volunteers, host organisation staff, and hosts in batey communities. Data collected from observations and interviews were counterposed; I analysed interactions and interplay between stakeholders. My findings revealed conflicts around an emergent theme: counting efforts, or volunteers’ proclivity for numerical evidence of impactful STEGH for hosts. With attention on power relations, I argue that a preoccupation with quantifiable evidence eclipsed and erased the lived realities of hosts, thereby blocking a fully ethical engagement. These sociopolitical effects, often overlooked in conventional ethics assessments, are no less harmful and may reinforce rather than reduce inequalities that the global health movement seeks to eliminate. My study offers a compelling case for how the critical medical humanities lend critical insights in the name of improving global health.

scholarly journals Nashi, Youth Voluntarism, and Potemkin NGOs: Making Sense of Civil Society in Post-Soviet Russia

Slavic Review ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 234-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Hemment
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
International Development ◽  
Development Aid ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Provincial City ◽  
Neoliberal Governance ◽  
Space State ◽  
International Development Aid ◽  
Soviet Russia ◽  
Political Technology

By interrogating Putin-era civil society projects, this article tracks the aftermath of international development aid in post-Soviet Russian socialist space. State-run organizations such as the pro-Kremlin youth organization Nashi (Ours) are commonly read as evidence of an antidemocratic backlash and as confirmation of Russia's resurgent authoritarianism. Contributing to recent scholarship in the anthropology of postsocialism, Julie Hemment seeks here to account for Nashi by locating it in the context of twenty years of international democracy promotion, global processes of neoliberal governance, and the disenchantments they gave rise to. Drawing on a collaborative ethnographic research project involving scholars and students in the provincial city Tver', Hemment reveals Nashi's curiously hybrid nature: At the same time as it advances a trenchant critique of 1990s-era interventions and the models and paradigms that guided democracy assistance, it also draws on them. Nashi respins these resources to articulate a robust national-interest alternative that is persuasive to many young people. Moreover, rather than a static, top-down political technology project, Nashi offers its participants a range of registers and voices in which they can articulate their own individualized agendas.

scholarly journals How donors support civil society as government accountability advocates: a review of strategies and implications for transition of donor funding in global health

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy McDonough ◽  
Daniela C. Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
International Development ◽  
Vulnerable Populations ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Political Commitment ◽  
Donor Funding

Abstract Background Global health donors are increasingly transitioning funding responsibility to host governments as aid budgets plateau or decline and countries meet development and disease burden goals. Civil society organizations (CSOs) can play a critical role as accountability mechanisms over their governments, but transitions raise questions about how donor-supported CSOs will fare following transition, especially in environments of limited political commitment. Decreases in funding may force CSOs to scale back activities, seek other funding, or rely on their governments for funding. Vulnerable populations most in need of support may lose critical advocates, compromising their access to lifesaving care and threatening the reversal of global health achievements. This review investigates donor strategies used in the past to support CSOs as accountability advocates across the international development sector by exploring what activities are supported, how support is provided and who receives support. It provides considerations for global health donors to better equip civil society as advocates during and following transition. Methods A literature review of four databases of peer-reviewed literature, websites focused on civil society support and snowball searching identified 180 documents for review, after application of exclusion criteria, covering up to December 2019. Results were categorized and analyzed by who, what and how donors have supported civil society’s accountability role. Results Donors support a variety of civil society actors, including individual organizations and networks, through capacity building, access to information, backing participation in policy dialogues, securing citizen engagement and targeting the broader policy context. Funding may be provided directly or through pooled, intermediary or bridge mechanisms. Key concerns identified include insufficient engagement of CSOs in defining support, limited donor flexibility, tensions in balancing organizational professionalization with community connections, and jeopardized CSO legitimacy and independence from relying on foreign funds. Conclusions Given the urgency of global health donor transitions, the literature demonstrates that any donor support to CSO advocates should emphasize transition preparations from the start. Capacity building, institutionalizing mechanisms for civil society participation, planning for information needs, and flexible funding are priority mechanisms to ensure that vulnerable populations continue accessing lifesaving care and global health progress is not reversed.

scholarly journals Sweden’s engagement in global health: a historical review

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Irwin
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Global Health ◽  
International Development ◽  
Public Health Practice ◽  
International Health ◽  
Historical Review ◽  
Development Aid ◽  
Health And Development ◽  
Swedish Experience ◽  
And Gender

Abstract Background Sweden is a long-standing and significant contributor to overseas development aid. This commitment to global health and development is part of Sverigebilden, or the view of Sweden in the world that is formally promoted by the Swedish government. Sweden is seen by many in the global health community as leader on human rights and health and has traditionally been one of the most engaged countries in multilateral affairs more broadly. Results This article places Sweden’s engagement in global health within the wider context of domestic changes, as well as transitions within the broader global health landscape in the post-World War Two (WWII)- era. In doing so, it reviews the globalization of health from a Swedish perspective. It also addresses broader questions about what it means for a country to be ‘active’ or ‘engaged’ in global health and responds to recent suggestions that Swedish influence in health has waned. The article finds that in Sweden there is wide political consensus that international development and global health engagement are important, and both are part of the maintenance of Sverigebilen. While there is a not one single Swedish approach to global health, there are norms and values that underpin global health engagement such as human rights, solidarity, equity and gender equality. A sustained focus on key issues, such as sexual and reproductive rights and health (SRHR), creates a tradition which feeds back into Sverigebilden. Conclusions The Swedish experience demonstrates the linkages between foreign and domestic policies with regard to international health and development, and to the globalization of public health practice and diplomacy. In global health Sverigebilden is tied to credibility. Sweden is able to exercise influence because of a successful welfare model and strong research traditions; conversely, long-standing and new threats to this credibility and to Sverigebilden pose challenges to Sweden’s future engagement in global health.

Taiwan's Foreign Aid in Transition: From ODA to Civil Society Approaches

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 469-490
Author(s):  
TEH-CHANG LIN ◽  
JEAN YEN-CHUN LIN
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Foreign Aid ◽  
International Development ◽  
Foreign Relations ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Development Aid ◽  
Humanitarian Relief ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Aid Programs ◽  
Middle Powers

AbstractSince the 1950s, Taiwan and China have utilized foreign aid as an instrument of foreign policy. After Taiwan's forced withdrawal from the United Nations in 1971, diplomatic and aid-giving competition with China became more intense. As a result, Taiwan's and China's struggles to gain supporters have been reflected in foreign aid strategies. Taiwan's bid for the UN and the WHO, and the issue of diplomatic recognition empirically demonstrate the utilization of aid to obtain diplomatic support from recipient countries, and, frequently, any decisions are heavily influenced by the competition it experiences with China. Theoretically, this highlights an important relational framework for analyzing foreign aid decisions – particularly the management of foreign relations of small states or middle powers simultaneously influenced by greater powers and aid recipient states.Using data from ICDF and related reports, we observe geographically concentrated patterns in the distribution of Taiwan's aid recipients from 1988 to 1997 – mostly in Latin America and Southeast Asia. In contrast to China's foreign aid which emphasizes infrastructural development, the spirit of Taiwan's economic development aid programs often took the form of technical cooperation. However, a high percentage of aid went to countries with diplomatic ties to Taiwan. With civil society development and increased international activities of Taiwanese NGOs in humanitarian relief and development projects after 2000, we find a new emerging set of geographical aid distribution patterns that expand beyond countries that recognize Taiwan. In addition, while the process of incorporating civil society into foreign aid work was initiated by the ICDF the following decade, Taiwanese NGOs have increasingly demonstrated autonomous international agendas, funding, and direction, as well as the formation of civil society alliances that work on common international development issues.

TICAD: The Context of Japan’s Development Aids to Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayokunle Olumuyiwa Omobowale
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Development ◽  
Development Assistance ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Development Aid ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Usual Practice ◽  
Self Help ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
And Control

Most of the discourse on development aid in Africa has been limited to assistance from Western countries and those provided by competing capitalist and socialist blocs during the Cold war era. Japan, a nation with great economic and military capabilities; its development assistance for Africa is encapsulated in the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) initiative. The TICAD started in 1993 and Japan has so far held 5 TICAD meetings between 1993 and 2013 during which Africa’s development challenges and Japan’s development assistance to the continent were discussed. The emphasis on “ownership”, “self-help” and “partnership” are major peculiar characteristics of Japan’s development aid that puts the design, implementation and control of development projects under the control of recipient countries. This is a major departure from the usual practice in international development assistance where recipient countries are bound by clauses that somewhat puts the control of development aid in the hands of the granting countries. Such binding clauses have often been described as inimical to the successful administration of the aids and development in recipient countries. Though Japan’s development aid to Africa started only in 1993, by the 2000s, Japan was the topmost donor to Africa. This paper examines the context of Japan’s development aid to Africa by analyzing secondary data sourced from literature and secondary statistics.

Global Health and International Development

2018 ◽  
pp. 216-235
Author(s):  
Andrew Harmer ◽  
Jonathan Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Economic System ◽  
International Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Global Population

This chapter explores the relationship between international development and global health. Contrary to the view that development implies ‘good change’, this chapter argues that the discourse of development masks the destructive and exploitative practices of wealthy countries at the expense of poorer ones. These practices, and the unregulated capitalist economic system that they are part of, have created massive inequalities between and within countries, and potentially catastrophic climate change. Both of these outcomes are detrimental to global health and the millennium development goals and sustainable development goals do not challenge these dynamics. While the Sustainable Development Goals acknowledge that inequality and climate change are serious threats to the future of humanity, they fail to address the economic system that created them. Notwithstanding, it is possible that the enormity and proximity of the threat posed by inequality and global warming will energise a counter movement to create what Kate Raworth terms ‘an ecologically safe and socially just space’ for the global population while there is still time.

scholarly journals Legal and human rights-based approaches to healthy diets and sustainable food systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
D W Patterson ◽  
K Buse ◽  
R Magnusson ◽  
B C A Toebes
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Sustainable Food Systems ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Healthy Diets ◽  
Health And Development ◽  
The Right

Abstract Issue Malnutrition in all its forms poses daunting challenges to global health and development. The agriculture sector is a significant contributor to global warming. COVID-19 has pushed many people into poverty, including food poverty. A radical rethink of business models, food systems, civil society involvement, and national and international governance is required to address the interlinked crises of COVID-19, obesity, undernutrition, and climate change. International human rights law, institutions and mechanisms provide important opportunities for norm setting, advocacy and accountability. Yet these pathways are under-utilised by both governments and civil society. Description The global AIDS response demonstrated the power of a human rights-based approach. United Nations' HIV/AIDS and Human Rights Guidelines greatly influenced the global consensus for effective, evidence-based approaches. The Guidelines also informed resolutions of the UN General Assembly and its Human Rights Council, contributing to more affordable medicines, an unprecedented increase in people on treatment, less stigmatising health services, the empowerment of marginalised groups, and the institutionalisation of norms, including “no one left behind.” Human rights-based approaches have also been successfully utilised in tobacco control. Results In 2019, 180 experts from 38 countries published an open call on WHO and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to initiate an inclusive process to develop guidelines on human rights, healthy diets and sustainable food systems. Most signatories were from the health and development sectors, demonstrating the increasingly broad interest in using human rights mechanisms to address global health challenges. Lessons Opportunities exist to transform food systems and create healthier food environments and a healthier planet by clarifying existing international obligations to progressively realise the right to food and the right to health. Key messages Market forces, alone, are failing to deliver healthy diets and sustainable food systems. International legal frameworks and accountability mechanisms provide opportunities for engagement and action. Human rights guidelines can help mobilize multisectoral action, strengthen State and private sector accountability, and deepen community engagement in the urgent task of achieving Agenda 2030.

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