Transcript Curbing the Epidemic Governments and the Economics of

Regionalism and the re-invigoration of global health
diplomacy: Lessons from Africa
Global Health Diplomacy: A way forward in International
Affairs
Chatham House
28-29 June 2011
William Onzivu
Lecturer in Law
Bradford University Law School
University of Bradford
Email: [email protected]
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
 African regional organizations as active players, negotiating and
implementing global health initiatives. Health is a crucial
determinant/advocacy tool in the trade and political integration agendas.
 This brief presentation identifies the drivers, relevant case studies, the merits
and limits of African regionalism for global health diplomacy.
 Concludes on options to strengthen global health diplomacy in African
regionalism.
African regional health diplomacy: some drivers
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Trade liberalization in the context of globalization.
New liberalism and the social sector: flexible regionalism.
Africa and world’s disease and other health burdens: a human
security issue
Bilateral ism between RIOs(and their Member States) and other
entities, China, EU, US
Emergency of a new era of global health diplomacy : Senegal and
South Africa’s membership of ECOWAS and SADC respectively.
WHO law, global health diplomacy and regionalism
• WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control(WHO FCTC)
• International Health Regulations(IHR)
• Climate Change and Health
• Legal provision for regionalism and observer status
• Informal regional(African) groups: merits and demerits
• Global diplomatic learning process
Case studies of regionalism and global health
diplomacy
• The African Union: Health objective, role of access to medicines, TB, malaria,
polio, health systems and financing, work with the UN system and WHO: economic
and political agenda, role of AU ministerial forums in health diplomacy
• The Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS)- West African
Health Organization: Intra-regional negotiations, work with WHO, Avian flu,
reproductive health, policy harmonization, work with German Development
Cooperation through KfW.
• Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa(COMESA): Health
objective, work with actors, primary role in advancing trade liberalization agenda,
bilateral cooperation, recent involvement with the FCTC.
• East African Community (EAC): Health objective, role of ministerial forums,
health diplomacy activities
Regionalism and challenges to global health diplomacy
• Inappropriate regional priorities:
• Capture by vested interests – where is the public interest?
• Other governance challenges
• Multiplicity of inhabitants of regionalism but limited role for civil society .
Advancing health diplomacy through regionalism
• Enhanced cooperation with relevant global agencies
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Health diplomacy capacity building
Promoting adaptive governance
Institutionalize evaluation
Enhancing participation at the regional and global level
CONCLUSION
African regionalism will progressively occupy an important policy
and functional space in advancing global health diplomacy. The
challenge for all actors is to concretely embed global health into the
foreign, trade and other non-health sector within regionalism. On the
other hand, actors need to strengthen diplomacy within the health
sector. Multi-stakeholder participation needs to be encouraged and
actions of all actors evaluated and strengthened.
THANK YOU ALL