IFHHRO Regional Meeting, Nairobi 2006

Monitoring the Right to Health in Africa – What’s on

On 4, 5 and 6 May 2006 IFHHRO organised a successful networking and training meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, in cooperation with (candidate) member organisations in Africa: Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR), Action Group for Health, Human Rights and HIV/AIDS (AGHA, Uganda), Independent Medical Legal Unit (IMLU, Kenya).

The goal of the meeting was to work towards the establishment of a regional network for monitoring the Right to Health in Africa and to strengthen the monitoring activities of participating organisations.

Participating in the meeting were representatives from National Medical Associations (NMAs) in Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa. In addition to representatives from the facilitating organisations in Zimbabwe, Uganda and Kenya representatives from other organisations with an interest in health and human rights also participated. These organisations came from Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia. Furthermore, a representative of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health and a Health and Human Rights Officer from the WHO in Mozambique participated in the meeting.

The networking meeting developed strategies for establishing an effective African Regional Network. A three-day follow-up meeting has been scheduled for February 2007. That meeting will be held in Kampala, Uganda, and hosted by AGHA. Participants in the training sessions were informed about the Right to Health and UN Mechanisms, the Istanbul Protocol, the Health Rights of Women Assessment Instrument (HeRWAI), Human Rights competencies for health professionals, and experienced how to use these tools for the protection and promotion of health rights.

Report IFHHRO Nairobi Meeting