AFR-01

Organization title: Physicians for Human Rights (U.S.A.), and Action Group for Health, Human Rights, and HIV/AIDS
Field Location: Kampala, Uganda
Policy Location: Washington, D.C.

DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) mobilizes health professionals to advance the health and dignity of all people through action that promotes respect for, protection of, and fulfillment of human rights. As one of the original coordinating committee members of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, PHR shared the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize.

PHR is a membership organization that applies the specialized skills, knowledge, and ethical commitments of health professionals to a range of issues including supporting a comprehensive prevention, treatment, and care strategy for global HIV/AIDS; ending the United States’ role in torture and complicity of physicians in those abuses; preventing genocide; promoting women’s health and rights; and protecting asylum seekers in the United States.

Action Group for Health, Human Rights, and HIV/AIDS (AGHA) is a nongovernmental organization (NGO) founded in July 2003 to mobilize health professionals and health consumers to address issues of human rights as they relate to health, with a specific focus on HIV/AIDS. AGHA brings together doctors, nurses, other health professionals, and NGOs and other institutions interested in promoting the right to health, to create local and national networks dedicated to global health advocacy. AGHA currently operates in four districts of Uganda: Rakai, Tororo, Mbarara, and Kampala, where the organization’s headquarters are located.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Begun in 2002, PHR’s Health Action AIDS (HAA) Campaign mobilizes health professionals to advocate for a comprehensive AIDS strategy and robust funding levels to combat the AIDS pandemic. PHR and its 8,000 health professional constituents advocate for AIDS policies and programs to be based on sound science and human rights principles. Through HAA, hundreds of health professional leaders have conveyed their expertise to policymakers through health professional leadership Summits in Washington, DC, Town Meetings in key states, global health house parties, dozens of published opinion editorial articles and letters to the editor, many sign-on letters, and more than 200 meetings with congressional and administration offices.

As part of its Campaign, HAA works with African human rights groups to engage African health professionals in national and international AIDS and health advocacy efforts. In Uganda, PHR has supported the Action Group for Health, Human Rights and HIV/AIDS (AGHA) to establish a network more than 600 health workers dedicated to AIDS advocacy.

PHR and AGHA envision the Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellow (2009-2011) working on three broad advocacy issues related to HIV/AIDS, health, and poverty, all of which impact and are impacted by food security. The Fellow will focus on health financing, health workforce capacity building, and women’s health rights issues, with an emphasis on women’s vulnerability to HIV.

FIELD PLACEMENT

During the fellow’s field year with AGHA, he/she will work on specific AGHA campaign projects, and as well as cross cutting initiatives, such as white papers, photo projects, and media, connecting Uganda activists to the policy work of PHR in the U.S., Depending on progress made and the political environment when the fellow is in the field, assignments and deliverables may include:

• Coordinate surveys and research of gaps in the health sector to present to policymakers: AGHA is looking to implement a new health rights monitoring tool in several districts, expand advocacy to meet the AU Summit pledge of 15% of national budgets for health, as well as possibly create a regional scorecard of health and health financing indicators. The fellow would work extensively on this kind of campaign research and mobilization;
• Analyze national policies related to health workforce, health sector funding, and women’s health, and compile policy briefs for key stakeholders in Uganda, as well as bring any lessons learned to the HAA team in the U.S. for integration into their campaigns;
• Plan and facilitate workshops which train health professionals and health consumers in human rights and advocacy, at the local and national levels;
• Interview health workers and people living with HIV/AIDS for media, web, report, and other advocacy uses, as well as work with AGHA to garner media coverage in Uganda and internationally about their work and continue to enhance AGHA’s website and web presence (see www.aghauganda.org);
• Create information, education, and communication materials to educate providers and patients on critical AIDS and health rights issues;
• Monitor U.S. and other donor-funded AIDS programs and policies in East Africa to inform our U.S. policy work, and liaise with U.S. government officials and implementing organizations on lessons learned from the field;
• Collect information about Ugandan AIDS programs, policies, and individuals’ personal experiences to be used for advocacy, policy, and communications purposes in Uganda and the U.S.; and
• Support AGHA in fundraising by taking part in internal strategic planning meetings, funding research and grant writing, as well as liaising with PHR’s development department for support and synergy.

AGHA and PHR want to ensure the Fellow’s year is as focused as possible, so while this initial list is long, both organizations will work together to create a work plan that is consistent with organizational capacity and the political reality at the time.

POLICY PLACEMENT

While in DC, the fellow will work with our HAA Campaign and Policy Department staff to bring the expertise of U.S. and Africa health professionals to key policymakers. PHR frequently convenes summits, briefings, and major policy events, as well as brings members from across the country and Africa to meet with key sectors and congressmen to educate them about global AIDS and health rights issues, all of which the Fellow would be part of. In addition, the policy team often produces white papers, fact sheets. These are just a few of the activities the Leland fellow may be part of during their policy year.

The Leland fellow will join PRH’s HAA team, and will also be an integral member of the policy department staff. They will be exposed to the DC policy environment and be a PHR liaison to critical coalitions and hill staff, and will also take part in wider campaign advocacy, organizing, media, and outreach. Through the HAA team and the wider PHR staff, the Leland fellow will be able to access expertise of communications, policy, outreach and development directors as well as from a new Chief Health Rights Officer, who will be expert in the right to health and set PHR’s agenda for this critical program, which currently includes our programs on AIDS and maternal mortality

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

PHR requires that the fellow have at minimum a bachelor’s degree, but further studies would be encouraged—public health, international development, and law degrees are all helpful, and someone with a medical or nursing degree would be an attractive candidate. The fellow should have some experience in AIDS and/or development work in Africa, and we request that s/he have spent some time in a developing country, preferably in East Africa, prior to the fellowship. Work with local organizations in East Africa is particularly relevant. An interest in the intersection between community organizing/empowerment and national policy, as well as strong, sensitive cross-cultural communication skills, is critical. Experience with global health advocacy, including advocacy and human rights training, is preferred, as the fellowship is focused on mobilizing science and research for policy action—not straight research. The fellow should have strong verbal and written communication skills, and also have strong computer skills (with database, spreadsheet, and information technology skills). PHR values attention to detail, organization, follow through, creativity and the ability to be a self starter while working cooperatively in a team environment. Photojournalism experience would also be a plus.