Call for Papers: 2011 International Conference
May 31, 2011

University of Edinburg, School of Political and Social Science

‘Global Health Governance and African Health Systems: Issues, Actors, and Outcomes’

This conference therefore will explore the transnational and domestic African contexts and empirical reality of governance, ownership and coordination, as well as questions regarding the process by which health governance norms are developed and change over time. It will address such questions as: Is there a necessary trade-off between ownership and outcomes? How can funding incentives be aligned with improving health systems’ capacity, country ownership, and funding predictability? What reforms are needed for the World Health Organization (WHO) and World Bank (WB) to better realize these goals? Does the inclusion of non-state actors improve government or donor accountability? Do current funding and treatment regimes inculcate dependency at the individual or national level? What forms of agency can and do African actors – policy makers, professionals, and civil society members – exercise?

Papers for presentation may entail case studies of specific African countries (alone or in comparison), of state-international organization relations, or of alternative proposals for funding, ownership, and coordination.
For further information, please contact the conference organiser, Dr Andrew Lawrence at  Andrew.Lawrence@ed.ac.uk or by telephone +44 (0)131 650 8427

Rationale

Heightened attention to both Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) pertaining to health as well as to specific African health crises underscores the importance of strengthening state capacities and global health governance norms, as well as rethinking policies. The relationship between capacities and norms, however, is under-theorized, despite its central importance to developing health policy.

This conference therefore will explore the transnational and domestic African contexts and empirical reality of governance, ownership and coordination, as well as questions regarding the process by which health governance norms are developed and change over time. It will address such questions as: Is there a necessary trade-off between ownership and outcomes? How can funding incentives be aligned with improving health systems’ capacity, country ownership, and funding predictability? What reforms are needed for the World Health Organization (WHO) and World Bank (WB) to better realize these goals? Does the inclusion of non-state actors improve government or donor accountability? Do current funding and treatment regimes inculcate dependency at the individual or national level? What forms of agency can and do African actors – policy makers, professionals, and civil society members – exercise?

Papers for presentation may entail case studies of specific African countries (alone or in comparison), of state-international organization relations, or of alternative proposals for funding, ownership, and coordination.
For further information, please contact the conference organiser, Dr Andrew Lawrence at  Andrew.Lawrence@ed.ac.uk or by telephone +44 (0)131 650 8427

http://www.cas.ed.ac.uk/events/annual_conference/2011