PHM-Exch> Release for endorsement: Kampala Declaration on cooperation and solidarity for health equity within and beyond aid

[Richa Chintan]

Subject: Release for endorsement: Kampala Declaration on cooperation and
solidarity for health equity within and beyond aid

“We believe that collective social action in solidarity as one global
community, working together to address the root causes of our struggle for
health, can transform aid into an equitable means of ensuring health
rights. This means acting out of compassion in the pursuit of justice, and
caring, listening and helping each other in a way that promotes
connectedness and equity throughout the world.”

The “Kampala Declaration on cooperation and solidarity for health equity
within and beyond aid” was released on 27 January 2020. The Declaration
outlines the ambitions of the Kampala Initiative
<https://www.medicusmundi.org/kampalainitiative/>, which was launched in
Kampala, Uganda on 16 November 2019 at the conclusion of a two-day civil
society workshop <https://www.medicusmundi.org/kampala2019/> and a
series of public
webinars <https://www.medicusmundi.org/kampalawebinars/>.



The Kampala Initiative is a civil society space and community made up of
independent, critical-thinking activists and organizations from all across
the world (including across both “northern” and “southern”
boundaries). The *Kampala
Declaration* is therefore a reference document for those who have joined
the Initiative and at the same time a means to reach out to others:



Institutions and individuals are welcome to join the Kampala Initiative by
endorsing the Declaration.

   -

   Read the Kampala Declaration: below
   -

   Kampala Declaration online: here
   <http://www.medicusmundi.org/kampaladeclaration/> (with list of
   signatories)
   -

   Sign the Kampala Declaration: online form here
   <https://forms.gle/KatetUDQhMscBfDMA>
   -

   More about the Kampala Initiative: here
   <https://www.medicusmundi.org/kampalainitiative/>

Kindly find the text of the Declaration itself at the bottom of this email.

Contact, enquiries:

   -

   Ravi Ram, PHM East and Southern Africa
   phm.esafrica at phmovement.org
   -

   Thomas Schwarz, Medicus Mundi International Network
   schwarz at medicusmundi.org


Kampala Declaration on cooperation and solidarity for health equity within
and beyond aid
Text of the Declaration

Across the world, health equity is denied, and development assistance for
health – “aid” – often reinforces the power imbalances that underlie health
inequities. The priorities of Northern donors dictate the aid agenda,
implemented by NGOs and Southern ‘partners’ they fund. These priorities
often clash with the needs and concerns of communities, governments and
civil society in many countries around the world.

The aid space is dominated by powerful interests, while the voices of those
most affected by health inequity are regularly tokenised or excluded from
the conversation. Many actors within the sector – even among communities
and civil society – do not question the underlying premise and structures
of health aid. Their own ideas and world views have been shaped by, and
for, aid and the industry that supports it. Questioning aid poses
challenges to the professions, livelihoods and sources of power for those
who work within the sector.

Furthermore, whilst health aid is important in some situations, on its own
aid can never lead to a world where all people can live healthy lives. To
do so, we must tackle the underlying root causes that create and perpetuate
poor health, including unfair trade agreements, tax injustice, the climate
crisis, the weakness of existing guidance on health assistance, the
unfettered exploitation and extraction of natural resources,
under-resourced health systems, and the politico-economic incentives that
reinforce those disease-producing forces. These social, commercial,
economic and political determinants of health have been tolerated or
ignored by aid, thereby reinforcing the health inequities that aid is meant
to resolve.

We believe that collective social action in solidarity as one global
community, working together to address the root causes of our struggle for
health, can transform aid into an equitable means of ensuring health
rights. This means acting out of compassion in the pursuit of justice, and
caring, listening and helping each other in a way that promotes
connectedness and equity throughout the world.

Through the Kampala Initiative, we commit to expose, explore, challenge and
transform health aid through dialogue, advocacy, activism and action. We
commit to build cooperation and solidarity for health, within and beyond
the practice of aid, to build a future where health justice and equity are
realised, and aid is no longer a necessity.

Specifically we will:

   - Advance a critical analysis of aid and challenge its misuse;
   - Challenge the power dynamics at the heart of aid structures;
   - Acknowledge and act upon the root causes of poor health, never
   pretending that aid is the solution;
   - Challenge damaging narratives of aid and charity where they exist;
   - Correct damaging power dynamics where they exist within our own
   organisations;
   - Collaborate in solidarity as partners in the Global South and North,
   to ensure that international health finance is grounded in social justice
   rather than neo-colonial ideas and practices.

Kampala/Geneva, 27 January 2020
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