Dear Advocate,
Decolonizing global health has become a frequently used phrase in global health settings over the past few years – accelerated by the global outcry around the COVID-19 response, which was marked by a lack of control, resources and infrastructure in the Global South, while Global North countries held access to lifesaving vaccines, diagnostics and therapies for the novel infectious disease. AVAC has long been pursuing questions about why and how to decolonize global health, and calling for solutions, and this week we convened a series of conversations into what it means to decolonize global health, including what we’re doing at AVAC internally to hold ourselves accountable to our partners in the Global South.
This week we have convened a series of conversations into what it means to decolonize global health, including what we’re doing at AVAC internally to hold ourselves accountable to our partners in the Global South. Today, we are launching an in-depth look at how the Coalition to build Momentum, Power, Activism, Strategy & Solidarity in Africa (COMPASS), of which AVAC is a founding member, undertook a process to transform their approach to leadership and integrate power-sharing throughout their governance. In African Leadership and Global Health Advocacy: A Journey of growth, change, sustainability and success for the COMPASS Coalition, we explore the COMPASS approach that made these changes possible, the growing pains that informed the process for instituting change, and what others can learn from this experience.
This comes on the heels of The Choice Agenda webinar, Decolonizing Global Public Health: Exploring the how, from now til as long as it takes, featuring Preethi John of University College London, Bridget Malewezi of Mothers2mothers Malawi, Mareli Claassens of the University of Namibia, Jesse B. Bump of Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Julieta Kavetuna who is a Member of Namibia’s Parliament. The conversation covered how colonialism, imperialism, and other systems of oppression influenced the development and implementation of public health policies, practices, and research methodologies.
And finally, earlier this week we released the latest episode of PxPulse, Decolonizing Global Health: Dr. Madhukar Pai and COMPASS Africa Tell Us Why and How, in which Dr. Madhukar Pai, and two members of the transnational coalition COMPASS, Francis Luwole and Barbra Ncube talk about why the decisions that shape global health must be made by those facing the greatest risks.
Each of these conversations includes links to an array of resources to support your advocacy as champions in the effort to decolonize global health.
Stay tuned for more resources and conversations in the weeks and months to come.
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