I have greatly enjoyed this informative discussion, thanks everyone for
participating. Marc I would like a copy of your paper as well.
Best,
Tia
*Please note I work Monday - Thursday; if you call the office on Fridays
they will give me a message and I will respond when I am back in the
office, thank you for your patience.*
<http://www.upstreampublichealth.org/>
*Tia Henderson, PhD* Research Manager at Upstream Public Health
<http://www.upstreampublichealth.org/>
tia(a)upstreampublichealth.org |office 503-284-6390 |
On Tue, Jun 17, 2014 at 12:16 AM, Salim Vohra <sal(a)publichealthbydesign.com>
wrote:
Marc,
I would be interested in reading your paper. Good discussion thank you.
Best,
Sal
Dr Salim Vohra MBChB MSc PhD
| co-Chair of the Health (HIA) Section of the International Association
for Impact Assessment|
| the international association for HIA and IA practitioners, academics
and consultants – join today at
www.iaia.org |
| Public Health By Design, Craneshaw House, Hounslow, London, TW3 1DA |
| email: sal(a)publichealthbydesign.com mobile: 00 44 7 506 165 506 |
From: "mbrenman001(a)comcast.net" <mbrenman001(a)comcast.net>
Date: Monday, 16 June 2014 12:32
To: Martin Birley <martin(a)birleyhia.co.uk>
Cc: Alex Scott-Samuel <A.Scott-Samuel(a)liverpool.ac.uk>uk>, Salim Vohra <
sal(a)publichealthbydesign.com>gt;, Ben Cave <ben.cave(a)bcahealth.co.uk>uk>, Jenny
Mindell <j.mindell(a)ucl.ac.uk>uk>, TRB Health and Transportation <
h+t--friends(a)chrispy.net>gt;, "Ben Harris-Roxas (b.harris-roxas(a)unsw.edu.au)"
<b.harris-roxas(a)unsw.edu.au>
Subject: Re: [H+T--Friends] H+T--Friends Digest, Vol 38, Issue 4 - HIA
Thanks, Martin. Many of these international principles apply in
principle but not in practice in the US; they have little or no legal
standing. Individual organizations could adopt them, and also pursue their
own visions, like the Gates Foundation. The values of a very large and
rich organization like Gates can drive international efforts. Gates has
been criticized for this; driving out other efforts.
I wonder about the effectiveness of the work of corporations "ahead of
the national government in which project is located." For example, when I
look at sixty years of humanitarian assistance in Haiti, I see almost no
progress. Organizations built medical clinics and hospitals that met no
seismic design and construction standards, even though they were on a known
earthquake zone, and consequently fell down in the big earthquake a few
years ago. This argues for inclusion of best practices from various forms
of infrastructure when HIAs are done. This could be another example of the
"silo" or "stovepipe" problem.
Another aspect from Haiti is the fact that some otherwise highminded
organizations refuse to provide contraception, family planning, and
abortion funding, services, or advice due to religious and theological
reasons. They thus perpetuate poverty and thus wipe out any progress that
may be made in another area.
A third example those medical people on this discussion know much more
about than me-- the lack of education and aid on basic sanitary services in
places like Haiti. I watch sophisticated medical services being provided,
when a shipload of 50 cent Chinese shovels and soap and instructions about
digging pit latrines away from water sources and washing hands could
accomplish more in cutting the chain of disease transmission.
A fourth example from tragic Haiti is the emphasis by some organizations
on electronic solutions to "problems," using cellphone and computer
networks, for example, when much lower tech solutions are needed.
Sorry to go on like this, but when I look at evaluation of humanitarian
operations, I see this sort of thing. If anyone is interested, I have a
paper on this subject.
Best,
Marc
------------------------------
*From: *"Martin Birley" <martin(a)birleyhia.co.uk>
*To: *"marcomcast" <mbrenman001(a)comcast.net>
*Cc: *"Alex Scott-Samuel" <A.Scott-Samuel(a)liverpool.ac.uk>uk>, "Salim
Vohra"
<sal(a)publichealthbydesign.com>om>, "Ben Cave"
<ben.cave(a)bcahealth.co.uk>uk>,
"Jenny Mindell" <j.mindell(a)ucl.ac.uk>uk>, "TRB Health and
Transportation" <
h+t--friends(a)chrispy.net>gt;, "Ben Harris-Roxas (b.harris-roxas(a)unsw.edu.au)"
<b.harris-roxas(a)unsw.edu.au>
*Sent: *Monday, June 16, 2014 12:06:42 AM
*Subject: *Re: [H+T--Friends] H+T--Friends Digest, Vol 38, Issue 4 - HIA
Marc
It would be great to have your detailed view of how the IFC PF and Equator
Principles apply in US in light of what US is and is not signatory to. Also
how well IFC addresses civil rights.
Treaties on human rights include the right to health. we have had legal
opinion in the past that this is about progressive realization and that
decisions by government that would reduce health are then in breach of
treaty obligations.
In HIA I'm usually just constructing a justified argument to a corporation
who are concerned about their reputation, social license to operate and
investment risk rating. They are usually ahead of the national government
in which project is located.
I think the IFC PS anticipates your point and expects clients to act even
when government is uninterested. It's a loan condition.
Martin
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