Thursday 29 September 2011

World Conference on Social Determinants of Health





Discussion Paper  

WHO site to download report

    

Closing the gap: Policy into practice on social determinants of health

The Discussion Paper will inform proceedings at the World Conference on Social Determinants of Health about how countries can implement action on social determinants of health, including the recommendations of the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health.
It does not provide a blueprint, but instead lays out the key components that all countries need to integrate in implementing a social determinants approach. The paper aims to show that, in all countries, it is possible to put policy into practice on social determinants of health to improve health and well-being, reduce health inequities and promote development.
The final version of the Discussion Paper was developed following extensive consultation with Member States, academia, civil society, other UN agencies and within the WHO Conference Secretariat itself. A public web consultation was undertaken in May and June 2011, with almost 200 submissions received.
The WHO Conference Secretariat would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who contributed to the development of the document.
The final version of the Discussion Paper will also be available in Portuguese shortly

Tuesday 27 September 2011

Disability in the Global South - Special Issue of TWQ


Third World Quarterly, Vol. 32, No. 8, 01 Sep 2011 is now available online on Taylor & Francis Online.
This new issue contains the following articles:
Articles
Southern Bodies and Disability: re-thinking concepts
Raewyn Connell
Pages: 1369-1381
DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2011.614799

Human Rights and the Global South: the case of disability
Helen Meekosha & Karen Soldatic
Pages: 1383-1397
DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2011.614800

Embodiment and Emotion in Sierra Leone
Maria Berghs
Pages: 1399-1417
DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2011.604515

Fostering Deaf People's Empowerment: the Cameroonian deaf community and epistemological equity
Goedele Am De Clerck
Pages: 1419-1435
DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2011.604516

Care, Disability and HIV in Africa: diverging or interconnected concepts and practices?
Ruth Evans & Agnes Atim
Pages: 1437-1454
DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2011.604517

Geodisability Knowledge Production and International Norms: a Sri Lankan case study
Fiona Kumari Campbell
Pages: 1455-1474
DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2011.604518

The Lived Experience of Families Living with Spinal Cord Disability inNortheast Thailand
Julie A King & Mark J King
Pages: 1475-1491
DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2011.614801

Disability and Poverty: the need for a more nuanced understanding of implications for development policy and practice
Nora Groce, Maria Kett, Raymond Lang & Jean-Francois Trani
Pages: 1493-1513
DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2011.604520

Including Deaf Children in Primary Schools in Bushenyi, Uganda: a community-based initiative
Susie Miles, Lorraine Wapling & Julia Beart
Pages: 1515-1525
DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2011.604523

Disability and Humanitarianism in Refugee Camps: the case for a travelling supranational disability praxis
Mansha Mirza
Pages: 1527-1536
DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2011.604524

Review Article
Poverty and Disability in the Global South
Janaka Biyanwila
Pages: 1537-1540
DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2011.604525

Monday 26 September 2011

UCL Symposium: Prospects for Economic and Social Human Rights Country Indicators 14 October


UCL's Institute for Human Rights is pleased to announce an international symposium on Prospects for Economic and Social Human Rights Country Indicators, on Friday 14th October. (Apologies for cross posting).

ABOUT THE EVENT
Can we develop accurate and useful indicators for economic and social human rights? Can we score countries on their economic and social rights achievements? What would be the requisites and aims of an economic and social rights dataset? What kind of international questions would such a dataset inform?

The implementation of human rights standards in different societies implies that we can make judgements about the observance of human rights obligations by states. Such judgements, however, have to be made on the basis of more than the declarations of governments or even their legal
commitments. It must be possible both to describe and prescribe institutional and policy measures that constitute clear observance of these obligations. Whilst some significant work has been done to develop civil and political rights indicators, scoring the human rights performance of specific territories, not enough work has been done outlining and defining indicators for economic and social human rights.
This symposium - part of the Institute for Human Rights's Pentland Symposia series - brings together leading experts in the field to discuss past and current initiatives and desiderata for an economic and social human rights dataset.

PROGRAMME
Registration from 9am, the Symposium will begin at 9:30am. The Symposium will be followed by an informal reception.

9.30-10.15 - Prof. Todd Landman (Essex): Economic and Social Rights Indicators and
Problems
10.15-10.30 Coffee Break

10.30-12:00 - Panel discussion: Current Measures on ES Indicators — Polly Vizard,
Todd Landman and David Cingranelli (Chair: Saladin Meckled-Garcia)
12.00 – 13.30 -Lunch Break
13:30-15:00 - Rod Abouharb: Economic rights, child mortality and development
indicators; Imdra de Soyza : Empirically assessing the societal effectiveness of bilateral aid
15.00 – 15.15 Coffee Break
15:15-17:15 - Prof. David Cingranelli followed by plenary discussion—Prospects for
the future of Economic and Social Rights Indicator Sets
17.30 – 19.00 - Reception

SPEAKER LIST
Professor Todd Landman (University of Essex)
Dr Polly Vizard (LSE)
Professor David Cingranelli (University of Binghamton)
Dr Rodwan Abouharb (UCL)
Professor Indra de Soyza (Norwegian University of Science and Technology)
Dr Saladin Meckled-Garcia (UCL)

TO BOOK:
http://economicsocialrightsindicators.eventbrite.com/
If you have any further queries about the event please contact Saladin Meckled-Garcia (s.meckled-garcia@ucl.ac.uk)

Tuesday 20 September 2011

Public-Private Partnership and User Fees in Healthcare: Evidence from West Bengal


    Public-Private Partnership and User Fees in Healthcare: Evidence from West Bengal

    Bijoya Roy , Siddharta Gupta
    Issue : VOL 46 No. 38 September 17 - September 23, 2011

    Increasing cost of medical care has emerged as the second biggest cause of rural indebtedness in India. A user fee at the point of service delivery is now common even at the basic primary healthcare level. Focusing on rural hospitals in West Bengal, this article examines the structure of user fees and compares it across a set of basic diagnostic services delivered by public sector healthcare institutions, public-private partnerships and the private sector. Revised user charges, and a restrictive exemption and waiver policy under the PPP framework has produced exclusionary effects in the primary healthcare system in the state.

Thursday 15 September 2011

Infographic Video: Kiva's Incredible Global Web Of Microfinance


Intercontinental Ballistic Microfinance from Kiva on Vimeo.



After five years, the microlending service has made some amazing worldwide connections.
In 2008 I received a gift certificate to the microlending site Kiva as a Christmas gift. I had $50 to loan to one of thousands of small businesses located all over the world. After researching my options--I knew I wanted to give to a woman who worked as an artisan--I loaned money to Balqees Nadime, a mother of two living in Pakistan who runs an embroidery company. About a year letter, I got an email from Balqees, thanking me for my contribution, and reporting that she had indeed repaid the loan, which she used to buy embroidery materials and supplies that bolstered her business.* The money magically appeared once again in my Kiva account. This simple exchange from one side of the planet to another absolutely floored me.
My little transaction was one of $241 million in loans which the microfinance site has enabled since 2005. And as Kiva celebrates itsfifth anniversary, they've created an astounding visualization showing those global interactions.

Those tiny moving points crisscrossing the earth represent the loans granted by more than 620,000 lenders to 615,000 borrowers. Loans are color-coded by type, depending on the type of business (agriculture, health), and eventually explode into all-out fireworks of giving, with money flooding back to its origins.

Most fascinating is watching the geographic expansion of Kiva's influence. The first seven loans go to Africa, where the program was established in 2005. Most loans come from the east and west coasts of the U.S. until the project is featured on Frontline, and growth becomes exponential. Also look for a change in the flow of funds in 2009, when Kiva began facilitating loans to U.S. borrowers. Another fascinating data set shows how most loans migrate from north to south.

What will be exceptionally interesting is seeing how this visualization evolves over the next five years. If the trends continue, the locations will become more and more remote, and the interconnections between lender and borrower will grow more dense and complex as money is repaid from one loan and reinvested in a different corner of the planet. In fact, as I was checking my Kiva history today, I realized I had a balance in my account. I took $25 and lended it to a food co-op... in Paraguay.

*Whether or not your money actually goes to an individual person that you designate is a source of controversy, and some questions have been raised about whether the loans are for long-term projects that indeed "change lives." But the flow of money is not in question.--Ed.

ALISSA WALKER

Alissa is a design writer for publications like Fast Company, GOOD and Dwell who can most often be found in Los Angeles. She likes to walk, ride the bus, and eat gelato. You c... Read more
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Tuesday 13 September 2011

Fake drugs: a global overdose - France 24 news





France 24

By Mairead DUNDAS
Globalisation and the e-commerce explosion have revolutionised the way fake drugs arrive in Europe. Since its creation in 1998, Viagra became the most counterfeited drug in the world. We head to the French border with Switzerland, where customs officials have been tracking the famous little blue pill.
Next, an undercover report in China reveals how fake drugs are being sold in real pharmacies. Our correspondents in Beijing follow an activist who spends his days trying to expose this highly sophisticated market.

And finally, we take a look at high-tech solutions to counter the illegal trade. Ghana benefits from a detection system, using just a barcode and a mobile phone.

Amnesty Int'l: Sierra Leone: Pregnant women still denied lifesaving medical care


Notes to Editors
    · In April 2010 the Sierra Leone government launched its “Free health care initiative” for pregnant women, lactating mothers and children under 5 at all government-run facilities.
    · This report is issued as part of Amnesty International’s ongoing campaign to ensure that women and girls living in Sierra Leone are able to realise their maternal health and sexual and reproductive rights.
    · This work is also part of Amnesty International’s global Demand Dignity campaign, launched in 2009.  This campaign aims to expose and combat the human rights violations that drive and deepen poverty.
    · Through its work on this issue Amnesty International promotes the empowerment of women and girls and the removal of barriers to the realization of their sexual, reproductive and maternal health rights. For more information visit www.amnesty.org/demand-dignity .
6 September 2011

Sierra Leone: Pregnant women still denied lifesaving medical care

More than a year after the launch of the Free Health Care Initiative, pregnant women and girls in Sierra Leone continue to face serious challenges in accessing the drugs and medical care crucial for safe pregnancy and childbirth, Amnesty International said today.

Under the Initiative, all pregnant women and lactating mothers should receive free treatment at government-run health facilities. However, a new Amnesty International report, At a Crossroads: Sierra Leone’s Free Health Care Policy , reveals that many of these women are being asked to pay for drugs, which they cannot afford.

“The health care system remains dysfunctional in many respects.”  said Erwin van der Borght, Amnesty International’s Africa program director.

“Government figures show that since the introduction of the Initiative, more women are accessing antenatal care and delivering their babies in health facilities. However, many women continue to pay for essential drugs, despite the free health care policy, and women and girls living in poverty continue to have limited access to essential care in pregnancy and childbirth.”

The government of Sierra Leone has introduced some initiatives to address these challenges. These include steps to increase women's access to health services, increasing the pay of health workers and providing those workers with additional training. However, much remains to be done.

“A critical shortcoming within the healthcare system is the absence of any effective monitoring and accountability systems, without which reforms cannot succeed,” said Erwin van der Borght.

The existing processes are poorly resourced and focus on reviewing individual facilities rather than on monitoring the obstacles women face in accessing services. There are no effective complaint mechanisms available to women and girls when their human rights are denied.

A 23-year old woman who had just given birth told Amnesty International:

“My baby was crying a lot and had a fever. Hospital had no drugs for him. Need to pay money. They chased me away. I don’t know how to complain.”  

Monitoring and accountability are vital to the realization of the right to health. An effective framework of monitoring and accountability serves as the basis for promoting changes which allow women and girls to enjoy their right to maternal health and give birth more safely.

“The government has taken some important steps to address these challenges. However, deficiencies in the monitoring and accountability system allow poor practice and mismanagement to go unchallenged, and have provided some people with opportunities to exploit the system and plunder valuable medicines,” said Erwin van der Borght.

Amnesty International welcomes the positive response received from the Ministry of Health and Sanitation on sharing this report with them, but the planned reforms must be translated into action.

Amnesty International is calling on the Sierra Leone government to strengthen and establish systems of monitoring and accountability to ensure health care interventions are accessible to women and girls and to guarantee their access to effective remedies for violations of their human rights.

Friday 9 September 2011

European review of social determinants of health and the health divide

25 August, 2011 - The second interim report on the 'European review of social determinants of health and the health divide' has now been released. Drafted by a team based at University College London and led by Sir Michael Marmot, the report will be discussed during the upcoming Meeting of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe in Baku, Azerbaijan on 12-15 September, 2011. In the WHO European Region, average life expectancy differs between countries by 20 years for men and 12 years for women. In 2010, under the leadership of Zsuzsanna Jakab, the Regional Office put social determinants at the centre of its revitalized public health agenda. The European Review will inform the new health policy framework for the European Region as will a companion study on governance for health in the 21st century.                           link to report on WHO site

Religious response to HIV/AIDS - Special journal issue


Global Public Health, Vol. 6, No. sup2, 01 Oct 2011 is now available online on Taylor & Francis Online.
This new issue contains the following articles:
Introduction
Religious responses to HIV and AIDS: Understanding the role of religious cultures and institutions in confronting the epidemic
Miguel Muñoz-Laboy, Jonathan Garcia, Joyce Moon-Howard, Patrick A. Wilson & Richard Parker
Pages: S127-S131
DOI: 10.1080/17441692.2011.602703

Articles
AIDS, religious enthusiasm and spiritual insecurity in Africa
Adam Ashforth
Pages: S132-S147
DOI: 10.1080/17441692.2011.602702

Fighting down the scourge, building up the church: Organisational constraints in religious involvement with HIV/AIDS in Mozambique
Victor Agadjanian & Cecilia Menjívar
Pages: S148-S162
DOI: 10.1080/17441692.2011.598869

Pentecostalism and AIDS treatment in Mozambique: Creating new approaches to HIV prevention through anti-retroviral therapy
James Pfeiffer
Pages: S163-S173
DOI: 10.1080/17441692.2011.605067

Free love: A case study of church-run home-based caregivers in a high vulnerability setting
Robin Root & Arnau van Wyngaard
Pages: S174-S191
DOI: 10.1080/17441692.2011.581675

Conflicts between conservative Christian institutions and secular groups in sub-Saharan Africa: Ideological discourses on sexualities, reproduction and HIV/AIDS
Joanne E. Mantell, Jacqueline Correale, Jessica Adams-Skinner & Zena A. Stein
Pages: S192-S209
DOI: 10.1080/17441692.2011.604039

Civic/sanctuary orientation and HIV involvement among Chinese immigrant religious institutions in New York City
John J. Chin, Min Ying Li, Ezer Kang, Elana Behar & Po Chun Chen
Pages: S210-S226
DOI: 10.1080/17441692.2011.595728

Ideologies of Black churches in New York City and the public health crisis of HIV among Black men who have sex with men
Patrick A. Wilson, Natalie M. Wittlin, Miguel Muñoz-Laboy & Richard Parker
Pages: S227-S242
DOI: 10.1080/17441692.2011.605068

Vulnerable salvation: Evangelical Protestant leaders and institutions, drug use and HIV and AIDS in the urban periphery of Rio de Janeiro
Jonathan Garcia, Miguel Muñoz-Laboy & Richard Parker
Pages: S243-S256
DOI: 10.1080/17441692.2011.562217

Blood, sweat and semen: The economy of axé and the response of Afro-Brazilian religions to HIV and AIDS in Recife
Luis Felipe Rios, Cinthia Oliveira, Jonathan Garcia, Miguel Muñoz-Laboy, Laura Murray & Richard Parker
Pages: S257-S270
DOI: 10.1080/17441692.2011.604040

A time for dogma, a time for the Bible, a time for condoms: Building a Catholic theology of prevention in the face of public health policies at Casa Fonte Colombo in Porto Alegre, Brazil
Fernando Seffner, Jonathan Garcia, Miguel Muñoz-Laboy & Richard Parker
Pages: S271-S283
DOI: 10.1080/17441692.2011.602701

Monday 5 September 2011

Lodon lecture - epidemiology for the bottom billion 9 Sept


London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
19th Annual Pumphandle Lecture
Thursday - 8th September - 5:15 pm - John Snow A+B
Prof Hans Rosling
(Karolinska Institute and Gapminder Foundation)
Epidemiology for the bottom billion:
where there is not even a pump handle to remove !
To be followed by the John Snow Society's AGM at the John Snow Public House in Soho  - All welcome
(If you don't know about this speaker - look at WWW.Gapminder.org)

Friday 2 September 2011

The Progress of Science - Kuhn Anniversary Conference


*********************************************************************
5th Sydney-Tilburg conference on
THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE
Tilburg Center for Logic and Philosophy of Science
25-27 April 2012
*********************************************************************
This year is the 50th anniversary of Thomas S. Kuhn’s seminal book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, which forcefully questioned the idea that science makes steady, rational progress towards truth. After half a century his challenge is everything but outdated. Look at the failure of economic science in the financial crisis, or the fierce debate about whether string theory is just a mathematical gimmick, unable to connect to empirical data. At the same time, however, the scientific enterprise appears to be more dynamic than ever, with an explosion of publications and new subdisciplines emerging by almost the hour. Philosophy of science has changed too. The abstract account of ‘method’ which Kuhn criticized have been replaced by efforts to model how science proceeds, exploring, for example the epistemic benefits and drawbacks of division of scientific labor. What is more, scientometric data and a wealth of case studies are readily available to empirically test theses about what progress in science means today. In this conference, will revisit this classical question in the philosophy of science in the light of current developments and invite contributions on both historical and systematic aspects of the progress of science. We particularly encourage work on progress in the special sciences, the emergence of new disciplines, and empirically informed reassessments of classical positions. 

We invite submissions of extended abstracts of 1000 to 1500 words by 15 November 2011. Decisions will be made by 15 December 2011.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: Heather Douglas (Waterloo), Paul Hoyningen-Huene (Hannover), Theo Kuipers (Groningen), and Michael Weisberg (Philadelphia)

ORGANIZERS: Mark Colyvan (Sydney), Paul Griffiths (Sydney), Stephan Hartmann (Tilburg), and Jan Sprenger (Tilburg) 

PUBLICATION: We plan to publish selected papers presented at the conference in a special issue of a journal or with a major a book publisher (subject to the usual refereeing process). The submission deadline is 1 July 2012. The maximal paper length is 7000 words.

GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS: A few travel bursaries for graduate students are available (up to 200 Euro). If you wish to be considered please submit a CV and a travel budget in addition to your extended abstract.
The conference language is English.

Thursday 1 September 2011

12 PhD studentships for Bloomsbury Colleges /Int'l development


MEMO

To:      All Staff @ Birkbeck, Institute of Education, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Royal Veterinary College, School of Pharmacy, School of Oriental & African Studies.

From: The Bloomsbury Colleges Research Committee
Date:   1 September 2011
Re:      Bloomsbury Colleges PhD Studentships for 2012
The Bloomsbury Colleges Consortium has six member institutions from the University of London: Birkbeck, Institute of Education, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Royal Veterinary College, School of Oriental and African Studies and The School of Pharmacy. Together they are identifying and pursuing opportunities for academic and administrative collaboration.

Twelve 3-year PhD studentships are available for intercollegiate research collaborations to start October 2012. These studentships entail collaboration between at least two Bloomsbury Colleges, and each participating College will be the lead (i.e., principal supervisor and registration base for the students) for two such collaborations.  For all colleges, the studentships will cover fees at the home/EU rate and maintenance at the level recommended by the Research Councils.  Applicants from non-EU countries will be required to meet the additional costs of overseas fees from other sources.  All studentships will be managed in line with the current good practices of all member Colleges.

This formal call for proposals from academic staff within the Bloomsbury Colleges has a deadline for submission of 17th October 2011.  Each School/College will screen proposals where the lead applicant is based in that institution, and select a maximum of 5 applications for forwarding to the Bloomsbury Colleges Research Committee for consideration at a meeting scheduled for 11th November (i.e., the Committee will receive a maximum of 30 applications).  The Committee will select 12 applications, and successful applicants will be notified by 18th November at the latest.  The studentships will be advertised on The Bloomsbury Colleges website before the Christmas break 2011 and placed in a selection of high profile journals in January 2012, with interviews and the selection process taking place during February to March 2012.  The students will start their courses in October 2012. 

Although a number of criteria* will be used in the selection process, it is important to note that applicants must convince the Committee that the studentship will foster new and sustainable research collaboration between the partner colleges.

The timetable for this process is summarized in the accompanying page. Please contact tbc@bloomsbury.ac.uk with any enquiries.

Applications should be submitted by the lead applicant to the corresponding receiver in their institution:
Berni Widemann             berni.widemann@pharmacy.ac.uk
Dean of Studies Office   dean_of_studies_office@lshtm.ac.uk
Kathryn Oatey                ko12@soas.ac.uk
Liz Wilkinson                   lwilkinson@rvc.ac.uk
Trevor Pearce                 t.pearce@bbk.ac.uk
Kate Gerrard                   k.gerrard@ioe.ac.uk
Professor David Thurston
Chair, Bloomsbury Colleges Research Committee


* Criteria for selection process are as follows:

1.    Strengthens new/blossoming Bloomsbury College collaboration
2.    Broadens range of existing studentship collaborations (eg in terms of college partnerships, subjects covered)
3.    Academic merit of the proposal, including realistic scope of the project for a 3 year PhD
4.    Security of funding to undertake the project (eg for data collection and consumables) - to avoid risk of delay or non-completion of project because of funding shortfall
5.    Strong track record and evidence of supervision capacity of lead supervisor
6.    Evidence of awareness of college supervision requirements and procedures (eg advisory panel, timing of upgrade).
7.    View for International Development

UNICEF Florence Innocenti Research Fellowships (10 Sept deadline)

The UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre (IRC) is pleased to announce the launch of its visiting fellowship programme. The target group for the programme is young researchers below 40 years of age, and holders of an advanced degree in a relevant area to IRC research. Interested candidates are encouraged to complete and submit their application by 10 September 2011. Information on the programme and eligibility requirements is listed below, and also on the IRC website at: http://www.unicef-irc.org/aboutIRC/vacancies.html

We would be grateful if you would kindly help us share this information with potential candidates.

Research Opportunities:

The Innocenti Research Centre (IRC) of UNICEF in Florence (Italy) invites young researchers to submit proposals for visiting fellowships in research areas related to UNICEF’s mission and to the research agenda of the IRC. If selected, the young researchers will be invited to join IRC in Florence for a period of 3 to 6 months between 1 October 2011 and 31 March 2012. The visiting fellows will receive a stipend of Euro 3.000 per month intended to cover the costs of their stay in Florence. One round trip ticket from the place of residence to Florence in economy class will be paid by IRC. The Centre may contribute to the additional research costs for the projects, covering travel, data collection, conference participation and other research related costs. The maximum amount of the research costs covered shall not be higher than the total cost of the personal stipend over the contractual period.

The visiting fellows are expected to work on the research project they have submitted leading to research output in the form of an analytical paper, a report or another output to be agreed upon at the acceptance of the proposal. The visiting fellows are equally expected to participate in the scholarly activities of the research centre, such as seminars, discussions and workshops.

Research Areas:

UNICEF globally is seeking to better understand the policy and programming implications of an “equity” approach to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to development more broadly. Its work is guided by the Convention of the Rights of the Child and human rights approaches to children and young people.

The current research agenda of IRC includes research activities in the following main areas:

- Measuring (theory and practice) of child well-being: overall and in its separate aspects in rich- , middle income- and low income-countries; multidimensional poverty and deprivation analysis;
- Understanding the impact of social protection on the lives (well-being) of children in rich- , middle income- and low income-countries;
- The role of education in reaching the most excluded children in middle-income and poor countries;
- The impact of (international and internal) migration on children when left behind by their parents and when migrating with their parent(s); the impact of forced migration on children due to “land grabbing”;
- Early childhood development and its contribution to outcomes for children in later life
- The impact of crises, and malnutrition and policy resources;
- Systems of child protection;
- New challenges to urban children
- The impact of changes in social norms on the level of protection for children.

The research agenda of the IRC is indicative: it does not limit the areas for which proposals can be made. IRC will consider new areas fitting the global mandate of UNICEF.

The Research Proposal:

Applicants are expected to submit a research proposal in English of not more than 3,000 words (list of references to be added separately). The proposal should include:
- A title and an abstract (including the author name)
- A research question and sub-questions;
- An assessment of the prior studies that addressed these questions and the intended contribution to be made by the proposed research project;
- A description of the methodology to be used, including eventually a description of the data to be used in the research, an assessment on the availability of the data or the procedure to collect or obtain them;
- A research plan with a timeline and a description of the end-product of the research;
- The names of two (2) researchers who are seen as leading scholars in the field of the research question(s);
- A budget is needed if specific research costs are going to be encountered. (There is no need to specify a budget for presentation of the study at conferences or for the fellowship itself);
- An indication of the person's availability for accepting the fellowship over the period 1 October 2011 – 31 March 2012.

Applicants are requested to complete and electronically submit the United Nations Personal History (P11) form available at
http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/P11.doc simultaneously with the research proposal and a short letter of motivation. No application will be considered if all documents are not submitted before the deadline. The proposals should be submitted no later than 10 September 2011.
The Applicants:

The fellowships are open to researchers not older than 40 years at the start of the fellowship who have an advanced degree (preferably a PhD) in a field relevant to the research proposal. The applicants should be available to be (nearly) full-time in Florence for the period for which they have accepted the fellowship, and should have no other major obligations during that period.

The IRC especially (but not exclusively) welcomes proposals from applicants originating in middle- or low-income countries.

The Procedure:

The deadline for submitting the research proposal is
10 September 2011. The proposals should be submitted electronically only to the following email address: florencerecruitment@unicef.org (quoting “Research Fellowship IRC” ).
Any queries related to the fellowship should be directed to the same email address, and will be directed to the appropriate staff at IRC.