Posted in Press Release
EALA Speaker, Rt Hon Daniel F. Kidega is calling on Governments in the EAC to avail more resources to address existing inequalities in the region, and to enhance equity and inclusivity to spur progress.
The Speaker made the remarks at the launch of the Society for International Development (SID) State of EAC 2016 Report themed: “Consolidating Misery, the Political Economy of Inequalities in East Africa,” in Nairobi this morning. Rt Hon Kidega maintained that it was key for the economic boom been realized to translate in equal measures with income generation and employment opportunities to close the widening gaps between the haves and the have-nots and boost security for the region.
“Ideally, East Africans shall further appreciate benefits of integration when such translate into a shilling more in to their pockets. There are two issues here; one is inclusivity – which essentially refers to how underprivileged East Africans participate in income generation. The second is equity which essentially depicts share and accrual of economic benefits among all”, the Speaker said.
He remarked that delay in implementation of the Common Market Protocol was retrogressing the speed with which the region can progress saying free movement would enhance availability of opportunities and spur productivity.
The Speaker urged Governments to ensure provision of adequate shelter for its citizens.
“Government is today going the extra mile in upgrading slums and an example is found right here, a few kilometers away in the sprawling Kibra area. In Rwanda, Government has partnered with publics to eradicate the Nyakatsi Houses – proving that indeed, it can happen”, Rt Hon Kidega said.
The SID report focuses on nine sectors divided across three sectors, and economic pillar, social pillar and political pillar. The sectors include; agriculture, wages and policy (economic pillar), while the social pillar encompasses education, health, housing and shelter. Under the political pillar, the report takes an incisive look into Justice, security, discrimination and identities.
The Report presented to participants by the Deputy Director at SID, Arthur Muliro, States that the biggest task facing the state of East Africa is perhaps not so much that of pursuing economic growth, at any cost, but that of creating foundations for lasting human development in the region. Thus it states that by reinforcing the livelihoods of each individual citizen, the potential for national and regional growth will be multiplied several times over.
On institutional arrangements, the report depicts that such arrangements to the national levels are skewed in favour of the rich and powerful. “Cosmetic changes and make do adjustments are only delaying an inevitable internal crisis. The time to rethink the structure of power and the economy is now,” a section of the report states.
The report underscores the need to support local markets. It states that despite agriculture been the single largest employer in the region, its contribution to the national GDPs continue to slip further downwards. On matters health, the SID Report states that weak regulation, particularly in rural areas and lack of quality controls have resulted in poor quality health care services been offered to rural residents.
“As a result, it is not unusual to hear of situations in which the healthcare offered has resulted in additional damage to the patients,” the report reads in part. On security, the report states that Governments in the region spent close to 2 Billion dollars but the expenditures seem to count for little in terms of security for citizens of the EAC.
The report proceeds to prescribe eight areas of recourse if the region is to address inequalities. It calls for the address of barriers to trade, enhanced wages and stronger legislation to change the tide.
The Associate Director of SID, Ali Hersi, maintained that the gap of inequalities need to be closed. If inequalities continue to be consolidated, there is a strong possibility that future generations of East Africans will live worse lives than the current generations.
SID is an International think tank founded in 1957 to promote social justice and foster democratic participation in the development process. Through locally driven programmes and activities, SID strengthens collective empowerment, facilitates dialogue and knowledge sharing on people-centred development strategies and promotes policy change towards inclusiveness, equity and sustainability. SID has over 30 Chapters in more than 50 countries. In East Africa, SID publishes the State of EAC Report.
The report shall shortly be available of the EALA Website (www.eala.org) and the SID website (www.sidint.net)
Posted in Press Release
East African Community Partner States have been asked to invest more money in specialized skills of their health workforce.
The EAC Deputy Secretary General (Productive and Social Sectors), Hon. Jesca Eriyo, said increased investment would enable the Partner States to effectively narrow the historical gaps in the health workforce and predictively address future needs.
Hon. Eriyo was addressing delegates from the five Partner States when she officially opened the 1st EAC Regional Meeting on the Operationalization of “The Multi-National EAC Regional Centres of Excellence for Skills and Tertiary Education in Higher Medical and Health Sciences, Treatment and Research Programme” at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
The five Centres of Excellence by location in the Partner States are the: EAC Regional Kidney Institute (Kenya); EAC Regional Heart Institute (Tanzania); EAC Regional Cancer Centre (Uganda); EAC Regional Nutritional Sciences Institute (Burundi), and; EAC Regional Centre of Excellence in Biomedical Engineering, eHealth and Health Rehabilitation Sciences (Rwanda).
Hon. Eriyo said the region now needs to quickly and effectively operationalize the various EAC Centres of Excellence to address the existing gaps in human resources for health including: inadequate numbers and quality of faculty; insufficient and low quality teaching, treatment and research infrastructure, equipment and facilities; inadequate incorporation of research evidence into training programmes, and; inadequate number and mix of highly skilled specialists in service delivery points and research.
The EAC officials said the Centres of Excellence provide the Community with an opportunity to better confront the unusual burden of disease being faced by its populations, namely: communicable diseases, nutritional, and maternal and child health complications; rise in incidences of non-communicable diseases, and; the spread in diseases associated with globalization and changing ecosystems, for instance, pandemics.
She said synergy among the Partner States would enable the region to attain the right mix in the numbers and skills of the health workforce.
“Working synergistically as a united region will help us to better harness human resources and capabilities in the Partner States and relevant EAC Organs and Institutions. The Centres will benefit from and contribute towards the ongoing regional efforts to harmonize training, practice and licensing of health professionals as well as other aspects of the EAC Common Market Protocol including the free movement of professionals and services,” said Hon. Eriyo.
Speaking at the forum, Dr. Caroline Jehu-Appiah, Principal Economist at the African Development Bank (AfDB), said the project was a testimony of the Bank’s continuous cooperation with regional economic communities and the Governments of Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania in many development sectors including Health, Education and Social Protection.
“The overall objective of the project is to address shortages in highly skilled professionals in biomedical specialties to enhance East Africa’s competitiveness. The project’s Phase 1 will support creation of a network of Centres of Excellence in biomedical sciences and engineering – Nephrology and Urology in Kenya, Oncology in Uganda, Cardiology in Tanzania and Biomedical Engineering and eHealth in Rwanda,” said Dr. Jehu-Appiah.
The AfDB official said the second objective of the project was to support the EAC provide overall project coordination, develop regional protocols, undertake labour market analysis and hold annual fora in the target countries.
“Whereas we are more or less on track with the establishment of the centres of excellence in the four beneficiary countries, we have not moved forward at all with the regional integration component of this project. It is for this reason this project was convened, bringing executing agencies and Project Coordination Units to work out the modalities for the implementation of the regional integration component,” she said.