The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the European Union, the Southern African Development Community and the Union of South American Nations have increasingly been involved in health diplomacy in the past decade, yet little is known about how they frame health as a foreign policy issue and how this has an impact on their prioritisation of policies. For this, we conducted a review of existing grey and peer-reviewed literature that address regional integration and health, as well as a documentary review according to security, development, trade, human rights, moral/ethical reasonings and global public goods frames identified in the literature. The policy frames identified responded to the challenges these regions currently face. The Association of Southeast Asian Nation’s struggle with re-emerging diseases has led to favouring a securitisation approach to health, the European Union approaches health as a cross-cutting policy issue, the Southern African Development Community presents health as a driver for development, and while the Union of South American Nations emphasises health as a human right and addresses the social determinants of health as an ethical imperative. Overall, these policy frames were useful in analysing the framing of health in foreign policy at the regional level. However, within our analysis, we identified a new frame that approaches health as an intersectoral issue. The impact of regional organisations’ forward will depend on their ability to harness their convening power and speak in a coherent voice on health matters.
This paper discusses the conditions that are necessary for effective regional social protection policies. Following a presentation of theoretical considerations, it empirally juxtaposes two regional organisations. These include one that is at an embryonic stage of gestation in the South (the Union of South American States or UNASUR), and another that is more advanced (the European Union or the EU). It considers three generic conditions necessary for determining the role of regional organisations in the realm of social policy. These include willingness, acceptance and capacity. To better assess these conditions, it focuses on regional health policies in the EU and UNASUR. The entities in question are selected because they are the most significant regional organisations, both in terms of membership and size, to have an express desire and an ambitious mandate to foster regional health policies. The chapter ends with a discussion of the promise of further research on regional health norms and policies. It argues that stronger social protections are needed at the regional level in tough economic times, as those likely to suffer the most are those who are the least connected to the root causes of the problems.
The revised version of the Cotonou Agreement that sanctions relations between the European Community (EC) and African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP) has been endorsed for a further five years. The new agreement contains a chronicle of changes that are significant. This research comment identifies a number of issues where novel provisions have been introduced into the text of the first agreement signed on 23 June, 2000. The new text contains innovations that relate to security, political dialogue, transparency, money and social responsibility. The security clauses include an express commitment by the partners to combat terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, as well as mercenary activities. In addition, adherence to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court is explicitly encouraged. Changes regarding political dialogue and transparency pertain to the increase in the time allotted for political consultation in the event of a serious case of violation of the articles proscribing political excesses and gross financial impropriety. In terms of development money, the list of potential beneficiaries has been widened. However, the net effect of the preceding statement may be obviated by the extensive oversight the EC Commission now has to control the use of funds. Provisions relating to structural reforms have been tempered to reflect the special needs of post-disaster stricken least developed countries. The latter reforms are equally in consonance with the partners' increasing consciousness of the fact that structural adjustment cannot be decoupled from social responsibility. In general terms, the revised Cotonou Agreement strengthens the power asymmetries in the relations.
Health governance has become multi-layered as the combined result of decentralization, regional integration and the emergence of new actors nationally and internationally. Whereas this has enhanced the installed capacity for health response worldwide, this complexity also poses serious challenges for health governance, health diplomacy and health policy-making. This article focuses on one of these challenges, namely the organization of statistical information flows at and between governance levels, and the emerging role that regional organizations play therein. Regional to national-level data flows are analyzed with the use of two case studies focusing on UNASUR (Bolivia and Paraguay) and SADC (Swaziland and Zambia). The results of the analysis lead to several policy recommendations at the regional and national levels.
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