TAKEMI PROGRAM IN INTERNATIONAL HEALTH

The Takemi Program in International Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, with the Support of the Ford Foundation, Seeks Applications for 2015-2016 Fellows from West Africa

Two Takemi Fellows annually will be supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation to contribute to leadership development and build capacity for sexual and reproductive health policy in Africa. The focal countries include Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and the Gambia; strong candidates from French-speaking West African countries can apply if they have strong English language skills.

Applicants should propose a project that relates to youth development, sexuality, reproductive health and rights, and includes a broader approach that places these issues within the overall developmental aspirations of youth. The proposal should include analysis of a critical policy problem related to youth sexuality, with the goal of developing a policy brief to identify specific actions that could be implemented upon return home.

The Takemi Program in International Health is an interdisciplinary research program that focuses on the problems of mobilizing, allocating, and maintaining limited resources to improve health. To address these issues, the program brings together at Harvard each year a small group of Takemi Fellows, mid-career professionals from around the world, with particular emphasis on participants from developing countries. The program was established in 1983 and is named after Dr. Taro Takemi, the distinguished physician- scientist who served for more than 25 years as the president of the Japan Medical Association. To date, 251 Fellows from 53 countries have been selected to participate in the Takemi Program.

The Takemi Program provides its participants with an opportunity to focus fully on their research projects, to build collaborative relationships with Faculty and researchers at Harvard, and to develop their skills and capacity as leaders and policymakers in their home countries. Ford Foundation-supported Fellows will be provided with a limited budget to cover living expenses, health insurance, travel expenses, and research and training costs.

The Takemi Program in International Health seeks mid-career professionals from West African countries, who work on youth development and sexuality, to participate in the Takemi Fellowship, which expands leadership capacity of individuals who are working on health in their home countries.

For additional information on the Takemi Program, please see the webpage:

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/takemi/

Instructions on how to submit an application are provided on the next page.

To Submit an Application to the Takemi Program

Qualifications: Applicants should have completed a graduate degree, have significant work and research experience, and have demonstrated potential leadership capacity in their home countries. They are expected to show strong promise and appropriate preparation (including facility in English) to enable them to benefit from a period at Harvard University. Further, they are expected to have made, or intend to make, a commitment to a career in health for which participation in the Takemi Program will be of significant value. Applications may come from any relevant discipline or profession (e.g., medicine, law, public health, economics, management, and social sciences).

Required Application Materials include:

             Application information sheet

             Curriculum vitae

             Publications list

             Short sample of something you have published in English

             Three letters of reference (Recommendation letters should also be sent directly by the referee to the Takemi Program by email – alevin@hsph.harvard.edu).

             Proposal of research and writing to be undertaken during the Fellowship- The proposal should not exceed five typewritten pages and should include a clear statement of objectives, significance or relevance, data sources, and methodology. The proposal should discuss how the Fellowship at Harvard will contribute to strengthening the capabilities of the applicant’s country. Please note that data should be collected and ready for analysis before arriving to the Program.

             Cover letter- Please also include a brief but specific cover letter stating what you plan to accomplish during the Fellowship (and confirming that your data will have been collected and will be ready for analysis when you arrive for the Fellowship).

             Session preference- Please indicate whether you are applying for the January-December 2015 or the August 2015- June 2016 session.

Deadlines:

Applications and proposals for the 2015 Calendar Year (January - December 2015) must be received by October 1, 2014.

Applications and proposals for the 2015-16 Academic Year (August 2015 - June 2016) must be received by March 1, 2015.

Applicants will be notified of the Program’s decision about two months after the deadline.

Please send complete applications by email to: alevin@hsph.harvard.edu

The standard application format follows this page. You can also download the application forms Takemi Program in one of the following formats:

                 Application in Word Format

                 Application in PDF Format

Oak Institute at Colby College Accepting Applications for the 2015 Oak Human Rights Fellowship

Can you think of a front-line activist in need of respite?

We are pleased to issue this call for nominations for the 2015 Oak Human Rights Fellowship, sponsored by the Oak Institute for the Study of International Human Rights at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. The fellowship is a one-semester appointment as an activist-in-residence. It is designed to provide human rights defenders doing "on-the-ground" work at some level of personal risk a respite from front-line duties to enable them to reflect, write, and communicate their work to our campus community. We are writing to ask your help in identifying the Oak Fellow for the fall of 2015.

Each year, we target our search for a human rights activist either regionally or functionally. The focus of this year's search is food sovereignty and human rights. In this call, we focus on the political, economic and environmental challenges of food production and food access by farmers, farm communities, and the rural and urban poor. Eligible candidates for this fellowship may be engaged in local efforts to combat hunger and food insecurity, national and regional efforts to ensure farmers' access to land and protection from "land-grabs," and/or global efforts for political and economic reforms to promote greater equity and justice in our increasingly globalized food systems. We ask that you help us identify candidates who are currently or were recently involved in on-the-ground activism and who are in need of respite.

The appointment is for the fall semester of 2015 (mid-August through mid-December). Responsibilities include participation in a lecture series or symposium in the fellow's area of expertise and regular interaction with Colby students through a one-credit non-graded discussion class. The College provides a stipend of $33,000, plus transportation, housing, health care coverage, and other fringe benefits. We encourage the fellow to bring family, and we will provide limited financial support for their travel as well.

In conducting our annual search, we rely heavily on nominations from NGOs, journalists, human rights lawyers, and academics --you are most likely to know of the work of on-the-ground professionals. Since your organization has been active in the field of human rights, we would like to solicit your help. Please submit nominations to us no later than November 1, 2014. We will contact your nominee(s) and suggest that he or she apply; but we also hope you will encourage your nominee to apply directly. Your nomination letter(s) will become part of the applicant's file, underscoring your recognition of this person's important contributions to human rights activism. The deadline for completed applications is December 5, 2014.

Please feel free to forward this announcement to individuals or groups that might be interested or might help us locate excellent candidates. If you prefer to have an electronic copy of this announcement with a PDF brochure, please let us know. If you have any questions, you can reach me at (207) 859-5305 or Assistant Director Amanda Cooley at oakhr@colby.edu. For more information, you can access our webpage at www.colby.edu/oak; we call your attention to the frequently asked questions section to clarify terms and eligibility. We underscore that the fellowship is for an individual who needs a break from the intensity of front line work. It is not a training program for someone at the earlier stages of human rights work; nor is it a traditional academic sabbatical. Final selection will be announced no later than April 15, 2015.

Providing Dignified Employment to the Largest Informal Sector of Working Women in India

I have had the privileged of getting to know Saket Mishra and it did not come as a surprise that he has a rich seven years of experience in healthcare marketing as a Creative Director, designing strategy, concept and ideas for pharmaceutical brands and campaigns. Saket is very keen on personal development and is constantly looking to engage in more fulfilling work for himself and for his community.

In 2009,he took a sabbatical to set up his own nonprofit that launched Maid in India. The project has been a success, raising over $15,000 in grant money, changed 250 lives and reached 1000 households. The project is making revenue of over $10 million and working towards training and employing 1000 maids by 2015.

Saket has recently been nominated for the Living Wage Innovation Challenge award. Do feel free to read more about the amazing work that Maid in India is doing and vote for Saket here http://www.innovatingjustice.com/innovations/dignified-employment-informal-sector-working-women-in-india

Below find more information about the work that this innovation attempts to address. (Adopted from the Innovative Justice Forum.)

For millions of domestic workers, we train, employ and raise their standard of living through fair labor practices

Several forms of manual labor for both men and women in India remains informal, underpaid, exploited and not recognized by the government. 85% of slum dwellers in India are informal workers, but their jobs are still not considered legitimate, leaving them without any rights, standardized wages or employment benefits.

Within the informal workers’ segment in Mumbai’s slums, there are two major specific groups:

• Women: About 48% of informal workers are women, and 85% of them are engaged in domestic work, as maids or housekeepers in apartments around their vicinity. They typically make 100 USD per month doing this work, and spend 8-10 hours per day working. We will target this population specifically within this group. Our work so far has demonstrated that we can increase their salaries by 190%.
• Men: About 20% men in the slum are engaged in construction work or informal jobs in the manufacturing sector. Out of the rest, 80% men are self-employed in low level, skill-based jobs like tailors, embroiderers, leather manipulators, bead workers etc. They earn about 120-150 USD per month, and the propensity of garment workers is higher in Muslim slums compared to Hindu slums.

Our innovation matches informal workers with employment opportunities. A surcharge levied on the employer pays for benefits for these workers. Employers in return get the guarantee and quality of a formal worker – they get replacement workers if their own domestic worker is absent from work, fair and fixed wages, as well as a new maid within 24 hours, if their domestic worker quits or is fired. Our intervention so far has been targeted at women, but our future iteration includes the men from their families and neighborhoods.

Samiksha is a maid who earned USD 68 as a teacher in a government-run primary school. With four children and no husband, she found it hard to make ends meet. The temporary nature of her job gave her no benefits, or opportunity for growth, which is typical in such job settings in India. Samiksha was recruited to be part of our training program. After completing our basic training, Samiksha was placed as a domestic worker for 4 hours. In 2 months, not only did she over-perform at this job, she was able to join 2 other households as a part-time domestic worker. She now makes over USD 200, which is higher than 95% of her neighbors and community members in her slum (average monthly income USD 110). In addition, she gets life insurance, accident insurance, health insurance and pension. She has also invested over USD 800 last year in savings schemes to support her children’s education. Many persons working in the ready-made garment sector also struggle to make ends meet and could be helped this way.

Some for-profit organizations that function, as blue-collar placement agencies do exist, but their goal is simply providing one-time placements. They do not provide any employment benefits, job security or standardization of wages or training programs.

Our approach is unique for 2 reasons - it eliminates any middlemen between employers and service providers, and it provides formal labor recognition and benefits to an otherwise informal labor force. Labor in the garment sector would also tremendously benefit from these two aspects.

In India, the garment sector is mostly comprised of embroiderers and dyers that are informally employed by designers on an ad hoc basis. By employing our model, we could formalize the relationship between the designers and these laborers, making it easy for them to charge a standardized (and fair) fee, as well as for designers to locate and engage with the most appropriate labor they need. In addition, our model would be able to provide these laborers employment benefits, so that their standard of living can incrementally improve over time, as well as relevant training in the areas of skill development, language and computer literacy, as well as basic financial management. Also, the connections with employers would make it easy to estimate market trends and needs, and create skill training programs based on that.

The biggest thrust of our program is to obtain standardized and fair wages for our maids in the first place, expanding our impact to other workers in the medium term. We not only train the maids to ensure standardized quality, but we also train them in negotiation skills, and our maids earn 190% higher wages after joining us as a result. This is possible because we also provide employers value added services, which allows our maids to command higher salaries. We have twice the demand from employers today, than maids available, so our maids always have plenty of options to choose from. In addition to salary, maids get a number of employment benefits from us, as well as job security. These allow them to meaningfully save and invest their money for their future, leading to higher wealth retention, and an overall increase in their standard of living over time.

Atlas Corps Public Webinar - Fellow Perspective Series

Friday, July 18, 2014 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM (EDT)

Atlas Corps is professional fellowship for overseas development professionals. With a network of 300 leaders spanning 60 countries, we are sharing our Fellow perspectives with the world through this webinar series. Fellows will share perspectives on critical social issues they are passionate about and the solutions they have worked on in their home countries or at their host organizations.

Talk Synopsis: Gender Based Violence - Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the 21st Century

Every 10 seconds, somewhere in the world, a little girl is a victim of female genital mutilation. Three million girls are excised every year. The scary reality is that three million girls in ten years can easily translate to thirty million young girls and women having undergone this heinous act.

Unicef estimates that 100 to 140 million women and girls alive today are affected by FGM. About half of those women are in only 3 countries: 27 million in Egypt, 23 million in Ethiopia, and 20 million in Nigeria.

This public webinar aims to address the following; what is FGM, the numbers on the wall, the geographical distribution, and the evolution and possible solutions to address the same. This will be a participatory discussion and we encourage participants to contribute to the discussion.

How to participate:

1.    Pre-reading - Please review the pre-reading document to help contextualize the discussion.  

2.    Please click here for the live webinar. During this live version, you will be able to participate in the Q&A session. If you are unable to participate in the live conversation, you can still see the webinar after the broadcast here.

3.    Please fill out this survey after your participation so we can improve the public webinar experience for you.

About the Fellows:

Kate Kiama (Kenya)  & Smiti Gahrotra (India) are both Atlas Corps Fellows who are currently serving at Nike Foundation in Portland, Oregon.

My Road to Santiago.

As many of you might know, I am a huge Paulo Coelho fan! I know at least thirty other people who would share in this exact sentiment but to be fair I am really his second biggest fan, after my aunt whom I am named after, who first introduced me to the beautiful works of Mr. Coelho in ‘The Alchemist.’

If you have not (yet) read this remarkable novel, it is about a young shepherd boy called Santiago who is on his way from Spain to Egypt to find his treasure. I have read this book at least five times now and last week I was at it again. This time I was truly in awe of a young shepherd’s bravery to leave his sheep and cross ridges and war torn desserts all in pursuit of his treasure. Not that I can be of any comparison to   young Santiago’s gallantry, but being in a far away place in the name of pursuing some little piece of my life’s puzzle really resonated with me this time more than ever!

Coming to America is really an overrated concept especially in most developing countries. I remember when I was much younger whenever I would imagine what the Promised Land would look like it always had an American imagery in it strangely! My CRE (Christian Religious Studies) teacher once described the Promised Land as one where milk and honey flowed easily and where everyone is at peace. I am still trying to figure out how my nine-year-old brain concluded this place was called America! Fast-forward to my teen years and I knew that I wanted to travel and see other places but equally surprisingly enough I had no intention of ever coming to this far West of the World! But as Karma would have it I had a months notice to pack for a year or so away…

There are a couple of things I have learnt along my road to Santiago some of which I will use analogy from the Alchemist. Firstly -It is foolish to think that you can just wake up and start your journey towards your treasure and not face any adversaries or challenges. Some of these encounters can well be mitigated but its best to over prepare in every situation and then go with the flow! Secondly- it is of paramount importance to realize this road is everyone’s but this journeys is yours and therefore do not get distracted with what others are doing or not doing. Thirdly- learn when to verbally use Urim (Yes) and Thummim (No) in everyday conversations with others. Fourthly- be present, now, this exact moment and every other day. Fifthly – Not everyone will help you get to your treasure, some people can be disruptions and you must follow your gut feeling or omen. Finally and most importantly, if you really believe in something, the universe or God (whatever you perceive HIM to be) will indeed conspire to help you get there!   

Urim and Thummim

Like Santiago, there have been moments when I really want to throw in the towel and head back to more familiar territory but after springing back from such a low-low I am glad I stuck it out. Nobody said it would be easy but it definitely worth every blood, sweat and tear!

Call for Applications: NATO Future Leaders Summit (July 22 Deadline)

The Atlantic Council is now accepting applications for the second round of its 2014 Future Leaders Summit recruitment. Exceptional leaders between 25 and 35 years of age from select NATO member and partner countries are encouraged to apply. We are currently recruiting from the United Kingdom and from countries not already represented in the 2014 Emerging Leaders Working Group. For a full list of eligible countries, please download the linked application document below. The deadline for applications is July 22, 2014.

In 2014, the United Kingdom will become the center of the political world as it hosts the NATO Summit. Heads of state and government, top diplomats, military commanders, and other international leaders will convene to make decisions that will affect the global economy and geopolitical landscape. The British government and NATO have invited the Atlantic Council to host a high-profile future leaders event alongside the official summit.

Organized in partnership with the Atlantic Treaty Association and Atlantic Council of the United Kingdom, the 2014 Future Leaders Summit will be the primary public diplomacy event of the NATO Summit and serve to connect emerging leaders from North America, Europe, and other regions with one another, the Alliance's current leaders, and a network of likeminded peers. Summit delegates will have unique access to programming inside the Celtic Manor estate, the official NATO Summit site, and opportunities to engage directly with senior Alliance leaders in attendance.
Call for Applications

Deadline: July 22, 2014 (11:59pm UTC)
This is the second round of applications for delegates to the summit, following the March 2014 call for fifteen delegates to participate in the NATO Emerging Leaders Working Group who will also attend the summit. In this round we are only selecting delegates for NATO member countries not already represented in the 2014 Working Group (please download the application document to see the complete list), along with a small number of new host country delegates from the United Kingdom. In addition, the Council believes it is important to include delegates from NATO partner nations and will review applications from exceptional NATO partner country candidates for a limited number of partner nation spots (please download the application to see the list of eligible partner nation countries).

Call for Applications: 2014 Future Leaders Summit

TWINKLE INITIATIVE.

3 ladies, who met in Campus in Nairobi, formed Twinkle Initiative early last year. These young impressionable lasses are very passionate about Women and Girls Rights issues and formed their initiative with the aim of inspiring young ladies to scale greater heights through mentorship. The acronym Twinkle stands for The Woman Is Now Knowledgeable Learned & Empowered. I soon learned that the stars of course inspired the name, and that despite their distance from the Earth, they are beautiful and together shine the world especially on a clear starry night. These young ladies aim to be the flicker of light however great or small for others such as them.

Twinkle Initiative Founders-L-R Mercy,Wambui & Sheila

The International Women’s Day under the theme’ Inspiring Change’ was celebrated by Twinkle initiative on the 29^th of March 2014.Twinkle initiative founders and some of its membership came together to have an informal discussion on the journey of the Kenyan woman and girl and how she has helped inspire change for herself and for her community.

The discussants first tackled the gains and benefits women and girls alike have achieved in the new Constitutional dispensation. Prior to even getting at the gains, it was key for the participants to mention a few oppressions or discriminations that women not to long ago faced. Some of these elements could include inability to inherit property, lack of adequate legal protection especially for single mothers, discrimination at the workplace and suppressed freedoms of movement, speech and personal liberty. It was interesting for participants to realize that as a country and community, things have significantly changed and improved but a lot still needs to be done for gender parity and equality to be realized in full.

Each participant was asked to name a lady who inspires her in various sectors in Kenya. This exercised helped the girls realize that despite all the challenges and struggles, others have made it and so can they. Identifying a woman helped the participants easily identify and feel that their dream is not at all unrealistic and that it can be attained with dedication and hard work. Some of the Kenyan role models identified included; Martha Karua, Njoki Ndungu, Wangari Maathai, Kakenya Ntaiya, Caroline Mutoko just to mention but a few. The participants were also encouraged to give a rational or to explain why they thought the named people could be considered role models. It is not surprising that many of the participants are law students and think highly of legal scholars for source of inspiration. This further buttresses the importance of Twinkle’s mentorship initiative and the impact it has on the development of young impressionable girls and young women.

The meeting took the duration of one and a half hours and participants’ were provided with drinks and refreshments. The participants knew that they may not have solved all of the challenges and come up with solutions to all possible snugs and bumps they my face but they felt alive to the fact that Twinkle Initiative has provided them with a safe space to discuss the issues they think are most important to them in a candid way and without fear o victimization or intimidation. Twinkle Initiative aims to conduct further such informal discussions with young ladies and more structured talks with teenage girls in the future.

Group Work

Many Thanks to the Twinkle Initiative Founders Sheila Wanjiru, Mercy Waweru and Wambui Ngige who made this day possible.