KELIN to host a Regional dialogue on Realising Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in East Africa using the Rights-Based Approach

KELIN, in partnership with the Chr. Michelsen Institute‘s Centre on Law and Social Transformation (Bergen, Norway), Harvard University’s FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, and the Center for Health, Human Rights & Development, will host a civil society workshop and a multi-stakeholder  dialogue on realising the right to health and UHC in East Africa using the rights-based approach. The workshop and the dialogue will be held at the Windsor Hotel in Nairobi, on 11 April 2016 and 12-13 April 2016, respectively. It is financially supported by NORAD. Over 70 participants are expected to attend this meeting.

Following the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), regional cooperation in the development of legislation and policy on the right to health in East Africa, and the increasing recognition of this right in relevant settings, greater efforts are needed to ensure that all people have access to the health services that they need without suffering financial hardships. These efforts involve key actions such as engaging with stakeholders to avoid politics taking precedence over development and services; building bridges to remove gaps; and engaging meaningfully and constructively on health financing and the rights-based approach.

Building on the collaborative efforts initiated in a prior dialogue hosted by KELIN in May 2015, this meeting is aimed at mapping a way forward for achieving UHC through discourse on past experiences, service delivery, priority-setting given resource-related limitations, models of health financing to reduce out-of-pocket payments, as well as the crucial role of the human rights-based approach for achieving the right to health. The key objective of the meeting is to provide a critical opportunity for discussion among stakeholders with a view to creating a pathway to achieving UHC.

It is expected that, at the end of the dialogue, the participants will have increased their knowledge on achieving UHC using the rights-based approach. They will also have discussed and developed action plans that will help map a way forward on realising UHC at the national and regional level, while integrating a rights-based approach in planning and programming.

 

To contribute to the discussions on this forum, follow KELIN on our social media platforms: @KELINKenya using hashtag #UHCforAll

For more information contact: 
Allan Maleche

Executive Director, KELIN

Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV & AIDS (KELIN)

4th Floor, Somak Building, Mombasa Road

Tel +254202515790; Cell +254708389870;

Email: amaleche@kelinkenya.org