Socio-Economic Rights Project (SERP)
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The Socio-Economic Rights Project, which focuses on the realization of the socio-economic rights of groups and communities living in poverty.
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Browsing by Author "Agaba, Daphine Kabagambe"
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Item Contribution of the health Ombud to accountability: The life Esidimeni tragedy in South Africa(Health and Human Rights Journal, 2018) Durojaye, Ebenezer; Agaba, Daphine KabagambeBetween October 2015 and June 2016, 1,711 people were relocated from mental health facilities operated by long-term provider Life Esidimeni in the South African province of Gauteng to alternative facilities managed by multiple nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The result of the change in providers, and the manner in which the transfers were managed, became a tragedy that culminated in the death of 144 mental health care patients and the exposure of 1,418 others to torture, trauma, and poor health outcomes. The state was unable to ascertain the whereabouts of a further 44 patients. The tragedy began in October 2015, when the then member of the Executive Council for health in the populous Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg and Pretoria, announced the termination of a 40-year contract between the Department of Health and Life Esidimeni for the provision of mental health services. The NGO facilities to which the patients were transferred were ill prepared and ill equipped for the influx of patients. The tragedy drew further public attention in September 2016, when, responding to a question raised in Parliament, the member of the Executive Council for health said that about 36 former residents of Life Esidimeni had died under mysterious circumstances following their transfers. South Africa’s minister of health then requested that the newly established Office of the Health Ombud investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths of mentally ill patients and advise on the way forward.Item Implementing legal accountability to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity in Uganda(African Human Rights Law Journal, 2018) Agaba, Daphine KabagambeAccountability is a vital human rights principle to address preventable maternal morbidity and mortality in Uganda. The continuous use of ‘accountability’ as a term without elaborating on it gets in the way of using its underlying principles to improve laws and policies. The implementation of legal accountability requires creating avenues through which women whose maternal health rights have been violated may access legal remedies. The existence of adequate legal remedies is vital not only for redressing violations of rights but also for identifying and proposing strategies towards addressing the bottlenecks in health systems. Courts of law are principal judicial mechanisms and, therefore, it is incumbent upon courts to expand rather than limit maternal healthrelated rights. The Uganda Human Rights Commission is another body which is empowered with a protective and promotional mandate that should be used to promote and protect reproductive health rights. It is further emphasised that accountability is not a tool to be understood and interpreted only by legal practitioners. Rather, various forms of accountability, including social and administrative forms, are vital for complementing legal accountability in reducing preventable maternal mortality and morbidity.Item 'Jumping the queue', waiting lists and other myths : perceptions and practice around housing demand and allocation in South Africa(ESR Review : Economic and Social Rights in South Africa, 2014) Assim, Usang Maria; Agaba, Daphine KabagambeOn 13 and 18 June 2014, the Socio-Economic Rights Project of the Community Law Centre, University of the Western Cape, held roundtable discussions in Cape Town and Johannesburg on housing demand and allocation in South Africa.