The Assault on Human Rigths and the Resilience of the Andean Dream: Health Inequities in Ecuador. IV Annual Distinguished Lecture sponsored by the Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture and Health; School of Public Health; University of Michigan

The point of departure for these reflections is life, since its protection is the central purpose encouraging the defense of human rights and of public health. Life in the Andes has an exceptional diversity. Particularly in Ecuador, my country, this diversity constitutes a characteristic sign that is expressed in two main forms: natural megadiversity and multiculturalism. Indeed, Ecuador’s small territory synthesizes practically all types of lifezones that exist on Earth, having received the gift of high average rates of solar energy and abundant nutritional sources, which have facilitated the natural reproduction of countless species that show their beautiful vitality in the variety of ecosystems that compose the Andean mountain range, the tropical plains, the Amazon humid forests, and the Galapagos Islands. But besides being a highly biodiverse country, it is also a plurinational and multi-cultural society, in which the activity of human beings, organized into social conglomerates of different historical and cultural backgrounds, have formed more than a dozen nations and peoples. Regrettably this natural and human wealth has not been able to bear its best fruits due to the violent operation of a deep social inequity – unfortunately also one of the highest in the Americas—which conspires against life and is reproduced in national and international inequitable relations. This structural inequity has changed its form throughout the centuries and currently has reached its highest and most perverse level of development.

The evolution of indigenous contractors in Ghana

This paper provides some preliminary insights into the emergence and development of indigenous general contractors in Ghana. General contracting is the means by which an individual or organisation takes responsibility for supplying all of the materials, labour, equipment and services necessary for the construction of a project. Whereas the development of general contracting in places like the UK is well documented, the evolution of contractors in Ghana is not clearly articulated in the literature. Therefore, the main question in this paper is: How did indigenous contractors evolve in Ghana? To examine and analyze the research question, a literature review on similar developments elsewhere was first carried out. This was followed by discussions and unstructured interviews with experienced construction practitioners in Ghana most of whom were Quantity Surveyors. Most interviewees narrated their knowledge of contractor development in Ghana dating back to around 1945. From the explanations given, it was possible to develop a general understanding of the research question and to make a qualitative interpretation of the respondents’ comments and to draw some conclusions. General contractors emerged rapidly in the Gold Coast (now Ghana) shortly after World War II. Most were Italian master craftsmen in Ghana who were capitalized by the British colonial government to develop infrastructure in the Gold Coast following devastating effects of the war. Some of the indigenous people learned from the Italians and also established construction firms. Thus, general contracting in Ghana has a relatively short history in comparison to countries like Britain where the profession developed rapidly in the early part of the 19th century in response to the industrial revolution. Although they may possess sufficient technical expertise, many indigenous contractors in Ghana today lack the capacity to carry out major projects because of low capitalization and poor organisational structures. The current construction market in Ghana is dominated by foreign contractors. To become major players in the market, indigenous Ghanaian contractors should build strong organisational structures and pursue mergers and joint venturing to boost their financial, technical and managerial capacity.

Developing children and young people’s participation in strategic processes: the experience of the Children’s Fund Initiative

The extent of children’s and young people’s participation activities has increased considerably among statutory, voluntary and community sector organisations across the UK in recent years. The Children’s Fund, a major government initiative launched in 2000, represents a systematic drive towards promoting children and young people’s participation in planning, implementing and evaluating preventative services within all 149 local authority areas in England. Based on research carried out by the National Evaluation of the Children’s Fund, this paper explores the experience of Children’s Fund partnerships of engaging children and young people in strategic processes.

Negotiating social identities: the influence of gender, age and ethnicity on young people’s ‘Street Careers’ in Tanzania

This paper explores the diverse ways that children and young people negotiate their social identities and construct their life course trajectories on the street, based on ethnographic research with street children in Tanzania. Drawing on the concept of a ‘street career’, I show how differences of age, gender and ethnicity intersect with the time spent on the street, to influence young people’s livelihood strategies, use of public space, access to services, and adherence to cultural rites of passage. Using the notion of ‘gender performativity’, I analyse how young people actively reconfigure gender norms and the concept of ‘the family’ on the street.

Exploring homeless people’s use of outreach services: applying a social psychological perspective

A number of critiques have been published drawing attention to the gaps in research methods applied to issues surrounding homelessness and service utilisation in Britain. This paper discusses the use of social identity, a theory drawn from the field of applied social psychology, and synthesises it with the pathways model, thereby providing a framework to further explore service utilisation. The synthesised framework was used to predict the uptake of outreach services in a prospective study of 121 homeless people in a major UK city. In general, homeless people's use of intervention services was affected by the extent to which they identified with the support services themselves. The study demonstrates the central role of social identity in understanding service utilisation patterns, and shows the importance of applying fresh techniques to fine-tune our understanding of uptake in the long term.