2 hours 30 minutes

Aims

To help us to:

• Reflect on building health movements for health in South Africa and Africa, observing context challenges and what this means for activists.
• Lead a conversation on learning what can be done in building movements for health equity.
• Recognise the political context and challenges in building or mobilising movements for health.
• Deepen our thinking on the conceptualisation of our SCIs and to strengthen our collective agency to affect social change.

Task 1
Group work: What do Fellows know about these health organisations today?

(30 minutes)

You’ll remember that as Pre-Module Work (sent by email and on the pages in this Fellows Guide immediately following the module week plan), we tasked you to do your own research on movements and organisations campaigning for health equity that are active in South Africa. We provided short overviews of four organisations and links to their websites. We encouraged you to also look at local campaigning organisations or formations for health that you are aware of, and bring overviews of them into this session. We asked that you frame your research to find out a) what motivated the birth of this movement or organisation; b) how the political context shaped its approach to movement building; c) what the key lessons are for activists for social change; and d) what lessons you could draw as an activist for health equity. 

We will start in small groups as we move towards our Town Hall Meeting. Together, we’ll sum up our combined research by answering these key questions: 

1. What is your understanding of a health movement or campaigning organisation, and what stood out for you?
2. What questions or comments do you have for any or all of the organisations? 
3. What do you think all of this means for your SCIs?

Task 2
Plenary: Town Hall Meeting of activists and health organisations and movements on leadership in the current context

(2 hours) 

This session will take the format of a chaired Town Hall Meeting. A Fellow will have committed to chairing and will guide the meeting to grapple vibrantly. 

Chatham House Rules: We will apply this code for this meeting, so that it can be an honest, self-critical while safe space for all to engage. This means that in sum, the conversation that we have in this time with the organisations and movements is a closed and sacred space where nothing may be said outside of or after this meeting in any context, by quoting an individual. One may speak about issues that arose, but they may not point back to an individual. This allows freedom of expression and respectful learning together. 

These are potential questions and Fellows will have prepared their own questions to complement these: 

• What lessons (good and bad) are critical for us to learn from the history of your movement or organisation? 
• What does the current political, social and economic context of South Africa, challenge and task social justice leaders with in the years and decade ahead?
• Should we be striving to build bridges and close gaps between various actors in society at any cost? If yes, why and how and if no, why not? 
• What are the three most critical issues or tasks facing social justice leaders for health at this time?