Harnessing opportunities for good governance of health impacts of mining projects in Mongolia: results of a global partnership

Abstract

BackgroundThe Sustainable Development Goals call for the effective governance of shared natural resources in ways that support inclusive growth, safeguard the integrity of the natural and physical environment, and promote health and well-being for all. For large-scale resource extraction projects -- e.g. in the mining sector -- environmental regulations and in particular environmental impact assessments (EIA) provide an important but insufficiently developed avenue to ensure that wider sustainable development issues, such as health, have been considered prior to the permitting of projects.MethodsIn recognition of the opportunity provided in EIA to influence the extent to which health issues would be addressed in the design and delivery of mining projects, an international and intersectoral partnership, with the support of WHO and public funds from Canadian sources, engaged over a period of six years in a series of capacity development activities and knowledge translation/dissemination events aimed at influencing policy change in the extractives sector so as to include consideration of human health impacts.ResultsEarly efforts significantly increased awareness of the need to include health considerations in EIAs. Coupling effective knowledge translation about health in EIA with the development of networks that fostered good intersectoral partnerships, this awareness supported the development and implementation of key pieces of legislation. These results show that intersectoral collaboration is essential, and must be supported by an effective conceptual understanding about which methods and models of impact assessment, particularly for health, lend themselves to integration within EIA.ConclusionsThe results of our partnership demonstrate that when specific conditions are met, integrating health into the EIA system represents a promising avenue to ensure that mining activities contribute to wider sustainable development goals and objectives.

Mining, Colonial Legacies, and Neoliberalism: A Political Ecology of Health Knowledge Minerıa, legados coloniales y neoliberalismo: una ecologıa polıtica del conocimiento en salud

“…The resulting Canada-Mongolia research and knowledge translation partnership—one of many such partnerships led by CCGHR members in countries around the world—included university academics, civil society actors, public sector decision-makers, and World Health Organization representatives in an effort to improve consideration of health in environmental assessment processes. 68 It built on earlier ethnographic research on health in a “post-socialist” context experiencing rapid market reforms and was consistent with “market failure” streams of global health described above in its critique of neoliberalism’s health impacts (cf. Janes and Chuluundorj 39 ).…”

“…3 It responded to interest from Mongolian collaborators and addressed concerns over the neoliberal retreat of state control over the resource sector, in a context where the ongoing Canada-Mongolia partnership had managed some knowledge translation "wins" such as a legislated requirement to conduct HIA prior to new mines in Mongolia. 68 HIA draws on a balance of environmental health and social determinants of health scholarship. 69,70 Calls to focus HIAs more narrowly on environment-health links and avoid putting "private companies in the defacto role of ministry of health" 69 have been tellingly voiced by the designers of HIA guidance for the International Finance Corporation (the World Bank's private-sector lending arm), which mandates HIA for projects it finances.…”

“…Such limitations of HIA-which reflect pronounced corporate fingerprints-were addressed in the Canada-Mongolia collaboration through a focus on social determinants of health and equity, engagement with cumulative impacts of mines and overlapping land uses at regional scales, and efforts to empower miningaffected communities via participatory workshops linking them with policymakers. 68 The extension of such Knowledges via the Canada-Mongolia collaboration and Spring Institute also informed and was shaped by ongoing (Organizationlayer) CCGHR discussions and initiatives, such as development of guidelines for North-South partnerships and a published set of principles for equity-informed global health research. 73 Additional influences included previous CCGHR "Summer Institutes" for new global health researchers, and formal evaluations of them.…”

“… 3 It responded to interest from Mongolian collaborators and addressed concerns over the neoliberal retreat of state control over the resource sector, in a context where the ongoing Canada-Mongolia partnership had managed some knowledge translation “wins” such as a legislated requirement to conduct HIA prior to new mines in Mongolia. 68 …”

Las elecciones presidenciales del 2018 en Colombia: análisis del cubrimiento noticioso de los noticieros de Caracol y RCN

“…En países con democracias más desarrolladas y una cultura política más sofisticada (Almond y Verba, 2015;Verba y Almond, 1980) los procesos de información política en las elecciones suelen tener un mayor componente racional (propuestas, debates, encuestas) que emocional (publicidad, comunicación negativa). Existen dos formatos informativos, aparte de las noticias, que han despertado el interés de los investigadores de los efectos de los medios sobre los electores: los debates y las encuestas (Garrido et al, 2011;Maarek, 2011;Mcnair, 2009;Trent y Friedenberg, 2004).…”