2018 annual report Viva Salud

One whole year united in the struggle for health

Annual Report

2018

UNITED IN THE STRUGGLE FOR HEALTH

Photo: Dieter Boone

Viva Salud fights for the right to health worldwide.

To achieve this, we base ourselves on our key values:

Social justice

We are interested in social, economic and political factors that have an impact on the health of exploited and oppressed populations in the South.

What is Viva Salud ?

Solidarity

We support our partners in the South who attack the roots of health problems.

In Belgium, we set up training programmes and campaigns, we mobilise our sympathisers and we act as part of a global movement for the right to health. Together, we have more strength to influence political choices.

Activism

We support and back militant social organisations who work towards genuine changes, that further the right to health, social justice and international solidarity.

Sovereignty

We support grassroots movements and local initiatives, because lasting change starts at the bottom and isn’t imposed by the top. The peoples of the South need our support and our solidarity to liberate themselves.

Where are we active ?

• Belgium • Cuba • Democratic

Republic of Congo

• Philippines • Palestine • At international level

What we do

D e m o c rat ic Re p u blic of

Social surveys among the population.

Congo

Training on the right to health for members of popular health committees .

Raising awareness of the causes of ebola and its prevention in affected communities.

Result The authorities of North Kivu were impressed by the actions undertaken by the Etoile du Sud health committees in the fight against Ebola. They asked our partner to organise information and prevention sessions in schools to stop the virus spreading.

Challenge

Local actions: cleaning the streets, demonstrations for the right to health or women’s rights, questioning the local authorities.

2018 was marked by the elections. Our partners set up popular election committees where they held workshops on the way the population can call upon leaders to put the right to health on the political agenda.

Through these committees, our partners will now remind the newly elected members of parliament to respect the promises they made.

Following up on the promises made by the authorities.

Themes: gender, water, healthy environment, community participation.

Marie-Paul is active in a ‘gender village’, an Etoile du Sud project that promotes equality between men and women :

“Before, I would hardly dare speak in the presence of men. Until I did a training session organised

by Etoile du Sud. I realised that I shouldn’t feel inferior as a woman. Now, I’m leading a project where I teach young girls to become independent.”

OTHER ACTIVITIES

2 PARTNERS Étoile du Sud ( EDS ) + Collectif de Développement Intégré au Congo ( CODIC ) REGIONS Kinshasa, Katanga, North and South Kivu, Maniema, Tshopo Water committees in Goma and Bukavu encourage the provincial authorities to take action in order to allow everyone to have access to drinking water.

Étoile du Sud is launching a new website and is active on social media.

Philippines

What we do Research.

Campaigns and lobbying.

Train staff and volunteers for campaigns.

Train networks in documenting human rights violations and providing legal assistance.

Themes: access to healthcare, women’s rights, climate change, defending human rights activists.

Workshop with Intal members during a solidarity trip to Congo: making videos with a smartphone to further encourage people to take action.

Result Thanks to the lobbying and mobilisation of our partners and other progressive health organisations, the House of Representatives of the Philippines approved a bill banning the privatisation of public hospitals. For this law to be passed, it currently requires the Senate’s agreement.

Challenge Activists and human rights organisations had a difficult year in 2018. The government’s so-called war on drugs is actually aimed at the opposition and has created a climate of impunity and the violation of fundamental rights. But this will not prevent our partners from continuing their fight for the rights of the Philippine people in 2019.

Virginia active in the CHD :

“Over the past few years, I’ve taken part in demonstrations to preserve the Fabella public hospital. Why ? Because I’m a woman and a mother.

Not having the money to give birth is unacceptable !

Fabella is our only option.”

OTHER ACTIVITIES

4 PARTNERS Council for Health and Development ( CHD ) + Gabriela + Karapatan + Climate Change Network for Community Initiatives ( CCNCI ) REGION at national level With her #Babae Ako, Lalaban Ako ( #I am a woman, I will fight ) campaign, Gabriela is rising up against the male chauvinism of President Duterte. TIME magazine named this campaign as one of the most influential on the internet in 2018.

Karapatan organised a remarkable action against repression under the presidency of Duterte. The traditional feast of the Virgin Mary in May adopted a new look. This didn't go unnoticed in the Philippine media.

On 22 April, Earth Day, our partner CCNCI organised an action at the University of the Philippines for more unity in the fight against climate change. More than 100 students made their voices heard during a climate march.

What we do Training young people on the right to health and local social actions ( surveys, actions through social media, organising actions, etc. ).

Palestine

Summer camps where young people from different regions share their experiences and prepare for campaigns on a national level.

Result With the support of our partners, young people from the different regions of Palestine have set up a network of youth movements.

The objective is to learn to know oneself better in order to lead more specific actions together, despite the repression and the attempts of the Israeli occupation to divide them.

Challenge

Campaigns ( e.g. on drinking water, the sanctions against Gaza, better access to healthcare, etc. ).

The network offers young people a safe space to share their ideas and opinions.

However, the arrests of youth leaders are a challenge for the stability and impact of the youth movements in Palestine. Despite the repression and all the other obstacles, our partners continue to support young people in their fight for their rights.

Networking at national and international level, where our partners assume leadership for campaigns ( e.g. on health insurance, the situation of Palestinian refugees, etc. ).

Lina who is active in the youth network in Palestine, took part in the People's Health Assembly:

“I was the youngest of the 1,400 participants.

After my presentation of the health situation of Palestinian political prisoners, I was surprised by the number of questions asked and the solidarity.

In Palestine, I was able to share my enthusiasm with my friends at university, who have become more active than before."

OTHER ACTIVITIES

4 PARTNERS - REGIONS The West Bank, Jerusalem, Gaza Gaza: young people lead a campaign in their neighbourhood with "A clean water tank for clean water" as the slogan.

Since 15 June 2018, Palestinians have been demonstrating peacefully in Gaza during the Great March of Return. However, the Israeli army has responded with violence, killing dozens of people and injuring thousands.

Our partner is present on the firing line to provide first aid.

What we do Training for climate coaches.

Raising awareness about recycling, the rational use of water, agroecology.

Introduction of crops resistant to difficult climate conditions.

Cleaning beaches, rivers and coastal areas.

Reforesting, with mangroves as the priority.

Cuba

Following their participation in the People's Health Movement, one of our partners has become chairperson for the Middle East and North Africa region.

Result Thanks to green mapping, a participatory method aimed at improving living conditions, Centro Felix Varela succeeded in cleaning up the banks of a river with the inhabitants of La Vigia and creating a play area.

Challenge

Teresa , a volunteer

The consequences of climate change are already very visible in Cuba. With its 100year climate plan, Cuba and its population fight back.

International solidarity is still important, certainly for a country whose economy is suffering because of the embargo imposed by United States.

“By working with Centro Felix Varela, I feel very useful and I learn something every day. We have to work together to tackle the ecological crisis, and at the Centro, we approach it in a concrete and succesful manner.”

at Centro Felix Varela :

OTHER ACTIVITIES

1 PARTNER Centro Felix Varela Enthusiastic volunteers sold 5,500 bags of chocolate eggs to help the climate fight in Cuba.

Liana Bidart Cisneros, from the Centro Felix Varela, made a tour of Belgium: fascinating meetings with students, climate activities, volunteers from local projects, etc.

In April, 25 Belgians went to Cuba for an ecology study trip with the solidarity movement Cubanismo.

They also visited our partner.

What we do Campaigns and actions ( e.g about public healthcare, the right to organise, etc. ).

Belgium

Training.

Research & publications.

Support for solidarity trips to partner countries.

Offers of traineeships and voluntary work.

Influencing policy.

Result Within the framework of our campaign for public healthcare, Katharina, from the Philippines, and Aissa, from Cuba, spoke about their experiences concerning the differences in access to healthcare in their respective countries. A system with private players compared with a public system. An inspirational account which gripped young and older people, specialists and lay persons.

Challenge

Fund-raising initiatives ( sports events, sale of chocolate eggs, local initiatives by ambassadors, etc. ).

Climate change and a dignified reception for migrants are themes that affect and mobilise many people in Belgium. Thanks to their determination, people manage to place these themes right at the top of the political agenda. With our expertise and our partners in the South, we want to support and reinforce this movement.

Anouk person responsible during a Comac solidarity trip to Palestine :

“Our participation in the youth camp was INCREDIBLE ! We were impressed by the place and touched by the encounters. Spending 24 hours with these young people who, like us, are fighting to change society, was so enriching and intense.”

OTHER ACTIVITIES

IN BELGIUM, WE WORK WITH social organisations (solidarity movements, student movements, youth organisations, health organisations, etc.), individuals and networks During ManiFiesta, our volunteers collected more than 4,000 reusable cups for Viva Salud and we were able to welcome exceptional figures such as Seun Kuti and take part in passionate debates about migration, colonisation and Palestine.

What we do Research and publications ( build a movement for health, Global Health Watch, etc. ).

Training on the right to health and the construction of movements ( during the People's Health University, the People's Health Assembly, workshops and training for regional sections, etc. ).

Support for logistics, administration and finance.

With Solidagro and KIYO, we organised an interesting training weekend on the theme of empowerment.

People's Health Movement

10/12: Stop the Killings action with a talk by Lengua on the fate of her husband and father, both political prisoners in the Philippines.

Result In November, 1,400 health activists from 73 different countries gathered in Bangladesh for the fourth People's Health Assembly.

Viva Salud was also there, with its partners. A unique occasion to learn about each other's campaigns and the victories of social movements for the right to health.

Challenge In different countries, it is becoming more difficult to organise things because the democratic space is limited. The authorities seek different ways to hamper the work of social movements. And, at the same time, it is difficult to find the resources for networking and solidarity at an international level, which are nonetheless essential.

Quirina , a general practitioner at Doctors for the People in Hoboken, took part in the assembly :

“What I remember most about this assembly and the field visits in Bangladesh, is the great feeling of solidarity, the fighting spirit and the positive impression that we can change things, that we're all fighting for a better world, where the right to health for all will be a reality."

OTHER ACTIVITIES

GLOBAL NETWORK of health activists from more than 80 countries REGIONAL SECTIONS ALL OVER THE WORLD Presentation of the fifth edition of Global Health Watch, an alternative analysis of the health situation worldwide

Launch of the Building a Movement for Health website: www.phmovement.org/ building-a-movement-for-health/

West and Central Africa PHM regional workshop in Kinshasa. A challenge to bring together participants from Gabon, Ghana, Mali and Benin, but a challenge with a successful outcome thanks to PHM and Viva Salud's partners in Congo.

North programs 19% subsidies 56%

program management 7%

fundraising 12%

general expenses 7%

Expenses € 2,147, 231

fundraising expenses 3%

Revenues € 2.165,573

other expenses 3%

other revenues 32%

South programs 61%

2017 EXPENSES

1,671,917

SOUTH PROGR AMMES

871,421

2018

•

REVENUES

2,147, 231

1,321,720

61%

partnerships

FUNDR AISING donations and bequests

2017

2018

1.670,450

2.165,573

276,641

251,152

242,099

228,630 22,522

partnerships Congo

166,688

139,114

sales campaigns

21,419

partnerships Philippines

178,487

221,577

companies ( Ello Mobile )

13,123

0

partnerships Palestine

163,595

178,654

SUBSIDIES

1,071,927

1,209,917

partnerships Cuba

8,755

17,879

854,585

961,104

emergency aid

5,000

16,098

80,549

47,099

small projects

24,348

60, 258

• People’s Health Movement

223,495

personnel - expatriates and headquarters

101,053

•

subsidies federal government DGD subsidies communities, provinces, regions and municipalities

568,692 119,448

•

subsidy IDRC Canada

80,629

97,931

subsidies for personnel

56,164

58,972

OTHER REVENUES

321,882

704,504

contributions from other associations

44,897

66,030

contributions from 11.11.11

66,662

72,945

NORTH PROGR AMME

373,950

operational expenses

60,939

59,981

personnel

313,011

345,314

PROGR AMME M ANAGEMENT

129,014

148,322

operational expenses

29,803

47,026

contributions from PHM member organizations

99, 211

101, 297

contributions from foundations

184,700

152,510

personnel

GENER AL M ANAGEMENT office rent, general expenses and communication

73,713

405,295

18,341

-1,467

18,341

other expenses

24,571

20,069

purchases

11,050

10,709

OTHER COSTS

41,847

57,580

provision

10,667

13,085

31,180

44,495

B e - c a u s e H e a l t h ( Belgian platform for international health )

C N C D -1 1 . 1 1 . 1 1 ( Centre national de coopération au développement )

P l a t e - fo r m e d ' a c t i o n S a n t é e t Solidarité

AC O D E V ( federation of development cooperation NGO )

European Coordination of C o m m i t t e e s a n d A s s o c i a t i o n s fo r P a l e s t i n e ( ECCP )

n g o - f e d e r a t i e ( Flemish federation of cooperation development NGO ) Association pour une Ethique dans l e s R é c o l t e s d e Fo n d s VEF-AERF

G e n e v a G l o b a l H e a l t h H u b ( G2H2 ) Coalition pour le Climat People's Health Movement 'S t o p t h e K i l l i n g s ' platform

Viva Salud asbl

10,023

-1,467

31,025

1 1 . 1 1 . 1 1 ( umbrella of the Mouvement Nord-Sud in Flanders )

316,022

10, 289

addition or withdrawal from the reserves

35,364

Viva Salud is a member of :

83,344

RESULT

61,803

personnel

•

231,584

44,495

92,305

Several examples of these small projects are our 'support the child of an activist' programme in the Philippines, and a project for solar panels for a medical centre in Gaza.

recovery of expenses

557

72,099

31,968

70,985

•

•

4,038

recovery of common programme costs

110,987

We work intensively with other organisations. This also generates costs that are billed to these other organisations ( s ee income ).

7%

contributions from CNCD-11.11.11

60, 206

FUNDR AISING

•

7%

miscellaneous revenues ( interest )

personnel

common programme

19%

3%

8,585

7,661

12%

56%

32%

3%

•

The total turnover rose again in 2018 to over € 2 million.

•

The People's Health Assembly we organised in November is the main reason our turnover increased.

We would like to thank our donors, volunteers, and supporters

•

Following the cuts made by the federal government, subsidies were further reduced.

Nevertheless, we reached a higher expenditure rate in 2018 than in 2017, because 2017 was the first year of a new programme and we launched certain activities later in the year.

•

The organisation of the People's Health Assembly also generated occasional income from individuals and participating organisations as well as foundations.

Besides our donors, volunteers and sympathisers, we would also like to thank the authorities, federations and organisations who provided funding for our work in 2018: Directorate-General for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid of FPS Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation

Wallonie-Bruxelles International Brussels International Towns and municipalities:

11.11.11, umbrella of the Mouvement Nord-Sud in Flanders

Antwerp, Aalst, Genk, Ghent, Hoeilaart, Lille, Lommel, Menin, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert

CNCD-11.11.11 ( Centre national de coopération au développement )

Open Society Foundations

IDRC - International Development Research Center Isvara Foundation

• Chaussée de Haecht 53 • 1210 Brussels • tel : +32 2 209 23 65 • info@vivasalud.be • www.vivasalud.be • Find us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter