Our Network

The Municipal Services Project (MSP) is an inter-disciplinary project made up of academics, labour unions, non-governmental organizations, social movements and activists from around the globe. The project is guided by a Steering Committee composed of project partners' representatives and coordinated by MSP co-directors David McDonald (Queen’s University, Canada) and Greg Ruiters (University of Western Cape, South Africa).

Project Partners

The African Centre on Citizenship and Democracy (ACCEDE) was established to play a key role in mobilising scholars and resources towards a constructive but critical examination of the factors and policy environments which support or inhibit the development of a more inclusive citizenship in the region and continent. ACCEDE replaced the Centre for Southern African Studies which focused rather more specifically on issues of regional security and integration than on issues of citizenship, democracy and development which have increasingly come to form a major research focus within the University of the Western Cape's School of Government over the past few years.

Contacts:
Dr. Greg Ruiters, MSP Co-Director
Prof. Lisa Thompson, Director, ACCEDE

The Southern African Research Centre (SARC) is a focal point within Canada for research and international development programs focused on the Southern African Development Community region. The overall aim of SARC is to contribute to regional cooperation and development in Southern Africa through basic research, training and capacity building, the delivery of Canadian expertise and policy inputs, and the planning and development of academic and applied research and development projects. SARC is based in Kingston, Canada.

Contacts:
Dr David McDonald, MSP Co-Director
Madeleine Bélanger Dumontier, Communications Manager

Focus on the Global South (Focus) is a non-governmental organization with staff working in Thailand, the Philippines and India. Focus was established in Bangkok in 1995 and is affiliated with the Chulalongkorn University Social Research Institute. Focus combines policy research, advocacy, activism and grassroots capacity building in order to generate critical analysis and encourage debates on national and international policies related to corporate-led globalization, neoliberalism and militarization.

Contacts:
Jenina Joy Chavez, Coordinator, Philippines Program
Meena Menon, Coordinator, India Program

Centro de Estudios Superiores Universitarios (CESU) is a multidisciplinary research centre of the University Mayor San Simón located in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Its mandate is to conduct research on pressing current issues and to provide research training and capacity building for graduate students. Research key themes are: development, economics, environment, legal and political studies, and planning. The Centre organizes seminars, courses and conferences to discuss topical issues, and disseminates its intellectual production through books and a semi-annual magazine.

Contact:
Dr. Carlos Crespo

Africa Water Network (AWN) is a collective of water workers and activists in Africa working towards equitable access to water for all through active campaigns against policies of commercialization. The AWN is committed to fighting against all forms of water privatization, resisting prepaid water meters, and recognizing water as a human right. To achieve this the network promotes alternatives to commercialization and public investment in water and sanitation services. It is based in Accra-North, Ghana.

Contact:
Al-hassan Adam, Coordinator

The Regional Network on Equity in Health in Eastern and Southern Africa (EQUINET) is a network of professionals, civil society members, policy makers, state officials and others within the region who have come together as an equity catalyst, to promote and realize shared values of equity and social justice in health. EQUINET's work is organized in five clusters, each of which has a lead that is listed below. EQUINET is based in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Contacts:
Dr. Rene Loewenson, Training and Research Support Centre (Cluster: Equity Watch)
Prof. Di McIntyre, University of Cape Town Health Economics Unit (Cluster: Fairly resourcing health systems)
Ranga Machemedze, SEATINI (Cluster: Global engagement)
Itai Rusike, Community Working Group on Health (Cluster: Social empowerment)
Moses Mulumba, HEPS/CEHRU (Cluster: National networking)

Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU) researches the privatization and restructuring of public services around the world, with a focus on water, energy, waste management, and health care. It produces reports and maintains an extensive database on the multinational companies involved. This core database is financed by Public Services International (PSI), the global confederation of public service trade unions. PSIRU is based in London, UK.

Contacts:
Dr. David Hall, Director
Emanuele Lobina, Senior Researcher

Red Vida or Vigilancia Interamericana para la Defensa y el Derecho al Agua (Inter-American Vigilance for the Defense and the Right to Water) was formed in El Salvador in August 2003 when 54 organizations from 16 countries from all over Latin America met to launch a hemispherical campaign to defend water as a public good and a fundamental human right. The network is made up of consumer associations, women's organizations, environmentalists, labour unions, human rights activists, religious groups, indigenous and social organizations. Red Vida seeks to strengthen civil society groups in particular by coordinating activities and sharing information on the struggle for the right to water. Red Vida is based in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

Contact:
Marcela Olivera, Latin American Coordinator, Water for all Campaign, Food and Water Watch

The Transnational Institute (TNI) is an international network founded in 1974 that regroups activist-scholars committed to critical analysis of global problems of today and tomorrow, with a view to providing intellectual support to those movements concerned to steer the world in a democratic, equitable and environmentally sustainable direction. TNI's Water Justice project promotes participatory, public-sector water as the most viable means to achieve the goal of water for all. It facilitates the creation of new regional and global networks to promote public-public cooperation in the water sector. TNI also publishes a Public Services yearbook on the impact of privatization and experiences of public sector reform globally. The network is based in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Contact: Dr. Daniel Chavez, Coordinator, New Politics Programme

University of Ottawa School of International Development and Global Studies (SIDGS) professors conduct basic and applied research on an international scale that covers all continents and a variety of fields, such as the environment, health and education, economic policies and development aid, institutionalization of social movements (women’s groups, Aboriginal people, alter-globalist groups), armed conflicts and peacekeeping, the role of international organizations, etc. The School contributes to the development of knowledge, research and public policy dealing with issues of international development and globalization. It is located in Ottawa, Canada.

Contact:
Dr. Susan Spronk, Assistant Professor

The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) is a college of the University of London and the only higher education institution in the UK specializing in the study of Asia, Africa and the Near and Middle East. SOAS combines language scholarship, disciplinary expertise and regional foci. It has the largest concentration in Europe of academic staff concerned with Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Dr. Ben Fine, Department of Economics

The People’s Health Movement (PHM) is a global grassroots network of health workers, activists and academics concerned about the growing inequality in health over the last 25 years. The PHM advocates for Health for All, as an equitable, participatory and inter-sectoral movement and rights issue. They also call for a complete revision of international and domestic health policies that have negatively impacted health status and systems. PHM's Secretariat is located in Cape Town, South Africa.

Contacts:
Dr. Amit Sengupta, PHM India
Dr. David Sanders, Director, School of Public Health, University of Western Cape, South Africa