bold idea
Eliminate barriers to lifesaving healthcare for women and people with low incomes in the Global South by holding pharmaceutical companies accountable, resetting intellectual property rules, and supporting marginalized groups.
organization overview
The Health Justice Initiative (HJI) advocates both locally and globally for a more equitable health system for women and low-income people in the Global South. HJI was launched at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed massive global inequalities in public health and led to vaccine apartheid. HJI uses law, research, community engagement, and advocacy to tackle factors that fuel inequity in health access, such as race, income, nationality, health status, and geography. HJI also envisions creating a more inclusive, equitable health system at a time of climate emergency.
Personal Bio
Fatima is a human rights lawyer and social justice activist. She is the founder of the Health Justice Initiative (HJI). Among others, she is the recipient of the 2022 Calgary Peace Prize and is a 2023 Echoing Green Fellow. She has dedicated her professional life to defending and promoting human rights in South Africa, especially in the health field. She holds a BA and LL.B from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and an LL.M from Duke University. She clerked at the Constitutional Court of South Africa; served as Ministerial Advisor in two portfolios; and headed the Open Society Foundations in SA for 6 years. She has previously served on several NGO and other Boards, and currently serves on the Advisory Group for Resolve to Save Lives and the University of Washington’s Department of Global Health Partner Advisory Board. She is an Honorary Research Associate at the UCT School of Public Health & Family Medicine.
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Organization/Fellow Location ?
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Impact Location ?
Countries or continents that were the primary focus of this Fellow’s work at the time of their Fellowship.
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Organization Structure ?
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