Protection of human rights in South Africa: public awareness and perceptions

South Africa is a new democracy with a progressive Constitution and a Bill of Rights that contains all human rights that are universally accepted and recognized. The purpose of this article is to analyse the results of a research study aimed at determining the level of public awareness and the perceptions regarding the protection and enjoyment of such rights. To that end, the survey sought information on public knowledge or awareness of the Bill of Rights, violation or protection of various types of rights, and awareness and perceptions regarding human rights institutions. It was found that many South Africans are unaware of the existence of the Bill of Rights and that the majority of South Africans blame the government for most human rights violations. The results of the survey also show that people are not happy with the level of protection of their rights, particularly socio-economic rights. It is also clear that public knowledge of the existence of human rights institutions and the work they do is severely limited. It is concluded that there is a serious need to educate the public, not only on the Bill of Rights and the processes and the mechanisms of its enforcement, but also on the existence and functions of the various human rights institutions. Only then will the Bill of Rights serve the true purpose for which it was intended

The role of university law clinics in public interest litigation, with specific reference to South Africa

University law clinics in South Africa emerged from the desire of law students and academics to be involved in the struggle for social justice, while simultaneously providing clinical legal education for the students. This article focuses on some of the reported court cases in which university law clinics in South Africa have been involved. It is not concerned with public interest law units at universities that do not involve students in clinical legal education, or the so-called clinics operating in the justice centres of Legal Aid South Africa. Neither does it dwell on the nonlitigious activities or the non-reported cases brought by university law clinics. For purposes of comparison, reference is made to the United States context where clinical legal education has been in existence longer than anywhere else. The article also highlights the challenges that law clinics in South Africa face regarding their financial and human resources, the marginalisation of their staff members from mainstream academia, and their heavy caseloads which impact on their educational function. Despite this, national university law clinics have played, and continue to play, an important role in public interest litigation – particularly in the realm of civil litigation which Legal Aid South Africa does not have the resources to address. Through their clinical legal education methodology, South African law clinics have also contributed to the transformation of the South African society, in general, and the legal profession, in particular

Flies in amber: Capturing brand equity-effects in South African rosé wines

With previous wine marketing studies confirming the effect of extrinsic cues such as price, area-of-origin, and expert ratings on sighted appreciation, we report on a tasting room experiment aimed to determine the prevalence and impact of wine brands across user categories of education, gender, expertise and age. Here 83 subjects assessed six different entry-level rosé wine brands, first blind and then sighted. During the sighted round the only cue information made available was the brand of each wine. A database of 498 paired blind and sighted wine assessments was thus constituted. The subsequent statistical interrogation of those factors impacting on a wine’s sighted appreciation reveals (1) the extent to which certain wines present with significant brand effects, while others do not, and (2) how different brand assemblages accrue across certain user profiles. While two men’s brands were clearly identified, females, in particular, appeared to be more influenced by certain brands, as did those with higher levels of education. The methods and findings of this paper demonstrate how one might more cost effectively test for and deploy particular brands within particular user categories

Flies in amber: Capturing brand equity-effects in South African rosé wines

With previous wine marketing studies confirming the effect of extrinsic cues such as price, area-of-origin, and expert ratings on sighted appreciation, we report on a tasting room experiment aimed to determine the prevalence and impact of wine brands across user categories of education, gender, expertise and age. Here 83 subjects assessed six different entry-level rosé wine brands, first blind and then sighted. During the sighted round the only cue information made available was the brand of each wine. A database of 498 paired blind and sighted wine assessments was thus constituted. The subsequent statistical interrogation of those factors impacting on a wine’s sighted appreciation reveals (1) the extent to which certain wines present with significant brand effects, while others do not, and (2) how different brand assemblages accrue across certain user profiles. While two men’s brands were clearly identified, females, in particular, appeared to be more influenced by certain brands, as did those with higher levels of education. The methods and findings of this paper demonstrate how one might more cost effectively test for and deploy particular brands within particular user categories

Antenatal couples' counselling in Uganda (ACCU): study protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility trial.

BACKGROUND: Common avoidable factors leading to maternal, perinatal and neonatal deaths include lack of birth planning (and delivery in an inappropriate place) and unmet need for contraception. Progress has been slow because routine antenatal care has focused only on women. Yet, in Uganda, many women first want the approval of their husbands. The World Health Organization recommends postpartum family planning (PPFP) as a critical component of health care. The aim of this trial is to test the feasibility of recruiting and retaining participants in a trial of a complex community-based intervention to provide counselling to antenatal couples in Uganda. METHODS: This is a two-group, non-blinded cluster-randomised controlled feasibility trial of a complex intervention. Primary health centres in Uganda will be randomised to receive the intervention or usual care provided by the Ministry of Health. The intervention consists of training village health teams to provide basic counselling to couples at home, encouraging men to accompany their wives to an antenatal clinic, and secondly of training health workers to provide information and counselling to couples at antenatal clinics, to facilitate shared decision-making on the most appropriate place of delivery, and postpartum contraception. We aim to recruit 2 health centres in each arm, each with 10 village health teams, each of whom will aim to recruit 35 pregnant women (a total of 700 women per arm). The village health teams will follow up and collect data on pregnant women in the community up to 12 months after delivery and will directly enter the data using the COSMOS software on a smartphone. DISCUSSION: This intervention addresses two key avoidable factors in maternal, perinatal and neonatal deaths (lack of family planning and inappropriate place of delivery). Determining the acceptability and feasibility of antenatal couples' counselling in this study will inform the design of a fully randomised controlled clinical trial. If this trial demonstrates the feasibility of recruitment and delivery, we will seek funding to conduct a fully powered trial of the complex intervention for improving uptake of birth planning and postpartum family planning in Uganda. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Pan African Clinical Trials Registry PACTR202102794681952 . Approved on 10 February 2021. ISRCTN Registry ISRCTN97229911. Registered on 23 September 2021

Information sources and constraints under national agricultural advisory services programme, of service providers in Uganda

No Abstract

Death audits and reviews for reducing maternal, perinatal and child mortality

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Intervention). The objectives are as follows: To assess the impact and cost‐effectiveness of different types of death review in reducing maternal, perinatal and child mortality