This year GI-ESCR joined forces with the Mouvement Ivorien des Droits Humain (MIDH) to conduct a participatory-action-research on access to healthcare services in Gagnoa, Ivory Coast.  

Participatory methods are fundamental in empowering local communities while investigating human rights problems. They play a fundamental role in amplifying the voices and perspectives of individuals whose rights are affected. As part of this project, GI-ESCR first organised a training on participatory-action-research methods for MIDH staff in July 2023.  

At the beginning of August 2023, MIDH started working with the community in Gagnoa to collectively develop the research questions and the shared action-oriented goals of the project. At the same time, to ensure that different perspectives were integrated in the conceptualisation of the research, MIDH has also met with 14 representatives of civil society organizations in Gagnoa, including women rights organisations, trade unions, youth movements and faith-based associations.  

The research continued with data collection, organised together with affected communities. Between 2 and 13 October, two members of the community and two researchers from MIDH conducted a wide range of interviews to collect primary data on access to healthcare services in Gagnoa, including 30 patients, 10 community leaders, as well as 8 healthcare professionals at various levels of responsibility.  Data have been analysed together with the larger community group.  

This experience aims at empowering local communities to understand the challenges they face in accessing healthcare services from a human rights perspective. At the same time, the community enriches researchers sharing their invaluable lived experience of accessing healthcare services.  

The final action-oriented goal is to establish a grassroot, community-led committee responsible for monitoring and reporting right-to-health violations related to access to healthcare services, especially for marginalized populations, like women, disabled people and the chronically ill.