A GEOHealth Hub for Agriculture and Informal Work in Nicaragua: - USA

描述（由申请人提供）： 尼加拉瓜是西半球第二贫穷的国家，67%的劳动力从事非正规经济，包括自营职业者。（不包括专业人员和技术人员）、雇员少于5人的工作场所、在家或在小企业工作的无报酬家庭成员以及在正规部门只被雇用从事零星工作的工人，他们没有被重新雇用的法律的权利，也无法获得社会保障和养老金等社会福利。三分之一的劳动力从事农业，其中超过80%符合非正规就业的定义。农业和非正规部门的工人面临着严重的职业和环境、健康危害，而目前的结构不足以查明、监测和应对这些问题。莱昂尼加拉瓜国立自治大学健康、工作和环境研究中心（UNAN-Leon）和波士顿大学公共卫生学院（BUSPH）提议合作建立一个机构网络（学术，政府，及其他）有能力开展研究和培训，为公共政策提供信息，以解决农业工人面临的职业和环境风险，非正规经济，更广泛地说，农村居民。该网络被称为全球环境和职业健康中心（GEOHealth Hub），将以尼加拉瓜为中心，但也将包括来自整个中美洲以及美国和其他高收入国家的合作伙伴。这项为期两年的赠款的目标是为GEOHealth Hub制定一个可行和可持续的计划，获得合作伙伴的承诺，并建立一个可以立即开展一些活动的结构，并为更大的项目获得资金。我们将通过以下方式实现这一目标：进行需求和机会评估;确定合作伙伴并使其参与规划进程;确定优先研究领域，具体说明假设，设计研究计划，收集初步数据;确定潜在的资金来源;评估合作伙伴的能力建设培训需求;并为UNAN-Leon博士课程的发展提供投入，以增加职业和环境健康方面训练有素的调查人员的数量。 与人类健康的关系（由申请人提供）：在农业和非正规部门工作的尼加拉瓜居民面临许多职业和环境健康危害，目前解决这些问题的资源非常有限。这笔赠款将使一所美国和巴布亚新几内亚大学能够共同为建立一个巴布亚新几内亚机构的综合网络奠定基础，该网络将能够提供培训和开展研究，以改善该国公民的健康。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with 67% percent of its workforce engaged in the informal economy, consisting of the self-employed (excluding professionals and technicians), workplaces with <5 employees, unpaid family members who work at home or at small enterprises, and workers who are hired for only sporadic work in the formal sector, with no legal right to be rehired and no access to social benefits, such as social security and pensions. One-third of the workforce is engaged in agriculture, with >80% meeting the definition of informal employment. Workers in agriculture and the informal sector face serious occupational and environmental, health hazards, and the structures currently in place are inadequate to identify, monitor, and respond to these problems. The Center for Research on Health, Work and Environment (CISTA) at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua at Leon (UNAN-Leon) and the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) propose to partner to build a network of institutions (academic, governmental, and other) capable of carrying out a research and training that will inform public policy to address occupational and environmental risks faced by workers in agriculture and the informal economy and, more broadly, by rural residents. This network, called a Global Environmental and Occupational Health Hub (GEOHealth Hub), will be centered in Nicaragua, but will also include partners from throughout Central America, as well as the U.S. and other high income countries. The goal of this two-year grant is to develop a viable and sustainable plan for the GEOHealth Hub, obtain commitments from partners, and put a structure in place that can conduct some activities immediately and also obtain funding for larger projects. We will meet this goal by conducting a needs and opportunity assessment; identifying and engaging partners in the planning process; identifying phority areas of research, specifying hypotheses, designing a research plan, and collecting preliminary data; identifying potential funding sources; assessing training needs of partners to build capacity; and providing input into the development of a PhD program at UNAN-Leon to increase the number of highly trained investigators in occupational and environmental health. RELEVANCE TO HUMAN HEALTH (provided by applicant): Residents of Nicaragua who work in agriculture and the informal sector face many occupational and environmental health hazards, and resources to address these problems are currently very limited. This grant will allow a U.S. and Nicaraguan university to jointly lay the groundwork for building an integrated network of Nicaraguan institutions that will be able to provide training and conduct research to improve the health of the nation's citizens.