Malcolm MacLachlan International Humanitarian Award C itation
“Focused on the rights and empowerment of vulnerable and marginalized groups, Malcolm MacLachlan’s work synthe sizes health, rehabilitation, and organizational and political psychology to promote social inclusion and global health. His innovative research and responsive practice interface with assistive technologies, health systems strengthening, human rights, and international aid. Collaborating with academics, civil society, United Nations organizations, and national governments, his world-leading and agenda-setting research program spanned two decades and over 20 coun tries, stimulating the development of radical new health policy and practice in Africa and Asia. His work in the Centre for Global Health is also helping forge a new, humanitarian work psychology.” B io g ra p h y
Malcolm (“Mac”) MacLachlan is a member of the School of Psychology, professor of global health, and director of the Centre for Global Health at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. He is also extraordinary professor of rehabilitation at the Centre for Rehabilitation Studies, Stellenbosch Uni versity, South Africa. MacLachlan’ s undergraduate degree in psychology is from Cardiff University (University of Wales), where he was awarded a Cardiff-Caledonian Scholarship and from which he graduated in 1983. Following this he won a Medical Research Council scholarship to pursue doctoral November 2014 • American Psychologist © 2 0 1 4 American Psychological Association 0003-066X/14/$ 12.00 Vol. 69, No. 8, 849-851 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0037853
research at Dundee University (1983-1986), after which he was funded by the South East Thames Regional Health Authority to undertake training in clinical psychology at Maudsley Hospital/Institute of Psychiatry, University of London (1986-1988). He then worked as a clinical psy chologist in Scotland (Dumfries and Glasgow) in the Na tional Health Service and at Glasgow University Health Services and then subsequently for consulting psychology firms providing clinical and organizational psychology ser vices (Human Factors UK Ltd. and The Keil Centre). He also completed a diploma in business administration at Strathclyde Business School. In 1992 MacLachlan took up a lecturing position at the Department of Psychology, University of Malawi, where the then head of the department was Alistair Ager, who had been his first tutor at Cardiff University. Ager, now profes sor of population and family health at Columbia University, was an encouraging influence to work in Africa and has been a friend and support to MacLachlan since. The next head of the psychology department at the University of Malawi was Stuart (“Stu”) Carr, now professor of psychol ogy at Massey University. Carr leads the Poverty Research Group at Massey, which is leading in the application of organizational psychology to low-income contexts. Carr and MacLachlan have had a wonderfully productive and enjoyable collaboration over the past two decades, co authoring and co-editing numerous books and papers and collaborating on grants, workshops, and policy papers. Following two years as head of the psychology depart ment at the University of Malawi, MacLachlan took up a position at Trinity College Dublin, where he has now been based for almost two decades. However, during that time he has also held visiting appointments at the University of the North (in South Africa); the College of Medicine, Univer sity of Malawi; the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University; and, since 2006, at Stellen bosch University, South Africa. At Stellenbosch, MacLachlan has worked closely with the director of the Centre for Rehabilitation Studies, Gubela Mji, and along with A. K. Dube (CEO of the Secretariat of the African Decade of People with Disabilities) they estab lished AfriNEAD (African Network for Evidence-to-Action on Disability) with the intention of bringing together constituencies who don’t speak enough to each o th e r government, civil society, and academia. They wanted to “walk in the cracks, learn in the chasms,” and under the leadership of Dr Mji this network has grown, attracting funding from diverse sources; it is now due to have its 5th biannual conference, in 2014, in Malawi. AfriNEAD has also provided at least part of the momentum for the estab lishment of the African Journal o f Disability, with Leslie Swartz (Stellenbosch University School of Psychology) as editor-in-chief. 849
One of the most distinctive features of MacLachlan’s work has been his interest in developing expertise in inter locking aspects of knowledge content, process, and con text— of knowing what to do (in terms of disability and rehabilitation), knowing how to do it (in terms of the orga nizational aspects of aid and development), and understand ing the influence of context, or the exigencies of where it is to be done (in terms of cultural and low-income contexts). This interest in situating knowledge in its interfaces has traversed his work. MacLachlan’s earlier work with the Dublin Psychopros thetics Group concerned psychosocial aspects of disability and rehabilitation, especially the use of prosthetic technol ogy. While his more recent work, especially with United Nations (UN) organizations, focuses on organizational and societal aspects of promoting the implementation of the so cial model and the human rights perspective, he continues to research enablement from the individual and assistive tech nology perspective, too, seeing these perspectives as inevita bly complementary. Several recent projects illustrate the perspectives of con tent, context, and process. As regards content, MacLachlan led the EquitAble Project, funded by the European Union, which among other things, developed a policy analysis tool to evaluate the extent to which existing national policies stated a commitment to core concepts of human rights and the inclusion of 12 different vulnerable groups. The tool devel oped—EquiFrame— has been used to guide the development of Malawi’s first National Health Policy; it has been adopted by Sudan to guide its future policy revision; it has identified the need for policy revision in South Africa; and it has been adopted for advocacy use by Handicap International. UNESCO, Trinity College Dublin, and the University of Melbourne cohosted a conference earlier this year of SouthEast Asian country governments, UN agencies, and funders to explore how EquiFrame and complementary tools can be used to enhance social inclusion in the region. Other work packages in the EquitAble Project focused on ethnographic studies and a large-scale household survey, gathering data on over 30,000 people across Namibia, Sudan, Malawi, and South Africa. An example of a project more concerned with process is a consortium led by MacLachlan and Gubela Mji, funded by Irish Aid and the Health Research Board, for the African Policy on Disability and Development (A-PODD) project. This project explored factors that might help promote the inclusion of the rights and needs of people with disability in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, the major documents that outline a country’s development intentions over a five-year period. This project involved working closely with civil so ciety and government across Uganda, Sierra Leone, Malawi, and Ethiopia. Another project that addresses process issues is the ADDUP (Are Development Discrepancies Undermining De
850
velopment?) project, led by Stu Carr at Massey University, which builds on the previous joint work of Carr and MacLachlan and colleagues. Across China, India, the Solo mon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Malawi, and Uganda, this project explored the demotivating effects of the “dual salary system” whereby expatriate workers get paid considerably more than local workers, even when local workers have similar qualifications and experience. The research demon strated that aid and development initiatives predicated on remunerative injustices can be capacity stripping rather than capacity building. Along with People in Aid, the Birches Group, and several international nongovernmental organiza tions, a new consortium is planning to take this work forward, using action research and advocacy in addition to more conventional research methods. MacLachlan has been one of the leaders in applying psychology to global health and social inclusion, and his work with the United Nations has increased the profile and contributions of the discipline at the highest level. He is currently working with the International Labour Organiza tion’s PROPEL (Promoting Rights and Opportunities for People With Disabilities Through Legislation) project, where he leads the knowledge management aspect of the project along with Hasheem Mannan of University College Dublin. The project seeks to improve the employment opportunities of people with disabilities in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Zambia, and Botswana by promoting skills building and addressing discriminatory practices. MacLachlan and Mannan are also leading the knowledge management com ponent of the United Nations Partnership for the Rights of People with Disability (UNPRPD), which is currently work ing across 14 countries and is about to expand to over 20 countries. Funded by a United Nations Multi-Donor Trust Fund, this program is the largest of its type in the world, encompassing change in the health, education, employment, and justice sectors and engaging UN agencies, government, and civil society in each country. This work also comple ments two international consortia led by MacLachlan and commissioned by the World Health Organization to make recommendations for the development of guidelines for the rehabilitation workforce and for governance and leadership in rehabilitation globally. At Trinity College Dublin, MacLachlan has been involved in the Centre for Global Health since its founding over 10 years ago by his wife Eilish McAuliffe, also a psychologist, who is now professor of health systems at University College Dublin. Since meeting during their clinical psychology train ing in London, they have developed complementary but distinctive interests, with some overlap around the challenge of how the human resource crises in health care can be addressed in low-income settings. At Trinity, MacLachlan has led the development of the International Doctoral School in Global Health (INDIGO), which focuses on strengthening health systems, particularly from an organizational and be-
November 2014 • American Psychologist
Copyright of American Psychologist is the property of American Psychological Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
“Focused on the rights and empowerment of vulnerable and marginalized groups, Malcolm MacLachlan’s work synthe sizes health, rehabilitation, and organizational and political psychology to promote social inclusion and global health. His innovative research and responsive practice interface with assistive technologies, health systems strengthening, human rights, and international aid. Collaborating with academics, civil society, United Nations organizations, and national governments, his world-leading and agenda-setting research program spanned two decades and over 20 coun tries, stimulating the development of radical new health policy and practice in Africa and Asia. His work in the Centre for Global Health is also helping forge a new, humanitarian work psychology.” B io g ra p h y
Malcolm (“Mac”) MacLachlan is a member of the School of Psychology, professor of global health, and director of the Centre for Global Health at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. He is also extraordinary professor of rehabilitation at the Centre for Rehabilitation Studies, Stellenbosch Uni versity, South Africa. MacLachlan’ s undergraduate degree in psychology is from Cardiff University (University of Wales), where he was awarded a Cardiff-Caledonian Scholarship and from which he graduated in 1983. Following this he won a Medical Research Council scholarship to pursue doctoral November 2014 • American Psychologist © 2 0 1 4 American Psychological Association 0003-066X/14/$ 12.00 Vol. 69, No. 8, 849-851 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0037853
research at Dundee University (1983-1986), after which he was funded by the South East Thames Regional Health Authority to undertake training in clinical psychology at Maudsley Hospital/Institute of Psychiatry, University of London (1986-1988). He then worked as a clinical psy chologist in Scotland (Dumfries and Glasgow) in the Na tional Health Service and at Glasgow University Health Services and then subsequently for consulting psychology firms providing clinical and organizational psychology ser vices (Human Factors UK Ltd. and The Keil Centre). He also completed a diploma in business administration at Strathclyde Business School. In 1992 MacLachlan took up a lecturing position at the Department of Psychology, University of Malawi, where the then head of the department was Alistair Ager, who had been his first tutor at Cardiff University. Ager, now profes sor of population and family health at Columbia University, was an encouraging influence to work in Africa and has been a friend and support to MacLachlan since. The next head of the psychology department at the University of Malawi was Stuart (“Stu”) Carr, now professor of psychol ogy at Massey University. Carr leads the Poverty Research Group at Massey, which is leading in the application of organizational psychology to low-income contexts. Carr and MacLachlan have had a wonderfully productive and enjoyable collaboration over the past two decades, co authoring and co-editing numerous books and papers and collaborating on grants, workshops, and policy papers. Following two years as head of the psychology depart ment at the University of Malawi, MacLachlan took up a position at Trinity College Dublin, where he has now been based for almost two decades. However, during that time he has also held visiting appointments at the University of the North (in South Africa); the College of Medicine, Univer sity of Malawi; the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University; and, since 2006, at Stellen bosch University, South Africa. At Stellenbosch, MacLachlan has worked closely with the director of the Centre for Rehabilitation Studies, Gubela Mji, and along with A. K. Dube (CEO of the Secretariat of the African Decade of People with Disabilities) they estab lished AfriNEAD (African Network for Evidence-to-Action on Disability) with the intention of bringing together constituencies who don’t speak enough to each o th e r government, civil society, and academia. They wanted to “walk in the cracks, learn in the chasms,” and under the leadership of Dr Mji this network has grown, attracting funding from diverse sources; it is now due to have its 5th biannual conference, in 2014, in Malawi. AfriNEAD has also provided at least part of the momentum for the estab lishment of the African Journal o f Disability, with Leslie Swartz (Stellenbosch University School of Psychology) as editor-in-chief. 849
One of the most distinctive features of MacLachlan’s work has been his interest in developing expertise in inter locking aspects of knowledge content, process, and con text— of knowing what to do (in terms of disability and rehabilitation), knowing how to do it (in terms of the orga nizational aspects of aid and development), and understand ing the influence of context, or the exigencies of where it is to be done (in terms of cultural and low-income contexts). This interest in situating knowledge in its interfaces has traversed his work. MacLachlan’s earlier work with the Dublin Psychopros thetics Group concerned psychosocial aspects of disability and rehabilitation, especially the use of prosthetic technol ogy. While his more recent work, especially with United Nations (UN) organizations, focuses on organizational and societal aspects of promoting the implementation of the so cial model and the human rights perspective, he continues to research enablement from the individual and assistive tech nology perspective, too, seeing these perspectives as inevita bly complementary. Several recent projects illustrate the perspectives of con tent, context, and process. As regards content, MacLachlan led the EquitAble Project, funded by the European Union, which among other things, developed a policy analysis tool to evaluate the extent to which existing national policies stated a commitment to core concepts of human rights and the inclusion of 12 different vulnerable groups. The tool devel oped—EquiFrame— has been used to guide the development of Malawi’s first National Health Policy; it has been adopted by Sudan to guide its future policy revision; it has identified the need for policy revision in South Africa; and it has been adopted for advocacy use by Handicap International. UNESCO, Trinity College Dublin, and the University of Melbourne cohosted a conference earlier this year of SouthEast Asian country governments, UN agencies, and funders to explore how EquiFrame and complementary tools can be used to enhance social inclusion in the region. Other work packages in the EquitAble Project focused on ethnographic studies and a large-scale household survey, gathering data on over 30,000 people across Namibia, Sudan, Malawi, and South Africa. An example of a project more concerned with process is a consortium led by MacLachlan and Gubela Mji, funded by Irish Aid and the Health Research Board, for the African Policy on Disability and Development (A-PODD) project. This project explored factors that might help promote the inclusion of the rights and needs of people with disability in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, the major documents that outline a country’s development intentions over a five-year period. This project involved working closely with civil so ciety and government across Uganda, Sierra Leone, Malawi, and Ethiopia. Another project that addresses process issues is the ADDUP (Are Development Discrepancies Undermining De
850
velopment?) project, led by Stu Carr at Massey University, which builds on the previous joint work of Carr and MacLachlan and colleagues. Across China, India, the Solo mon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Malawi, and Uganda, this project explored the demotivating effects of the “dual salary system” whereby expatriate workers get paid considerably more than local workers, even when local workers have similar qualifications and experience. The research demon strated that aid and development initiatives predicated on remunerative injustices can be capacity stripping rather than capacity building. Along with People in Aid, the Birches Group, and several international nongovernmental organiza tions, a new consortium is planning to take this work forward, using action research and advocacy in addition to more conventional research methods. MacLachlan has been one of the leaders in applying psychology to global health and social inclusion, and his work with the United Nations has increased the profile and contributions of the discipline at the highest level. He is currently working with the International Labour Organiza tion’s PROPEL (Promoting Rights and Opportunities for People With Disabilities Through Legislation) project, where he leads the knowledge management aspect of the project along with Hasheem Mannan of University College Dublin. The project seeks to improve the employment opportunities of people with disabilities in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Zambia, and Botswana by promoting skills building and addressing discriminatory practices. MacLachlan and Mannan are also leading the knowledge management com ponent of the United Nations Partnership for the Rights of People with Disability (UNPRPD), which is currently work ing across 14 countries and is about to expand to over 20 countries. Funded by a United Nations Multi-Donor Trust Fund, this program is the largest of its type in the world, encompassing change in the health, education, employment, and justice sectors and engaging UN agencies, government, and civil society in each country. This work also comple ments two international consortia led by MacLachlan and commissioned by the World Health Organization to make recommendations for the development of guidelines for the rehabilitation workforce and for governance and leadership in rehabilitation globally. At Trinity College Dublin, MacLachlan has been involved in the Centre for Global Health since its founding over 10 years ago by his wife Eilish McAuliffe, also a psychologist, who is now professor of health systems at University College Dublin. Since meeting during their clinical psychology train ing in London, they have developed complementary but distinctive interests, with some overlap around the challenge of how the human resource crises in health care can be addressed in low-income settings. At Trinity, MacLachlan has led the development of the International Doctoral School in Global Health (INDIGO), which focuses on strengthening health systems, particularly from an organizational and be-
November 2014 • American Psychologist
Copyright of American Psychologist is the property of American Psychological Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
