Key developments
Key developments in the work of the Portfolio have included the launch of a Faculty Reconciliation Process aimed at facilitating the adoption of programmes to address the institutional culture of the faculty, and the commissioning of a set of research projects that seek to understand what happened at UCT during apartheid and identify current obstacles for black staff and students, and women that continue to create barriers to their full participation in the faculty. The research findings provided the basis for the adoption of a Faculty Charter that encapsulate principles for developing a culture of human rights based on respect for human dignity and non-discrimination. The Charter was formally adopted at a special faculty assembly in May 2002.
In addition, the faculty developed and launched a Declaration to replace the traditional oath taken by health sciences' students at the completion of their studies. The new declaration, developed by a multidisciplinary faculty committee including both staff and students, reflects values the faculty views as core to its graduates, including principles of non-discrimination, and respect for human dignity and rights.
Furthermore, in its current transformation of the undergraduate medical education curriculum, the Faculty has committed itself to incorporating human rights, ethics and the lessons derived from the painful self-examination of black students' experiences at UCT at all levels of the teaching programme.