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Selected Topics - Conflict and Human Rights
 The WWW Virtual Library: Public Health
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Studies on Conflict and Human Rights at UNSW
Events
Global policies and related documents
- A National Responsibility Framework for Situations of Internal Displacement
Because internally displaced persons (IDPs) remain within the borders of their own countries, primary responsibility for protecting and assisting them rests with their national authorities. This document sets forth benchmarks for an effective national response. It identifies twelve key steps for governments to take in responding to internal displacement. Available in English, Arabic, Azerbaijani, French, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, Spanish and Tamil.
- Alternatives to Detention of Asylum Seekers and Refugees
"This study examines the practices regarding the use of alternatives to detention for asylum seekers and/or refugees of thirty-four States. First, it presents a concise overview of the legal standards under international law applicable to both detention as well as alternatives to detention that may give rise to some restrictions on the freedom of movement of asylum seekers and/or refugees. Second, and forming the main part of this study, it presents a range of alternatives to detention used by many receiving countries and attempts to evaluate those measures, specifically in relation to rates of absconding."
- Forced Migration Online Research Guide on International Law and Legal Documents, 2005
This Research Guide provides an overview of the principal international and regional instruments in human rights law, humanitarian law and refugee law. It analyses key aspects of these legal instruments and provides suggestions of significant cases studies and reading materials, as well as links to full-text versions of key documents.
- National Human Development Reports and the Human Security Framework
This report, published by the UNDP's Human Development Report Office "... provides a comprehensive analysis of the major antecedents which have, both intentionally and unintentionally, contributed to the emergence of the human security framework. The paper then considers the 1994 HDR and subsequent documents and declarations which have helped to develop and refine the concept of human security, particularly in elaboration its connections with disarmament, peace and security, and development. This analysis is followed with a brief yet systematic overview of the major critiques and criticisms of the concept and methodology, and possible responses to these challenges. The final part in this first section engages with the risks of distorted narratives on human security, particularly those which seek to reframe human security in favour of the dominant interests of states and institutional agendas..."
- Protracted Refugee Situations
This document identifies and addresses issues relating to position of refugees who "find themselves in a long-lasting and protracted state of limbo". It examines the dimensions, consequences and possible solutions from the perspective of the UNHCR.
- The Externalisation of EU Asylum Policy: The Position of the African States
"This paper explores the position of African states in the context of attempts by European states to externalize responsibility for asylum processing and refugee protection to refugees' regions of origin. It argues that the range of approaches developed by European states and their methods of cooperation fundamentally misrepresent the position of African states in the global refugee regime. Drawing upon the example of Tanzania , which has been the focal point for a range of the new initiatives, the paper demonstrates how the existing European approach has failed to adequately recognize many of the constraints on asylum in Africa."
- UNHCR Drug Management Manual 2006: Policies, Guidelines, UNHCR List of Essential Drugs
This manual is designed for use by the UNHCR's health partners and for UNHCR health programme officers who supervise drug procurement in the field. It meant to be a practical tool for field staff of the UNHCR and partners with the aim of improving drug management in all parts of the drug management cycle.
- UNHCR Guidelines on International Protection
These new UNHCR guidelines relating to trafficking are intended to provide interpretative legal guidance for governments, legal practitioners, decision-makers and the judiciary, as well as for UNHCR staff carrying out refugee status determination in the field.
- UNHCR Operational Guidelines on Maintaining the Civilian and Humanitarian Character of Asylum
"Despite well-established legal principles and directives applicable to the issue of maintaining the civilian character of asylum, the response on the ground with respect to the actual separation and internment of combatants often remains inadequate, with reluctance -or inability- on the part of Governments, but also international agencies, to assume responsibility. In appreciation of this gap, UNHCR's Executive Committee highlighted in its Conclusion 94 (LIII) of 2002 the need for the elaboration of measures for the disarmament of armed elements and the identification, separation, and internment of combatants and provided basic principles guiding these activities. These Operational Guidelines on Maintaining the Civilian and Humanitarian Character of Asylum are the result of a process that started with an Expert Meeting held on 9-11 June 2004..."
- UNHCR Position on claims for refugee status under the 1951 Convention, relating to status of refugees based on a fear of prosecution due to an individual's membership of a family or clan engaged in a blood feud
- United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women: Platform for Action
The Platform for Action is an agenda for women's empowerment. It aims at accelerating the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women and at removing all the obstacles to women's active participation in all spheres of public and private life through a full and equal share in economic, social, cultural and political decision-making."
- WHO Ethical and Safety Recommendations for Interviewing Trafficked Women
This report is part of a series published by WHO's Gender and Women's Health Department on ethical and safety recommendations on violence against women. Its authors Cathy Zimmerman and Charlotte Watts are part of the Health Policy Unit at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Reports, guidelines and projects
- 2004 Global Refugee Trends
This report summarises global levels and trends in the population of concern to UNHCR: refugees, asylum-seekers, stateless, and others of concern. The data, reported by UNHCR country offices, generally reflect the view of the host country.
- A Population-Based Assessment of Human Rights Abuses Committed against Ethnic Albanian Refugees from Kosovo
Objectives: This study assessed patterns of displacement and human rights abuses among Kosovar refugees in Macedonia and Albania. Methods: Between April 19 and May 3, 1999, 1180 ethnic Albanian refugees living in 31 refugee camps and collective centers in Macedonia and Albania were interviewed. Results: The majority (68%) of participants reported that their families were directly expelled from their homes by Serb forces. Overall, 50% of participants saw Serb police or soldiers burning the houses of others, 16% saw Serb police or soldiers burn their own home, and 14% witnessed Serb police or soldiers killing someone. Large percentages of participants saw destroyed mosques, schools, or medical facilities. Thirty-one percent of respondents reported human rights abuses committed against their household members, including beatings, killings, torture, forced separation and disappearances, gunshot wounds, and sexual assault. Conclusions: The present findings confirm that Serb forces engaged in a systematic and brutal campaign to forcibly expel the ethnic Albanian population of Kosovo. In the course of these mass deportations, Serb forces committed widespread abuses of human rights against ethnic Albanians. [author abstract] [American Journal of Public Health, 2001; 91: 2013–2018]
- AFRICA - Well known and invisible killer littered throughout Africa - This report from the UN Integrated Regional Information Network discusses the prevalence of landmines in Africa.
- Agricultural rehabilitation: Mapping the links between humanitarian relief, social protection and development
"This paper addresses the question of how to support the livelihoods of rural people who have been affected by conflict. Specifically, it focuses on how international actors might move beyond conventional seeds and tools interventions to address vulnerability and support the agricultural component of rural livelihoods in countries emerging from conflict...."
- Amnesty Report 2005
This site provides an order form for the print version of Amnesty International's 2005 report on the state of the world's human rights. Links are provided to free on-line version of previous years reports.
- Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries, 2005
This report from the UN refugee agency provides a comparative overview of asylum applications lodged in 31 European and 5 Non-European Countries.
- Beyond Firewood: Fuel Alternatives and Protection Strategies for Displaced Women and Girls
"...The environment that surrounds refugee or internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, particularly in situations of ongoing conflict, is notoriously dangerous. Yet every day, in hundreds of camps around the world, millions of women and girls venture out into this danger, risking rape, assault, abduction, theft, exploitation or even murder, in order to collect enough firewood to cook for their families..." Published by the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, this report examines the plight of these women and children and offers various alternative strategies to reduce the risks.
- Birth Registration and Armed Conflict
"The obligation to protect and assist children in times of war is a basic principle of human rights and humanitarian law. Establishing a legal identity is an essential first step in safeguarding children’s right to protection and assistance. Children’s right to be registered at birth and their right to a name and identity are formally recognized by the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Birth registration is instrumental in safeguarding other human rights because it provides the official ‘proof’ of a child’s existence. This documentation is crucial, especially during times of armed conflict or civil unrest. The ‘invisibility’ of non-registered children increases their vulnerability and the risk that violations of their rights will go unnoticed. Providing children with birth registration during and after conflict is, therefore, a matter of urgent priority. The urgency and importance of birth registration during emergencies was tragically demonstrated following the powerful tsunami that slammed into the coasts of India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Seychelles and Somalia in December 2004, killing thousands of people and leaving hundreds of thousands of children and their families homeless. The most immediate task was to identify and register unaccompanied and separated children and trace their family members, working closely with hospitals, communities, police and local authorities. Reuniting children with family and extended family members in emergency situations is the best way to provide children with safety, security and care, and birth certificates and other documents of identification are essential to reunification efforts."
- Challenging orthodoxies: the road ahead for health and human rights
"Two decades of work delivering health care in poor communities provide a standpoint from which to challenge conventional doctrines in human rights and public health. These orthodoxies include the priority often assigned to civil and political rights over economic and social rights and a narrow concept of cost-effectiveness in public health policy. An analysis based on economic and social rights underscores, for example, that effectively treating infectious diseases in poor communities requires ensuring that people receive adequate food. The challenge of maternal mortality in low-income settings similarly shows the need for an approach to rights that is simultaneously comprehensive and pragmatic. In many settings, paying community health workers for their efforts on behalf of their neighbors can also be seen as a critical strategy to realize rights. Across contexts, the yield on the expanded and pragmatic view of health and human rights adumbrated here may be considerable." [author abstract] (Paul Farmer, Health and Human Rights: An International Journal, Vol 10, No 1 (2008))
- Child Protection in Emergencies
This report from Save the Children examines the plight of children in emergency situations. It outlines the international legal frameworks that govern the rights of children including human rights law and security council resolutions, as well as the psycho-social implications for the children themselves. It offers recommendations and suggests protection priorities, encompassing integrating and implementing protection, gender based violence, children associated with armed forces and the provision of education.
- CE-DAT: A Database on the Human Impact of Conflicts
A project aiming to improve the evidence base for policy on conflict prevention and response by providing standardised, publicly accessible qualitative and quantitative data on the human impact of conflict.
- Developing a health and human rights training program for french [sic] speaking Africa: lessons learned, from needs assessment to a pilot program
Background: The importance of human rights education has widely been recognized as one of the strategies for their protection and promotion of health. Yet training programs have not always taken into account neither local needs, nor public health relevance, nor pedagogical efficacy. The objectives of our study were to assess, in a participative way, educational needs in the field of health and human rights among potential trainees in six French-speaking African countries and to test the feasibility of a training program through a pilot test. Ultimately the project aims to implement a health and human rights training program most appropriate to the African context. Methods: Needs assessment was done according to four approaches: Revue of available data on health and human rights in the targeted countries; Country visits by one of the authors meeting key institutions; Focus group discussions with key-informants in each country; A questionnaire-based study targeting health professionals and human rights activists. Pilot training program: an interactive e-learning pilot program was developed integrating training needs expressed by partner institutions and potential trainees. Results: Needs assessment showed high public health and human rights challenges that the target countries have to face. It also showed precise demands of partner institutions in regard to a health and human rights training program. It further allowed defining training objectives and core competencies useful to potential employers and future students as well as specific training contents. A pilot program allowed testing the motivation of students, the feasibility of an interactive educational approach and identifying potential difficulties. Conclusion: In combining various approaches our study was able to show that training needs concentrate around tools allowing the identification of basic human rights violations in the health system, the analysis of their causes and coordinated responses through specific intervention projects. [author abstract] [BMC International Health and Human Rights 2009, 9:19]
- Effectiveness of Universal School-Based Programs to Prevent Violent and Aggressive Behavior: A Systematic Review
Universal, school-based programs, intended to prevent violent behavior, have been used at all grade levels from pre-kindergarten through high school. These programs may be targeted to schools in a high-risk area — defined by low socioeconomic status or high crime rate — and to selected grades as well. All children in those grades receive the programs in their own classrooms, not in special pull-out sessions. According to the criteria of the systematic review methods developed for the Guide to Community Preventive Services (Community Guide), there is strong evidence that universal, school-based programs decrease rates of violence among school-aged children and youth. Program effects were consistent at all grade levels. An independent, recently updated meta-analysis of school-based programs confirms and supplements the Community Guide findings. [author abstract] [Am J Prev Med 2007; 33(2S): S114–S129]
- Excluding the poor from accessing biomedical literature: A rights violation that impedes global health
"Most biomedical journals charge readers a hefty access toll to read the full text version of a published research article. These tolls bring enormous profits to the traditional corporate publishing industry, but they make it impossible for most people worldwide - particularly in low and middle income countries - to access the biomedical literature. Traditional publishers also insist on owning the copyright on these articles, making it illegal for readers to freely distribute and photocopy papers, translate them, or create derivative educational works. This article argues that excluding the poor from accessing and freely using the biomedical research literature is harming global public health. Health care workers, for example, are prevented from accessing the information they need to practice effective medicine, while policymakers are prevented from accessing the essential knowledge they require to build better health care systems. The author proposes that the biomedical literature should be considered a global public good, basing his arguments upon longstanding and recent international declarations that enshrine access to scientific and medical knowledge as a human right. He presents an emerging alternative publishing model, called open access, and argues that this model is a more socially responsive and equitable approach to knowledge dissemination." [author abstract] (Gavin Yamey, Health and Human Rights: An International Journal, Vol 10, No 1 (2008))
- First do no harm: denying healthcare to people whose asylum claims have failed
In April 2004 the U.K. introduced the NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) (Amendment) Regulation. The regulation denies free healthcare to those asylum seekers who are Appeals Right Exhausted and yet remain in the U.K. for one reason or another. This Refugee Council report examines the impact of this regulation on the health of those whose asylum applications have been rejected.
- Guide to International Human Rights Mechanisms for Internally Displaced Persons and their Advocates
Published by the Brookings Institute, this step-by-step reference guide for internally displaced persons and those acting on their behalf sets out the legal rights that internally displaced persons enjoy, as well as the international mechanisms that have been established to protect these rights. These include regional institutions which have procedures attuned to the particular contexts of those parts of the world, as well as United Nations mechanisms. The Guide is grouped according to the three phases of displacement, it carefully sets out the themes that are particularly relevant to internally displaced persons and illustrates the sources of law for these rights.
- Health and Conflict Prevention
"Public health has captured the public mind as a security issue. Both the aftermath of the Christmas tsunami disaster in 2004 and the pandemic threat from avian flu in 2005 were of great concern to millions of people in different parts of the world. HIV/AIDS was proclaimed a security threat already in the mid 1990s. This publication, the third in a series from the Anna Lindh Programme on Conflict Prevention, deals with health and conflict prevention. There are essays on public health as an issue of diplomacy and case studies of urgent health issues...."
- Health Risks and Consequences of Trafficking in Women and Adolescents
This report represents the findings of a two-year multicountry study on women’s health and trafficking to the European Union. Interviews were conducted by researchers in with women who had been trafficked, health care and other service providers, NGOs working against trafficking, law enforcement officials, and policy makers.
- Health Poverty Action's programmes in Cambodia
Health Poverty Action is working in remote areas to: Increase access to health services; Prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS; Improve health services; Educate young people via radio and TV; and Fight the incidence of Malaria.
- Human Rights, Health and Development
"Human rights, health and development represent interdependent sets of values, aspirations and disciplines. Drawing on these domains, this paper offers a theoretical and practical framework for the analysis, application and assessment of health, justice and progress. It provides a simple conceptual framework illustrating the interdependence of these domains and highlights their key features and underlying principles. It then describes the reciprocal interactions between health, development and human rights and suggests how these linkages can be analysed and applied in practice. A Health, Development and Human Rights Impact Assessment (HDHR IA) approach is proposed to guide and monitor policies and programs towards maximising synergy."
- Human Rights in Healthcare - A framework for local action
"Taking a human rights based approach can provide a way for everyone in an organisation to make real improvements in people’s lives. The project has been a collaboration between five NHS organisations, the British Institute of Human Rights and the Department of Health. The learning from this project has been incorporated into this new edition of Human Rights in Healthcare – A framework for local action, which aims to show how a human rights based approach can be of practical value to organisations and individuals providing better services for patients and service users.” [Alan Johnson, UK Secretary of State for Health]
- Human Rights Watch World Report 2005
The Human Rights Watch World Report for 2006 contains information on human rights developments in more than 60 countries in 2005. In addition to the introductory essay on torture, the volume contains two essays: “Private Companies and the Public Interest: Why Corporations Should Welcome Global Human Rights Rules” and “Preventing the Further Spread of HIV/AIDS: The Essential Role of Human Rights.”
- International Campaign to Ban Landmines
This campaign is working towards an international ban on the use, production, stockpiling, and sale, transfer, or export of antipersonnel landmines. It also supports the signing, ratification, implementation, and monitoring of the mine ban treaty, increased resources for humanitarian de-mining and mine awareness programs and increased resources for landmine victim rehabilitation and assistance.
- Landmine Monitor Report 2004: Toward a Mine-Free World
"Landmine Monitor is a civil society based reporting network to systematically monitor and document nations' compliance with the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty and the humanitarian response to the global landmine crisis"
- MARTUS: The Global Social Justice Monitoring System
This is the distribution and information site for Martus, a free software tool that allows users to document incidents of human rights abuse by creating bulletins, uploading them at the earliest opportunity, and storing them on redundant servers located around the world.
- Migratory Routes from Haiti to the Dominican Republic: Implications for the Epidemic and the Human Rights of People Living with HIV/AIDS
The presented study analyzes the possibility of a relationship between the migratory flow from Haiti toward the Dominican Republic and the spread of HIV/AIDS, as well as implications for the human rights of immigrants living with the infection. Its purpose is to identify possible areas of intervention and research in order to increase the participation of this population and its organizations in HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention efforts. The current study was carried out in three main phases: 1) review of existing documentation on the relationship between Haitian immigration, HIV/AIDS, and the human rights of infected people; 2) semi-structured interviews with key informants, authorities, and experts in the areas of concern; and, 3) eight case studies of Haitian immigrants living with HIV/AIDS in agricultural bateyes in the Dominican Republic. Results evidence the stigmatizing scenarios that immigrants living with HIV/AIDS face. [publication abstract] [Revista Interamericana de Psicología/Interamerican Journal of Psychology - 2007, Vol. 41, Num. 1, pp. 7-16]
- Operational Framework for Integrating Risk Reduction - for AID Organisations Working in Human Settlement Development
"Whilst the need to integrate risk reduction (RR) with development aid in order to achieve sustainable poverty reduction is acknowledged amongst donors, experts and practitioners, little work has been undertaken to identify how this could be achieved... This working paper provides general guidance for all types of implementing development aid organisations, working in human settlements, for the integration of RR within their ‘normal’ work. It is usable within a variety of cultural and geographical contexts and it is relevant to all types of natural hazards and disaster."
- Organizing health care within political turmoil: the Palestinian case
Palestinians were given control over their own health services in late 1994. Since then they have been facing the challenge of reorganizing disordered health services into a cohesive, regulated and sustainable health care system. This paper focuses on the experience of organizing health care during political instability. It considers the ways that health care is currently provided and funded in the Palestinian Territories. The patterns of accessibility to health care services in terms of insurance coverage and provision (physical allocation) of services are discussed. Finally, the major health care policy changes in this transitional period are examined. [author summary] [International Journal of Health Planning and Management, 2003; 18: 63–87] [subscription required]
- Property Restitution in Practice
This report, published by The Norwegian Refugee Council is based on the Council's experiences of attempting to uphold the right of refugees and displaced persons to property restitution through information counselling and legal assistance in more than a dozen countries throughout the world.
- Protecting and Assisting the Internally Displaced: the Way Forward
This supplement of Forced Migration Review is published as the international community recognises the need to urgently address current failures in protection and assistance for internally displaced people. Articles from Jan Egeland (UN Emergency Relief Coordinator) and other key figures in the humanitarian community present a range of views on the future of the IDP regime.
- Realizing the International Human Right to Health: The Challenge of For-Profit Health Care
"Current human rights theory focuses predominantly on the government as a provider or guarantor of health care services or the financing of the same. In human rights work, there has been less focus on the role of private, for-profit entities in the provision and insurance of health care goods and services. Clearly, the provision and insurance of health care in the world today can only be accomplished through the cooperative work of both public and private actors. The key for success is figuring out a set of rules, based on a human rights approach, which will create an environment in which both public and private actors can succeed in bringing accessible and high quality health care goods and services to all people in the world." [West Virginia Law Review [Vol. 113] 49 (2010)]
- Reconstructing Tuberculosis Services after Major Conflict: Experiences and Lessons Learned in East Timor
Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem in developing countries. Following the disruption to health services in East Timor due to violent political conflict in 1999, the National Tuberculosis Control Program was established, with a local non-government organisation as the lead agency. Within a few months, the TB program was operational in all districts. Using the East Timor TB program as a case study, this article published in PLOS Medicine 3(10), Oct. 2006, examines the enabling factors for the implementation of this type of communicable disease control program in a post-conflict setting.
- Report on Integrated Missions: Practical Perspectives and Recommendations
This study, commissioned by the UN Executive Committee on Humanitarian Affairs (ECHA) in October 2004, examines the performance of "integrated missions", an instrument with which the UN seeks to help countries in the transition from war to lasting peace.
- Reports on Human Rights 2005
Published by the U.S. Department of State, these reports describe the performance of 196 countries in putting into practice their international commitments on human rights as reflected in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- Reproductive health during conflict and displacement - a guide for programme managers
This document is provided free of charge on the World Health Organisation's Emergency Situations page
- Securing Health: Lessons from Nation Building Missions
This monograph presents the results of research conducted by the RAND Corporation on the health component of nation-building operations. The purpose of the research was to analyse the activities that countries, international institutions, and non-governmental organisations undertake in rebuilding public health and health care delivery systems after major conflict. In addition, this monograph outlines key principles for the success of such reconstruction efforts and identifies lessons for future nation-building operations.
- Social conditions, health equity, and human rights
The fields of health equity and human rights have different languages, perspectives, and tools for action, yet they share several foundational concepts. This paper explores connections between human rights and health equity, focusing particularly on the implications of current knowledge of how social conditions may influence health and health inequalities, the metric by which health equity is assessed. The role of social conditions in health is explicitly addressed by both 1) the concept that health equity requires equity in social conditions, as well as in other modifiable determinants, of health; and 2) the right to a standard of living adequate for health. The indivisibility and interdependence of all human rights — civil and political as well as economic and social — together with the right to education, implicitly but unambiguously support the need to address the social (including political) determinants of health, thus contributing to the conceptual basis for health equity. The right to the highest attainable standard of health strengthens the concept and guides the measurement of health equity by implying that the reference group for equity comparisons should be one that has optimal conditions for health. The human rights principles of non-discrimination and equality also strengthen the conceptual foundation for health equity by identifying groups among whom inequalities in health status and health determinants (including social conditions) reflect a lack of health equity; and by construing discrimination to include not only intentional bias, but also actions with unintentionally discriminatory effects. In turn, health equity can make substantial contributions to human rights 1) insofar as research on health inequalities provides increasing understanding and empiric evidence of the importance of social conditions as determinants of health; and, more concretely, 2) by indicating how to operationalize the concept of the right to health for the purposes of measurement and accountability, which have been elusive. Human rights laws and principles and health equity concepts and technical approaches can be powerful tools for mutual strengthening, not only by contributing toward building awareness and consensus around shared values, but also by guiding analysis and strengthening measurement of both human rights and health equity. [author abstract] [Health and Human Rights: An International Journal, vol. 12, no. 2, 2010]
- State of the World's Population 2006 - A Passage to Hope: Women and International Migration
"This year’s UNFPA State of World Population report, A Passage to Hope: Women and International Migration, examines the scope and breadth of female migration, the impact of the funds they send home to support families and communities, and their disproportionate vulnerability to trafficking, exploitation and abuse. The report, produced and published every year by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, reveals that although migrant women contribute billions of dollars in cash and services, policymakers continue to disregard both their contributions and their vulnerability—even though female migrants tend to send a much higher proportion of their lower earnings back home than their male counterparts ….”
- State of the World's Refugees 2006 - Human Displacement in the New Millennium
This UNHCR Publication "...examines the changing dynamics of displacement over the past half decade. While the number of refugees – 9.2 million – is now the lowest in 25 years, it says the international system for dealing with human displacement has reached a critical juncture as it struggles with new challenges in an increasingly globalised world. These include the plight of tens of millions of internally displaced people; widespread confusion over migrants and refugees; tightened asylum policies and growing intolerance…..”
- The Postwar Public Health Effects of Civil Conflict
Civilian suffering from civil war extends well beyond the period of active warfare. We examine longer-term effects in a cross-national analysis of World Health Organization data on death and disability broken down by age, gender, and type of disease or condition. We find substantial long-term effects, even after controlling for several other factors. We estimate that the additional burden of death and disability incurred in 1999 alone, from the indirect and lingering effects of civil wars in the years 1991- 97, was nearly double the number incurred directly and immediately from all wars in 1999. This impact works its way through specific diseases and conditions, and disproportionately affects women and children. [author abstract]
- The Provision of Protection to Asylum-Seekers in Destination Countries
This report examines the factors that influence the acceptance of claims to refugee status in destination countries. These factors include conditions in country of origin, destination country's asylum burden, political ideology, openness to outsiders, diplomatic relationships, economic conditions and need for population replacement.
- Trafficking in Persons - Global Patterns
"This Report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime... uses information from open sources, both private and public, to map an impressionistic journey into global patterns of trafficking in persons.... The aims of the report include first, to compile and make sense of existing disparate sources, so as to highlight trends concerning countries of origin, transit and destination. Second, to lay down a challenge to UN Member States to improve the quality of their reporting."
- Trafficking in Persons Report
"The US Department of State is required by law to submit a Report each year to the U.S. Congress on foreign governments’ efforts to eliminate severe forms of trafficking in persons. This Report is the eighth annual TIP Report. It is intended to raise global awareness, to highlight efforts of the international community, and to encourage foreign governments to take effective actions to counter all forms of trafficking in persons. The U.S. law that guides anti-human trafficking efforts, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, as amended (TVPA), states that the purpose of combating human trafficking is to punish traffickers, to protect victims, and to prevent trafficking from occurring. Freeing those trapped in slave-like conditions is the ultimate goal of this Report — and of the U.S. Government’s antihuman trafficking policy. Human trafficking is a multi-dimensional threat. It deprives people of their human rights and freedoms, it increases global health risks, and it fuels the growth of organized crime. Human trafficking has a devastating impact on individual victims, who often suffer physical and emotional abuse, rape, threats against self and family, and even death. But the impact of human trafficking goes beyond individual victims; it undermines the health, safety, and security of all nations it touches."
- UNHCR Resettlement of Iraqi Refugees - This March 2007 document "sets forth UNHCR’s resettlement policy for Iraqi refugees coming from Central and Southern Iraq (that is, Iraq with the exception of the three provinces of northern Iraq under the control of the Kurdish Regional Government). It applies primarily to Iraqi refugees living in countries of first asylum, namely Syria, Jordan and Turkey; but also applies to Iraqi refugees in countries of secondary movement in the Middle East such as Lebanon and Egypt as well as in other regions of the world."
- World Refugee Survey 2005
Published by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, The World Refugee Survey 2005 "offers comprehensive statistical tables of refugees and internally displaced persons in every major host country with a focus on refugee warehousing. The Survey also evaluates and ranks how host countries honor refugee rights as set forth in the 1951 Refugee Convention."
Educational resources
- Communication Initiative - Human Rights Window
"The Communication Initiative is a partnership of development organisations seeking to support advances in the effectiveness and scale of communication interventions for positive international development...Human Rights Window - provides a specific focus on the information related to Human Rights on The CI site"
- Derechos
Derechos Human Rights works for the respect and promotion of human rights throughout the world. Their work includes disseminating information and analysis through the internet and other media, the promotion of prosecutions of human rights violators and the support of local human rights NGOs and activists.
- Freedom of Religion and Belief: An Essential Human Right - A Learning Guide
"This manual is part of a learning package consisting of the manual, video dramas and handouts that aim to build knowledge of fundamental human rights generally and in particular the right to freedom of religion, as well as promote religious tolerance. The manual was developed by the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF), an interreligious organisation that aims to protect the right to religious freedom, in co-operation with the People’s Movement for Human Rights Learning (PDHR), an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) specialising in human rights education. "
- Forced Migration Online
Forced Migration Online is a comprehensive web site that provides access to a diverse range of relevant information resources on forced migration. It is a technically and intellectually administered resource, combining specialist subject knowledge with high standards of information management
- Forced Migration Online - Thematic Resources - Torture
This Forced Migration Online Resource Summary provides access to a variety of web-based resources on the theme of torture. It also highlights documents from FMO's digital library that discuss issues central to the subject. Finally, contact details for key organisations are also listed.
- Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights
This centre was established at the Harvard School of Public Health in 1993. The Center combines the academic strengths of research and teaching with a strong commitment to service and policy development. Its website includes global coverage of health and human rights issues.
- Guide to Forced Migration Periodicals
"This guide lists journals, substantive newsletters and other regularly produced publications that are relevant in the field of forced migration studies. The emphasis has been placed on periodicals that are currently being published and whose online contents are up-to-date. However, some archived serials have been included for reference purposes."
- The Human Rights Internet
"A key objective of the Human Rights Internet is to support the work of the global non-governmental community in its struggle to obtain human rights for all. To this end, HRI promotes human rights education, stimulates research, encourages the sharing of information, and builds international solidarity among those committed to the principles enshrined in the International Bill of Human Rights"
- Human Rights Library
Located at the University of Minnesota, this comprehensive web-site offers access to documents, reports, legislation, and reports from national and international organisations
- Human Rights Tool
This site is primarily aimed at human rights activists. It provides links to a variety of human rights tools including links to specific country, population group and issue information, links to monitoring, documentation and advocacy resources, legal resources and technical information. It also provides human rights news headlines and an e-mail newsletter.
- Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), established in 1998 by the Norwegian Refugee Council, monitors conflict-induced internal displacement worldwide. Through its work, the Centre contributes to improving national and international capacities to protect and assist the millions of people around the globe who have been displaced within their own country as a result of conflicts or human rights violations. The IDMC runs an online database providing comprehensive information and analysis on internal displacement in some 50 countries.
- Migration Information Source
Migration Information Source is produced by the Migration Policy Institute, an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank dedicated to the study of the movement of people worldwide. The Migration Information Source provides fresh thought, authoritative data from numerous global organisations and governments, and global analysis of international migration and refugee trends. The Source offers useful tools, vital data, and essential facts on the movement of people worldwide.
- Operational Protection in Camps and Settlements: A reference guide of good practices in the protection of refugees and other persons of concern
This UNHCR guide is an effort to address the difficulties of translating policy into practice and the obstacles to operationalise existing guidelines. It brings together a range of guidelines and policies into easily accessible segments, documents implementation challenges and then provides real-life examples of good practices where UNHCR and NGO field operations - most successfully when in partnership - have managed these challenges through creative and effective programmes.
- Refugee Law Reader
This is the third edition of the Refugee Law Reader. It provides a comprehensive on-line curriculum for the study of international asylum and refugee law. The Reader also offers access to the complete texts of up-to-date core legal materials, instruments and academic commentary.
- Researching Health and Human Rights
Researching Health and Human Rights is sponsored by the University of Melbourne and VICHealth. It is dedicated to researching the connection between health and human rights.
- Refworld
UNHCR's "Refworld is the leading source of information necessary for taking quality decisions on refugee status. Refworld contains a vast collection of reports relating to situations in countries of origin, policy documents and positions, and documents relating to international and national legal frameworks. The information has been carefully selected and compiled from UNHCR's global network of field offices, Governments, international, regional and non-governmental organizations, academic institutions and judicial bodies."
- Return of Forced Migrants
Voluntary repatriation, resettlement and local integration are the three ‘durable solutions’ to refugee crises recognised under international law and facilitated by the UNHCR. In the last three years alone, more than 5 million refugees have returned to their countries of origin in 27 large-scale repatriation programmes. This new Research Guide from Forced Migration Online (FMO) aims to set out some of the core principles and issues surrounding the return of refugees and IDPs, and highlight the challenges associated with making return a safe, dignified and sustainable process..
Organisations and Networks
UN and multinational
- Amnesty International
Amnesty International is a worldwide campaigning movement that works to promote all the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international standards.
- Global Commission on International Migration
The Global Commission on International Migration was launched by the United Nations Secretary-General and a number of governments on December 9, 2003 in Geneva. It is comprised of 19 Commissioners, is independent and was given the mandate to provide the framework for the formulation of a coherent, comprehensive and global response to the issue of international migration.
- United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR)
The High Commissioner works to encourage the international community and its member States to uphold universally agreed human rights standards by alerting Governments and the world community to the daily reality that these standards are too often ignored or unfulfilled, and to be a voice for the victims of human rights violations everywhere.
- UNHCHR Indigenous Peoples page
- United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The UNHCR is mandated to lead and coordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide.
- United Nations: Human Rights Server
This site provides links to declarations, treaties, research guides and other documents from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights' web site.
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights
On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this is the full text of that declaration.
- WomenWarPeace
A portal on women, war and security provided by the United Nations Development Fund for Women.
Government
- Humanitarian Demining
This site provides an overview of the optional products and technologies that are available for use in global humanitarian de-mining. The technologies described on this site were developed, or are being developed, tested, and evaluated under the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Humanitarian Demining Research and Development program.
Non Government
- The Asia Pacific Forum on National Human Rights Institutions
This forum was established in 1996 following the first regional meeting of national human rights institutions from the Asia Pacific, to advance the objectives of the Larrakia Declaration which set out important principles governing the functioning of national human rights institutions.
- Adopt-A-Minefield
Adopt-A-Minefield is a program of the United Nations Association of the USA, which engages individuals, community groups, and businesses in the United Nations effort to resolve the global landmine crisis. The Campaign helps save lives by raising funds for mine clearance and survivor assistance and by raising awareness about the landmine problem.
- Amnesty International Health Professionals Network
This Network was set up with the aim of using the expertise of the Health Professions to help the work of Amnesty International. A Steering Group meets quarterly to plan policy and special actions, maintaining contact with Amnesty International Medical Networks worldwide.
- AUSTCARE
AUSTCARE is an Australian-based, independent, specialist humanitarian aid and development organisation that is non-profit and non-sectarian, helping to build a better world for refugees. Since 1967 AUSTCARE has made measurable and sustainable improvements to the lives of refugees, displaced people and those impacted by landmines in more than 30 countries.
- Canadian Landmine Foundation
This site is dedicated to fund-raising for and providing information on demining.
- Carter Center
The Carter Center strives to relieve the suffering caused by war by advancing peace and health in neighbourhoods and nations around the globe. In partnership with Emory University it is guided by a fundamental commitment to human rights, wages peace by bringing warring parties to the negotiating table, monitoring elections, safeguarding human rights, and building strong democracies through economic development."
- Creative Response To Conflict
Resources for community-building, peacemaking, Alternative Dispute Resolution and creative response to conflict for both adults and children throughout the world
- De-Mining Systems (UK)
This organisation aims to drastically reduce the number of landmines globally and bring peace and reduce suffering to all humanity. De-Mining Systems UK is a non-profit / non-governmental organisation (NGO) which is committed to grasping today's technology and putting it to use to good use so that the world can be a safer place both for ourselves and for future generations.
- Development and Peace Foundation (Germany)
"Founded in 1986, on the initiative of Willy Brandt. As a cross-party, non-profit-making organization, it argues for the creation of a new political order in a world that is increasingly dominated by economic and technological globalization and where democratically grounded politics is in danger of disappearing. The work of the Foundation is based on three principles: global responsibility, an interdisciplinary perspective, and cross-party dialogue."
- Forced Migration Online
"Forced Migration Online (FMO) provides access to a wide variety of online resources dealing with the situation of forced migrants worldwide. Designed for use by practitioners, policy makers, researchers, students or anyone interested in the field, FMO aims to give comprehensive information in an impartial environment and to promote increased awareness of human displacement issues to an international community of users. "
- Gendercide Watch
Gendercide watch is working to raise awareness, conduct research, and produce educational resources on gendercide (gender selective mass killing). In particular to it seeks to dispel stereotypes that blame victims and survivors for their own suffering. This site includes a constantly growing data-base of case-studies and other research materials on gendercide
- Global Exchange
Global Exchange is a human rights organisation dedicated to promoting environmental, political, and social justice around the world. Since its founding in 1988, the organisation has been striving to increase global awareness among the US public while building international partnerships around the world.
- Health Rights Connection
Comprising four non-governmental health and human rights organisations this consortium promotes the link between health and human rights internationally by providing education, research, and advocacy for professionals working in health and human rights, students, educators, and the general public.
- Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world by standing with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice. It investigates and expose human rights violations and holds abusers accountable as well as challenging governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and respect international human rights law.
- Human Security Centre
The Human Security Centre's mission is to make human security-related research more accessible to the policy and research communities, the media, educators and the interested public. To this end the Centre publishes the annual Human Security Report, as well as the Human Security Gateway (an online database of human security resources), and two online bulletins, Human Security News and Human Security Research. The Human Security Centre also undertakes its own independent research and hosts workshops that bring the research and policy communities together to discuss a range of human security-related issues
- INCORE: International Conflict Research
"INCORE's vision is of a world with an increased understanding of the causes of conflict; improved methods of resolving conflict without recourse to violent means; and advanced reconciliation processes."
- International Committee of the Red Cross
Information and resource material on ICRC's campaign "Landmines must be stopped" and other subject-related activities.
- IPPNW - International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
"A non-partisan global federation of medical organizations dedicated to research, education, and advocacy relevant to the prevention of nuclear war. To this end, IPPNW seeks to prevent all wars, to promote non-violent conflict resolution, and to minimize the effects of war and preparations for war on health, development, and the environment"
- National Center for Human Rights Education (USA)
Founded in 1996 this is the first human rights education organisation in the United States to focus primarily on domestic human rights violations. CHRE works to build a domestic human rights movement by training community leaders and student activists to apply human rights standards to issues of injustice in the United States. As an information clearinghouse, CHRE seeks to increase human rights understanding, improve cooperation among progressive social change movements, and use human rights education as a catalyst for social transformation.
- Overseas Development Institute
"ODI is Britain's leading independent think-tank on international development and humanitarian issues. Our mission is to inspire and inform policy and practice which lead to the reduction of poverty, the alleviation of suffering and the achievement of sustainable livelihoods in developing countries. We do this by locking together high-quality applied research, practical policy advice, and policy-focused dissemination and debate. We work with partners in the public and private sectors, in both developing and developed countries."
- People's Decade of Human Rights Education
"Founded in 1988, the People's Decade of Human Rights Education (PDHRE-International) is a non-profit, international service organization that works directly and indirectly with its network of affiliates primarily women's and social justice organizations to develop and advance pedagogies for human rights education relevant to people's daily lives in the context of their struggles for social and economic justice and democracy".
- Physicians and Scientists for Responsible Application of Science and Technology
PSRAST is an organisation of scientists who believe that science has reached a level where its applications can cause irreparable damage on a global scale. Its members are seriously concerned about conditions that have been hampering impartial comprehensive, interdisciplinary evaluation of the safety of new applications of science and technology. Its aim is to contribute to responsible application of science and technology throughout the world.
- Physicians for Human Rights
"An organization of health professionals, scientists, and concerned citizens that uses the knowledge and skills of the medical and forensic sciences to investigate and prevent violations of international human rights and humanitarian law"
- Physicians for Social Responsibility
USA affiliate of IPPNW
- Standardised Monitoring and Assessment of Relief and Transitions (SMART)
"The Standardized Monitoring and Assessment of Relief and Transition program is an interagency initiative to improve monitoring and evaluation of humanitarian assistance interventions. Specifically, the program will pilot an approach to routinely collect, analyze and disseminate information on the nutrition and mortality experience of populations served by humanitarian interventions."
- Union of Concerned Scientists
The Union of Concerned Scientists is a non-profit partnership of scientists and citizens whose aim is to combine rigorous scientific analysis, innovative policy development, and effective citizen advocacy to achieve practical environmental solutions
- Universal Rights Network
"a meeting place for the peoples of the world to share their stories of the importance of universal human rights and fundamental freedom to us all"
- War Child
War Child is a network of independent organisations working across the world to help children affected by war. War Child was founded upon a fundamental goal: to advance the cause of peace through investing hope in the lives of children caught up in the horrors of war.
- Witness
"WITNESS gives human rights activists video cameras and help them to expose the crimes, right the wrongs, and end impunity for human rights violators. WITNESS partners with human rights organizations throughout the world, and trains grassroots activists in video and investigative techniques. WITNESS equips them with the latest technology, provides assistance in field video productions, and ensures that the evidence generated gets an international audience
Academic Institutions with particular focus in this area
Conference reports
- Lessons Learned from Rights Based Approaches to Health
This conference which was held at Emory University April 14-16 2005, explored evidence based relationships between health and human rights. Featured speakers include former US President Jimmy Carter and United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to health Paul Hunt along with other leaders in the fields of health and human rights.
- Surviving Crisis: How systems and communities cope with insecurity, instability and infection
Edited by Pilar Ramos-Jimenez, Johannes Sommerfeld and Anthony Zwi, these papers constitute the proceedings of a workshop held in the Philippines in 2002. The meeting, which brought together participants from Africa, Asia and South America addressed the ways in which communities affected by political conflict respond to infectious diseases. The participants discussed the coping strategies and adaptions made by communities and the people's resilience amidst adversity.
Journals, Newsletters, Forums
- Bridges
The goal of Bridges, the Israeli-Palestinian Public Health magazine is to promote the exchange of public health information of common interest between the Palestinian and Israeli public health professionals. Each issue of Bridges is guided by principles such as the importance of showing both the adverse impact of the conflict on both sides and the positive cooperative efforts that are taking place; a focus not only on scientific, health issues but also on issues of dialogue/peace, human rights, and the socioeconomic determinants of health.
- Disasters: the International Journal of Disaster Studies and Practice
A full text archive of issues from 1977-1999 is available from the Forced Migration Online website.
- Ethnopolitics
Published by Taylor and Francis, links to abstracts and selected full text of articles
- Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog
The Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog is a current awareness service highlighting selected web information resources relating to forced migration; provided by Elisa Mason.
- Forced Migration Discussion List
This discussion list, moderated by the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford focuses on issues concerning refugees and internal displacement.
- Forced Migration Review
A full text archive of issues from 1998 onwards is available from the Forced Migration Online website.
- Incore (International Conflict Research) : Publications - Academic Publications
Published papers from 1988 to the present relating to conflict and associated issues. Numerous papers on Cambodia and Northern Ireland
- International Journal for Migration, Health and Social Care
This upcoming journal will focus on the provision of health and social resources to migrants and refugees.
- International Journal of Refugee Law
A full text archive of issues from 1989-1999 is available from the Forced Migration Online website.
- International Migration Review
A full text archive of issues from 1966-1999 is available from the Forced Migration Online website.
- International Review of the Red Cross
The International Review of the Red Cross aims to promote debate, reflection and critical analysis on international humanitarian law, humanitarian action and policy during international armed conflict and other situations of violence. It appears four times a year.
- Journal of Refugee Studies
A full text archive of issues from 1988-1999 is available from the Forced Migration Online website.
- Refugee Survey Quarterly
Published by Oxford University Press Refugee Survey Quarterly is an up-to-date source for refugee and country information. This site contains article abstracts and subscription information.
- RSDWatch Discussion Forum
This discussion forum is intended to provide a public space for discussion of the protection challenges involved in UNHCR performance of refugee status determination.
Bibliographies, Libraries
- Forced Migration Online Human Smuggling and Trafficking Resource Summary
This resource summary complements Forced Migration Review 25 which focuses on Human smuggling and trafficking and has a major feature on People trafficking: upholding rights and understanding vulnerabilities. It includes 22 articles on trafficking-related issues from a range of UN agencies, civil society and human rights organisations, government agencies, NGOs and researchers.
- Forced Migration Online Digital Library
A searchable online resource of "more than 7,000 full-text documents and journal articles in electronic format...the documents include both recent and historical grey (unpublished) literature and research materials".
- Politically Motivated Torture and Its Survivors: A Desk Study Review of the Literature
This literature review by Jose Quiroga and James M Jaranson is published by the Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture. "The target audience is those working in or interested in the field of rehabilitation of politically motivated torture victims." The review surveys literature published between 1998 to mid 2004.
Public health bookshops
Original website founded Lucien E. Schlosser and Eberhard Wenzel, 1997.
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