November 2009

Professors Alastair Ager and Jack Saul spoke with author Brandon Hamber at the launch of his new book "Transforming Societies After Political Violence: Truth, Reconciliation, and Mental Health" at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs on November 11. Other panelists included Ruti Teitel, Professor of Comparative Law at New York University and Graeme Simpson, Director of International Centre for Transitional Justice.

Research conducted by Professor Les Roberts and Program on Forced Migration and Health students Alina Potts and Kathleen Myer uncovers staggeringly high mortality rates in Central African Republic.

Professor Mike Wessells will be the keynote speaker at the International Conference on Trauma Counseling on November 23-24 in Bethlehem, Palestine. The conference entitled "Challenges of Trauma Counseling in Conflicted Areas" gathers Palestinian and international mental health specialists, social workers, counselors, researchers, consultants, students, leaders of organizations working in the field of trauma and mental health, prominent national figures and people interested in learning more about trauma counseling. For more information, please see the invitation.

October 2009

A research team from the Program on Forced Migration & Health has developed an analytic framework for identifying strategies to provide protection for children in the midst of conflict and natural disaster. In a study published in the most recent edition of the journal Disasters, the team reports on using this framework to analyse key risks - and means of addressing them - in the ongoing conflict in Darfur. Dr Alastair Ager, the paper's lead author, noted 'We have taken the idea of the 'protective environment' and developed it as a major analytic tool to consider the source of the key vulnerabilities of children and ways of responding to them. The situation in Darfur clearly creates huge risks for children. Our analysis suggests both short- and long-term actions to respond to these - ranging from improved mechanisms for monitoring and reporting to restoration of traditional structures that served a protective function for chioldren - and our colleagues at UNICEF are now actively engaged in pursuing these.'

Ager, A, Boothby, N, and Bremer, M. (2009) Using the 'protective environment' framework to analyse children's protection needs in Darfur. Disasters, 33 (4), 548-573.

Further information: Dr Alastair Ager, aa2468@columbia.edu or 646 675 7046.

September 2009

Neil Boothby gave the keynote address at the September 28th Paris, France experts summit on ‘Protecting Education from Attack’ sponsored by the Office of Her Highness, Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser al-Missned of Qatar. The event aimed at developing a ‘state of the art’ review of this topic in time for the 64th session of the UN General Assembly, when it is anticipated that the wider theme of education in emergencies will receive particular attention. The purpose was to take critical stock of existing research, effective practices and lessons learned, to identify opportunities for strengthening monitoring and reporting of attacks and increasing accountability, and to generate next steps for action and research.

Dr. Grace Kodindo emphasizes the need for reproductive health care in emergencies in the BBC article "Giving Birth in Congo's War Zone."  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8242175.stm

Les Roberts writes the opening editorial in the American Journal of Public Health's September issue. 
"A Plea For Cost-Effectiveness, or at Least Avoiding Public Health Malpractice" 
http://www.ajph.org/cgi/reprint/99/9/1546

August 2009

Dr. Grace Kodindo spent the summer in North Kivu, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo making a documentary film with the BBC on reproductive health issues in conflicts and post conflict areas.   This fall, Grace will moderate a panel at the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) World Congress on "Human Resources Capacity in Emergency Settings"

Mike Wessells just completed three weeks of research on Do No Harm issues related to psychosocial support in Sri Lanka in the contexts of tsunami and armed conflict relief efforts. This work was supported by a grant from Psychology Beyond Borders.  Mike was lead investigator on a global, inter-agency review of the evidence regarding the effectiveness of community-based child protection mechanisms.

The American Psychological Association meeting in Toronto awarded the 2009 International Humanitarian Award and also the Ralph K. White Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, and Violence: Peace Psychology Division to Mike Wessells.

A key step in supporting populations affected by war and natural disasters is the development of inter-agency guidelines on the most effective, appropriate means of organizing mental health and psychosocial supports in emergency situations. Without solid inter-agency guidance, relief efforts tend to be poorly coordinated, and harmful or wasteful practices tend to proliferate. The necessary guidance should indicate how focused psychosocial supports can be organized for at risk people such as survivors of rape or separated children. It should also indicate how psychosocial support can be integrated with aid from other humanitarian sectors such as shelter and education by virtue of the way in which aid is done. At present, Columbia University faculty member Mike Wessells serves as co-focal point on psychosocial support for two related, timely initiatives. The first is the revision of the Sphere Handbook, which defines humanitarian standards in different sectors. The second is the revision of the INEE (International Network on Emergency Education) Guidelines. In both efforts, psychosocial support will be made a cross-cutting issue and a theme that needs to be woven into the fabric of humanitarian relief efforts. It is hoped that these efforts will help practitioners to alleviate more effectively the profound psychosocial suffering caused by disasters and armed conflicts.

May 2009

Giving Voice to the Voiceless: Grace Kodindo Calls Attention to Unmet Reproductive Health Needs in Africa

Awarded Prestigious Millennium Development Goal Torch by Danish Government

http://www.mailman.columbia.edu/news/e-newsletter/f-Kodindo_DeadMums.html

Grace Kodindo, MD, a Chadian OB/GYN and assistant clinical professor of Population and Family Health at the Mailman School of Public Health, toured six European countries, speaking on behalf of the women behind this grim statistic at screenings of the BBC documentary Dead Mums Don’t Cry. 

Dr. Kodindo was awarded the prestigious Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 3 Champion Torch at the film screening in Copenhagen, Denmark on May 4 for her commitment to achieving gender equity.  The award was presented to Dr. Kodindo by Danish Minister for Development Cooperation, Ulla Tørnæs.  The MDG3 Champion Torch initiative comprises a critical part of Denmark’s call to action on MDG3, whereby worthy representatives of governments, the private sector, civil society, the media, individuals from North and South, and international organizations are recognized for their commitment to MDG3 and for “doing something extra” in support of gender equality and women’s empowerment. 

Les Roberts received the 2008 Edward Barsky Award at the Activist Physician Dinner at the APHA Conference in San Diego.  The award is named for the Columbia physician who served in the Lincoln Brigade during the Spanish Civil War, was an outspoken opponent of fascism, and later was imprisoned after being held in contempt during the McCarthy hearings of the 1950's.  Les was cited for the award because of his pioneering work documenting death and human rights abuses in DR. Congo and Iraq.  Les' work in DR Congo with the IRC is believed to be the first ever survey estimate of excess mortality from a war conducted while a war was underway and is believed to be the first war-time mortality estimate made via GPS-based sampling.

The Program on Forced Migration and Health was well-represented at the Unite for Sight Global Health Conference in April, 2009 at Yale University.  Neil Boothby presented on the topic of "Protecting Children in Disaster and War: Efforts to Professionalize the Field."  Alastair Ager discussed "Eliciting Local Understandings of Child Protection and Well-Being."  Lindsay Stark spoke on "The Epidemiology of Human Rights."

Mike Wessells and Lindsay Stark will be presenting at the Coping and Resilience conference in Dubrovnik in October 2009.  The title of their presentaion is: Resiliency in Children and Youth Following Armed Conflict and Emergencies.

August 2008

Alastair Ager has been appointed to the newly established Wellcome Trust Steering Committee on Public Health Impact of Disasters. The committee is being asked to review evidence, identify gaps, and develop a research agenda relating to the public health impact of disasters.
While lives are often lost as an immediate result of a disaster, there are also often many further deaths in the aftermath, for example from diarrhoeal disease and other infectious diseases.  There is also often increased nutritional stress, particularly in children, which seems to be exacerbated by recent commodity price increases.  The recent floods in southern Africa highlighted other concerns about the impact on pre-existing chronic conditions, with reports of people unable to reach clinics to receive antiretroviral drugs, or treatments for tuberculosis.  And a further area that has received little attention is the longer term mental health impacts for survivors of a disaster.
Tackling the public health impacts of disasters will require the strengthening of local systems and infrastructure to allow improved disaster preparedness, risk reduction and first responder capacity development.  However, it will also depend on developing a research agenda that provides evidence to inform better disaster management. It is anticipated that this agenda will inform wider thinking about research to improve emergency health response as well as the Wellcome Trust’s own exploration of opportunities in this area.

The July 2008 issue of Congressional Quarterly, Global Researcher provides an overview to child soldiers; Neil Boothby contributed to the article and is quoted in the article.

The Journal of Refugee Studies includes a review of A World Turned Upside Down edited by Neil Boothby, Alison Strang and Mike Wessells.

May 2008 articles in New Scientist and Science News highlights the work of Neil Boothby and Mike Wessells.

Neil Boothby received $1.3 million grant from Oak Foundation to establish the Care and Protection of Children Interagency Learning Network (CPC Learning Network). The CPC Learning Network aims to strengthen and systematize child care and protection in emergency settings through the collaborative action of humanitarian organizations, local institutions, and academic partners.

Alastair Ager spoke at SIPA's Conflict Resolution Working Group Roundtable Discussion Series on 'The Psychosocial Dimension of Violent Conflict' on February 13, 2008.

Neil Boothby participated in the January 2008 UN Global Protection Cluster Meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.  He spoke on the PFMH's new CPC Learning Network initiative, and his work on systematic approaches to child protection in emergencies.  The PFMH is the only academic member of the Cluster's Working Group on Child Protection.

On December 5th, 2007 at the United Nations Secretariat in New York City, Columbia University, in conjunction with UNOCHA, conducted a discussion of ongoing research in conflict-affected areas led by members of the PFMH's Care and Protection of Children in Crisis-Affected Countries (CPC Project) research team. PFMH faculty, Les Roberts and Alastair Ager, and students, Lindsay Stark and Ann Warner, discussed a methodology used in northern Uganda (in partnership with Christian Children's Fund) and in Liberia (in partnership with the International Rescue Committee) to establish incidence rates for gender based violence. The assessments involve a novel 'Neighborhood Methodology,' in which women are asked about their own experience, their sisters' experiences, and their neighbors' experiences of sexual violence.

Alastair Ager gave the closing address at the one-day international symposium 'The Heart of Humanitarian Relief' organized by Headington Institute and People in Aid on November 14, 2007 in Baltimore, MD.

Neil Boothby received $48,000 over two years from the US Institute for Peace to create a system for rapid identification of the prevalence and frequency of child protection concerns within conflict-affected areas. This grant supplements an existing 3-year, 1.2 million grant from USAID and the Oak Foundation to develop evidence for effective protection programming for children in countries affected by crisis.