Harvard Humanitarian Newsletter Logo
In This Issue
Announcements
Upcoming Events at Harvard
Publications & Press
Quick Links
in This Issue
Berkman Center for Internet & Society

Harvard Kennedy School


University Committee on Human Rights Studies

FXB Center for Health & Human Rights

Join Our List
Join Our Mailing List
Issue 8 September 2009
Greetings!

The Harvard Humanitarian is a monthly e-newsletter compiled by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) to publicize news, publications, and events in the Harvard community related to advancing responses to humanitarian crises of war and disaster. Please help us make this a robust resource by contributing your Harvard community news items via email.
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS

HHI Senior Fellow Sheri Fink has cover story published in the New York Times Magazine

What went wrong in evacuations at hospitals during the Hurricane Katrina crisis?  How do moral and ethical considerations change in crises? In "Strained by Katrina, a Hospital Faced Deadly Choices," HHI's Sheri Fink investigates the difficult decisions staff members at Memorial Hospital had to face in the hours following the Hurricane Katrina crisis, the charges brought against them, and the continuing debate about civil and criminal liability for health workers during disasters. Her 13,000-word investigative report has drawn a great amount of attention from readers and media professionals alike. You can watch a video interview of Sheri Fink with the Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma, read the NY Times Editor's Letter about the article, listen to Sheri Fink on NPR's All Things Considered and Here & Now, and look into the many multimedia accompaniments to the article ProPublica has published on their website. Why such a detailed investigative report four years after the humanitarian crisis in Louisiana?  According to the NY Times, "the issues surrounding medical care in such dire situations require a public conversation our country has yet to really have."  We hope you'll take a moment to read Sheri Fink's article and consider the important issues raised and their implications for improving future humanitarian response to crises. 


HHI's Jocelyn Kelly blogs on Change.org about male rape in the DRC

Rape as a weapon of war in the DRC does not affect only women. While rape against men has been occurring for years in the DRC, there has been a recent increase in the rate of male rape.Like women, men of all ages seem to be targeted.  To read Jocelyn Kelly's review of Jeffrey Gettleman's piece in the New York Times about male rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo and to view her own commentary, click here: "Rape in the Congo: Now It's Everybody's Problem".


Harvard's Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations to Convene International Criminal Justice Conference at UN Headquarters


The Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations is convening a  Conference on International Criminal Justice September 9-11, 2009 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.  "The goal of this conference is to allow a range of key international justice actors to openly consult on mutually reinforcing strategies for the next few years," said Professor Stone, the Hauser Center Faculty Director and Kennedy School Criminal Justice Professor. "If the international criminal justice system is to really take hold over the next decade, the networks on which it depends- networks among states, among NGOs, among international bodies-must also be strengthened and, when possible, better aligned." The conference will be an opportunity for academics and practitioners to examine criminal justice together and come to a better understanding of the work and impact of the international justice system.  HHI's Jennifer Leaning will be among the participants. 

UPCOMING EVENTS at HARVARD

 Event times, dates, and locations listed here are subject to change without notice. Please contact the event host for more information.

Center for International Development's Annual Open House

Tuesday, September 8th, 3:30pm
Alison Dining Room
5th Floor Taubman Building 

Visit the CID's Open House to find out more about what the Center for International Development will be working on this year.  More information about this and other CID events can be found here: www.cid.harvard.edu/events

 

State Building & Human Rights: Afghanistan & Pakistan

Tuesday, September 15th, 4pm
Carr Center Conference Room
Harvard Kennedy School

Join the Carr Center for Human Rights for their ongoing public speaker series.  This week, Rory Stewart joins for a discussion on state-building and human rights. More information about this and other Carr Center events can be found by clicking here.


The H1N1 Outbreak Pandemic and Global Health Security

Wednesday, September 16, 12:30 - 1:30 PM
Kresge Building, G1/Snyder Auditorium
Harvard School of Public Health
677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA

The Harvard School of Public Health Center for Public Health Preparedness (HSPH-CPHP) is pleased to present the first lecture of the 2009-2010 CPHP Speaker Series. Dean Julio Frenk will share his expertise with the Harvard community and discuss the recent public health response to the H1N1 outbreak.

The HSPH-CPHP Speaker Series is presented by the Division of Public Health Practice and the Harvard School of Public Health Center for Public Health Preparedness and is designed to engage HSPH students with public health practitioners and to educate regarding preparedness activities. All students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to attend.

For more details, please contact Giulia Del Guercio Green at:
[email protected] or 617-496-0714 or http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hcphp

 

Study Group on Human Rights and Social Movements
Friday, September 18th, 3:30pm
Carr Center Conference Room
Harvard Kennedy School

Join Timothy McCarthy for a study group on human rights and social movements.  More information about this and other Carr Center events can be found by clicking
here.


Global Voices 8th Annual Film Festival: Powerful International Documentaries

Thursday, October 8th-Sunday, October 11th
Harvard Film Archive, Brattle Theatre and Harvard Kennedy School

Join the Harvard Film Archive, Brattle Theatre, and Harvard Kennedy School
for a weekend of powerful international documentary films dealing with issues from the plight of migrant farm workers in the US to interpretations of Islam in Syria, and from the complexities of water use in developed countries to the role of widows in India. The Global Voices Film Festival presents films capturing the lives of people around the world. Don't miss this collection of Global Voices presented by United Nations Association of Greater Boston and Harvard Kennedy School New England Alumni Association, for the first time showcasing international documetaries from the Cannes Film Festival.

For more information, visit Global Voices: United Nations Association Film Festival.


The First International Conference on Crisis Mapping (ICCM)

Thursday, October 15 - Sunday, October18, 2009
John Carroll University

The ICCM will bring together over 60 leading organizations comprising the most engaged crisis-mapping practitioners, scholars and platform developers from around the world to showcase and advance the cutting edge of the Crisis Mapping field. The conference will involve a mix of TED-style presentations on crisis mapping, participant organized sessions, and a Tech Fair for an opportunity to experience the technology that has helped to drive the field forward.

Bringing together the most engaged crisis-mapping practitioners, scholars and platform developers from around the world the conference will showcase and advance the cutting edge of Crisis Mapping. This will be the first time that world experts will directly engage with each other as a crisis mapping community to formalize the field and define the future of Crisis Mapping. The conference will also provide important opportunities for participants to partner on current and future projects.

For additional information visit:
http://www.CrisisMapping.net
 
 

Physicians for Human Rights Regional Advocacy Institute

Saturday, November 7th, 9:30am-4:30pm
Harvard Medical School

PHR Regional Institutes are geared toward instilling a heightened awareness of each student's advocacy power, helping them make new connections, and sharing ideas for taking action during the academic year. This event is open to the public.

Sessions and speakers will include:

  • PHR: Our Role & Our Impact: Sarah Kalloch, Outreach and Constituency Organizing Director, PHR
  • "Clean Needles Save Lives: Why and What We Can Do": Paola Barahona, Senior Global Health Advocate, PHR
  • "Health and Human Rights Education" Panel & Breakout
  • Leading student activists presenting on sessions such as "Organizing Effective Events" and "Building Relationships with your Member of Congress"

For more information, please email Danielle Fox, PHR Student Program Coordinator, at [email protected] or visit www.knowdareact.org.


PUBLICATIONS & PRESS
  • Aschkenas MT, Bateman LP, Chan JL, Copen K, Greenough PG, Moran GN. "Impact of Hermetically Sealed Wells on Diarrheal Illness Among Flood-Affected Rural Communities." To be presented at the American Public Health Association annual meeting on Water and Public Health, November 11, 2009.
  • Baldauf, Scott.  "Is Sudan sharing its oil wealth properly?" The Christian Science Monitor, September 7, 2009.   
  • Bhatt, Mihir, eds.  "Recovering Slums: Determinants of Poverty and Upward Social Mobility in Urban Slums: Case Studies from India." University of Basel, 2008.
  • Burkle FM,  eds. "Fragile States and Ungoverned Spaces." Global Strategic Assessment 2009, Institute for National Strategic Studies.
  • DeWaal A, eds. "AIDS, Security and Conflict: New Realities, New Responses." AIDS, Security and Conflict Initiative Report.  To be launched September 21-22, 2009.
  • DeWaal A, eds. "African Union High-Level Panel Report on Darfur." To be given to the AU Peace and Security Council on September 15, 2009. 
    Fink, Sheri.  All Things Considered, NPR, August 27, 2009. 
  • Fink, Sheri.  Dart Center Interview.  August 27, 2009.
  • Fink, Sheri. Patt Morrison program, KPCC, August 27, 2009.  
  • Fink, Sheri. The Brian Lehrer Show, WNYC, August 28, 2009.  
  • Fink, Sheri. Morning Joe, MSNBC, August 28, 2009.  
  • Fink, Sheri. Democracy Now, August 31, 2009. 
  • Fink, Sheri. To the Point, KCRW, August 31, 2009.
  • Fink, Sheri. Here and Now, WBUR, September 1, 2009.
About The Harvard Humanitarian Initiative
HHI fosters interdisciplinary collaboration at Harvard University in order to improve the effectiveness of humanitarian strategies for relief, protection, and prevention; instill human rights principles and practices in these strategies; and educate and train the next generation of humanitarian leaders. In 2005, the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative was established as a University-wide interfaculty academic and research center, supported by the Office of the Provost and the Harvard School of Public Health with the participation of faculty from Harvard schools and affiliated hospitals. For more information, visit www.hhi.harvard.edu.