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Issue 19 November 2010
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.
 
HHI IN HAITI UPDATE


HHI prepares for cholera outbreak

Patient in tentA cholera outbreak began in Haiti on October 19th and officials are now warning that Hurricane Tomas, expected to make land fall this week, may worsen the situation.The number of confirmed cholera cases has climbed to 4,764, with 337 deaths, according to U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Haiti.  Another 200 cases are suspected in the nation's West Department.

HHI's Haiti team began contingency planning in the event of cholera striking Camp Hope, located in Fond Parisien, near the Haitian border with the Dominican Republic. HHI's field team has forged key local partnerships over its 11 months in country and is actively participating in strategy meetings with the Haitian Ministry of Health. Through the generous support of Brigham and Women's Hospital, HHI has stockpiled necessary resources to mitigate the spread of cholera. HHI is operating within the Ministry of Health and United Nations emergency operations systems to be optimally prepared to respond should the need arise.

Along with partners from the American Refugee Committee and Love A Child, HHI is providing extensive education campaigns in Camp Hope, home to more than 1,700 displaced Haitian earthquake survivors. In the surrounding town of Fond Parisien, the University of Chicago Global Health Initiative and HHI are conducting door-to-door public health surveillance to reach the 21,345 permanent residents.

Tent light HaitiWhile early indicators suggest that the outbreak has been contained in the Lower Artibonite and Central Departments, epidemiological experts and crisis mappers have noted spread of the disease along transportation corridors towards Port-au-Prince. Cases have been confirmed in Carrefour, Port-au-Prince, and Croix de Bouqets, a large town near Fond Parisien. All appear to have been cases in which patients traveled from infected rural areas to seek treatment.

If cholera does reach Port-au-Prince's settlements of internally displaced persons (IDPs), we anticipate a widespread epidemic will ensue, fueled by conditions of overcrowding, extreme poverty, and poor access to clean water and sanitation. HHI is hopeful that comprehensive education campaigns, as well as preparations for clinical management can mitigate the spread of cholera.

To read more about HHI's work in Haiti, click here.  To read more about the response to cholera in Haiti, click here.


ANNOUNCEMENTS


 

 

Panelists discuss role of photojournalism in prompting action against conflictPhotojournalism panel


Marking the end of the "Our World At War" ICRC photo exhibit hosted by HHI, panelists from the humanitarian sector, academia, and media gathered to share perspectives on the role of photojournalists in depicting conflict and crisis. The panel, moderated by the Managing Director of VII photo agency Stephen Mayes, included photojournalist Thorne Anderson, Assistant Professor at the University of Western Ontario Sharon Sliwinski, and International Committee of the Red Cross spokesman Simon Schorno. You can read more about the perspectives shared during the panel in The Crimson by clicking here. To read about the photo exhibit in The Gazette, click here

   


HHI fellow leads global anesthesiology effort

Initially announced last year, HHI Fellow Kelly McQueen officially assumed the role of Chair of the American Society of Anesthesiology's Committee on Global Health this past month. As part of her involvement in the organization, she recently completed a surgical and anesthesia infrastructure survey in Rwanda. The survey is part of an effort to reveal surgical challenges in low income countries, especially Africa where unmet need is the greatest. Rwanda is estimated to have 1 anesthesiologist for every 808,333 people.  The Global Humanitarian Outreach of the ASA seeks to improve the safety and effectiveness of anesthesia worldwide, including in low income countries like Rwanda. To read more about this project, click here. 


HHI faculty member providing aid to Pakistan

Parveen K. Parmar MD,  HHI Faculty member and an international emergency physician from Brigham and Women's Hospital, has been deployed to provide aid to flood victims in Pakistan. As many as 20 million people have been affected by the devastating monsoon rains.  With more than 8 million people left homeless, the humanitarian relief effort is now shifting to address longer term needs such as shelter, livelihoods and nutrition.  
 

Dr. Parmar is working with HHI's well-established NGO partner, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) which has been active in Pakistan since 1980. Dr. Parmar is part of a team of 16 physicians responsible for providing clinical care to a population of approximately 60,000 displaced Pakistanis. 
 
 
Cogan Family Fund accepting applications through November 14
HYH book
HHI will continue accepting winter break project proposals from Harvard students seeking funding from the Cogan Family Fund. The Cogan Family Fund supports student projects that advance research, practice, and policy in the field of humanitarian assistance. For more information about how to apply, click here.

To view a book with photos and stories from summer 2010's Cogan Family Fund grant recipients, click here.



UPCOMING EVENTS

 Event times, dates, and locations listed here are subject to change without notice. Please contact the event host for more information.
 
 
Education in emergencies: A case study of Pakistan

Monday, November 1, 4:00 PM
Larsen Hall, G-08.
Harvard Graduate School of Education


Pakistan has one of the lowest literacy rates and smallest education budgets in the world. With the onset of the flooding, the BBC reports over 10,000 schools have been destroyed. Panelists will share the immediate and long-term consequences of the floods on the already precarious education system of Pakistan.


Speakers: Dr. Asim Khwaja, Dr. Faryal Khan


Room to Read: Globalizing Carnegie's vision for libraries

Thursday, November 4, 2010, 5:30-7:30PM
Askwith Hall
Harvard Graduate School of Education

Room to Read

Between 1886 and 1919, Andrew Carnegie gave millions to create public libraries in the U.S. on a scale that significantly increased accessibility. These institutions transformed educational opportunity for generations of Americans. What would it take to have the same impact on the developing world today? This question inspired John Wood to found Room to Read, a nonprofit with the goal of helping children across the world break the cycle of poverty through the power of education. In 10 years, Room to Read has opened 1,000 schools, provided 10,000 long-term scholarships to girls and opened over 10,000 bi-lingual and multi-lingual libraries, serving over 4 million children. Wood will speak about the organization's successes, lessons learned, and why literacy, for him and his partners, is such a promising target for social entrepreneurship.


Speaker: John Wood, Founder and Board Chair, Room to Read


For questions, contact Amber Haskins: [email protected] 


 


Philanthropy and disasters: Pakistan & Haiti


 Pakistan poster

















  



November 4, 2010, 5:30 pm

Room 522, BU College of Arts & Sciences

725 Commonwealth Ave, Boston University

 

Open to the public. RSVP required: [email protected]



"Human rights & large dams: Applying the world commission on dams's decision-making process to the Mekong River Basin."

 

November 4, 2010

5:15 - 7:15 pm
Fainsod Room, L/324 Littauer

Harvard Kennedy School


This Carr Center study group, part of the "The Right to Water Study Group Series," will use a human rights lens to explore the World Commission on Dams' process for decision-making. The group will be examining the Dams and Development Report within the context of the Mekong River Basin.


For more information and preparation materials for this study group, click here.


 
Human rights and social movements study group

 

Friday, November 5 at 3:30 pm & Wednesday, November 17 at 6:30 pm
Carr Center Conference Room
Harvard Kennedy School

Join Timothy McCarthy, the Director of the new Human Rights and Social Movements Program at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, for a bi-weekly study group on human rights and social movements.

This months topics:


Friday, November 5: Means and Ends, Part I: Is Peace Possible in a World at War?
Discussion of the late Howard Zinn's selected writings on war and peace with Charlie Clements, Executive Director, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy. Moderated by Timothy Patrick McCarthy, Director, Human Rights and Social Movements Program

Friday, November 17: The Activist's Studio 


For more information about this event and other upcoming Carr Center events, please visit the Carr Center events page 

  

 


Harvard symposium: The role of surgery in global health

Role of Surgery Banner

November 5, 2010
8:00 am - 4:00 pm

The Harvard Club of Boston
374 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215

The symposium will bring together experts from global health, surgery, anesthesia, economics and public policy to discuss the important role of safe anesthesia, and emergency and essential surgery on population health.  Click here for more information.

Featured Speakers:
 
Atul Gwande, MD, MPH
Paul Farmer, MD, PhD
Dean Jamison, PhD
Charles Mock, MD, PhD
Angela Enright, MD
Kavi Bhalla, PhD


The Cultural and Humanitarian Seminar Series presents:

Palas por pistolas / Guns for shovels: Art for social change


Monday, November 8th, 2010, 5:30pm
Harvard University

Barker Center Rm 133
12 Quincy Street
Cambridge, MA

Guest Speaker Pedro Reyes is a Mexican artist who trained as an architect. He works in Mexico City. His projects are pitched as social and political commentary and involve collaboration with his audience. Witty and haunting, they demand action. Reyes' 2008 project, Palas por Pistolas (guns for shovels) set up a gun amnesty where the military collected guns that were then melted down in a foundry and formed into shovels for planting trees. The project started in Culiacan, the western Mexican city with the highest rate of handgun deaths in the country. As many as 1,527 guns were collected and transformed into the same number of shovels, used to plant the same number of trees.

 

Chairs:


Doris Sommer, Director, Cultural Agents Initiative and Michael VanRooyen, MD, MPH, FACEP. Director, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative

Hosted by the Harvard Humanities Center.


For more information please contact: Marcela Mahecha [email protected] or Margeaux Fisher at [email protected].

 


Global health emergencies course


February 7-18, 2011

Weill Cornell Medical College

New York-Presbyterian Hospital


The Global Emergency Medicine Program at the Weill Cornell Medical College Division of Emergency Medicine, and the New York Academy of Medicine are pleased to announce a two-week unique state-of-the art CME course aimed at healthcare providers engaged in international work.  The Global Health Emergencies Course will focus on providing participants the tools and knowledge necessary to engage in high-impact interventions in a variety of global health crises.



World conference on humanitarian studies: changing realities of conflict and crisis

WCHS


The Call for Panels and Registration for the Second World Conference on Humanitarian Studies is now open! Proposals will be accepted until December 1.  For more information, please visit the conference website.

 

The Second World Conference of Humanitarian Studies (WCHS), organized by the International Humanitarian Studies Association (IHSA) and hosted by Tufts University (in collaboration with Harvard University, Columbia University and the Social Science Research Council) will take place June 2-5, 2011.

 

The conference marks a major step in ratcheting up the quality of our understanding of social dynamics in crisis and the greater use of evidence based humanitarian programming. As with other professional fields, having a forum where cutting edge research can be presented and critiqued is a vital tool in moving the profession forward.



2011 Humanitarian action summit


The 2011 Humanitarian Action Summit will take place March 4-6, 2011. The HAS2011 photoSummit will bring together over 200 strategic level leaders from NGOs, UN agencies, donor agencies and federal agencies to discuss complex issues that face the NGO community. The Summit will build directly upon the momentum from prior Humanitarian Health Conferences, utilizing the network of humanitarian leaders, and developing an expanded agenda of critical topics facing the humanitarian health community.

The 2011 Summit will follow a similar work-plan from that developed in 2009. Visit the Humanitarian Action Summit webpage for more information about the summit. 

 


 
PUBLICATIONS & PRESS

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.