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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.
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HHI IN HAITI UPDATE
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HHI transitions leadership of Klinik Lespwa
 On November 24, 2010 the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative transferred management of its medical and public health program in Fond Parisien, Haiti to one of our local partners, Love A Child.
This transition marks a new phase of HHI's support to Haitians as they recover from the devastating earthquake of January 12th, 2010. HHI's presence in Haiti began a mere 48 hours after the earthquake struck, when HHI's Hilarie Cranmer and Stephanie Rosborough traveled to Haiti to provide emergency care. Shortly thereafter, Drs. Cranmer and Rosborough established a field hospital to treat earthquake survivors in Fond Parisien on the grounds of the Love A Child orphanage.
From January to May, HHI operated an acute care Disaster Recovery Center as well as an out-patient medical facility at Camp Hope. Supported by a grant from the United States Agency for International Development's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, HHI was able to transition from complex disaster response to recovery phase operations through the full-time operation of "Klinik Lespwa," an out-patient clinic and education facility at Camp Hope. As part of operations between May and November, HHI conducted continuous public health education and outreach programs, including a prevention initiative in response to the recent cholera outbreak.
At the time of transition HHI had provided more than 300 continuous days of HHI team members in Haiti, 200 national staff employed, over 700 medical volunteers, nearly 200 Haitians trained in medical or public health topics, and over 4,000 displaced Haitians served.
These numbers tell only part of the story. HHI was fortunate to have had the support of many dedicated professionals including partners such as the University of Chicago, Operation Smile, Hands of Light in Action, the governments of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the United Nations, Love A Child, and American Refugee Committee.
To read more about HHI's work in Haiti, click here.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
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'Disaster Relief 2.0' Project to Build Pathways Between Large Aid Groups and Grassroots Technology Players
 Through a partnership with the UN Foundation, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and Vodafone Foundation, the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative will launch new research that will help increase the efficiency of information sharing between large aid organizations and grassroots technology groups during humanitarian crises. HHI's report will capture interviews with a range of experts to assess humanitarian information-sharing in emergencies and deliver concrete recommendations for more seamless interaction between the humanitarian and tech communities in disaster preparedness, response and rebuilding.
Dr. Gregg Greenough, Director of Research at HHI said of the project: "this work reflects our mission of promoting evidence-based approaches to humanitarian assistance to advance the science and practice of humanitarian response. We look forward to engaging with a broad group of stakeholders who make up the humanitarian technology ecosystem, and to promote this dialogue through the publication of this report and beyond."
To read more about this project, click here.
Health professionals meet to discuss the status of surgery in public health
 In the developing world, people commonly suffer the consequences of relatively minor conditions becoming serious threats to health as a result of poor access to surgical remedies. On November 5, experts from global health, surgery, anesthesia, economics and public policy gathered at the Harvard Club of Boston for an event titled "The Role of Surgery in Public Health" which was co-sponsored by HHI. "The burden of surgical disease in low-income countries is a pressing public health concern," shared Dr. Kelly McQueen, Fellow at HHI and symposium faculty organizer. Dr. McQueen pointed to the Word Bank Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries project which indicates that surgical disease is expected to surpass the burden of HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria by 2026. "The burden is mostly carried by resource-poor countries such as Haiti which, as a baseline, have inadequate facilities and personnel to provide essential surgical care to their population," shared Dr. Michael VanRooyen, HHI's Director,"When disaster strikes - such as the Port-au-Prince earthquake of January 2010 - a nation's surgical infrastructure and resources can be even further altered." The symposium featured remarks by Atul Gawande, Paul Farmer, Dean Jamison, Charles Mock, Angela Enright, and Kavi Bhalla.
To read an article about the Symposium that appeared in HarvardScience, click here.
[Photo from HarvardScience, Justin Ide, Harvard Staff Photographer]
2011 Humanitarian Studies Course Dates Announced 
The 2011 Humanitarian Studies Course will be held on April 11-21 at the Harvard Conference Center. This includes the field simulation on April 15-17 at the Harold Parker State Forest in North Andover, MA. Save the date to volunteer at the simulation or email Brian Daly at bdaly1@partners.org if you are interested in registering for the course.
For more information visit our website here.HHI explores motivation for rejection of sexual violence survivors in DRC
HHI has begun a new project in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo funded by the World Bank to better understand why men choose to reject women who are survivors of sexual violence. This project will identify the factors that most influence men's attitudes and behavior towards women who have survived violence. HHI will work with NGOs and other implementing partners at the conclusion of the research to translate the findings into better programing around this issue.
Click here to read more about HHI's program on Women in War.
 Congratulations to the Harvard undergraduate and graduate students awarded winter research funding through HHI's Cogan Family Fund. The Cogan Family Fund enables students to obtain international experience and an understanding of the cross-disciplinary nature of humanitarian work.
This winter, students from Harvard Divinity School, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard College will travel to Kashmir, Mozambique, Kenya, Haiti, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, and Haiti to conduct research related to humanitarian research, practice, and policy.
Click here for a list of 2010-2011 winter break grant recipients and their projects.
Humanity in Action fellowship for students
Interested in exploring a career in human rights? Applications for the summer 2011 Humanity in Action fellowship are now available. HIA is an international educational organization that engages, inspires, and continuously develops a network of students, young professionals, and established leaders committed to protecting minorities and promoting human rights-in their own communities and around the world. For more information about how to apply, click here.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
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| Event times, dates, and locations listed here are subject to change without notice. Please contact the event host for more information.
John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum: 'Aghet: Nation Murder,' a documentary on the Armenian genocide
Friday, December 10
6:00pm - 8:00 pm
John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum
Littauer Center, Floor 1
Harvard Kennedy School of Government
Aghet is the Armenian term for genocide. The film was made when a long forgotten archive in the German foreign ministry, containing many first-hand observations of the Armenian tragedy, was finally made public more than 90 years later.
The film screening, its U.S. premiere, will be followed by a conversation with the film's director, Eric Friedler, and with Habib Afram, president, Syriac League of Lebanon. The discussion will be moderated by Charlie Clements, Executive Director of Carr Center for Human Rights Policy and Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.
FXB Center Holiday Party
You are invited to celebrate the holidays with Harvard's FXB Center for Health and Human Rights!
Friday, December 10
4:30pm - 7:00pm
FXB Atrium
Friends and Family welcome.
Please RSVP to Lauren Bateman (lbateman@hsph.harvard.edu or 617-432-0656)
Cathedra Cultura de Mexico/The Winners of the Chair of Mexican Culture
Monday, December 13
5:30pm
Barker Center Rm. 133
12 Quincy Street
Join us for the third Cultural Agents and HHI seminar series for a presentation on
"Comics in Ciudad de Juarez: Art in Violence Prevention." The speaker comes from a collaboration between the Cultural Agents Initiative and Mexico's Ministry of Culture (CONACULTA).
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
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  Summit 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.
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PUBLICATIONS & PRESS
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- Chan, JL; Theodosis C. Chapter 6. Public Private Partnerships during Emergencies. Kapur GB and Smith JP (eds). Emergency Public Health: Preparedness and Response. Jones and Bartlett Publishing. Boston.
- J. Zander, P.J. Mosterman, J.S. Kinnebrew, G. Biswas, Computation of Things for Human Protection and Fulfillment, In the Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Technologies for Homeland Security 2010 (IEEE-HST 2010), Waltham, MA, November 8-10, 2010.
- "Podcast: Understanding Sexual Violence in Congo," PBS, November 10, 2010
- "Where Surgery is Lacking," HarvardScience, November 8, 2010
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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.
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