Activities
April–June 2001
Executive
Summary
April
through June of 2001 was a period of intense activity for Center faculty.
In addition to developing their respective programs and research and
publications schedules, they gave no fewer than fourteen lectures and
public speeches or chaired sessions at significant public events. This
intellectual leadership provided considerable visibility for the Center.
The second salient feature of this period was that three major events
involving considerable preparation and organizational efforts came to
fruition. The annual intensive course in June was even more successful
than last year, bringing some sixty people to the Harvard School of
Public Health to increase their knowledge of health and human rights.
Second, the Center was quite visible in organizing two of the panels
in the prestigious and universitywide 2001 Harvard Colloquium on International
Affairs, held in May.
Finally, the Center hosted French Minister of Health Bernard Kouchner
at an all-day series of events, in which Countess Albina du Boisrouvray
actively participated, including introducing him to the packed auditorium,
where his talk was web cast. The event not only allowed the Center to
provide an outstanding speaker of considerable interest to faculty and
students of both HSPH and the Medical School, but the seminar on accessing
essential drugs led to a paper that Dean Bloom and Dr. Kouchner presented
to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and receive a positive
response.
This report first covers the Center's core activities in education,
training, linkages, and information and then outlines each of the three
programs' significant activities.
Core
Activities
Education
and Training
Academic Courses and Awards
In this period, Professor Stephen Marks taught his course Health,
Human Rights and the International System, and Professor Jennifer Leaning
taught her Complex Humanitarian Emergencies Research Seminar. Both courses
received a high overall rating and the commendation of the Committee
on Educational Policy.
FXB Essay Contest
The 2001 François-Xavier Bagnoud Essay Contest was held in this
period. Despite the quality of the papers received, the reviewers concluded
that none of the submissions sufficiently explored the health and human
rights framework that is a prerequisite for this award. Therefore, the
FXB Center has determined that the prize money this year will be donated
to Chinese HIV/AIDS activist Dr. Gao Yaojie, as a Special Award for
Courage in Advancing Health and Human Rights.
Intensive Course
on Health and Human Rights
The 2001 Intensive Course on Health and Human Rights was held from June
11 through 14. HSPH organizes the course in collaboration with the FXB
Center, Boston University's Health Law Department, and the Center for
Continuing Professional Education at HSPH. Professors Marks, Gruskin,
and Leaning all taught sessions, as did Professors Michael Grodin and
George Annas, of Boston University. Drawing on the lessons learned from
the course held the previous year, this session was extended to three-and-a-half
days and added new topics. Approximately 60 students from 15 countries
attended the course, including 9 students from Africa and 15 from Asia,
as well as18 individuals from international agencies and governments.
Emergency Medicine Program on International and Disaster Medicine
Professor Leaning, along with partners from Harvard Medical School and
Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), developed a yearlong fellowship
program in the Department of Emergency Medicine at BWH. Professor Leaning,
who heads the program's teaching curriculum, also worked with the program
director to plan its expansion. Two fellows were selected for next year's
class. In addition, she continued to supervise a visiting fellow who
completed a four-month stint as a physician working in a rural area
of Malawi, attached to a small bush hospital.
Presentations
and Guest Lectures
On April 12, Professor Marks lectured on international laws that govern
the use of force and the protection of civilian populations during armed
conflicts for a class on War and Public Health at the Center for Population
and Development Studies
On
April 13, Professor
Gruskin spoke on
"AIDS and Human Rights: Realities and Perceptions, Past, Present
and Future" at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy The talk
was part of the Carr Center Speaker Series on AIDS in Africa.
On April 26, Professor Marks was guest lecturer for Claude Bruderlein's
course on Civil Administration In Peacekeeping Operations at the law
school. The topic of his lecture was legal issues that arise from the
implementing comprehensive peace agreements.
On May 16, Professor Leaning served as a discussant for a talk given
by Dr. Bernard Kouchner, entitled "The Case of Kosovo: Post Conflict
Crisis and Transition," which was held at the Science Center in
Cambridge.
On May 21, Professor
Gruskin participated
in a day-long seminar at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy entitled
"A Human Rights Framework for the AIDS in Africa Crisis,"
at which human rights nongovernmental organizations discussed strategies
for using a human rights framework in addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic
in Africa.
During this period, Professor Leaning continued to conduct seminars
with country experts to review the findings of the People on War project.
During this period, country seminars included: Somalia, on May 23; Bosnia,
on May 24; Israel/Palestine, on May 31; and Cambodia, on June 15.
In June, Professor
Leaning lectured
on "The Ethics of Research on Refugee Populations" at HSPH.
On April 5, Professor Marks gave a presentation on "Health and
Human Rights: The Expanding International Agenda" as part of an
American Society of International Law panel on global health, which
took place during its annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
On May 7, Professor Gruskin was invited to travel to the Royal Institute
of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium, to lecture on the "International
Course on Planning and Management of Reproductive Health Programs "
which is a state-of-the-art course for mid-level career professionals
from Francophone Africa. The course is taught entirely in French. Professor
Gruskin spent a full afternoon with them focusing on the implications
of human rights for HIV/AIDS policy and programmatic work.
Professor Gruskin designed and ran a half-day training session with
a representative from Center for Reproductive Law and Policy and Engendering
Health to be held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Global
Health Council held in Washington DC from May 29 to June 1 in Washington,
D.C. This workshop, limited to 50 participants, exposed participants
to some of the background and skills necessary to incorporate a rights
framework into their work around reproductive health. The workshop and
partnering occurred at the suggestion of the Global Health Council and
was a useful and interesting exercise for all concerned.
At the Health Law Teachers Conference, held at Boston University School
of Law on June 1-2, 2001, Professor Marks lectured on Teaching Health
And Human Rights, during which he discussed the distinction between
ethics and human rights discourse in relation to health, as well as
major issues of health and human rights, health and human rights in
the legal perspective and teaching health, and human rights in the health
professions.
Professor Gruskin gave two presentations at the UN General Assembly
Special Session on HIV/AIDS, on June 25-27 in New York. She was one
of only 6 civil-society organizations invited to speak at the official
government Round Table on June 26 on HIV/AIDS and Human rights. She
also presented at the "What's Next?: Strategizing Gender"
event on June 27, which was jointly sponsored by the UN Division for
the Advancement of Women (DAW) and the World Health Organization. Chaired
by Geeta Gupta of ICRW, other speakers included the Minister of Health
for Argentina, a representative from the International Women's Health
Coalition, one from the HIV/AIDS Alliance, another from WHO and another
from a Malaysian HIV/AIDS NGO. Discussion concerned strategies at the
policy and operational level for the implementation of the outcomes
of ICPD+5, Beijing+5 and the UNGASS on HIV/AIDS.
Linkages
and Partnerships
Health,
Law and Human Rights: Exploring the Connections
Professors Marks, Leaning and Gruskin serve on the Advisory Committee
for the conference Health, Law and Human Rights: Exploring the Connections:
An International Cross-Disciplinary Conference Honoring Jonathan M.
Mann, to be held September 29-October 1, 2001 in Philadelphia. The conference
is funded by the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR) and presented
by the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Beasley School
of Law of Temple University, Temple Medical School, the University of
Connecticut Health Sciences Center, and Georgetown University Law Center,
in cooperation with the FXB Center. During this period, the program
was finalized, with Professors Marks and Gruskin speaking at the opening
and closing plenaries respectively. Professors Gruskin and Nancy Krieger
agreed to serve as chairs and coordinators of the "Women's Track"
at this conference. They have conceptualized four sessions for this
track which include:
Concepts and Methods
in Women, Gender, Health and Human Rights
Integrating Gender, Human Rights and Public Health: Case Examples
What is a Women's Health Issue?: Gendered Perspectives
Tools and Approaches for the Future: Women, Gender, Health and Human
Rights
Consortium for
Health and Human Rights
The Consortium continues to meet regularly. In partnership with the
Consortium, FXBC continues its work to compile an updated list of health
and human rights courses and syllabi around the world, for web and possible
print publication. In this period, the initial research was completed,
and final editing began.
Global Health
Assembly, April 2001
Professors Marks and Gruskin traveled to Iowa City for the Global Assembly
on "Advancing the Right to Health," held April 20-22. FXBC
cosponsored this conference, along with the University of Iowa's Center
for Human Rights, led by Burns Weston, and a number of other local groups
in the health and medical communities. Professor Marks played an instrumental
role in drafting the program and identifying the speakers. The keynote
speaker was Daniel Tarantola, a Center associate and Senior Policy Advisor
to the Director General of WHO. Professor Marks chaired sessions on
"Ensuring The Requisite Resources For The Human Right To Health:
National And International Measures" and made a presentation on
that topic. Professor Gruskin spoke on bringing human rights into public
health work, using the example of maternal mortality reduction, on the
panel "Zeroing in on the World's Most At-Risk Populations: Achieving
Simple Justice." Professor Marks worked on the draft final document,
which was adopted and widely disseminated, including on the Center's
web site, as the Iowa City Appeal on Advancing the Human Rights to Health.
International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
Professor Marks continues to coordinate the New York operation of this
Geneva-based NGO.
Carnegie Council
on Ethics in International Affairs
As a member of the Advisory Committee of the Human Rights Initiative
of the Carnegie Council on Ethics in International Affairs, Professor
Marks is active in integrating health and human rights concerns into
this project. In addition to proposing an issue of the initiative's
publication Human Rights Dialogue on health and human rights
and suggesting authors for it, he contributed an article. (see below
under "Publications").
Ford Foundation
The Center hosted Larry Cox, the human rights program officer of the
Ford Foundation, on April 19. Each Center program director introduced
the strategic directions of their program. An interest was expressed
in future collaboration, particularly in the context of the Foundation's
support for economic, social and cultural rights.
Faculty Affairs
Professors Marks, Leaning and Gruskin regularly attended PIH faculty
meetings and general HSPH faculty meetings and other committees on which
they serve.
Professor
Marks continues to serve on the HSPH search committee for a professor
of ethics; Professor Gruskin continues to serve on the PIH Master of
Science (MS) Committee and the HSPH Human Subjects Committee. Professor
Leaning continues to chair the Harvard University Student Health Coordinating
Board and also serves on the PIH MS Committee. Both Professors Gruskin
and Leaning are also members of the newly formed PIH curriculum committee.
Professors Marks and Gruskinhave been working on the PIH department's
policy subcommittee to look at what courses could be put together for
a policy track within the department.
In this period,
HSPH faculty discussed the possible creation of a formal curriculum
on international health policy. One of the six clusters in such a curriculum
would be human rights; others include humanitarian crises and reproductive
health.
Harvard Colloquium
on International Affairs
Professors Marks and Leaning were both involved in the organization
of panels for this Harvard-wide event held at Harvard Law School on
May 4 and 5. The full title of the event was: "The 2001 Harvard
Colloquium on International Affairs: A New American Foreign Policy for
the 21st Century."
Professor
Marks organized and chaired a panel on "United States Ratification
of Human Rights Treaties." The panel consisted of Kit Cosby, Director
of External Affairs for the Baha'is of the US; Hurst Hannum, Professor
of International Law at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, who
edited a book on ratification by the US of the two human rights covenants;
William Korey, a human rights author and activist who was instrumental
in obtaining ratification of the Genocide Convention; and Andre Surena,
Assistant Legal Adviser for Human Rights and Refugees at the US Department
of State. The panel addressed the concerns of the new administration
regarding participation by the United States in the international human
rights regimes based on UN and regional treaties.
Professor
Leaning worked with Dean Bloom to organize a panel entitled "Defining
U.S. Vital Interests in Global Health." The panel was chaired by
Dean Bloom. Also on the panel were: Dr. Ken Bernard, Assistant Surgeon
General of the U.S. Public Health Service; Raymond Gilmartin, CEO of
Merck Pharmaceuticals; and Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the
Center for International Development at the Kennedy School.
The panels
were videotaped and are available on the web site of the colloquium:
www.wcfia.harvard.edu/colloquium
University Committee
on Human Rights Studies
Professor Marks continues to be active on this committee and attended
its meeting on April 23, as well as several sub-committee meetings.
Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility
Professor Marks has been appointed to this committee, which reviews
proposals for shareholder resolutions. He participated in committee
meetings on April 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30, and May 7 and 14. He presented
to the committee an analysis of proposals for the application of international
labor standards to the practices of multinational corporations and independent
monitoring thereof.
HSPH Working
Group on Women, Gender and Health
The HSPH Working Group on Women, Gender and Health (WGH) continues to
meet monthly to discuss ways to foster the advancement of these issues
in at the School. In this period, Professor Gruskin, Nancy Krieger and
two student representatives met with the Committee on Educational Policy
(CEP) to discuss the steps necessary to formalize this work within the
school. CEP was very supportive and made several recommendations which
will be followed up on in the summer in preparation for meeting with
them again in the fall.
Dissemination
of Information
Health
and Human Rights Journal
Vol. 5, No. 2, the special issue on children's health and human rights,
continues to take shape. In this period, editorial work and peer reviews
continued with a view to publishing the issue in the fall. This issue
promises to be exceptional, including pieces covering a range of subjects,
including the right to health of children and the World Bank, economic
exploitation of children and adolescent sexual and reproductive rights
in Latin America.
Health and Human
Rights in Times of Peace and Times of Conflict
In this period, the FXB Center published the proceedings of this symposium,
held on April 12, 2000, in New York. Copies are available from the Center.
Working Papers
Series
In this period, Professor Marks's working paper "The Human Rights
Framework for Development: Five Approaches" was updated and reissued.
Web Site
The Center's web site continues to function smoothly at www.hsph.harvard.edu/fxbcenter.
FXB Center Seminar
Series
In this period, the 2000-01 Seminar Series presented two seminars:
Zanele Hlatshwayo,
Project Manager for the Sexual Rights Campaign, and Ndivhuwo Masindi,
Trainer, Women's Health Project, "The Women's Health Project
Sexual Rights Campaign: Lessons from South Africa" (April 2)
Gilbert Holleufer, Visiting Fellow, FXB Center; Delegate, International
Committee of the Red Cross, "How Do People Think about the Norms
of War? Insights from a 1999 Survey in Core Conflict Areas" (May
8)
Special Event:
French Minister of Health Dr. Bernard Kouchner
The FXB Center and the Harvard Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict
Research hosted a visit by Dr. Bernard Kouchner, French Minister of
Health and founder of Médecins Sans Frontières, on May
16-17. On May 16, Dr. Kouchner gave a public talk on his experiences
as head of the UN Interim Administration in Kosovo. On May 17, the Center
organized a breakfast seminar with Dr. Kouchner and approximately 15
HSPH and HMS faculty members on access to essential drugs in the developing
world, followed by a lunch and a public talk by Dr. Kouchner on "Access
to Care as a Global Challenge" (web cast available on the FXBC
website). Countess Albina du Boisrouvray of the AFXB introduced Dr.
Kouchner at Snyder auditorium during the well-attended public talk,
which was moderated by Professor Marks. A luncheon was also hosted in
his honor. As a follow-up to the breakfast seminar, Dean Bloom asked
Professor Marks to coordinate the preparation of a draft document to
be submitted to Secretary-General Kofi Annan by Dr. Kouchner. For this
purpose, Professor Marks convened in May and June in the Jonathan Mann
Conference room of the FXB Center a drafting group and made an initial
draft of a letter to Annan, which Dean Bloom revised and sent via Dr.
Kouchner. The letter was well received by the Secretary-General, who
called Dean Bloom on June 3 to personally express his deep appreciation
for the letter and announced that he was setting up a working group
on next steps. He also transmitted the HSPH letter to Gro Brundtland
of WHO and Peter Piot of UNAIDS.
Staff and
Administration
Mark Henderson
joined the FXB Center in a temporary role as interim Outreach Coordinator.
Laura Horton left the FXB Center. She will be starting divinity school
in the fall.
Program
Activities
Program
on International Health and Human Rights
Linkages
and Partnerships
Enhancing Care Initiative
This project is jointly carried out by the Harvard AIDS Institute, the
FXB Center, other entities within Harvard, and counterpart institutions
in Brazil, Senegal, Thailand, South Africa and Puerto Rico. ECI has
been developing a conceptual and practical framework on how to assess,
plan for, and evaluate care for people living with HIV/AIDS, which includes
human rights and gender-sensitive approaches. Professor Gruskin, one
of the four Harvard investigators, supports management of the Initiative,
works with each of the teams to ensure consistency in research and integrating
human rights and gender into their research agendas. She remains the
focal point for the Brazilian team.
In
this period, in addition to organizing substantive support for the teams,
a great deal of attention was paid to the preparations for and the running
of an all-ECI team meeting which took place between June 5 and 7 in
Boston. Each team sent two representatives and much work was done both
in preparation and with the teams to develop a conceptual and strategic
work plan for the next several years. Meetings were held individually
with each team to assess current and future work, and joint meetings
were held to determine collectively the future of ECI.
There was a shared resolve that ECI must continue past its five-year
funding cycle, and that efforts must be made to disseminate widely both
the results of the research and the process of ECI research to provide
a positive example of international collaborative research. Also, a
meeting was held with Merck representatives in this period to update
them on the current status of the project and possible directions for
the future.
UNAIDS
The Program continues to work extensively with UNAIDS. In this period,
work focused on a range of different activities. Professor Gruskin provided
support to UNAIDS in relation to completion of the HIV/AIDS strategic
plans for several individual UN agencies and integration of human rights
into the UN System Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS (UNSSP). Professor Gruskin
worked closely with UNAIDS on the strategic plans for UNIFEM, UNFPA
and OHCHR in preparation for their discussion at the May UNAIDS PCB
(Program Coordinating Board), and proposed recommendations for better
integration of both human rights and gender in the UNSSP. The UNSSP
will be revisited, and suggestions integrated, after the UNGASS on HIV/AIDS.
Surabhi Kukke,
who graduated from PIH and has a strong background in training, was
hired to help shape the content and approach of the Vulnerability Training
Modules. Also in this period, the next draft of the Resource Handbook
for the CRC was completed and submitted to UNAIDS for their review and
comment. Additionally, a number of efforts were made to ensure coordination
of efforts at the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on HIV/AIDS
in June and the role the program will play in relation to UNAIDS at
the event. Finally in this period Miriam Maluwa, Law and Human Rights
Advisor for UNAIDS, visited the Program and discussions were held concerning
a range of activities and possibilities for future collaboration.
WHO
The program continues its collaboration with various departments of
WHO, including Reproductive Health, Women's Health, Children's Health,
and the health and human rights unit. Professor Gruskin is an External
Advisor on Health and Human Rights for the organization, which entails
offering substance and technical assistance when requested. Work also
continued on the items contained within the Memorandum of Understanding
between FXBC and WHO. These include:
Production
of an annotated bibliography on health and human rights, with updates
to be done each year for two years. Former HSPH student Alexandra
Huttinger continues to work on this project, and current HSPH master's
student Christian Fung has provided additional research assistance.
In this period, HSPH master's students Carey Johnson and Tony Ao were
also hired as research assistants. The objective of the bibliography
is to provide WHO staff and others with state-of-the-art pieces that
articulate the links between health and human rights within their
fields of work, as well as to identify the gaps where additional research
needs to be done.
Identification of health and human rights actors
and institutions doing work on a global level. HSPH doctoral student
Scott Gordon devised the initial survey and database for this project.
A full-scale follow-up mailing was sent out in January, and we have
now reached a highly successful 15% response rate. Meanwhile, HSPH
master's student David Hanna continues to refine the database design
and enter data from the surveys. This information will be stored in
an online database. In this period, the bulk of responses were received
and input into the database, and further refinement of the database
took place.
Articulation
of WHO's strategy for the Human Rights Treaty Bodies, which will seek
to bring more consistency to the organization's approach to working
with the various bodies on reporting, provision of information and
establishment of indicators. In this period, meetings were held with
the secretariats for some of the treaty bodies, other agencies engaged
in this process, and key informants within WHO to determine the most
useful ways for WHO and the treaty bodies to work together. More meetings
are scheduled for November and a draft document is beginning to take
shape.
Health
and human rights training for WHO staff. A new annex to the MOU has
been agreed upon concerning the training of WHO headquarters, regional,
and in-country staff on health and human rights. During the first
year, Professor Gruskin and Dr. Roseman will develop a basic modular
training on health and human rights that will be relevant and applicable
to all WHO clusters. The training is expected to be field-tested later
this year and revised on the basis of that experience, with a final
product ready next year. Specialized trainings on specific aspects
of health and human rights will be developed subsequently, as will
expanded trainings.
Support
for WHO in Mozambique on the WHO initiative "Making Pregnancy
Safer" (MPS). MPS is WHO's project for integrating a human rights
approach into national efforts towards reducing maternal mortality.
In this period, Professor Gruskin and Dr. Roseman continued their
analysis of preexisting data on maternal and neonatal mortality from
a human rights perspective and created a draft tool that is currently
being reviewed by WHO. After other team members have analyzed the
same data from Mozambique from the perspectives of clinical medicine,
health systems, and cost, the team will meet to examine the results
and suggest new priorities.
In this period,
Dr. Mindy Roseman worked on a number of areas of the MPS project. She
developed strategic materials for MPS and also devised an agenda for
a human rights workshop to be held in Mozambique (tentatively scheduled
for November) and helped organize the workshop presentation.
UNICEF
The program continued to collaborate with Dr. Roseman, and Professor
Gruskin agreed to a contract in which the Program will produce the background
paper on HIV/AIDS and Human rights for the UNGASS meeting, as well as
two compendiums of governmental commitments on HIV/AIDS. The compendiums
include one on global commitments and the other specific to the regional
and global commitments of governments in the African region. The background
paper will provide a framework for the round table at the UNGASS on
human rights and HIV/AIDS. The paper is structured to take stock of
what has preceded, what the persistent issues are, and the way forward.
Dr.
Roseman and Professor Gruskin met with UN agencies, including UNICEF,
UNAIDS, UNIFEM, ILO, UNDP, OHCHR, UNFPA and WHO, to consult with, solicit
input on this paper and process before, during, and after preparatory
meetings to the UNGASS. The paper was revised several times to ensure
the input of all relevant parties and completed in time for distribution
at the UNGASS meeting. It is currently available on the UNAIDS website.
A draft of the global commitments document was made available to governments
and NGOs for lobbying and negotiation processes during the June meeting.
The 2 compendiums will be finalized for publication in early fall.
Operationalizing
Cairo and Beijing: A Training Initiative in Gender and Reproductive
Health
This leadership training initiative, conducted in partnership with the
World Health Organization and the Women's Health Project, University
of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, has created a 3 week training course
that has run four times in South Africa, as well as in China, Australia,
Argentina, and Kenya.
In this period,
final modifications of the global curriculum took place. The final curriculum
will be launched as a WHO publication later this year under the heading
"Transforming Health Systems: Gender and Rights in Reproductive
Health." A brochure advertising the course was released in this
period and has generated much interest.
Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation
Visiting Fellow Bonnie Shepard completed an assessment for the Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation of their sexual and reproductive health
programs for youth. The assessment analyzed trends in the portfolio
of 21 programs active in 36 countries and, based on the state of the
art in the field, made recommendations for future strategies.
International
Planned Parenthood Federation
Currently, Bonnie Shepard is also working on a case study based on research
conducted in July 2000 in Ecuador for the IPPF/Western Hemisphere Office
on integrating gender issues into sexual and reproductive health programs.
It will be published in the FXBC Working Papers Series.
The Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights Network
This Network which is concerned with linking people and organizations
around the world engaged in economic, social and cultural rights issues,
began explorations to determine whether a subgroup on HIV/AIDS should
be formed. Dr. Roseman participated in planning and discussions around
this point, including a meeting held at the Ford Foundation at the close
of the UNGASS on HIV/AIDS. Agreement was reached that people would stay
in touch and another meeting would take place in the fall to determine
the way forward.
ICASO, IGLHRC
and other HIV/AIDS and Human Rights Organizations through the UNGASS
Process
Professor Gruskin, Dr. Roseman and Erin Gibson worked closely with a
number of organizations throughout the UNGASS process. This was true
both at the preparatory meeting in May and the formal session in June.
This included the range of organizations involved in the human rights
side events at the UNGASS, particularly the one day event on AIDS and
Human Rights held on the Wednesday of the June meeting. Dr. Roseman
participated in the conceptualization of the agenda and helped to facilitate
a working group during this event. Other joint work included monitoring
human rights and other relevant sections of the document and drafting
language and definitions to assist governmental negotiations on related
points, as well as strategizing, sharing of information, lobbying and
all of the shared work that goes into NGO participation within these
colossal UN meetings. These relationships are sure to be relevant to
follow-up activities in the coming year.
International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
In this period, discussions continued with the HIV/AIDS unit of federation
headquarters concerning a joint training on AIDS and human rights, to
be held in conjunction with the Fifth International Conference on Home
and Community Care for Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (Chiang Mai, Thailand,
December 2001).
Publications
WHO Paper
on Poverty, Equity, Health, and Human Rights
Professor Gruskin and Paula Braverman completed the final draft of their
paper on poverty, equity, health and human rights based upon the input
and reviews received from in-house WHO sources and a variety of individuals
working on poverty, equity, and human rights. The paper will be published
in the WHO Health and Development Series. The paper will also be modified
for submission to an academic journal.
AIDS in Africa
In this period, Professor Gruskin completed and submitted her chapter
entitled "Human Rights and HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa"
for publication in AIDS in Africa, 2nd Edition which is being
edited by Max Essex and colleagues. Miriam Maluwa of UNAIDS is a co-author.
American Journal
of Public Health
In this period, the American Journal of Public Health accepted
the paper entitled "How a Health and Human Rights Framework Can
Contribute to Understanding and Responding Appropriately to Substance
Use by Youth" submitted by Professor Gruskin, Karen Plafker, and
Allison Smith Estelle for publication. Minor revisions will be proceeding
toward publication in December.
Journal of the
American Medical Women's Association
Also in this period, the paper, "Frameworks Matter: Ecosocial &
Health and Human Rights Perspectives on Women and Health-The Case of
Tuberculosis," which Professor Gruskin and Nancy Krieger submitted
to the Journal of the American Medical Women's Association was
accepted for publication. The paper was revised in this period in line
with the reviewer comments and will be published in the fall.
UNICEF
Professor Gruskin and Dr. Roseman completed the background paper on
"AIDS and Human Rights" for the Roundtable Session on AIDS
and Human Rights of the UNGASS on HIV/AIDS. The paper was published
as a formal document of the UN system with the endorsement of all relevant
UN organizations, and is available from the UNAIDS website.
Peer Reviews
In this period, Professor Gruskin conducted several peer reviews for
the American Journal of Public Health, as well as for several
documents to be released by WHO, which contain human rights content.
Also in this
period, at the publisher's request Professor Gruskin reviewed and offered
a "blurb" for the back cover of a book entitled Holding
Corporations Accountable by Judith Richter.
Program
on Humanitarian Crises and Human Rights
Linkages and
Partnerships
Program
on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research
Professor Leaning chairs the Advisory Committee for this program, based
at the Harvard School of Public Health, which was launched last fall.
During this period, Professor Leaning chaired an Advisory Committee
meeting in April. A significant activity of this program during this
period was an ambitious international web-based conference on conflict
prevention that was held in Nepal. The web-based conference brought
together local leaders and academics with UN staff in addressing issues
of human security and potential conflict.
Field Mission
to Kosovo
Professor Leaning returned to Kosovo in April with the International
Health Systems Group (IHSG) at HSPH and Physicians for Human Rights
to continue to assess the potential for professional capacity and institution
building with physicians and other health care workers. During this
visit, Professor Leaning and her colleagues organized and conducted
a two-day seminar in Pristina, entitled "Establishing an Effective
and Humane Health Care System," designed on the basis of their
November 2000 assessment visit. The seminar gathered 80 Kosovar physicians
and public health leaders from around Kosovo for an initial training
in management, political and economic analysis of health care systems,
and human rights and medical ethics. Feedback indicates that the seminar
was very successful, and initial discussions began for a second seminar
in the spring of 2002.
People on War
Project
In this period, Visiting Fellow Gilbert Holleufer's project People on
War progressed rapidly. The project is the first-ever large-scale attempt
to survey people who have been in war-torn areas around the world about
their experiences in war and their ideas about what the norms of war
should be. It also seeks to evaluate the impact of the work of the International
Committee of the Red Cross over the past 50 years. During this period,
detailed country analysis continued and seminars were held with country
experts and Harvard faculty.
Partition of
India Project
Professor Leaning is conducting a study on the feasibility of undertaking
a large project on the effects of the partition of India. Initial findings
from the field are promising, and a review seminar is planned for the
spring. The project would be done in collaboration with the MIT-Mellon
Inter-University Program on Non-Governmental Organizations and Forced
Migration. Plans are underway for a summer conference to review findings.
Mellon Foundation
Professor Leaning received a grant from the Mellon Foundation for the
development of a curriculum at HSPH on humanitarian crises, beginning
with the MPH program and then expanding to the two-year programs. The
grant will fund a part-time assistant and will contribute to the salary
of a senior faculty member to be hired jointly by HSPH and Tufts University.
The program,
known as the Inter-University Initiative on Humanitarian Studies and
Field Practice, will allow students pursing either a one-year or two-year
masters degree at one of the partnering institutions to incorporate
program requirements into their respective program of study. The core
requirements will provide for a solid foundation in humanitarian studies
while allowing for flexibility based on students' background and interest.
Critical to the program will be the completion of a supervised, three-month
field placement in which students will gain practical experience in
humanitarian response. During this period, intensive planning began
with colleagues at Tufts and M.I.T. regarding all aspects of administrative,
academic and financial logistics for the launching of this program.
WHO Advisory
Group on Research Priorities in Emergencies
Professor Leaning continues to participate in the ethics subgroup of
this advisory group, which has been discussing informed consent issues.
Key discussions are underway with a network of field practitioners and
researchers and it is planned to insert this topic in a fall conference
in Washington, D.C.
Publications
USAID
In this period, Professor Leaning completed a working paper for the
Harvard Center on Population and Development Studies entitled "Human
Security: A Framework for Crisis and Transition". A proposal for
Year Two work (case studies) has been submitted to USAID/CERTI, and
a case study of Angola is underway.
Physicians for
Human Rights
Professor Leaning contributed to the Physicians for Human Rights report
"War Crimes in Kosovo: A Population Based Assessment of Human Rights
Violations Against Kosovar Albanians." A second book, reporting
specifics of physician engagement, is now under review with a fall publication
date planned.
Program
on Human Rights in Human Development
Right to Development
Project
The goal of the project is to establish 6 country projects applying
a human rights-based approach to development. For each country, a series
of studies will be commissioned on the development process and prospects
for enhanced application of human rights to the promotion of health,
food and education. There will also be a practical component, with one
or more small-scale projects in each country applying the approach to
development. The project also involves research related to Dr. Arjun
Sengupta's reports to the Commission on Human Rights in his capacity
as the Independent Expert on the Right to Development. Dr. Sengupta
is a fellow of the Center and spends several months a year at the Center.
He spent two weeks in April (April 7-14), May (May 20-June 2) and June
(June 27-July 3) at the Center.
During these
visits, he and Professor Marks worked out the framework for the six
country studies. They agreed on, and Dr. Sengupta signed a sub-contract
for the New Delhi component of the Project, which will be carried out
by the Center for Development and Human Rights, recently established
by Dr. Sengupta for this purpose.
Professor
Marks and Dr. Sengupta interviewed several candidates for the position
of Project Manager and selected Dr. Padmini Narayan, an Indian economist.
She will join the staff in August. During meetings on May 5, June 4
and June 28, they consolidated relations with Harvard Law School for
a project in Ghana. They had a luncheon meeting with Advisory Committee
member Amartya Sen, who agree to stay active in this project. Professor
Marks met with Rodolfo Stavenhagen on April 30 to discuss inclusion
of Mexico in the project and they both met with him again on May 22.
Professor
Marks also met with Thord Palmlund of UNDP on June 3 to discuss collaboration
between the HURIST program of UNDP and the Right to Development Project.
Publications
Princeton
Project on Universal Jurisdiction
On January 25-27, Professor Marks attended a meeting of the Princeton
Project on Universal Jurisdiction, at which the Princeton Principles
on Universal Jurisdiction were adopted. Participants included a number
of international jurists. The purpose of the project is to examine the
principled terms under which universal jurisdiction should be accepted
by the international community. Professor Marks also finished his chapter
for the book that will result from this project. Professor Marks revised
his manuscript in light of developments in the Hissène Habré
case, which he studied for the book, and submitted the final version
in June.
Human Rights
Dialogue
As mentioned above, Professor Marks proposed and helped coordinate an
entire issue of Human Rights Dialogue, published by the Carnegie
Council on Ethics in International Affairs. He also contributed an article
called "The New Partnership of Health and Human Rights." The
issue will appear during the summer.
American Journal
of Public Health
In this period, Professor Marks and his coauthors Cheryl Easley and
Russell Morgan submitted a paper titled "The Challenge and Place
of International Human Rights in Public Health" to the American
Journal of Public Health.
Journal of Law,
Medicine and Ethics
Professor Marks also submitted an article "Jonathan Mann's Legacy
to: The Human Rights Imperative for Public Health" to the Journal
of Law, Medicine and Ethics.
