Vera Sistenich. 2/2013. “
Summary of Polio-Related Attacks on Health Workers”.
Abstract
Since 1988, more than 2.5 billion children have been immunized against polio through programs in more than 200 countries involving some 20 million volunteers and an international investment of over US$8 billion. By 2006, polio cases around the world had decreased by over 99% and remained endemic in only four countries – Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan – with a handful of other countries reporting sporadic cases. In 2008, the World Health Assembly called for the formulation of a concerted global strategy to eradicate polio from these remaining countries and create a polio-free world. This led to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) Strategic Plan 2010 – 2012, an aggressive action- and time-specific initiative to end polio transmission in the remaining areas where this persisted.
sistenich-summary-of-polio-attacks.pdf Rights Resilience and Program on Gender. 1/2013.
"We Came Back with Empty Hands": Understanding the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration of Children Formerly Associated with Armed Groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo .
Abstract
This report documents the experiences and attitudes of former underage combatants in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) who went through the reintegration process, the families and communities who received them and the organizations that funded and implemented reintegration programming. Despite increasing attention to the scope and importance of child soldiering globally, there is still limited systematic research on the successes and challenges of reintegration programming for former underage combatants. This project, a collaboration between the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and Eastern Congo Initiative, used DRC as a case study to examine the community experiences and attitudes around Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) programming to generate lessons learned for improving future programming for former underage combatants and at-risk youth.
we-came-back-with-empty-hands.pdf Jocelyn Kelly and Lindsay Branham. 1/2013.
"We Suffer From War and More War": An Assessment of the Impact of the Lord's Resistance Army on Formerly Abducted Children and their Communities in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo .
Abstract
This study highlights the voices of individuals currently affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army to detail the extensive and systematic devastation felt specifically by formerly abducted children and their communities in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Respondents stressed that the international community must assist with providing essential services through long-term engagement, including life-saving health services; improving water and sanitation access; and providing psychosocial and educational interventions to formerly abducted children and adults. While these communities are facing emergency-level challenges now, the need for solutions that will last into the future.
we-suffer-from-war-and-more-war.pdf Claude Bruderlein and Rob Grace. 1/2013.
Monitoring, Reporting, and Fact-finding in Bahrain and Syria During the Arab Spring.
Abstract
The way in which international actors implement monitoring, reporting, and fact finding (MRF) mechanisms is changing. Modern MRF mechanisms date back to 1913, when, after the Balkans had erupted in war for the second time in two years, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace initiated a commission to investigate potential violations of international law. But the Carnegie Endowment did not begin its work until fighting had ceased, believing, as the mission’s final report notes, that a mission initiated before the conflict’s conclusion would be “premature.” In contrast, almost a century later, as massive protests erupted in numerous autocratic Arab countries in 2011, international actors felt no need to hesitate. Instead, MRF actors initiated MRF missions to examine potential violations of international law in Yemen, Libya, Syria, and Bahrain, all contexts in which violent conflicts continued to unfurl, as well as Tunisia and Egypt, where massive protests had recently led to transfers of political power. These missions represent a trend in the world of MRF toward more rapid deployment.
mrf_bahrain_syria_1-4-2013.pdf