Jennifer Scott, Director, Global and Community Health Program, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Obstetrics and Gynecology; Associate Scientist, Division of Women’s Health, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Faculty, Women in War Program, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative; Instructor, Harvard Medical School; Kathleen Hamill, Fellow, FXB Center for Health and Human Rights; and Patrick Vinck, Director, Program on Vulnerable Populations, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, will discuss their first-hand experience with health care provision and health policy among conflict-affected communities, including the eastern DRC and Syria and its neighbors. Twenty years of war and strife have created acute and long-term health problems for internally displaced people in the DRC. In Syria, civilians—both those internally displaced and those uprooted to neighboring countries—also face critical care issues in an escalating civil conflict.
Two recent reports and long-term field and clinical research will inform discussion. The first report, by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, focuses on Syrian refugees in Turkish camps, while the second, by the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, documents the conditions of Syrian refugees in Lebanon (Running Out of Time: Survival of Syrian Refugee Children in Lebanon). Panelists will also reflect on their research and clinical operations with communities in the eastern DRC. The discussion will consider challenges faced, as well as successes in the provision of health care, gender disparities, gender-based violence, and potential modifications for policy development and implementation based on acute and long-term care models.
The program is cosponsored by the Academic Ventures Program at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, and the François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and Human Rights at the Harvard School of Public Health.
About the Speakers:
Jennifer Scott, Director, Global and Community Health Program, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Obstetrics and Gynecology; Associate Scientist, Division of Women’s Health, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Faculty, Women in War Program, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative; Instructor, Harvard Medical School
As director of the Global and Community Health Program, Jennifer brings together the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Harvard communities to further local partnerships, engage globally to foster international academic partnerships, and enhance an academic model of global obstetric and gynecologic care that is designed to meet the needs of local and global communities. Clinically, she works locally at The Dimock Center in Roxbury, MA and has worked at Panzi Hospital in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. As research faculty in the Division of Women’s Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, she contributes to global women’s health research initiatives. In collaboration with Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and international partners, her research focuses on reproductive health in humanitarian crises, with a particular emphasis on gender-based violence and gender equality. Jennifer has been involved in research collaborations in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, and South Sudan.
Kathleen Hamill, Fellow, FXB Center for Health and Human Rights
Kathleen is a human rights lawyer and Adjunct Assistant Professor at The Fletcher School, Tufts University, where she teaches courses on human rights and international law. Between 2006-2012, she was based in Beirut, and she has also worked as an independent researcher, advocate, and consultant in the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Europe, as well as the Middle East. This includes academic work and fellowships in Angola (Conflict Management), Brazil (Human Rights Watch), Sweden (NIR), Colombia (Fletcher), and Lebanon (KAFA). Kathleen has authored a number of studies and legal analyses on issues related to human rights, the impact of war on civilians, migrant workers, structural violence, and human trafficking. Previously, she worked as Manager of Human Rights Programs at Reebok International. In the fall of 2013, Kathleen conducted a rapid assessment of the situation of Syrian refugees, with a focus on child protection, in Lebanon for the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights.
Patrick Vinck, Director, Program on Vulnerable Populations, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative
Patrick is the director of the Program for Vulnerable Populations at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI). He works on peace, reconstruction, and development projects throughout Africa and Asia, including most recently in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Ivory Coast. Patrick has written about the consequences of war, trauma and societal reconstruction, displacement and resettlement, and the role of justice, better governance and transitional mechanisms to achieve peace. He also serves as a regular consultant on vulnerability analysis and evaluations to the United Nations World Food Programme, World Bank, and Peacebuilding Fund. Prior to joining HHI in 2011, Patrick founded the Initiative for Vulnerable Populations at the University of California Berkeley’s Human Rights Center. He also cofounded KoBoToolbox (www.kobotoolbox.org), a digital data collection project to advance human rights, and humanitarian and social science data collection. Patrick is currently working on www.peacebuildingdata.org.
