[afro-nets] Call for Abstracts - Human Rights-based approaches

[Claudio Schuftan <claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn>]

Call for Abstracts - Human Rights-based approaches
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Christine Schweidler" <cschweid@sas.upenn.edu>

Lessons Learned from Rights Based Approaches to Health

14-16 April, 2005
Emory University Conference Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
http://humanrights.emory.edu <http://humanrights.emory.edu/

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 30, 2004

Conference Announcement

The Institute of Human Rights of Emory University, in collabora-
tion with CARE, the Carter Center human rights office, the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Doctors
for Global Health, proudly announce an international conference
on health and human rights. Titled, /Lessons Learned from Rights
Based Approaches to Health/, the conference will explore evi-
dence-based relationships between health and human rights. Fea-
tured speakers include former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health Paul
Hunt, along with other leaders in the fields of health and human
rights.

Conference Background

The highest attainable standard of health is one of the funda-
mental rights of every human being, incorporated in Article 12
in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights. Poverty, inequity, civil conflict, discrimination and
violence are all factors in denial of the basic rights of indi-
viduals and groups - and also constitute significant barriers to
their achievement of health and well-being. Scholars and practi-
tioners in the growing field of health and human rights recog-
nize three main areas of theory and practice which, when applied
to policy and programs in the field, can result in "advancing
human well-being beyond what could be achieved through an iso-
lated health or human rights-based approach."[1] These three ma-
jor linkages between health and human rights are: (a) the im-
pact, both positive and negative, of public health policies and
practice on human rights, (b) the recognition and assessment of
the impact of human rights violations on health and well-being,
and (c) the proposition that the promotion and protection of
health is fundamentally linked to the promotion and protection
of human rights.[2] Abstracts about other explicit linkages be-
tween health and human rights are encouraged as well.

In embracing a rights-based approach to development programming,
conference partner organizations are committed to using theo-
retical frameworks and practical experiences from the health and
human rights field to strengthen the effectiveness of our own
health interventions. The host organizations' portfolio of pro-
grams includes interventions in social determinants of health,
HIV/AIDS, economic development and globalization, children's
health, reproductive health, mental health, infectious disease,
violence, and refugee and internally displaced populations in
more than 60 countries throughout Asia, Africa, Latin America,
Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. In taking a rights-based
approach to design and implementation of programs, sponsoring
and participating organizations and individuals have the poten-
tial to make a substantive contribution to the growing body of
practical work in rights-based approaches to health.

In order to advance the dialogue among public health and human
rights practitioners, activists and scholars, a group of At-
lanta-based organizations have joined together to organize and
sponsor the International Conference on Health and Human Rights.
Along with the sponsor and co-sponsors of the conference, the
François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at
Harvard University and the Health and Human Rights Strategy Unit
within the Office of the Director of the World Health Organiza-
tion (WHO) in Geneva have indicated their support and enthusiasm
for the conference.

Goals

The conference will focus on examples of successful and promis-
ing rights-based health programming, research, and advocacy.
Conference plenary, panel and roundtable sessions will emphasize
linkages between human rights theory and health practice. Spe-
cific conference goals include:

* Sharing evidence-based models of rights based approaches to
health, with a special emphasis on case studies and field exam-
ples
* Building awareness on and capacity for rights based approaches
to health programming
* Facilitating networking and collaborating opportunities among
professionals
* Advancing rights based health agendas from basic awareness to
evidence-based practice

Participants

The primary audience for the conference will include public
health and development professionals who have, at minimum, a ba-
sic understanding of relationships between health and human
rights. The conference proceedings will benefit middle and sen-
ior level program managers, as well as community level practi-
tioners, from the public, non-governmental and private sectors.

Conference Sessions

Plenary Sessions

Keynote speakers will address program participants. Each plenary
session will last 90 minutes.

Panel Sessions

Submitted abstracts will be grouped into panel sessions, accord-
ing to topic. Approximately 3-4 people will make up each panel
and will be facilitated by a moderator. Each panel session will
run for 90 minutes.

Roundtable Sessions

Presenters will sit with group participants to discuss specific
topics of lessons-learned in rights based approaches to health.
Each roundtable session will run for 90 minutes.

Poster Sessions

Each presenter will be provided with a space of 4 x 3 feet (122
x 92 cm) to display his or her poster presentation. The pre-
senter will need to be at the poster site to speak with partici-
pants during the 90-minute poster session.


Call for Abstracts

Conference cosponsors are pleased to invite individuals to sub-
mit abstracts within the conference theme of Lessons Learned
from Rights Based Approaches to Health. Each proposal must ex-
plicitly outline its relevance to health, to human rights, and
to the interrelationship between the topics. Although evidence-
based lessons learned (i.e. case studies and field examples) are
of particular interest to the selection committee, a diverse ar-
ray of abstracts will be accepted for presentation. Examples of
acceptable abstracts include research and program frameworks,
assessment strategies, methodologies, curricula and evaluation
programs.

Conference Topics

The conference panels will be organized around the following
health topics. When submitting your abstract proposal, please
specify which of the following topics it fits within:

Children's Health
Conflict & War
Economic Development & Globalization
Education
HIV/AIDS
Humanitarian Aid
Infectious Disease
Mental Health
Nutrition
Poverty & Other Social Determinants of Health
Racism & Other Systems of Injustice
Refugee & Internally Displaced Populations
Reparations for Human Rights Abuses
Sexual & Gender Minorities
Sexual & Reproductive Health
Violence
Water & Sanitation


--
[1] Mann, J. M., Gruskin, S., Grodin, M. A., Annas, G.J.,
"Health and Human Rights," in Mann et al, ed., Health and Human
Rights: A Reader (New York: Routledge, 1999), pp. 11

[2] Mann et al, /Ibid/.

--
Dabney Evans, MPH, CHES
1525 Clifton Road, Office 108
Rollins School of Public Health
Atlanta, Georgia 30322
Tel: +1-404-727-3061
Fax: +1-404-727-8768
mailto:Dabney.Evans@emory.edu
http://humanrights.emory.edu