NEWSLETTER NO. 5 2009 DECEMBER 23RD.
Dear friends and colleagues.
"It is often those who most need their human rights protected, who also need to be informed that the Declaration exists --
and that it exists for them".
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
We have just passed the 10th of December celebrated as the UN day of Human Rights, and the
High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay request that people worldwide embrace diversity and honor the human rights of everyone.
One of our concerns is that many people in need do not know that a good mental health is a fundamental right. The right to the highest attainable
standard of health is a human right recognized in international human rights law as early as 1977. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights , in article 12 which is widely considered the central instrument of protection for the right to health, recognizes “the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.”
It is important to note that the Covenant gives both mental health, which has often been neglected, and physical health equal consideration. On these terms the principles of equality and freedom from discrimination are central to any efforts to improve health.
This cannot be done without identifying vulnerable and marginalized groups, and engage and empowering them as active participants and generators of change. We want to focus on the fact that children in war and conflict areas often are in the group of vulnerable and marginalized, and even more so just because they are children.
The Graca Machel Report 2009 says that according to 2006 estimates, more than 1 billion children under the age of 18 were living in areas in conflict or emerging from war. Of these, an estimated 300 million were under age five and more than 18 million children were refugees or internally displaced. As the The 1996 Machel study pointed out, armed conflict can be devastating to a child’s mental health and psychosocial well-being.
At the time of the first Machel study, the field of psychosocial and mental health programs for children in emergencies was divided. Stronger recognition of the role of mental health and psychosocial support since the 1996 Machcel study has led to more consistent implementation of programs in the field. Psychosocial support programs, for example, have been carried out in Afghanistan, northern Uganda and throughout the Middle East.
It is vital that children in risk situations and their parents know that their mental health and psychosocial well being matters. That in fact that this is a right they are entitled to according to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and also according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child
and according to Convention against Torture . All these conventions specifically protect the children that are at risk. Especially torture of children is one of the worst violations of children’s rights and the simple fact that children are tortured is shocking in itself. It is very seldom that cases of children being tortured reached the front pages, but children count among the most vulnerable victims. The articles in the special issue of
TORTURE by IRCT demonstrate the urgent need to increase the work of preventing and ending torture and ill-treatment against children and to offer tortured children specific treatment and rehabilitation. Hopefully this issue will give you useful insight to a dark side of humanity and to support the rights of children and help fight torture around the world.
Review our Spanish site
We have finally managed to establish our Spanish thematic pages. There is still work to do on these pages and we do need your cooperation to find links in Spanish. Your Latin speaking colleges need your support by adding useful links to articles, guidelines or organizations that can be constructing for their work. So far we have added gender based violence, children and armed conflict , and disaster . If you have comments of any kind do not hesitate to let us know.
Upcoming events
How to use our site more efficiently
We have recently upgraded some of our thematic pages in order to provide users with more comprehensive information and with better headlines on specific topics that we think may be of particular interest. This is in addition to our search engine where we now have several hundred good
links and in order to facilitate your search for subjects of interest we urge you to use the search option namely the entering a phrase from the issue you are looking for. It is possible to narrow down your hits for example on children by adding mental health or other keywords in the space for phrase in description. We hope that this can be useful to you.
We are very pleased at receiving good and constructive comments and suggestions for HHRI web page. Do not hesitate to
give us any comments you may have, including ideas regarding format and accessibility, and information, reports or links
that you consider will be of interest for others in our line of work. Our aim is a constant improvement in order to assist
all those working with psychosocial assistance to persons in situations of conflict, emergency and subjected to human rights violations.
Health and Human Rights Info writes and distributes this newsletter, currently reaching more than 2.400 subscribers,
free of charge. If you receive this newsletter for the first time, it is either because someone has recommended that we add your e-mail
address to the list of subscribers, or because we believe that you might be interested in some or all of its content. Consider it an offer.
If you want to continue to receive this newsletter, you don't need to do anything. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter,
please send us an e-mail and we will delete you from our mailing list.
If you know anyone who would be interested in receiving this e-newsletter about our project, please forward it, and encourage them to sign up by sending us an e-mail.
Wishing you a peaceful 2010 with better conditions for justice and human rights for all.
Sincerely yours
Health and Human Rights Info
Elisabeth Ng Langdal
Project coordinator
postmaster@hhri.org
www.hhri.org
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NEWSLETTER NO. 4 2009 OCTOBER 22.nd.
Dear friends and
colleagues.
The last few weeks have brought destructive chaos to different countries in the Pacific region. A powerful undersea earthquake sent
multiple tsunami waves toward the island of Samoa. Then the Indonesian island of Sumatra was shaken by two powerful earthquakes (7.9 and 6.2 on the Richter scale),
just as the Philippines capital of Manila as well as other parts of the South East Asia were flooded with a monsoon-like rain from the Typhoon Ketsana.
These events represent deep tragedies with far-ranging consequences. The loss of lives and livelihoods is very high. The death toll in Indonesia stands at more than 1000;
in the Philippines more than 530 have lost their lives, and another 730 000 have been displaced from their homes.
The crucial UN-led climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December are of great importance in this context and hopefully
the results may have positive effect on the global climate situation. Over the last years we have seen that several thousand
people every year are affected by the climate changes. Natural disasters and climatic hazards –such as drought, floods and storms cause considerable psychological
and social distress to affected populations. The psychological and social impacts of emergencies may be acute in the short term, but they also
threaten the psychosocial well-being of the affected population, and such effects are usually long-lasting. These impacts may threaten peace,
human rights and development. Protecting and improving the mental health and psychosocial well-being of affected groups must be of greatest importance in emergencies.
In this situation it is important to remind us all about the important work of the Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC)
and the Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings that have been developed for those who work with victims of such disasters. Our thematic page on Disaster will provide you both with a link to these guidelines as well as other relevant information.
We also know that in times of crises and disaster there is an increased level of violence,
in particular in gender based violence (GBV) .
GBV is a serious problem in the context of complex emergencies and natural disasters where normal structures of society are
seriously affected and alternative safeguards not yet in place. Women and children are often targets of abuse, and are the most
vulnerable to exploitation, violence, and abuse simply because of their gender, age, and status in society. Women and girls that
are displaced from their home will often experience multiple traumatic experiences.
Guidelines for gender-based violence interventions
in humanitarian settings will give you more information on how to handle the situation.
How to use our site more efficiently
As you may be aware we have created a number of thematic pages in order to provide users with more comprehensive information
on special important topics that we think may be of particular interest. On our search engine we now have several hundred good
links and in order to facilitate your search for subjects of interest we urge you to use the search option – namely the entering
a phrase from the issue you are looking for. It is possible to narrow down your hits for example on children by adding mental
health or other keywords in the space for phrase in description. We hope that this can be useful to you.
Upcoming events
-
"Migrant families, the forgotten trauma - interaction with children, youth and adults"
Support for Torture Victims, Red Cross Switzertand
December 10, 2009 in Bern, Switzerland.
- VI. International Psychological Trauma Meeting
"Trauma in Daily Life"
December 11-13, 2009 in Istanbul, Turkey.
- 20th IFP World Congress of Psychotherapy and FMPP Annual Congress
"Psychotherapy: Science and Culture",
June 16-19, 2010 in Lucerne, Switzerland.
- International Conference on Transcultural Psychiatry
"Migration, next generations and the future of psychiatry".
June 13-16, 2010 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
- 9th International Society for Health and Human Rights
in Georgia in 2011, more information will follow.
We are delighted to inform you that our Director Dr Nora Sveaass was re-elected to the
UN Committee against Torture.
Nora Sveaass was re-elected in the first round by 78 votes. The UN Committee against Torture is an expert body that meets twice a year
in Geneva. It is tasked to monitor the 146 States Parties’ fulfillment of their obligations under the UN Convention against Torture.
The committee studies the States Parties’ reports and makes specific recommendations aimed at increasing respect for human rights
in the country concerned. The committee also handles a large number of complaints from individuals. Dr. Nora Sveaass is an
Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology at the University of Oslo. She is also chairing the Human Rights Committee
of the Norwegian Psychology Association and is the Director of Health and Human Rights Info.
We are very pleased at receiving good and constructive comments and suggestions for HHRI web page. Do not hesitate to
give us any comments you may have, including ideas regarding format and accessibility, and information, reports or links
that you consider will be of interest for others in our line of work. Our aim is a constant improvement in order to assist
all those working with psychosocial assistance to persons in situations of conflict, emergency and subjected to human rights violations.
Health and Human Rights Info writes and distributes this newsletter, currently reaching more than 2.400 subscribers,
free of charge. If you receive this newsletter for the first time, it is either because someone has recommended that we add your e-mail
address to the list of subscribers, or because we believe that you might be interested in some or all of its content. Consider it an offer.
If you want to continue to receive this newsletter, you don't need to do anything. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter,
please send us an e-mail and we will delete you from our mailing list.
If you know anyone
who would be interested in receiving this e-newsletter about our project, please
forward it, and encourage them to sign up by sending us an e-mail.
Sincerely yours
Health and Human Rights Info
Elisabeth Ng Langdal
Project coordinator
postmaster@hhri.org
www.hhri.org
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NEWSLETTER NO. 3 2009 JUNE 4.TH.
Dear friends and
colleagues.
We have seen lately that in situations of armed conflict, humanitarian agencies are denied access to the territories under conflict. This is a matter of grave concern and it has devastating consequences for civilian populations and especially for children. The UN Secretary General released a report last month concerning children and armed conflicts.
The emerging challenges for the protection of children must be understood in the context of the changing characteristics of armed conflict and their consequences for children. Rape and other serious forms of sexual violence against children, as well as against women represent frequent and particularly devastating aspects of armed conflicts, and must be condemned in all possible ways, and the perpetrators must be held to account. Furthermore, the widespread use of and the availability of small arms and light weapons fuel and intensifies conflicts. Compelling evidence exists of the direct correlation between the increased use of children as soldiers in conflict and the ready availability of small arms, which are easy even for the youngest children to handle. There are several allegations of recruitment of children by armed groups. Recruitment is reported to be more common in areas with high concentrations of returnees or internally displaced persons. Both terrorist actions and counter-terrorism measures have a deep and long-lasting impact on children. And we know that also anti-terrorist measures often target children, including arrest and detention of children suspected of having links to terrorist organizations.
According to the EU Guidelines on children and armed conflict it is estimated that during the past ten years, armed conflicts have claimed the lives of over two million children and physically maimed six million more. War and conflict rob children of parents, care-givers, basic social services, health care and education. There are approximately twenty million children in the world who are either internally displaced or refugees. One million children are orphans, while the number of children held hostage, abducted or being subjected to trafficking in persons. Estimation shows that at least 300,000 child soldiers are participating in conflicts. Children involved in or affected by armed conflict and gender based violence, with have both short and long term post-conflict needs, such as the tracing of family members, different forms of redress, including social reintegration and education, and psycho-social rehabilitation. The effects of violence experienced as part of war, armed action and sexual violence can stay with the child for ever. The need for involvement, support and action on many different levels must be taken seriously. And in this work, the activities aiming at providing mental health assistance to the children are of essence.
We have put together two thematic pages addressing the needs but also the experiences and the good practices in this field. We invite you to look at our thematic pages on child soldiers
and gender based violence that might be of relevance for the issues described above.
For those interested in these issues the Pre-Congress Workshops at the
11th European Congress of Psychology , Oslo 7th to 10th of July, 2009 will organize a two days workshop (6th and 7th of July) conducted by Atle Dyregrov and William Yule from
“The Children and War Foundation” .
The objective of the workshop will be “Teaching Recovery Techniques: Cognitive Behavioral Group Intervention for PTSD Symptoms in Children”.
Also Anthony Marsella recognized for his contributions to international peace and understanding and past president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility is offering a 4 hours workshop (7th of July) on “Culture, Psychopathology, Therapy, and Service Delivery”.
At the 11th European Conference on Traumatic Stress (ECOTS) Atle Dyregrov, William Yule, Tori Snell and Numan Ali will also hold a pre-conference workshop on “Using manuals to help children and adolescents following disaster and war” This venue will take place on Monday, June 15th in Oslo.
Healthnet TPO has developed a web-based resource package as an attempt to provide a care delivery framework to set up and provide community-based
psychosocial care for children in conflict areas
in low-income countries where resources for care are extremely limited. It is a free service but you will have to register.
We are receiving very good comments and suggestions for HHRI web page. Do not hesitate to give us any comments you may have, either ideas for the practical outline or links that you feel could be of interest for others in our line of work.
Health and Human Rights Info writes and distributes this newsletter, currently reaching more than 2.200 subscribers,
free of charge. If you receive this newsletter for the first time, it is either because someone has recommended that we
add your e-mail address to the list of subscribers, or because we believe that you might be interested in some or all of its content.
Consider it an offer. If you want to continue to receive this newsletter, you don't need to do anything. If you do not wish to receive
this newsletter, please send us an e-mail and we will delete you from our mailing list.
If you know anyone
who would be interested in receiving this e-newsletter about our project, please
forward it, and encourage them to sign up by sending us an e-mail postmaster@hhri.org.
Sincerely yours
Health and Human Rights Info
Elisabeth Ng Langdal
Project coordinator
postmaster@hhri.org
www.hhri.org
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NEWSLETTER NO. 2 2009 APRIL 24.TH.
Dear friends and
colleagues.
In this brief newsletter we would like to inform you of a two thematic pages relevant for the situation in Sri Lanka.
We know that in times of conflict the level of gender based violence increases. If you need information on the subject there
are useful links on our thematic page about
Gender based violence.
We also know that there are people experiencing highly traumatic events in Sri Lanka now. For further information on effects of traumatic
events you might want to look at our page about
Post traumatic stress disorder.
We also would like to use the opportunity to update you on two relevant events in our field of work. The first is the International
Summer School of Psychotrauma, which will take place in Dubrovnik, Croatia, from 25-29 may 2009. The topic will be «Transgenerational
transmission of trauma: individual, family, society». Transgenerational trauma is trauma passed down from one generation to another.
This type of trauma occurs without direct traumatic stimulus, but is instead transmitted from a parent who has experienced a traumatic
event to a child. Detailed program, hotel information with prices and registration forms will be provided upon request.
For further information please contact Barbara Kalenic at bkalenic@kbc-zagreb.hr. This topic is highly relevant for our line of
work especially in Post conflict communities and transitional justice,
se our thematic page on relevant articles.
The second event is the 6th Psychological Trauma Symposium (PTS)
in Istanbul between 11 and 13 December 2009. This symposium will thoroughly discuss a wide spectrum of factors such as;
street violence and political violence, traumatic effects of global climate changes and other man made 'natural disasters',
as well as sex labor, 'mobbing', poverty and deprivation, and on probable remedial actions and measures which might be taken against them.
If you find this interesting please have a closer look. For further information on mental health and
Disaster , we have a thematic page on the subject.
For those of you that had the pleasure to attend the 8th ISHHR conference
“Truth, Justice & Reparation, Rebuilding Health And Dignity After Trauma & Human Rights Violations”,
the conference report
are now available on ISHHR.com
For your information HHRI are now working on an e-learning course concerning Human Rights and gender based violence
that will hopefully be available on our webpage towards the beginning of next year. The thematic pages in Spanish are still
under construction, we are receiving very important input from colleagues in Spanish speaking parts of the world, and we will
invite you all to suggest relevant links in Spanish.
Health and Human Rights Info writes and distributes this newsletter, currently reaching more than 2.200 subscribers,
free of charge. If you receive this newsletter for the first time, it is either because someone has recommended that we
add your e-mail address to the list of subscribers, or because we believe that you might be interested in some or all of its content.
Consider it an offer. If you want to continue to receive this newsletter, you don't need to do anything. If you do not wish to receive
this newsletter, please send us an e-mail and we will delete you from our mailing list.
If you know anyone
who would be interested in receiving this e-newsletter about our project, please
forward it, and encourage them to sign up by sending us an e-mail postmaster@hhri.org.
Sincerely yours
Health and Human Rights Info
Elisabeth Ng Langdal
Project coordinator
postmaster@hhri.org
www.hhri.org
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NEWSLETTER NO. 1 2009 MARCH 5.TH.
Dear friends and
colleagues.
We are pleased to update you on our work on Health and Human Rights Info. At the same time we would like to express our wish and hope that this electronic resource on human rights and mental health initiative proves itself to be a useful tool. In this present newsletter, we would like to refer you to our thematic pages, particularly to the one on post-conflict communities and transitional justice. This is highly relevant to important events taking place these days, namely the work of the UN special court for Cambodia.
The court has started its work.
Thirty years after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, the UN special court for Cambodia has initiated the trial against those responsible for the atrocities and crimes against humanity. Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, was head of the infamous torture center Tuol Sleng and he will now be facing the court for these horrible crimes.
From The Hague in the Netherlands it is reported that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued a warrant for the arrest of Omar al-Bashir. This will add legal authority to what we have known for several years: The fact that the responsibility for the organized killings, rapes and torture of Darfuri civilians lies mainly with the president of Sudan and his government.
These two examples bear witness that there will be no impunity for those who are responsible for crimes against humanity. Furthermore that there is a general consensus that impunity is unacceptable for both present and former leaders, even after thirty years. Hopefully this is a step towards justice and security for civilians, aid workers and human rights defenders in conflicts and in situations of crisis around the world. Knowing that there is no safe haven for those responsible for crimes against humanity and that there is no way to escape criminal investigation for such actions, send strong signals to the world’s leaders. There are many ways to justice in these processes. The work of truth commissions is very significant, as ways of documenting and disclosing a violent past. These processes all have important consequences for health and psychological healing. They make secret crimes public, injustice is confirmed and suffering is acknowledged. All this may be conditions for healing and 'working through' a violent past, both at an individual and collective level.
Publication on rehabilitation
For professionals working with survivors of torture and organized violence we are pleased to inform about the RCT Manual published by Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims in Denmark. The manual is addressed to health workers, particularly those who have no professional training and work in countries with limited resources.
As professionals concerned with human rights violations, we feel the need to do something, to strengthen the rights of people caught in the middle of conflicts. Our obligation is to stay updated and informed. One way of being kept updated is by joining ISHHR. They bring together professionals and people affected by trauma and human rights abuses from all over the world. ISHHR functions as a supporting association to regional grassroots organizations and has members in almost 50 countries worldwide. The human rights issue is very important for health workers, and as health professionals we deal with this in many different ways.
Health and Human Rights Info is working closely with ISHHR to share knowledge, skills, experiences and concerns regarding the impact of persecution, torture and other human rights violations. Please take a closer look at ISHHRs improved website.
Information on some relevant conferences
This summer there will be several conferences that are relevant to our field of work. We encourage you to visit their web pages.
For the first time Peace, human rights, and psychology is organized together as a separate strand on this important event in European
psychology, taking place in Oslo, Norway, 7th to 10th of July 2009. The program for the Peace strand will be taking place in the premises of The Nobel Institute.
To mention only a few of the speakers; Johan Galtung is talking about peace mediation, Lisbet Palme about children’s rights in the context of war, and Pam Ryan (Psychologists beyond borders) are convening a symposium on war effected youth. In the general program of the congress you can also hear Philip Zimbardo (Stanford prison experiments and recent book: The Lucifer effect; understanding how good people turns evil) is talking about “The journey from psychology of evil to heroism.
Take a look at the congress program , and be aware that the deadline for lowest fee is March 15.
October 3rd to 6th 2009 Dubrovnik-Cavtat, Croatia
This conference will bring together practitioners, researchers, community activists and academics working in the trans-disciplinary area of human coping with diverse challenging life circumstances. The conference will look into various aspects of the fascinating capacity of human resilience to most adverse life events, as it unfolds. The conference aims to advance evidence-based practices in resilience promotion and hope building. It will explore interplay of individual, family, community and social factors in resilience and provide directions for future practice and research.
“Trauma in lives and communities- victims, violators, prevention and recovery"
June 15 –18, 2009 in Oslo, Norway.
There is an increasing recognition of the prevalence and severity of the trauma-related stress disorders and of the importance that psychological trauma has for mental and physical health, as well as for quality of life. The 11th ECOTS wants to ignite the interest of newcomers to the field. For more experienced colleagues the 11th ECOTS will help develop and consolidate their knowledge of traumatic stress research, clinical practice and prevention across Europe and the world. All these topics will be comprehensively covered at the conference and are good reasons to come to Oslo in June 2009.
Thematic pages and Spanish links
As mentioned we are continuously upgrading our thematic pages by adding relevant links. To improve our site we are now working on a thematic page about children in conflict, and all of the pages will be translated into Spanish. So - if you have useful links in Spanish related to these very important issues please let us know.
Health and Human Rights Info writes and distributes this newsletter, currently reaching more than 2.200 subscribers, free of charge. If you receive this newsletter for the first time, it is either because someone has recommended that we add your e-mail address to the list of subscribers, or because we believe that you might be interested in some or all of its content. Consider it an offer. If you want to continue to receive this newsletter, you don't need to do anything. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, please send us an e-mail and we will delete you from our mailing list.
If you know anyone
who would be interested in receiving this e-newsletter about our project, please
forward it, and encourage them to sign up by sending us an e-mail postmaster@hhri.org.
Sincerely yours
Health and Human Rights Info
Elisabeth Ng Langdal
Project coordinator
postmaster@hhri.org
www.hhri.org
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Newsletter No. 3
2008 December 23rd.
Dear friends and
colleagues.
In most countries
around the world, people will notice that it has been 60 years since the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted. There will be speeches,
gatherings, newspaper articles and official events to celebrate this important
event. In others places around the world there may be few signs of this
anniversary and also few signs of respect for the Human Rights Declaration.
There are still more than 30 ongoing armed conflicts today. This means that many
people around the world live under conditions where severe human rights
violations are everyday events. It is therefore of utmost importance that the
work on the implementation of this universal declaration, and the many
conventions and treaties adopted since 1948, are given high priority by
governments as well as by the civil society. As long as there are conflicts and
wars, there will be victims of human rights violations, meaning a lot of people
experiencing grave loss and suffering.
Health and Human Rights Info finds it important to
share information about how wars, conflicts and violence influence the mental
health of those exposed to these violations. In October of
this year, the International Society for Health and Human Rights, to which HHRI
is closely affiliated with, held in Peru, its 8th international
conference for health professionals working with mental health aspects of human
rights violations . For those of us that had the chance to be there, it was a
meaningful and inspiring few days and after this conference we have received
useful links and additional information to add to our site. Thank you so much
for helping us constantly improve HHRI. We need your feedback in order to become
better. As an important step in this direction, we are now distributing
our newsletter also in Spanish and our site is also available in Spanish. But in
order to further develop the Spanish version site, we also need additional and
more relevant links in Spanish.
We have also added a new thematic pages because we believe that it
makes it easier for you to find relevant and useful information. We will hereby
inform you of two new thematic pages. On these pages we have gathered selective
information essential to the different topics. The topics have been chosen on
the basis of their actuality, relevance and importance.
Ethics refers to
ways of understanding and exploring moral life in order to define what is good
and the correct human practice. In all health care work, and particularly in
work with persons exposed to injustice and human rights violations, a clear
awareness of ethical codes, standards and principles is an absolute requirement.
Most professions teach ethical codes and standards, but not all places include
training of human rights instruments as part of this. One of the best ways to
work against the involvement of health professionals in human rights violations,
and to fortify their actions to prevents such violations, is to have knowledge
and clarity about ethical principles and the principles of human rights. It is
in order to strengthen knowledge about these principles, as well as to
strengthen the implementation of ethical codes, standards, and international
conventions protecting human rights and dignity, that we now include a thematic
page on ethics. We are presenting documents developed and adopted within the
context of UN, by international professional bodies, and by national
associations.
Ethics and respect
for the principles of human rights are necessary guidelines in the endeavour to
prevent and reduce the prevalence of human rights violations.We will continue to
elaborate this information and include more relevant information and look
forward to receiving further input in relation to this important topic.
For mental health
workers empathy is an essential aspect of good help. This is also a source for
compassion fatigue, vicarious traumatisation or secondary traumatic stress
(STS). Early recognition and awareness is crucial to be resilient to these
symptoms. Awareness of this is important for workers in areas of conflict and
disaster, and in extreme environments such as these, people may be more
vulnerable to secondary traumatization. We also know that professionals under
this kind of stress may be at risk to perform less efficiently and not perform
as they would normally do. Even large organizations that have the resources and
knowledge about this particular kind of stress may have reduced capacity to deal
with or take care of the affected personnel. As for local helpers, there may
often not be any support or resources at all to deal with this. We hope these
links will be useful for all persons engaged in this kind of important but heavy
work.
Health and Human
Rights Info writes and distributes this newsletter, currently reaching more than
2.500 subscribers, free of charge. If you receive this newsletter for the first
time, it is either because someone has recommended that we add your e-mail
address to the list of subscribers, or because we believe that you might be
interested in some or all of its content. Consider it an offer. If you want to
continue to receive this newsletter, you don't need to do anything. If you
do not wish to receive this newsletter, please send us an
and we will delete you from our mailing
list.
If you know anyone
who would be interested in receiving this e-newsletter about our project, please
forward it, and encourage them to sign up by sending us an e-mail postmaster@hhri.org.
This is our last
newsletter in 2008, we would like to wish you a peaceful new year.
Sincerely yours
Health and Human Rights Info
Elisabeth Ng Langdal
Project coordinator
postmaster@hhri.org
www.hhri.org
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Newsletter No. 2.2008 October 10th
Dear friends and colleagues
We welcome you to our new and improved website. Today we commemorate the World day of mental health, together with 100 other countries around the
world. It is getting more significant, as the world is shrinking, to make mental health a global issue. Every fourth person will experience some kind
of mental illness through his or her lifespan; more than 450 million people are suffering from mental illness. All the time violations of human rights
in conflict areas are increasing Health and Human Rights Info finds it crucial to share information
about how this will influence mental health in the context of violence, conflict and disaster. We hope that our improved site will make it even easier
for you to find the information that you need efficiently.
In addition to the new look, we have also added a new search field called "Phrase in description" which allows you to search in free text in the
description of our link. Our hope is that this will simplify your search.
For your convenience we have added thematic pages. On these pages we have gathered selective information essential to the
different topics. The topics have been chosen on the basis of their actuality, relevance and importance.
Torture thematic pages
Torture in any form and for any reason has been banned by international law, but it is still practiced on a million people each year around the world.
Survivors of torture are found everywhere. Victims of torture and their families need rehabilitation to make it possible for them to re-establish
control over their lives. This is well known, but still there is not enough help for those who need it. This page contains comprehensive material
with definitions, conventions, about absolute prohibition, monitoring, organizations, treatment and repatriation and more.
Post-conflict communities and transitional justice thematic pages
There has been a greater focus on the importance of transitional justice for communities that are in a post-conflict state.
Publications and articles on this important subject are many, but the links between why it is important for the individual as a part of a
community to come to peace with the violation that has occurred are fewer. HHRI have tried to gather information that combines transitional
justice with mental health. If you know of articles or other types of information that will complete our thematic page on transitional justice,
please do not hesitate to send us an e-mail and let us know.
Asylum-seekers in Europe thematic pages
Asylum seekers are vulnerable people. Displaced from their homes, in flight from persecution, often subject to mental and physical violence,
they seek sanctuary in other countries that are free of war, violence and armed conflict. Yet on arrival in Europe their health often deteriorates.
Asylum-seekers have a higher risk of getting mental illness due to the fact that they often have been exposed to extreme conditions,
forced migration and large personal loss and other Human Rights violations. People that need asylum are often met with stricter enforcement of who
to grant asylum in order to try to restrict the flow of asylum- seekers. The process of screening asylum-seekers to decide who is eligible or
not for asylum will often worsen their mental health situation. We hope that this page can give information both to health personnel and to asylum
seekers about the mental health situation of asylum- seekers in Europe.
This newsletter is the free of charge. Health and Human Rights Info makes and distributes this newsletter, currently reaching more than 2.500
subscribers. If you receive this newsletter for the first time, it is either because someone that already is subscribing has recommended that we
add your e-mail address to the list of subscribers, or because we have other reasons to believe that you might be interested in some or all of its
content. Consider it an offer. If you want to continue to receive this newsletter, you don't need to do anything. If you do not wish to receive
this newsletter, please send us an email and we will delete you from our mailing list.
If you know anyone who would benefit from receiving this e-newsletter, please forward it, and encourage them to sign up by sending us an e-mail
postmaster@hhri.org.
Sincerely yours
Health and Human Rights Info
Elisabeth Ng Langdal
Project coordinator
postmaster@hhri.org
www.hhri.org
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Newsletter No. 1
2008 May 15th.
Dear friends and
colleagues.
As some of you already know Health and Human Rights Info strives to be the
web's premier source of information about mental health and human rights in the
context of violence, conflict and disaster. As stated on the HHRI website, we seek
to spread knowledge about the effects of human rights violations on mental health.
To distribute information about treatment methods like medical and psychological care.
By this contribute to the development of psychological interventions, both on the
individual and the community levels. We hope to assist health workers and others who
wish to obtain information that can be useful in their work.
Here are some of our latest additions to our web site:
.
Health and Human Rights Info finds it important to
share information about how wars, conflicts and violence influence the mental
health of those exposed to these violations. In October of
this year, the International Society for Health and Human Rights, to which HHRI
is closely affiliated with, held in Peru, its 8th international
conference for health professionals working with mental health aspects of human
rights violations . For those of us that had the chance to be there, it was a
meaningful and inspiring few days and after this conference we have received
useful links and additional information to add to our site. Thank you so much
for helping us constantly improve HHRI. We need your feedback in order to become
better. As an important step in this direction, we are now distributing
our newsletter also in Spanish and our site is also available in Spanish. But in
order to further develop the Spanish version site, we also need additional and
more relevant links in Spanish.
We have also added some new thematic pages because we believe that it
makes it easier for you to find relevant and useful information. We will hereby
inform you of two new thematic pages. On these pages we have gathered selective
information essential to the different topics. The topics have been chosen on
the basis of their actuality, relevance and importance.
Gender-based violence is an umbrella term for any harm that is perpetrated against
a person’s will, and that results from power inequities that are based on gender roles.
Around the world, gender based violence almost always has a greater negative impact on
women and girls. For this reason the term "gender based violence" is often used interchangeably
with the term "violence against women. When you know that every forth women is exposed to
violence by close relatives, that trafficking is the worlds second largest criminal activity,
surpassed only by illicit sales of weapons. And that violence towards women is increasing rapidly,
but gender based violence especially in areas of conflict is sky rocketing.
This makes this thematic page highly relevant.
Every day it is estimated that some 5000 children are newly displaced due to
conflict somewhere in the world. Many manages to flee violence with their families,
but an increasing number become separated and are being recruited into armed groups
as a result of war erupting. Children, even under the age of 15, have been cynically
used as a cheap and expendable tool of war. Some have been abducted and torn from their
families. Others have been driven to volunteer as a result of social exclusion, and family
breakdown, or after witnessing atrocities. Over the past decade we have seen the number of
child soldiers increasing — as small arms and light weapons become more accessible and children
more easily armed, and as conflicts continue to simmer in forgotten corners of the world.
The articles and training material for this page was collected in conjunction with the tsunami
in 2004/05. Some of this material is highly relevant to the situation in Burma to day.
Do have a closer look at:
Psychosocial Handbook, India
When an individual who has been exposed to a traumatic event develops anxiety symptoms,
re-experiencing of the event, and avoidance of stimuli related to the event lasting more
than four weeks, that person might be suffering from Post traumatic stress disorder.
This might occur in many types of human rights violations in conjunction with violence, conflict and disaster.
Health and Human
Rights Info writes and distributes this newsletter, currently reaching more than
2.500 subscribers, free of charge. If you receive this newsletter for the first
time, it is either because someone has recommended that we add your e-mail
address to the list of subscribers, or because we believe that you might be
interested in some or all of its content. Consider it an offer. If you want to
continue to receive this newsletter, you don't need to do anything. If you
do not wish to receive this newsletter, please send us an
and we will delete you from our mailing
list.
If you know anyone
who would be interested in receiving this e-newsletter about our project, please
forward it, and encourage them to sign up by sending us an e-mail postmaster@hhri.org.
Sincerely yours
Health and Human Rights Info
Elisabeth Ng Langdal
Project coordinator
postmaster@hhri.org
www.hhri.org
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