War-torn Areas Research Articles

Doctors on the frontline

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has never shied away from integrating aid efforts with criticisms of authorities involved in war related human tragedies. It was thrown out of Ethiopia in 1985 for whistleblowing on the misuse of aid and more recently in Rwanda for savaging the government on the state of the prisons. Last year, it asked its donors to stop sending money for the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami, as it claimed to have collected the necessary funds to manage the situation effectively. MSF is a maverick among the aid agencies around the world, operating well away from the media glare to deliver medical aid in war torn areas and regions plagued by natural disasters. With an annual budget of $400m (£230m; 330m), MSF operates in more than 70 countries, providing medical care in acute crises and raising international awareness of potential humanitarian disasters. In a four part series, television cameras follow MSF's medical staff for the first time, in Haiti, Sudan, Honduras, and Somalia, to provide a direct account of their extraordinary service to humanity. The programme, narrated by Scottish singer Annie Lennox, …

A selected socio-legal bibliography on ethnic cleansing, wartime rape, and genocide in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda

The aim of this bibliography, comprising more than 6,000 entries, is to facilitate and promote the research and writing of legal scholars, students and human rights activists in the fields of ethnic cleansing, genocide and sexual violence during national and international armed conflicts. It provides an overview of carefully selected socio-legal materials published in English and other European languages on ethnic cleansing, genocide and sexual violence during armed conflict in the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. This timely project, which commemorates the tenth anniversary of the ethnic cleansing and genocide in the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, has a great deal of interest to academics and those who are active in conflict/dispute settlement efforts in war-torn areas of the world. The entire bibliography is alphabetically organized and sequentially numbered. Entries are arranged by format under eleven main headings, with each heading divided into different sub-headings. Books, collections of essays, periodical articles, addresses, interviews, proceedings, dissertations, and manuscripts are arranged alphabetically by the first letter of the family name of the author/editor. Encyclopedia articles, treaties, national agreements, decisions, declarations, and legislations, government documents, NGO documents, professional associations’ documents, audio-visual materials, and press releases are organized alphabetically by the first letter of the document’s title. In some cases, particularly for United Nations documents, entries are arranged in chronological order. To facilitate searching this bibliography, all material is organized in a detailed table of contents, and an author/editor index is provided at the end of the volume. This index is arranged according to the alphabetical order of the author/ editor’s last name and refers to the number of each entry listed under that name in the body of the bibliography.

War, Livelihoods and Vulnerability in Sri Lanka

AbstractAs the number of de‐stabilized regions of warfare or post‐war conditions worldwide continues to grow, this article investigates how civilians survive in the context of a civil war. It analyses livelihood strategies of farmers in the war‐torn areas of Sri Lanka, using an analytical framework based on a revised form of DFID's sustainable rural livelihoods approach, placing particular attention on the institutional reproduction of household capital assets in the war economy. The author delineates a three pillar model of household livelihood strategies focusing on how households (1) cope with the increased level of risk and uncertainty; (2) adjust their economic and social household assets for economic survival; and (3) use their social and political assets as livelihood strategies. Empirical evidence comes from four case study villages in the east of Sri Lanka. Although the four case studies were very close together geographically, their livelihood outcomes differed considerably depending on the very specific local political geography. The role of social and political assets is essential: while social assets (extended family networks) were important to absorb migrants, political assets (alliances with power holders) were instrumental in enabling individuals, households or economic actors to stabilize or even expand their livelihood options and opportunities. The author concludes that civilians in conflict situations are not all victims (some may also be culprits in the political economy of warfare), and that war can be both a threat and an opportunity, often at the same time.

Physician Assistants in the Canadian Forces

Canada is struggling with burgeoning health care access problems. At the same time, this nation may be overlooking an available resource to help address specific physician shortages. The services of more than 130 physician assistants in the Canadian Department of National Defense are used to off-set and amplify physician services. Their extensive education and training, along with their international experience in war-torn areas, dealing with wounded and ill military personnel, refugees, civilians, epidemics, and other health care problems make them particularly valuable assets. Yet, upon discharge from military service and reentry into the civilian sector, they are left without the legislation and formal recognition as a health care provider that would enable them to use these skills to help improve medical care access. This study provides the first description of the training and activity of Canadian physician assistants.

Refugee Returns in Croatia: Contradictions and Reform

The principle of refugee returns has been cited as a means of resolving crises and paving the way for post-conflict reconciliation. However, return does not necessarily entail reconciliation and, in practice, the return of refugees has contributed to new tensions between ethnic communities, as well as within them. In Croatia, laws introduced by the former Tudjman regime which discriminated against non-ethnic Croats have exacerbated tensions and frustrated the process of return in war-torn areas. Discrimination against non-Croats is discussed with reference to housing policy, the law on amnesty, and the workings of judicial institutions. In spite of recent reforms, there are many barriers to return, including the costs of reconstruction, non-compliance, and the enduring effects of previous laws that created a two-tier system.

Failures of imagination: The refugee's narrative in psychiatry

Refugees coming from war-torn areas sometimes face misunderstanding and frank incredulity when they encounter the psychiatric system. This failure of the clinical imagination reflects both reluctance to confront the enormity of patients' loss and cultural differences in self-presentation, self-understanding, memory and identity. This potential for incredulity is redoubled in the formal hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) where the claim for refugee status is adjudicated. Contemporary psychiatric practice is rooted in taking patients' stories at face value as accounts of their experience or reading through them to identify signs and symptoms of psychopathology. From this perspective any account reveals both the narrator's shifting experiential world and the current functioning of their cognitive machinery. Truth is 'experiential truth' and is relative to the narrator's social position, mental health and emotional state. In contrast, the IRB assesses the narrative of asylum seekers against the notion of a truthful story as fixed and isomorphic to a single historical sequence of events. From the perspective of the IRB members, any deviation from this fixed account is evidence of dissimulation designed to claim the valued status of refugee. The conflicting epistemologies of clinical psychiatry and the refugee hearing throw into relief the functions of social imagination in the construction, interpretation and assessment of the truth-value of narratives of identity and affliction.

Planning for institutional capacity building in war-torn areas: the case of Jaffna, Sri Lanka

This paper examines an attempt to build capacity and empower local institutions in war-torn Jaffna, on the northern tip of Sri Lanka. A participatory approach that is aimed at social empowerment is seen to be possible even under the most restrictive of political environments. However, whether or not the development intervention provides a foundation for longer-term improvement depends on the extent to which institutional capacity is built. Through an examination of the Jaffna Reconstruction Project, it is argued that if any of the ingredients of this institutional capacity are missing, not only will the ‘islands of participation and empowerment’ that are built by the development initiative be short-lived, but there may also be a negligible contribution to building a foundation for longer-term improvement in quality of life.

Entre o individualismo e a solidariedade: dilemas da política e da cidadania no Rio de Janeiro

The author examines the shaping of a scenario of conflict, insecurity, and fear in the city of Rio de Janeiro during the 1990s. The article presents various emblematic episodes, discussing how they were perceived by various segments of the population and the local media. Two different forms of perceiving the dynamics of violence in the city are demonstrated, along with possibilities for dealing with them. One declares the existence of a war and called for law and order, ruling out any consideration of human rights or demands to respect the civil rights of residents in what were considered war-torn areas. The other position proposed a combination of policies involving public security and the promotion of citizenship. This article analyzes such stances, highlighting the way they approach citizenship and exploring some of their potential political developments.

A new chance for human peaceableness?

The millennial optimism being generated among nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the global civil society by the advent of the year 2000, and the United Nations Declaration of a Year and Decade of Education for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World, opens the possibility of a paradigm shift from dominance to mutualism in both interpersonal and interstate relations. Multiple year 2000 peace initiatives by NGOs present them with the challenge of a shift from turfism to collaboration in peacebuilding. Truth commissions offer new opportunities for peace work. Peace movements are learning to apply interactive problem-solving skills as they shift from protest to peace practitioner roles in war-torn areas. The power of the social imagination to envision peaceful futures is critical to all these efforts.

Progress Toward Poliomyelitis Eradication—Eastern Mediterranean Region, 1998-October 1999

In 1988, the Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean Region* (EMR) of the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted a resolution to eliminate poliomyelitis from the region by 2000. This report summarizes progress toward this goal in EMR countries through October 1999; all EMR countries, including war-torn and other underdeveloped areas of the region, are conducting essential polio eradication strategies, and eradication activities to rapidly stop poliovirus transmission are under way in countries where polio is endemic.

Germany's Other Others: Teaching about Kurds, Roma, and Sinti in an Upper-Division Culture Class

German teachers in the US face the ever-present challenge of teaching language and culture to many who are interested in German primarily because it fulfills a course requirement. Capturing students' attention, arousing their intellect, and bringing language and culture closer to them are not easy tasks, especially for groups with diverse backgrounds and interests. Instructors need to find innovative ways to excite, teach, and challenge a mix of people with various ethnic, academic, and even generational experiences. Fortunately, for upper-level culture courses good material exists which can serve not only to enhance language skills, but also to develop cross-cultural awareness between Germany and the United States and, in both societies, between the dominant and minority cultures. German language classes can become more diverse and less myopic in their treatment of German culture by incorporating the experiences of minorities in unified Germany. These classes present a realistic picture of Germany today-a country struggling with multiculturalism following the immigration of peoples from war-torn areas and economically developing countries. Such a German culture class would not primarily teach high culture, but would also study the mental and material habitat of various social groups, identifying with elements of German culture that are active, struggling, even resisting the status quo. German culture classes which explore the dichotomy of high and mass culture also help minority students in this country sympathize, and possibly identify, with others in German culture. In this article, I would like to suggest additional strategies and teaching materials which incorporate less visible minorities in the Federal Republic: the Roma and Sinti, and the Kurds, following other contributors to Die Unterrichtspraxis/ Teaching German.2 In teaching a fourth-year German culture course about contemporary Germany, I explored such topics as History of the Wall, Mass Media in the Old and New Bundesldnder, Women and the Wende, East Meets West, and MultiCulturalism: Germany's Afro-Germans, Turks, Kurds, Roma and Sinti with a mix of students from seventeen to fifty-eight years of age who ranged from intermediate-low to advanced-plus speakers on the ACTFL proficiency scale. I had a two-fold objective. I wanted the students to understand some aspects of German culture that govern political discussions within Germany but are nearly absent from German textbooks in this country, and I wanted students to recognize that issues such as Germans and minorities are vital to understanding German culture, though many Germans and even more Americans do not seem to share this view. The course offered a two-fold challenge to the instructor: how to convey this sophisticated content while still improving the modest language proficiency of the students. To these ends, I adopted a hybrid approach. Lectures and some readings, as well as in-depth discussions at the end of each unit, were in English while the primary readings and the small and large group discussions at the beginning and middle of each unit were conducted in Ger-

Religious and Social Participation in War-Torn Areas of El Salvador

The Salvadoran civil war destroyed local community life throughout the province of Morazán. Despite the peace accords, poverty, unequal land distribution, and a “culture of violence” demand structural and institutional transformations well beyond the individual moral regeneration offered by churches. Religion, however, supplies coping tools, especially for youth, women, and repatriated refugees. By focusing on local issues, furthermore, churches are fostering social participation among hitherto disenfranchised groups, a critical element in building an inclusive, robust democracy.

Gender and Peacebuilding: Report on a Roundtable

The relationship between peacebuilding and gender is a critical one. In many countries it is women who have been instrumental in reconstructing war-torn areas, fostering reconciliation and rebuilding sustainable societies after a period of violence or crisis. Sometimes this is because they are the only ones left living ([or example, Rwanda); often because they are critical of the basic development of micro-economics and families in given societies. While it has been long recognized that the key to “development” more generally often lies in supporting women’s activities, such wisdom has not yet broached the peacebuilding discussions either here in Canada or internationally. It was proposed therefore that an initial forum be held in order to explore the relationship between gender and peacebuilding and provide some specific recommendations to the Canadian Deparment of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Canadian International Development Agency as it develops its overall policies on peacebuilding.On Monday, April 24, 1997, a one day roundtable on gender and pea cebuilding was held at the University of British Columbia supported by the Canadian Centre for Foreign Policy Development. At the table was an international mixture of government officials, academics and nongovernmental representatives from both the north and south. The basic question put to the assembled group was; How can women support peacebuilding initiatives and how can peacebuilding initiatives support women? A paper and a set of questions was circulated prior to the meeting and provided the focus for the discussion which ensued. Finally Guatemala was chosen as a specific case study to discuss, within the larger rubric of peacebuilding initiatives partly because of the extraordinary role of women in the peace negotiations in that country, partly because of Canada’s interest in Guatemala and partly because Guatemala is at a critical juncture in its peacebuilding process. Three of the individuals who attended the roundtable therefore had a specific interest in, and experience of the Guatemalan peace process and the role of women within it.

ABSTRACT

Pediatricians throughout the world are becoming aware of the severe phychological reactions among children in man-made and natural disasters, especially in war-torn areas of the world. This paper is the second of two by a Task Force of the American Psychological Association and is focused especially on interventions. There has been relatively little attention to the needs of children, especially their psychological needs. The Task Force points out the need to have a predisaster preparation phase, a short-term intervention, and a long-term intervention phase. Most of the literature reviewed in this paper is related to natural disasters in the United States. However, it is likely that the same principles will apply to dealing with children in war-torn areas of the world. The Task Force makes a strong plea, however, for stronger evaluation of disaster-related interventions. The American Academy of Pediatrics is developing, in collaboration with Dr Karen Olness' program at Case Western Reserve University and Dr Fred Burkle's program at the University of Hawaii, a program that prepares a multidisciplinary team for crisis intervention in times of disaster, both natural and man-made. Interventions with children in disasters are clearly an emerging and very important field for all who care for children.

OSCE and International Law

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) pursues a concept of co-operative security which encompasses commitments by participating States in the areas of military security, political co-operation, human rights, economy, culture and the environment. Its priorities are to consolidate common values and build civil societies, prevent local conflicts, restore stability and bring peace to war-torn areas, overcome real and perceived security deficits and avoid the creation of new divisions by promoting a co-operative system of security. The OSCE is the primary instrument for early warning, conflict management and crisis management in the OSCE region, i.e. Europe, Central Asia and North America. Its basic feature is the strict equality of all 55 participating States, which is well reflected in its decision-making process. With a few exceptions, decision-making at meetings within the framework of the OSCE is only possible by consensus, which is considered to be achieved if no State has expressed an objection. States are, however, allowed to make reservations or interpretative statements.

The International Tuberculosis Campaign: a pioneering venture in mass vaccination and research.

If an American pediatrician's conversation with Dr. Johannes Holm, a Danish pathisiologist and future director of the International Tuberculosis Campaign, had not been interrupted, the campaign would probably not have become a monumental precedent for world health activities. The International Tuberculosis Campaign was conducted under the auspices of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund and three Scandinavian voluntary organizations. In a program that started in the war-torn areas of Europe, nearly 30 million persons underwent tuberculin testing, and almost 14 million were given BCG (bacille Calmette-Guérin) vaccine. In addition, a postgraduate school for physicians was initiated, new laboratories were established and old ones were improved, hundreds of young doctors and nurses were introduced to international public health, and, perhaps most important, research and service were successfully integrated. The success of the campaign led to its becoming the first major disease control and research activity of the World Health Organization.

Craniocerebral missile injuries in civilian Kashmir – India

Background The missile injuries of the cranium and brain in the modern era have shifted from soldiers to the civilians and from the battle grounds to the populated zones due to increase in the terrorist and military strikes. The management of the victims depends on the resuscitation at the site of injury and the distance and transportation to the tertiary care centre. This article presents the details of the missile injuries to the brain, the third-world problems and the management. Material and methods A retrospective analysis of 3794 craniocerebral missile injuries, managed by the Department of Neurosurgery at Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Kashmir, India, over a period of more than 21 years from September 1988 to September 2009. Patients were triaged in emergency CT-room, resuscitated and operated. Statistical software programme SPSS 11.5 was used to derive the numerical significance. Results Revealed an overall mortality of 87.69% (3327 out of 3794). Most of the deaths 79.14% (2633 out of 3327) occurred within 30 minutes of the patient’s arrival to the hospital and only 694 patients lived beyond one hour of arrival. Conclusion Presently the quantum of outcome i.e, survival and good recovery in craniocerebral missile injuries appears a meager heap compared to the huge amount of death and disability. And the situation will continue to be so unless tertiary care hospitals are set up within and around the armed and conflict zones, war torn areas and battle fields, rather than risking transportation, time of resuscitation, intervention and the results.Key words: Craniocerebral, Kashmir, Missile Injuries, Outcome.

Air-Cooled Steam Condensers

Abstract In connection with the rehabilitation of the war-torn areas of the world, there is a great need for power plants which can be moved from one location to another without difficulty, and which can be put into operation in a short period of time. In some of the locations where these power plants must operate, cooling water will be unavailable, or obtainable only at a great premium. To take care of such cases, a number of power trains have been built to use air as a cooling medium rather than water. The trains in general have been widely described. The present paper is devoted to a more complete description of the condensers and to a report on their operation.

Mobile power plants for war-torn areas

Mobile power plants for war-torn areas