Suchergebnisse

Introduction: When the hospital is a battlefield -- Protection of health care in war : a brief history -- Denying care to enemies -- Counter-terrorism : the devouring monster -- Health care as a strategic target : Syria -- Recklessness : the Saudi assault on Yemen -- Obstruction : the Israel-Palestinian conflict -- Armed groups : threats and violence by non-state actors -- Challenges in making norms matter -- Conclusion: Toward humanity and dignity.

Attacks on health workers, clinics, hospitals, ambulances and patients during periods of armed conflict or civil disturbance pose enormous challenges to humanitarian response and constitute affronts to the imperatives of human rights and civilian protection. Violence inflicted on humanitarian aid workers is gaining the global attention it warrants. While the number of attacks on aid workers has decreased in recent years, in a handful of places, notably Sudan, Afghanistan, and Somalia, they have become more spectacular and frightening, with aid agencies targeted for kidnapping and subjected to use of explosives because of their perceived affiliation with Western governments. The assaults have galvanised the humanitarian aid community to track attacks and to engage in intensive and sophisticated discussion of means to increase operational security. After worldwide consultation, in 2011 the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) issued a report that summarised the fruits of experience and stimulated consideration of security strategies for aid providers. By contrast, however, until very recently the far larger number of incidents of violence inflicted on and interference with indigenous health services and on international and local development agencies by state and armed groups has received comparatively little attention. Adapted from the source document.

Attacks on health workers, clinics, hospitals, ambulances and patients during periods of armed conflict or civil disturbance pose enormous challenges to humanitarian response and constitute affronts to the imperatives of human rights and civilian protection. Violence inflicted on humanitarian aid workers is gaining the global attention it warrants. While the number of attacks on aid workers has decreased in recent years, in a handful of places, notably Sudan, Afghanistan, and Somalia, they have become more spectacular and frightening, with aid agencies targeted for kidnapping and subjected to use of explosives because of their perceived affiliation with Western governments. The assaults have galvanised the humanitarian aid community to track attacks and to engage in intensive and sophisticated discussion of means to increase operational security. After worldwide consultation, in 2011 the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) issued a report that summarised the fruits of experience and stimulated consideration of security strategies for aid providers. By contrast, however, until very recently the far larger number of incidents of violence inflicted on and interference with indigenous health services and on international and local development agencies by state and armed groups has received comparatively little attention.

International human rights organizations can play a productive role in advancing economic, social, and cultural rights. They can (1) collaborate with partner organizations in the developing world in lobbying for systems of services that meet needs in a manner consistent with human rights requirements; (2) advocate for resources to fulfill economic, social, and cultural rights, especially by lobbying for funds from wealthy countries; and (3) monitor compliance by states with the increasingly explicit obligations, including core obligations, to protect, respect and fulfill these rights. To engage in these activities, international human rights organizations can build on the analytical capacity and other strengths they have developed in advancing civil and political rights but need to develop additional methods and competencies. At the same time, they will need to deepen partnerships with national and community-based organizations.

AbstractAttacks on and interference with health care services, providers, facilities, transports, and patients in situations of armed conflict, civil disturbance, and state repression pose enormous challenges to health care delivery in circumstances where it is most needed. In times of armed conflict, international humanitarian law (IHL) provides robust protection to health care services, but it also contains gaps. Moreover, IHL does not cover situations where an armed conflict does not exist. This paper focuses on the importance of a human rights approach to addressing these challenges, relying on the highest attainable standard of health as well as to civil and political rights. In particular we take the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights General Comment No. 14 (on Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) as a normative framework from which states' obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the right to health across all conflict settings can be further developed.

AbstractNew sources and methods are necessary to finance housing for people with long‐term mental illness. This chapter describes an innovative program to increase the amount of capital available for such housing.