SUMMER 2021 NEWSLETTER
As we approach Summer, we're excited to share new updates with you. This newsletter highlights our reports and writing, which expand upon these topics and more. Our upcoming events feature insightful guests whose voices are critical to an equitable response and moving the needle forward on social harms caused by failed policies. We welcome you to visit our webpage, join our upcoming events, and learn more about our ongoing work.
FXB EVENTS
In the midst of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Palestine, the FXB Center convened world experts in history, politics, public health and human rights for a panel discussion. The event provides historical context for current events and focuses on a number of timely topics, including the situation on the ground in Palestine and the health system/capability in Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).

Speakers included Yasser Abu Jamei, Director General of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, Weeam Hammoudeh, Assistant Professor, Institute of Community and Public Health, Birzeit University, and Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University.
UPCOMING EVENTS
From Dialogue to Accountability: The Struggle to Implement Rights in Israel/Palestine
June 16 (9-10 a.m. EDT) | Visit Event Page

Data and Innovative Approaches for Sustainable Systems-Wide Changes to Reduce the Prevalence of Obesity: A Second Workshop Series
June 22 (10 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. EDT) | Visit Event Page

Massachusetts General Hospital Forum
At the Crossroads of Ethics, Law, Medicine and Anthropology: How do we respond to those in need at the U.S. southern border?
June 23 (6-8 p.m. EDT) | Visit Event Page
HEALTH & HUMAN RIGHTS JOURNAL
Human Rights Analyses of COVID-19 Access, Plus Section on Mass Atrocity Prevention 
Health and Human Rights June 2021 has a special section that considers human rights and the role that public health and mental health policies and practices can play in the prevention of mass atrocity crimes. These nine papers, collated by Guest Editors supported by the Cardozo Law Institute in Holocaust and Human Rights, examine issues from human rights accountability, education and its role in transitional justice, impacts of atrocities on mental health and violence post conflict, and the role of human rights in societal healing. All the papers stress the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to address the physical and mental health challenges resulting from the human rights violations of mass atrocity. 

In addition to this section, the June issue has another 20 papers, including paper in press: A Virtual Roundtable on Equitable COVID-19 Vaccine Access, a conversation with global experts on the right to medicines, led by Els Torreele and Joseph J. Amon; and Fault Lines of Refugee Exclusion: Statelessness, Gender, and COVID-19 in South Asia, by Roshni Chakraborty and FXB’s Jacqueline Bhabha.  

COVID-19 is addressed in several other papers, including some which interrogate the capacity of global mechanisms to improve vaccine access. Maxwell Smith, Lisa Forman, et al ask “Should COVID-19 Vaccines be Authorized for Emergency Use Be Considered “Essential Medicines”?, and Allison Durkin and colleagues examine the risks that trade secret protections pose for health and human rights, including on COVID-19 related treatments. Gaëlle Krikorian and Els Torreele , in their Perspective Essay, argue the ongoing access to medicines crisis demands a change in thinking.

Scholars are also examining whether international human rights law, or state constitutions, permit mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations: a blog by Tanya Colitz, and others forthcoming in June, including Daniel Wang et al, looking at Brazil. Staying with Brazil, Senior Editor Joseph Amon and co-authors Joao Biehl and Lucas Allegretti Prates examine the role of the Supreme Court in assertively confront and counter the executive’s “necropolitics”.

Finally, a recent blog post by Arachu Castro, Eric A. Friedman, and colleagues argues that the proposed Framework Convention on Global Health would advance women’s and children’s health, from increased funding and greater accountability mechanisms – read this blog here.

HHRJ publishes peer reviewed full papers and perspective essays, and in addition it welcomes viewpoints, blogs and book reviews.
Please check our author guidelines to help you prepare your submissions. We have extended the deadline for submissions on Health Rights and the Urgency of the Climate Crisis – details here.

Photo: Learn more about the virtual roundtable on human rights and access to COVID-19 vaccines, led by Els Torreele and Joseph Amon. Visit the Health and Human Rights Journal online for the latest news.
NEW PUBLICATIONS
Vasileia Digidiki, Jacqueline Bhabha, Abhishek Bhatia, Samuel Peisch
(Co-Authors)
Jacqueline Bhabha
(Co-Author)
Lynne Jones
IN THE NEWS
Why Roma migrants from Europe are taking rafts from Mexico to enter the U.S.
"Currently, U.S. policies and policy proposals offer hope for more humane and just policies, including for immigrants," Dr. Magda Matache explains in Reuters. "They (Roma) are looking for a better life in a place where they are not exposed to violence, discrimination, and disrespect." Read the article,
June 2021

May 2021

April 2021

Read Dr. Mary T. Bassett's full statement here.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Medicare for All: A Conversation with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed
On June 2, the FXB Center hosted a discussion on the themes in Dr. Abdul El-Sayed's new book Medicare for All: A Citizen's Guide with FXB Director Dr. Mary T. Bassett and FXB Executive Director Dr. Natalia Linos. Watch Now
A Look Back, A Path Forward: A Town Hall Event
Hosted by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, this town hall takes an in-depth look at enduring inequities in both vaccine access and disease treatment. Panelists include Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Mary T. Bassett. Watch Now
When Words Change Lives: A Conversation with Lizzie Presser
Dr. Mary T. Bassett joined ProPublica Journalist Lizzie Presser for a riveting and candid conversation, which shines light on the invisible—those whose stories might otherwise never be told—to effect real change. Watch Now
FXB Celebrates Earth Week & Arbor Day With Climate Youth Advocates
In a new environmental-focused video series, FXB Climate Advocates share their personal experience with climate change and discuss why other young people should care about this pressing global issue. Watch Now: Messages from Advocates Annika Johnson, Richard Chen and Siddhant Desai
The Chelsea Project: The Alchemy of Science, Policy & Community
On May 25, the FXB Center hosted a panel discussion on The Chelsea Project with panelists Cristina Alonso, Samantha Bates, Dan Cortez, Karthik Dinakar, and Barry Keppard, moderated by FXB Research Fellow Dr. Margaret Sullivan. Watch Now
Educator Voice: Dr. Justin Feldman & Journalist Rachel Cohen on Debates Around Opening Schools
PBS NewsHour EXTRA invited FXB Fellow Dr. Justin Feldman to join its Educator Zoom series to discuss safe, solidaristic approaches to opening schools. Watch The Discussion Highlights
The Place of Roma in The Global Struggles for Liberation & Anti-Racism
Featuring Dr. Jackie Bhabha and Dr. Margareta Matache, this panel focused on a connection of struggles, political tactics and paths on how to build momentum for a joint global solidarity movement against oppression. Watch Now
The State of Roma Human Rights in The Balkans
Dr. Margareta Matache joined the Harriman Institute, the Roma Peoples Project at Columbia University and Kupferberg Holocaust Center at Queensborough Community College, CUNY for a conference to highlight the human rights of Roma people throughout the Balkans. Watch Now
A Perpetual Crisis: Reflections on Renewed Public Health Failures at the U.S./Mexico Border
The Harvard Global Health Institute and FXB Center hosted an intimate discussion on concerns about who will continue to suffer at the border, as COVID-19 remains an imminent threat to the health of migrants. Watch Now
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