WEBVTT NOTE duration:"00:06:08.4800000" NOTE recognizability:0.929 NOTE language:en-us NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.208 Hello everyone. I'm going to talk NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:00:02.208 --> 00:00:04.372 to you about the Humanitarian NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:00:04.372 --> 00:00:08.800 Research Lab which I launched in NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:11.796 2021 in the midst of the pandemic. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:00:11.800 --> 00:00:14.600 But the focus on doing research which is NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:00:14.600 --> 00:00:17.398 relevant to humanitarian crisis situation. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:00:17.400 --> 00:00:19.025 And when I'm talking about NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:00:19.025 --> 00:00:20.586 humanitarian crisis, I'm talking about, NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:00:20.586 --> 00:00:22.398 you know the two big buckets. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:00:22.400 --> 00:00:25.244 There's natural disasters and then there NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:00:25.244 --> 00:00:28.599 is human disasters or or armed conflict. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:32.800 An armed conflict is my primary interest. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:00:32.800 --> 00:00:35.961 So the mission of our lab or the the NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:00:35.961 --> 00:00:39.048 main purpose of it is to support NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:00:39.048 --> 00:00:40.933 humanitarian organizations and policy NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:00:40.933 --> 00:00:43.717 makers who respond to humanitarian crisis. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:00:43.720 --> 00:00:46.438 And we have two broad objectives for our lab. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:00:46.440 --> 00:00:49.037 One is address the health needs of NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:00:49.037 --> 00:00:51.271 populations that are affected by NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:00:51.271 --> 00:00:53.580 humanitarian crisis and 2nd is to NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:00:53.580 --> 00:00:55.720 produce evidence for war, crime, NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:00:55.720 --> 00:00:56.600 accountability. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:00:56.600 --> 00:01:00.445 The 2nd objective is being led by NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:00.445 --> 00:01:02.113 my colleague Nathaniel Raymond, NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:02.120 --> 00:01:04.847 who has been doing this work for the last NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:04.847 --> 00:01:07.557 20 some years and he's a lecturer at, NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:07.560 --> 00:01:10.359 in our department, NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:10.360 --> 00:01:12.976 some examples of the health of NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:12.976 --> 00:01:14.720 populations in humanitarian settings. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:14.720 --> 00:01:17.024 I had a long interest in HIV AIDS NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:17.024 --> 00:01:19.824 and now I'm focusing on HIV AIDS NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:19.824 --> 00:01:21.114 in humanitarian setting. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:24.600 This work has been done in northeast Uganda, NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:24.600 --> 00:01:27.480 which has gone through years of NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:27.480 --> 00:01:30.400 conflict and also we've done some NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:33.364 HIV AIDS research project among the NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:33.364 --> 00:01:35.874 Syrian refugee population in Lebanon, NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:35.880 --> 00:01:38.722 both men who have sex with men NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:38.722 --> 00:01:41.120 and also those using drugs. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:44.205 The second project is verbal NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:44.205 --> 00:01:46.673 autopsy in northwest Syria. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:46.680 --> 00:01:49.518 As some of you may know, NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:49.520 --> 00:01:50.940 according to The Who, NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:50.940 --> 00:01:53.070 about half of the deaths globally NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:53.140 --> 00:01:55.080 are not accurately registered. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:55.080 --> 00:01:57.156 Causes of death are not known, NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:57.160 --> 00:01:59.110 and this is particularly a problem NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:01:59.110 --> 00:02:00.847 in low middle income countries NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:00.847 --> 00:02:02.359 and in conflict zones. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:02.360 --> 00:02:03.782 We don't know how many people NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:03.782 --> 00:02:05.400 are dying and of what causes. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:05.400 --> 00:02:07.199 And one of the tools that's available NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:07.199 --> 00:02:08.999 to do that is verbal autopsy, NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:10.800 which is something I learned NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:12.070 relatively recently. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:12.070 --> 00:02:15.245 And we're collaborating with our NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:15.245 --> 00:02:18.590 colleagues to document and register deaths NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:18.590 --> 00:02:21.040 and causes of death in northwest Syria, NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:21.040 --> 00:02:22.760 which is a conflict zone. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:22.760 --> 00:02:23.840 And we're planning to do NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:24.920 the same thing in Sudan, NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:24.920 --> 00:02:27.500 which is also going through NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:27.500 --> 00:02:30.080 a major conflict right now. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:31.585 The other project is substance NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:31.585 --> 00:02:33.476 use and mental health to force NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:33.476 --> 00:02:35.116 migrants from the Middle East, NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:36.248 North Africa region. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:36.248 --> 00:02:39.354 This is a project that we are doing NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:39.354 --> 00:02:42.119 in Jordan as well as in Connecticut. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:42.120 --> 00:02:44.412 We are trying to understand to NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:44.412 --> 00:02:46.728 what extent substance use is kind NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:46.728 --> 00:02:48.876 of a coping strategy for refugees, NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:48.880 --> 00:02:51.178 forced migrants who are going through NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:51.178 --> 00:02:53.799 a lot of mental health issues. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:57.797 Cancer care has come up multiple times. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:57.800 --> 00:02:58.924 As you may know, NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:02:58.924 --> 00:03:01.080 a lot of the refugees are stuck. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:03:01.080 --> 00:03:02.736 They're not just sort of staying NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:03:02.736 --> 00:03:04.360 short term in a country, NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:05.990 They are there for years, decades. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:03:05.990 --> 00:03:09.280 So some of them had been diagnosed NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:11.753 with cancer before arriving in NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:03:11.753 --> 00:03:14.640 the transit location or or got NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:03:14.640 --> 00:03:17.040 cancer in the new location. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:03:17.040 --> 00:03:19.206 And they're really been very limited NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:03:19.206 --> 00:03:21.080 attention paid to this issue. NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:03:21.080 --> 00:03:22.958 It's not something that I had NOTE Confidence: 0.916042011538462 00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:25.515 expertise in but has kept coming up. NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:27.540 So I'm collaborating with some NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:03:27.540 --> 00:03:29.992 colleagues who do cancer care and NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:03:29.992 --> 00:03:32.491 treatment and we're doing it right now NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:03:32.491 --> 00:03:34.880 in Lebanon and also in northwest Syria. NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:03:34.880 --> 00:03:37.550 And finally I've had a long term NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:03:37.550 --> 00:03:40.040 interest in ethics of conducting NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:03:40.040 --> 00:03:42.032 research with vulnerable population. NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:03:42.040 --> 00:03:43.120 And as you can imagine, NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:44.820 if you're doing research, NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:03:44.820 --> 00:03:47.080 especially non sensitive topics like NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:03:47.080 --> 00:03:49.880 substance use among forced migrants, NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:03:49.880 --> 00:03:52.040 we want to make sure that the research NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:03:52.040 --> 00:03:53.877 we're doing is not harmful to them, NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:03:53.880 --> 00:03:55.760 that actually is helps them. NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:03:55.760 --> 00:03:58.620 And so we really need to be mindful of the NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:03:58.688 --> 00:04:01.474 ethical aspects of this kind of research. NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:04:01.480 --> 00:04:04.088 So these are some examples of health of NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:04:04.088 --> 00:04:06.079 populations in humanitarian setting. NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:09.716 The second project for our conflict NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:04:09.720 --> 00:04:14.320 for our Humanitarian Research Lab is NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:04:14.320 --> 00:04:16.760 collaboration with the State Department, NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:04:16.760 --> 00:04:18.980 which launched a Conflict NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:04:18.980 --> 00:04:21.628 Observatory project in May 2022, NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:04:21.628 --> 00:04:23.768 a few months after the NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:04:23.768 --> 00:04:25.480 war started in Ukraine. NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:04:25.480 --> 00:04:27.550 And basically what the State Department NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:04:27.550 --> 00:04:30.268 is asking us to do is to capture NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:04:30.268 --> 00:04:32.182 and analyze evidence of war crimes NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:04:32.254 --> 00:04:34.546 and other atrocities that are being NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:04:34.546 --> 00:04:36.425 perpetrated by Russia and Ukraine. NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:04:36.425 --> 00:04:39.185 So the way this project is being done NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:04:39.185 --> 00:04:41.720 is by analyzing open source data, NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:04:41.720 --> 00:04:43.920 including social media and other NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:46.628 open source information as well as NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:04:46.628 --> 00:04:49.616 satellite imagery data to be able to NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:04:49.616 --> 00:04:52.180 document these attacks on hospitals NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:04:52.180 --> 00:04:54.320 and other civilian facilities. NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:04:54.320 --> 00:04:56.497 So this is a project we've been NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:04:56.497 --> 00:04:58.068 involved with since May 2022. NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:04:58.068 --> 00:05:01.390 Then in April of this year, as you know, NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:05:01.390 --> 00:05:03.040 the conflict started in Sudan. NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:04.970 So State Department wanted us NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:05:04.970 --> 00:05:07.400 to continue that work in Sudan. NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:05:07.400 --> 00:05:09.302 These are examples of the reports NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:05:09.302 --> 00:05:11.400 that our lab are putting out, NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:05:11.400 --> 00:05:13.780 reports on attacks on hospital NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:05:13.780 --> 00:05:15.684 and other healthcare facilities NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:05:15.684 --> 00:05:19.360 and by Russian forces in Ukraine, NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:22.000 looking at attacks and damage NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:24.640 to crop storage in Ukraine, NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:05:24.640 --> 00:05:28.717 mass graves in Ukraine and now also in Sudan. NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:30.605 I've highlighted these two reports NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:05:30.605 --> 00:05:32.490 because these two reports have NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:05:32.551 --> 00:05:34.291 gotten far more attention than NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:05:34.291 --> 00:05:36.788 other reports we're putting out. NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:05:36.788 --> 00:05:40.644 This particular one is on forced deportation NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:05:40.644 --> 00:05:43.554 of Ukrainian children by Russia. NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:05:43.560 --> 00:05:45.000 And as you may have heard, NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:47.760 the International Criminal Court NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:05:47.760 --> 00:05:51.345 referenced this report and indicted NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:05:51.345 --> 00:05:54.400 Putin for so-called war crimes. NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:05:54.400 --> 00:05:57.135 And this report on Sudan has also NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:05:57.135 --> 00:05:59.630 been used by State Department as part NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:05:59.630 --> 00:06:01.560 of the negotiation that's happening, NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:06:01.560 --> 00:06:05.118 peace negotiation that's happening in Sudan. NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:07.157 So those are sort of the broad NOTE Confidence: 0.945813437142857 00:06:07.160 --> 00:06:08.480 aspects of my lab.