Register for this event on Zoom at: http://bit.ly/EWIPAandHealth
Explosive weapons and human health: how to better protect civilians
Thursday 27 May 2021, 9:00 – 10:30 New York / 15:00 – 16:30 Geneva (on Zoom)
Conflict is a global health challenge. Traumatic injury and death are the most obvious health effects we associate with conflict, but the harms to health caused by warfare extend far beyond as a result of damage to and impairment of the infrastructure and social services upon which public health rests.
This panel discussion will investigate the range of harms to human health caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, as well as ongoing discussions towards a political declaration to better protect civilians from such harms. Panellists will discuss the impact of explosive weapons on individual physical and mental health, on hospitals and other healthcare services, and on the infrastructure and social systems that maintain population health more broadly. They will also cover how the development of new international standards, including a political declaration, can address these often-catastrophic impacts of explosive weapons use.
Abs hospital airstrike aftermath, Hajjah, Yemen. A hospital worker salvages the remains of undamaged medication and equipment left in the emergency room after the 15 August Saudi-led coalition airstrike which destroyed the hospital killing 19. © Rawan Shaif
Chair: Amb. Alexander Marschik, Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations
Panelists:
Dr. Marco Baldan (ICRC), a leading war surgeon, will speak about his experience of treating injuries caused by explosive weapons, and the particular challenges the use of such weapons in populated areas poses to human health and healthcare.
Ms. Segolene Adam (UNICEF) will present the findings of UNICEF’s new report on attacks on water and sanitation infrastructure, explaining how such infrastructure is affected by the use of explosive weapons and the effects this can have on population health, and especially the health of children.
Mr. Aurelien Buffler (OCHA) will elaborate on the UN’s work on explosive weapons and the importance
of this issue to the broader Protection of Civilians agenda.
Ms. Laura Boillot (INEW), coordinator of the International Network on Explosive Weapons, will speak about broader political response INEW is seeking to this issue, as well as how a political declaration in particular could to prevent and respond to the harms caused by explosive weapons.
Register for this event on Zoom at: http://bit.ly/EWIPAandHealth