The program builds on the findings from a 2019 Workshop on Public Health, Mental Health and Mass Atrocity Prevention with the Cardozo Law Institute in Holocaust and Human Rights, which convened academics and practitioners engaged in work at the intersections of atrocity prevention and public health. The Workshop found that when addressing health harms at the population level—including intentional violence and trauma—public health, mental health, and human rights frameworks can assist in the prevention of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.

Approach

Taking a long-term perspective on prevention, the Public Health Programs (PHP) furthers AIPG’s global mission by collaborating with a diverse range of stakeholders – from those at the governmental level to those in civil society, include health providers – to develop projects that address structural gaps in the provision of essential healthcare to vulnerable populations. These populations include migrants, women and girls, LGBTQ+ populations, and racial and ethnic minorities who often encounter barriers to accessing healthcare services. While the PHP does not provide direct health services, our projects focus on addressing the political, social, and administrative barriers to accessible healthcare through an atrocity prevention lens. To accomplish these goals, the PHP organizes in-person seminars and virtual courses, as well as produces policy and digital tools to familiarize policymakers, community leaders and healthcare providers with the linkages between public health harms and mass atrocities, and the methods for their prevention. Further, the PHP works with government leaders to develop knowledge, experience, and capacity to effectively integrate public health policies and programming into broader governmental strategies for atrocity prevention.

Program Spotlight

‍Training/Capacity strengthening on mental health, migration and atrocity prevention for government officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Building on connections forged with government partners in Bosnia and Herzegovina over the past several years through AIPG’s ongoing migration program, the PHP is conducting targeted trainings for government officials who regularly engage with migrants. Trainings focus on the psychological and physical effects of torture and other traumas on the incoming migrant population, as well as on how to engage with trauma survivors in a non-adversarial manner with the goal of reducing the risk of secondary victimization of survivors. Additionally, trainings highlight existing social services to which government employees can refer at-risk migrants and facilitate dialogue and exchange of information on best practices to encourage coordination across different State entities.

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Programs in Development

Costa Rica: Preventing Mass Atrocities through Protecting Migrant Health in Costa Rica

In 2023, AIPG was invited by the Costa Rican government to address the public health dimensions of the migrant crisis in the country. Based on lessons learned through past and current programs in other countries throughout Latin and Central America, this project will focus on addressing the policy, social and operational barriers to migrants’ access to health services in Costa Rica as a form of risk mitigation to prevent future atrocities.  To this end, the project will develop and improve key government stakeholders’ knowledge of mass atrocity prevention as it relates to migration and the right to health, and build their capacity to foster a comprehensive system of protection and prevention through training and capacity building activities.Additionally, the project aims to design in conjunction with relevant government officials and civil society organizations a new health protocol to help standardize and streamline the provision of health services to migrants. 

This project will be developed and executed by AIPG, in conjunction with the Costa Rican Ministry of Health, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and General Directorate of Migration and Foreigners

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Tanzania: Combating Gender-Based Violence Against Girls in Tanzania through an Atrocity Prevention Approach

Reaching adolescent girls who are or may be experiencing gender-based violence (GBV) through maternal health care (MCH) providers provides a critical opportunity to address GBV. AIPG will partner with the Maternal Care Foundation in Tanzania to strengthen local capacity to address GBV among maternal care providers and increase the sensitivity of the current health and law enforcement systems to better meet the needs of GBV survivors. Specifically, the project will  1) train key constituents involved in GBV response - maternal care healthcare workers, law enforcement, and local administrative authorities-  on a human rights informed and a  survivor-centric GBV response; and 2) establish and strengthen referral mechanisms between MCH providers, legal aid organizations, and GBV response systems.

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Colombia:  Technology as an Empowerment and Atrocity Prevention Tool for Venezuelan Migrants

AIPG is developing a cutting-edge project with a local partner NGO Voices of Venezuela to build an AI-based chatbot to empower migrants in Colombia to access health information and health services. In addition, we are developing a training program for women human rights defenders to identify and combat technology assisted gender-based violence, specifically human trafficking of migrant women and girls.

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