Global Violence Prevention Special Interest Group

The Global Violence Prevention Special Interest Group (SIG) is a forum for professionals who are interested in investigating the public health impacts of collective violence and armed conflict, and in advocating for primary-prevention approaches towards tackling their root causes.

We are a growing network which encourages and facilitates our members to explore independent academic collaborations, awareness-raising and policy/advocacy activities in support of our aims. Specialty registrars on the public health training programme have been able to use SIG projects to sign off a wide variety of the learning outcomes from the curriculum.

We can also take group action as a SIG (in collaboration with other organisations and the Global Health Committee of the Faculty) to develop and support the Faculty of Public Health goal of helping people to live healthier lives, regardless of the places and circumstances into which they were born.

The group meet quarterly via teleconference to discuss potential and ongoing projects covering a range of global and national issues, from war and armed conflict, to rioting and gang violence.

The SIG’s chosen annual theme for 2019, which will provide a common focus for some of the projects we undertake this year, is displacement.

Examples of SIG projects

The SIG is currently working with the Journal of Public Health to co-produce a special supplement on conflict and health, intended for publication in late 2019. The supplement will include papers by international subject matter experts as well as first time authors in conflict-affected settings. The distinguished team of guest editors includes Professor Jennifer Leaning of Harvard University, Professor Karl Blanchet of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Dr Mohammed Jawad of Imperial College London.

Armed conflict and other types of mass violence have both immediate and long-term, direct and indirect impacts upon public health.  Indirect consequences include displacement, homelessness, disruption of infrastructure, environmental degradation, lack of access to clean water and healthcare, exacerbation of existing health conditions, unemployment and mental ill-health. This short film, which was written and produced by the SIG in collaboration with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), provides a summary of some of the wider public health impacts of war.

This gripping and informative animated production was released to coincide with the twin centenaries of the end of World War One and the beginning of the deadly “Spanish Flu” pandemic. The project team were also able to secure the services of Oscar-winning British actor Jim Broadbent, who kindly donated his time to do the narration.

Publications

The SIG provides many opportunities for members to write for publication, in both peer-reviewed journals and non-academic publications such as newspapers and blogs. Academic collaborations with other members, as well as solo writing projects, have generated significant contributions to the literature on conflict and health. Some of these publications are listed below (SIG members in bold)

Other useful links

If you would like further information relating to global violence prevention, please see the links below:  

Membership

We are keen to welcome members who work in the area of global violence prevention or who just want to gain a better understanding. If you are interested in joining the SIG we would love to hear from you.  Please contact either of the co-chairs - Daniel Flecknoe daniel.flecknoe@nhs.net or Sylvia Garry sylvia.garry@gmail.com

Please note in order to join any SIG you are required to be a member of the Faculty of Public Health.

 

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