Health and Human Rights, an international journal available in print and online, is accepting submissions for a special issue on health and human rights in disasters. Articles should be between 5,000-7,000 words. Papers accepted for formal review will be sent anonymously to at least two independent referees with all authorship details removed. Health and Human Rights is published by the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights within the Harvard School of Public Health. The Journal is published by the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights within the Harvard School of Public Health. Its companion blog, Health and Human Rights Open Forum Blog, allows contributors to post shorter news, respond to journal articles, and offer editorial and opinion pieces. The deadline for articles is June 16, 2011.

Suggested Topics

The theme for the upcoming issue is "Health and Human Rights in Disasters." The journal features two sections:

• Critical Concepts
  Articles should focus on scholarly analysis of the conceptual foundations and challenges of human rights discourse and actions in relation to health.
• Health and Human Rights in Practice Articles should focus on the practical application of theory to direct engagements with human rights by groups, individuals, and institutions.

Based on the two sections and the topic of "Health and Human Rights in Disasters," as provided by the editors, here are a few additional suggestions:

• How can states meet their dual obligation to protect individual health as an individual human right recognized by international human rights instruments and to protect societal health as also recognized under international human rights instruments?
• Given that some treaties allow states to derogate temporarily from certain human rights obligations during a disaster response, which health-related rights should be non-derogable? Is there sufficient clarity to understand the extent to which states can derogate? What constitutes "temporary"?
• Should there be greater enforcement mechanisms in international agreements governing biological weapons and infectious disease control? If so, should there be affirmative provisions to guarantee specific human rights of victims or adversely affected communities?
• How have corporations dealt with, and how should they deal with, violations found during corporate social responsibility audits after a disaster response? (i.e. falsified records, hazardous waste disposal violations, human rights violations, wage violations, underage workers violations, etc.)
• Discuss and compare the legal liability related to potential human rights violations associated with the delivery of care by foreign health care professionals care providing temporary aid during a disaster.
• Should there be limited immunity under international law for groups, individuals, or organizations providing medical goods and services during a disaster?
• Case studies on the provision of medical care and services during a disaster would be relevant, particularly as related to upholding, derogating from, or violating human rights.

Guidelines

Papers should be between 5,000-7,000 words. Abstracts should not exceed 300 words.

Each paper is reviewed by the editor, and if it is judged suitable for the journal, it is then sent to two referees for a blind peer review. Articles submitted to the journal should not have been published before in their current or substantially similar form.

HHR applies the Creative Commons Attribution License to allow unrestricted, non-commercial use of material appearing in HHR.

For additional information, see Author Guidelines.

Deadlines

The deadline for submissions is June 16, 2011.

• Health and Human Rights
• Health and Human Rights Open Forum Blog