Seminar on Health in Fragile States

In cooperation with the Karolinska Institute, the SIPRI Global Health and Security Programme held the first in a series of meetings on health and security on the 28th of March 2011.

This first seminar on Global Health and Security focused on Health in Fragile States. Fragile states in this context are identified as those states that are characterized by lack of state capacity caused by bad governance, armed conflict, natural disasters and, or extreme poverty. These countries are often experiencing an absolute decline in living standards which makes them anomalies in today’s international community and the most difficult challenge to development in the twenty-first century. Due to the inherit challenges posed by such environments, information on these states is notoriously difficult to obtain, and there are large gaps in our knowledge about the role of health in fragile states. We know little about the way deteriorating health systems influence the social and political stability of a state, or about the possible positive impacts of improved public health on peace processes and state legitimacy. Promoting better health may be one important tool in dealing with the challenges posed by fragile states.

The seminar included presentations by experts drawn from a wide variety of communities, such as global health, security and development. The objectives of the seminar were:

• Identify the principal knowledge gaps concerning the relationship between health and security in fragile states

• Present current work and experiences from fragile states through case studies

• Create an overview of the policy landscape related to global health and identifying the incentives needed to sustain political commitment in supporting efforts on health in fragile state

For questions concerning this event please contact SIPRI Programme Coordinator Peter Clevestig, clevestig@sipri.org