CFP: International Conference on Ethics & Humanitarian Research

The Post-Research Ethics Analysis (PREA) project has been examining ethical issues in humanitarian research since 2016. Funded by R2HC/Elrha, it has reviewed the ethical issues published in the literature and conducted interviews with people involved with humanitarian health research in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Nepal and South Sudan. These are contributing to a practical tool to help research teams reflect on and learn from the ethical issues encountered in humanitarian health research. The results of this research and the tool will be presented at this conference.

To supplement these exciting findings, conference organisers invite papers and/or poster presentations by researchers, ethicists, NGOs, policy analysts and others who have either directly encountered some of the ethical challenges while generating evidence and conducting research in humanitarian settings or who have theoretically explored the ethical considerations of humanitarian work and research. Papers and posters can draw from personal experiences, case studies, research findings, and conceptual inquiries. One aim of the conference is to put those involved in evidence-generation and research in humanitarian contexts in conversation with ethicists examining the distinctive normative implications of such contexts. We are particularly interested in innovative and constructive approaches to ethical issues and policies that practically assist those in the field.

Possible topics include:

• Unexpected ethical issues that arose in humanitarian research
• Practical ways to address ethics in humanitarian research
• Community engagement and its ethical opportunities and challenges
• Developing policies and guidelines to address ethics in humanitarian research
• Cultural sensitivity and community collaboration in humanitarian research
• Ethical challenges when research is conducted in conflict settings
• Conducting time-sensitive research with vulnerable populations
• Addressing urgency ethically in disaster research

Any topic that addresses the broad aims and themes of the conference will be considered. Further information on the conference aims, speakers and specific issues being addressed will be released here.

Those interested in presenting a paper or poster at the conference should submit an abstract of no more than 250 words by January 10, 2019.

All fields on the webpage should be completed, including checking whether you wish to present orally, with a poster, or with either. Oral presentations will be about 15 minutes and will be part of thematic moderated sessions.

The abstract evaluation committee will announce which abstracts have been accepted no later than January 18, 2019. For those whose papers or posters are accepted for presentation, a small number of scholarships will be available to assist with travel expenses for post-graduate students and/or presenters coming from low and middle-income countries. Details will be available on this webpage in December 2018. Registration will be required for all attendees so that we can plan catering requirements. The registration fee will be waived for all those presenting at the conference.