Ethical research in conflict situations
Summary of published research1
A recent article in 'Global Public Health' asserts that issues of power and consent, confidentiality, risks to researchers, and potential harm to participants, may arise when working with different cultures and within environments marked by violence and insecurity. Difficulty resolving these dilemmas may paralyse ethics committees, may fail to give the guidance sought by researchers, and will not help populations who are among the world's most vulnerable. Even where efforts are made to respond to ethical guidelines and to improve practice, considerable impediments are present in many developing countries, including lack of formal ethical review structures in unstable settings, lack of required skills, limited political and institutional recognition of ethical issues, competing interests, and limitations in clinical and research practice.
In conflict settings, these limitations are more marked and the responsibilities of the researcher for ethical practice are greater, but the mechanisms for oversight are weaker. Moreover, the constant focus on vulnerabilities and problems, and the often almost total lack of recognition of strengths and resilience, can further disempower already exploited groups and individuals. The capacity of refugees and communities in conflict to take an active role in the research process is seldom acknowledged, and undermines the potential for more innovative research that can help generate the evidence for better policy and practice.
The full article is available at: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/17441692.asp and clicking on the link to issue 3.
The authors welcome feedback on the issues covered in the article and can be contacted as follows: Professor Anthony Zwi, School of Public Health and Community Medicine & Associate Dean (International), Faculty of Medicine, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052 tel: +61(2) 9385 2445 fax: +61(2) 9313 6185 email: a.zwi@unsw.edu.au
1Zwi A et al (2006). Placing ethics in the centre: Negotiating new spaces for ethical research in conflict situations. Global Public Health, vol 1, No 3, pp 264-277, October 2006.
More like this
en-net: Ethical approval in multi-country study
ENN in collaboration with a number of agencies are conducting an observational study on defaulting from emergency supplementary feeding programmes. The study will take place...
FEX: The potential role of local academia in protracted crises – the example of the American University of Beirut
By Amelia Reese Masterson, Hala Ghattas and Fouad M Fouad Amelia Reese Masterson was a Visiting Fellow at the Center for Research on Population and Health at the American...
FEX: MSF initiative of proactive data sharing
Summary of article1 Location: Global What we know: Data sharing in humanitarian contexts is important to build evidence but has practical and ethical challenges. What this...
FEX: Ethical considerations for international research in low- and middle-income countries
View this article as a pdf This is a summary of the following paper: Doherty T, Engebretsen IMS, Tylleskär T et al (2022) Questioning the ethics of international research...
FEX: Issue 17 Editorial
Dear readers, Ethical considerations figure prominently in this issue of Field Exchange. A field article written by Dr. Eva Grabosch tackles the problem of providing...
FEX: Towards better documentation of mortality in crises
Summary of research1 A family in an IDP camp in DRC A recently published article identifies the two main functions of mortality data in crises as the support of relief...
FEX: Ethics of use of ready-to-use-therapeutic foods
Dear Editor, I have been following the debate on the ethics surrounding the research on Community Therapeutic Care (CTC) and Ready to Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTFs), and was...
FEX: Human rights, politics and ethics
Summary of published paper1 A recent article in the Lancet argues that very little attention has been devoted to the relationship between external human rights contexts and the...
FEX: Review of scale and drivers of persistent global acute malnutrition
Summary of research1 Location: Global What we know: The prevalence of global acute malnutrition (GAM) regularly exceeds the emergency threshold of >15% in protracted...
FEX: How to ensure quality research uptake
By Stephanie Stern Stephanie Stern leads the Action Against Hunger LAB project which aims to reinforce the impact and uptake of knowledge. Before joining Action Against...
FEX: Methodological challenges for operational research in the humanitarian context
By Stephanie Stern and Melchior de Roquemaurel Stephanie Stern leads the Action Against Hunger LAB project which aims to reinforce the impact and uptake of knowledge. Before...
FEX: Caregivers’ perceptions of children's diet and development in northern Laos
Sophie-Anne Sauvegrain Anthropologist at Nutriset, France Didier Bertrand Independent Researcher in Cultural Psychology in Laos Monique Chan-Huot Director of Innovation at...
FEX: Operational research in low-income countries: what, why, and how?
Summary of research1 A Lancet published article puts forward a definition of operational research, articulates its relevance to infectious-disease-control programmes, and...
FEX: Identifying underweight infants and children using a novel “MAMI” slide chart
This is a summary of the following article: Monga M, Sikorski C, de Silva H et al. (2023) Identifying underweight in infants and children using growth charts, lookup tables and...
FEX: Conducting formative research on adolescent nutrition: key considerations
View this article as a pdf By Akriti Singh, Abby Conrad and Lauren S. Blum Akriti Singh is a Nutrition and Health Systems Advisor at USAID Advancing Nutrition. Abby Conrad...
FEX: The MAMI Project – Key findings and recommendations
Summary of report1 Child malnutrition is a major global public health issue. The burden of acute malnutrition in children 6 months to 5 years is well recognised, and the...
FEX: The Nutrition Situation of Refugees and Displaced Persons
Summary of the ACC/SCN Refugee chapter by Jane Wallace The quarterly 'Reports on the Nutrition Situation of Refugees and Displaced Populations' (RNIS) are compiled and...
FEX: Editorial
View this article as a pdf Lisez cet article en français ici Dear readers, In July 2019, we produced a special edition of Field Exchange (issue 60) on continuum of...
FEX: The ‘(Silent) Voices: Bukavu Expo’ online exhibition – exploring power dynamics between researchers from the Global North and Global South
View this article as a pdf An online exhibition of cartoons drawn by Congolese political cartoonist, Tembo Kash, has been launched. The cartoons are illustrations of blog...
FEX: Treatment of moderate acute malnutrition using food products or counselling: A systematic review
View this article as a pdf By Natasha Lelijveld, Alexandra Beedle, Arghanoon Farhikhtah, Eglal E. Elrayah, Jessica Bourdaire and Nancy Aburto Natasha Lelijveld is a Teaching...
Reference this page
Ethical research in conflict situations. Field Exchange 29, December 2006. p5. www.ennonline.net/fex/29/ethicalresearch
(ENN_2191)