scholarly journals Challenges of Researchers in Conducting International Study during the Eruption of COVID-19: Student and Mentor Perspectives

Author(s):  
Jenail Mobaraka ◽  
Lian Elkazzaz ◽  
Niveen Rizkalla

Conducting an international research study may bear various challenges; however, during the global COVID-19 crisis, such a study undertakes unpredictable trajectories. This paper explores the challenges experienced by researchers studying Syrian refugees’ physical and mental health and aid workers serving under humanitarian organizations in Lebanon. It includes information about the changes in the study’s goals and design with the emergence and spread of SARS-CoV-2, as necessitated by the circumstances COVID-19 imposed. It focuses on the unique perspectives of the research team of two students and their mentor who faced multiple challenges while involved in the study, and their narratives and subjective experiences that led to new opportunities for growth in the project. The research team specifically engaged in humanistic and existential psychology in order to conduct research in a manner conducive to personal and professional development, productivity and growth. To conclude, the researchers propose recommendations to the academic community on mitigating some of the challenges faced when conducting international research, and suggestions to the humanitarian sector serving vulnerable populations in conflict zones during COVID-19.

Author(s):  
Ahmed Alameldeen

Given the diverse nature of the conflicts around the world as well as the dynamic power relations putting more emphasis on the state and non-state actors, the activities and functionalities of the humanitarian organizations are prone to multiple challenges. A lack of the contextual understanding of the conflict at different levels of analyses, therefore, is fundamental to develop a structural understanding of the conflict and its geopolitical realities. The Front-line Humanitarian Aid workers need to develop diplomatic relationship with the native or the indigenous elements in the power amidst the conflict situation to communicate their mandate, and ensure cross-level humanitarian assistance. This communication and the relationship between the Interlocutors and the subjects need to be a two-way process where the information flow is smooth and transparent. Moreover, media tracking and monitoring via different digital avenues and the coding of information to create a valuable input can contribute to cope up with the posed challenges. These techniques in addition to the recommendations for the strength and optimization of the Network of the Interlocutors has been presented in the paper with the information based on empirical knowledge, primary, and secondary sources. The purpose is to provide the Front-line Humanitarian Aid workers in their humanitarian operations with new insights and relevant information to function properly. Moreover, the recommendations can also contribute to the efforts of the Humanitarian organizations to improve their acceptance and perception.


2021 ◽  
pp. 69-92
Author(s):  
Séverine Autesserre

Chapter Three discusses the conventional but problematic way to end wars, which the author calls “Peace, Inc.” Using anecdotes from around the world, the chapter shows that peacebuilding often fails when, and because, it is exclusively designed and implemented by international interveners. The outsiders who come to help, such as United Nations peacekeepers, diplomats, and international non-governmental organization staff members, often assume that insiders (people living in conflict zones) do not have what it takes to build peace, but foreign experts do. This flawed assumption lies at the core of the traditional approach to resolving national and international conflicts. It causes tensions between foreign aid workers and host populations and creates multiple challenges for both domestic and international peacebuilders. It also results in numerous absurd situations—some of them funny and some disastrous. As a result, standard international strategies rarely work, and they are at times counterproductive or even harmful.


2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine R. Montgomery ◽  
Lee R. Perry ◽  
Bikat S. Tilahun ◽  
Graham Fawcett ◽  
Cynthia B. Eriksson

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 160940691983247
Author(s):  
Amber Green ◽  
Myriam Denov

Globally, the numbers of children living in conflict zones and displaced by war have risen dramatically over the past two decades, and with this, scholarly attention to the impacts of war on children. More recently, researchers have examined how war-affected children are being studied, revealing important shortcomings. These limitations relate to the lack of child participation in research, the need for researchers to engage children in the research process as “active agents” rather than “passive objects” under study, as well as the need for researchers to pay closer attention to ethical dilemmas associated with researching war-affected children. To address these realities, innovative research methods that can be adapted across diverse sociocultural contexts are warranted. In light of these shortcomings, our research team integrated two arts-based methods: mask-making and drawing, alongside traditional qualitative data collection methods with a particularly marginalized population of young people: children born in captivity within the Lord’s Resistance Army in northern Uganda. In this article, we provide information on the context of northern Uganda. We describe how the use of mask-making and drawing was used as data gathering tools and the ways in which these arts-based methods had important benefits for the research participants, researchers, and impacted on the validity of the research as a whole. We propose that the use of these participatory visual methods enriched the themes elicited through more traditional methods. The article describes how these arts-based mediums fostered community building among children typically excluded from their communities and were successful as a tool to build trust between participants and the research team when exploring sensitive topics. The article concludes with implications for future research with war-affected children.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lilian Fernanda GALESI-PACHECO ◽  
Carla Maria VIEIRA ◽  
Milena Cristina Sendão FERREIRA ◽  
Maria Rita Marques de OLIVEIRA

ABSTRACT Objective This study aimed at knowing and analyzing sociocultural meanings of the daily dietary practices revealed by a university community, in the context of a wellness program to their community and its surroundings. Methods The research team ran 28 workshops with the participation of 34 university units and 558 subjects in total. All workshops were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Content analysis was performed with the identification of emerging themes and categories. Results From the analysis of this material four categories emerged. There is the desire caused by the pleasure of having meals in a group of people and consuming foods rich in fat and sugar, but with its consumption shrouded by guilt. Healthy foods were considered important but related to obligation and displeasure. The community also wants to consume healthy foods daily in the academic environment, however, pointed out barriers such as an increasing pace of work and lack of time. Conclusion It was possible to identify barriers and desires related to food practices in the daily life of the university. This study demonstrated that changing the eating behavior of an academic community is a major challenge for wellness programs, even for an institution that produces and disseminates scientific knowledge.


Author(s):  
Emizet F. Kisangani ◽  
David F. Mitchell

Abstract Since the end of the Cold War, the UN has extended many of its missions in conflict zones to include political, military, and humanitarian activities. Many humanitarian nongovernmental organizations have been critical of these “integrated” UN missions, claiming that they can blur the distinction between political, military, and humanitarian action, thus placing humanitarian aid workers at risk of retaliation from warring factions opposed to the UN’s political objectives. This proposition is empirically tested using generalized methods of moments statistical analysis of sixty-seven countries that experienced intrastate conflict between 1997 and 2018. When assessing attacks in general—to include the sum of aid workers killed, wounded, and kidnapped—the results indicate that humanitarian aid workers are more likely to come under attack in countries that have an integrated UN mission. However, when the attacks are assessed separately, results show that this relationship holds only with aid workers who are killed in the field.


2013 ◽  
pp. 399-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Heaslip

The term civil military coordination (CIMIC) suggests the seamless division of labor between aid workers and international military forces. The images of humanitarian organizations distributing food and medicines under the protection of military forces, or aid workers and military working together to construct refugee camps, set up field hospitals, provide emergency water and sanitation, et cetera, has become more frequent. The media coverage from crises such as New Orleans, Kosovo, the tsunami in Asia, Pakistan, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Chad, and more recently Haiti and Japan, has heightened the expectation of a smooth interaction between humanitarian organizations and military forces. Due to fundamental differences between international military forces, humanitarian and development organizations (in terms of the principles and doctrines guiding their work, their agendas, operating styles, and roles), the area of civil military coordination in disaster relief has proven to be more difficult than other interagency relationships. This chapter will identify the many factors that render integration and collaboration problematic between diverse organizations, and especially so between civilian and military agencies. The chapter will conclude with proposals to improve CIMIC within disaster relief.


2018 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-237
Author(s):  
Kristin Hadfield ◽  
Michael Ungar ◽  
Alan Emond ◽  
Kim Foster ◽  
Justine M Gatt ◽  
...  

The sequelae of migration and the effects of local migration policies on children’s physical and mental health are critical to examine, particularly given the historically high numbers of migrants and displaced people. The vulnerability of the study sample and the need to work across cultures and contexts makes research on this group challenging. We outline lessons learned through conducting a pilot study of resilience resources and mental health among migrant youth in six countries. We describe the benefits and challenges, and then provide recommendations and practical advice for social work researchers attempting cross-cultural team research on migrants.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document