WHO Releases Preview of Adolescent Health Report

The WHO has released the Executive Summary of its new Health for the World's Adolescents Report, which chronicles the important threats to teenagers' lives and health throughout the world, as well as the areas in which results have been achieved.

PAHO Initiative on LGBT Issues

The Pan American Health Organization has announced that it is undertaking new efforts to identify the health issues that face LGBT persons and communities throughout the region. It has highlighted that there is a significant gap in availability of information regarding LGBT persons and their health issues and that in many communities there are still elements of stigma that prevent accurate reporting of LGBT information.

WHO World Health Assembly News

The WHO's main deliberative body, the World Health Assembly, has just finished holding its latest meeting in Geneva. During this time, the World Health Assembly received and discussed many important reports and topics relating to health and human rights. A general summary of the decisions to come out of the meeting illustrates the breadth of topics discussed and decisions made.

Of specific importance to health and human rights are the reports and discussions regarding violence against women and girls, global vaccination strategies, prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, disability, the health of newborn children, mercury toxicity and pollution, the impacts of traditional medicine and medical knowledge, counterfeit medical products, pandemic influenza, smallpox, and polio.

The World Health Assembly also undertook important resolutions that impact on health and human rights, particularly relating to tuberculosis prevention and treatment.

New World Health Statistics Report The World Health Organization has recently released the 2014 World Health Statistics Report, which provides important information on global, regional and national health statistics. You can also find prior years' installments of the World Health Statistics Reports on the same site.

Indigenous Communities in the Americas Research Sources

UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues - very valuable website for information. Be sure to read and note the signatories of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Oxfam

International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs

International Labor Organization

World Conference on Indigenous Peoples

World Health Organization

Suggested sources of background information, NGO reports, etc.

There are numerous sources available for research into states generally and particularly in the fields of health and human rights. Below are several suggestions for places to start looking for information, including constitutional information and facts gathered by NGOs.

CIA World Factbook - an excellent source of information and updated yearly

Constitution Finder

Georgetown University's Political Database of the Americas

Constitutions on the Political Database of the Americas

Amnesty International

Human Rights Watch

International Crisis Group

Organization of American States and Special Rapporteurs

The OAS also uses Special Rapporteurs to study and advocate for those impacted by important human rights issues. The following is a list of current Special Rapporteurs:

Special Rapporteurship on the Rights of Migrants

Special Rapporteurship on the Rights of Women

Special Rapporteurship on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Special Rapporteurship on the Rights of the Child

Special Rapporteurship on the Rights of Human Rights Defenders

Special Rapporteurship on the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty

Rapporteurship on the Rights of Afro-Descendants and against Racial Discrimination

Rapporteurship on the Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Trans, Bisexual and Intersexual Persons

Unit on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

United Nations Special Rapporteurs

Special Rapporteurs are designated individuals who are selected through the UN system to investigate, report on, and often bring attention to very important issues or issues that are emerging as concerns within society. Many of the topic areas in which Special Rapporteurs are used relate to human rights and often impact on health as well. Below is the list of current UN Special Rapporteurs.

Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context

Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography

Special Rapporteur on the right to education

Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment

Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions

Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights

Special Rapporteur on the right to food

Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief

Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health

Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples

Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons

Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants

Special Rapporteur on minority issues

Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and its consequences

Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes

Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children

Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation

Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences

Useful links for Health and Human Rights research in Latin America and the Caribbean

Perhaps the most important international organization in the region is the Organization of American States. Often referred to as the OAS, this organization works in many relevant policy areas, including children, culture, disarmament, environment, human rights, indigenous peoples, international law, labor, persons with disabilities, refugees, sustainable development, women, and youth.

All OAS Documents, including treaties, agreements and reports from organizational bodies are available online.

For the purposes of Health and the region, the most important body is the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO). PAHO works in a number of fields and topic areas that will likely be relevant to your research, producing reports and studies as well as statistics and other data.

The vital human rights treaty under the OAS system is the American Convention on Human Rights (also see signatories and reservations). There are, however, many other treaties that are important within this system and so it is important to consult the OAS Document center discussed above.

One of the notable facets of human rights in the Inter-American system is the use of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to handle complaints from individuals or groups regarding state practices that violate the American Convention on Human Rights. In this system, provided that a complainant has tried to have the claimed wrong remedied domestically - or where the complainant has a established a reason that this is impossible, such as fear of retribution by state actors - the complainant can first bring the issue to the Inter-American Commission, which issues findings and can request that the state involved take certain actions. In the event that these actions are not taken and/or the Inter-American Commission's findings are not complied with, the Inter-American Commission then has the ability to refer the matter to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for a judicial decision. While findings and decisions are technically not binding on states as a matter of domestic law, they are very important for research purposes and frequently contain a wealth of information that is often difficult to access, such as health and human rights conditions in prisons and among indigenous communities. In addition, the Inter-American Commission publishes a number of reports by theme and also by country - these reports contain very helpful information for researchers.

Below are links to the committees associated with many of the key international conventions, etc. These committee sites contain potentially useful information, such as information on complaint mechanism outcomes, comments offered by the committees to supplement the terms of the conventions, and reports on state practices over time.

ICCPR is overseen by the Human Rights Committee

ICESCR is overseen by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

CAT is overseen by the Committee Against Torture

CRC is overseen by the Committee on the Rights of the Child

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is overseen by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women is overseen by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities is overseen by the Committee on the Rights of People with Disabilities

Convention Migrant Workers is overseen the by the Committee on Mights Workers

Links for international conventions, treaties, etc. that are important to health and human rights:

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (not a binding legal instrument)

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and signatory/reservation status

First Optional Protocol to the ICCPR and signatory/reservation status

Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR and signatory/reservation status

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and signatory/reservation status

Optional Protocol to the ICESCR and signatory/reservation status

Convention against Torture and signatory/reservation status

Optional Protocol to the CAT and signatory/reservation status

Convention on the Rights of the Child and signatory/reservation status

Optional Protocol to the CRC on the involvement of children in armed conflict and signatory/reservation status

Second Optional Protocol to the CRC on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and signatory/reservation status

International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and signatory/reservation status

Optional Protocol on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and signatory/reservation status

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and signatory/reservation status

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and signatory/reservation status

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

International Convention for the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and signatory/reservation status

International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance