Researchers
Paul H. Wise (Principal Investigator) - Stanford University

The Children in Crisis initiative is a Stanford and CHP/PCOR program linking life-saving child health interventions with political reform. It is the first academic initiative to address the needs of children in areas of unstable governance and civil conflict.

Almost half of all preventable child deaths in the world occur in areas of unstable governance or civil conflict.  However, global efforts to improve child health have largely avoided work in these areas.  The Children in Crisis program attacks this issue directly by bringing together Stanford's strength in global security, human rights, and democratization studies with the medical school and other Stanford programs focused on the health and well-being of children.  This program creates the first and only university-based capacity to link life-saving child health interventions with the essential political requirements for providing them in the real world.

Children in Crisis Components

Documentation:

• Develop a central clearinghouse for information on the status of children in areas of unstable governance and civil conflict.
• Flash epidemiology and in-depth reports on selected crisis situations for children around the world.

Analysis:

• Interdisciplinary research on political strategies that would permit health interventions that meet the needs of children in areas of unstable governance.
• The development of new technologies that would be specially designed to facilitate the provision of child health interventions in unstable areas of the world.

Teaching:

• New, interdisciplinary seminars and courses linking FSI and SUSM faculty including "Global Health in a World of Conflict".
• Special fellowships with stable ties to universities in the developing world for students and faculty from across all Stanford schools to conduct research on children in areas of unstable governance and civil conflict.  

Action:

• Build collaborations with multilateral organizations, NGOs, other universities and other relevant actors in creating opportunities for direct intervention to address the needs of children in areas of unstable governance and civil conflict.
• Elevate public awareness through the dissemination of Initiative research and activities through scholarly publication, conferences, and innovative mechanisms such as social networking and other internet-based strategies that could reach selected audiences as well as the general public.

Contact
Paul Wise