Do No Harm: Perceptions of Short-term Health Camps in Nepal

Short-term health camps are a growing form of delivering health care services to needy populations. Often these camps, usually lasting around 2 weeks, are led by I/NGOs in developing nations like Nepal and are staffed with volunteers from the Global North. These camps are largely ungoverned, and there are no evaluative techniques in place to monitor the effectiveness of the work done, raising concerns about the unintended consequences of short-term health camps camps. Nepal is particularly vulnerable to this issue because of the vast number of I/NGOs currently operating within its boundaries. This research sought to expand the conversation surrounding medical volunteerism and health camps and to examine perceptions surrounding health camps and approaches to health development in Nepal from the perspectives of I/NGO staff working in the country. Through semi-structured interviews, key aspects of I/NGOs’ approaches to health development and views and experiences surrounding health camps were identified. Research findings show that many I/NGO workers are aware of the limitations and ethical implications of temporary health camps, such as inadvertent medical harm, circumventing the root cause of poverty and ill health, and encouragement of paternalistic attitudes. A strong need is expressed for more effective governance of I/NGOs’ health development work

Volume 180: The Promotion of First Amendment Rights in U.S. Foreign Policy

Created as part of the 2013 Jackson School for International Studies SIS 495: Task force. Brian Baird, Task Force Advisor; Margaret Scobey, Evaluator; Hannah Paukstis and Crystal Zhu, Coordinators.In order to highlight the necessity of promoting First Amendment rights guaranteed in the United States Constitution as part of foreign policy committed to democratic advancement abroad, our Task Force has created the following report that examines both the intrinsic value behind these rights and offers creative, specifically tailored policy recommendations to implement the strategies we find particularly useful in addressing this issue. Successfully generating and constructing policy to promote U.S. interests from a position of universal morality and global self-interest is essential to the recognition and advancement First Amendment rights as part of American influence abroad. In the past, U.S. foreign policy has been concerned with promotion of democracy but not specifically with advocating for and increasing access to the fundamental freedoms of the First Amendment. The freedoms of religion, speech, press, petition, and assembly may not be well integrated into the political systems of nations where democracy is absent, nascent, unstable, or failing to thrive. There must be public interest and support for these freedoms as well as governmental practices that align with them; simple democratic processes and a vote are not enough to make a democracy function to its fullest potential