Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs
Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies (CHRHS)

CHRHS Core Research

CHRHS conducts and facilitates interdisciplinary research on pressing global human rights and humanitarian challenges. Here we highlight research projects that are being carried out and managed by CHRHS.

Civilian-Military Interaction in Conflicts: Best Practices and Perceptions

This research effort which is led by CHRHS in collaboration with the U.S. Naval War College, is fully funded by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. Through research conducted in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Philippines, and Jordan, this study aims to significantly expand and deepen the understanding of civilian-military coordination across different types of humanitarian crises and aid in the development of updated evidence-based guidance for humanitarian and military actors working in close proximity in a diverse range of contexts worldwide. More >

Project Dates: Sept 2019 - Aug 2021

Civilian-Military Coordination in Humanitarian Response

This collaborative project between CHRHS and the U.S. Naval War College’s Humanitarian Response Program, supported by a two-year grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, seeks to expand the evidence-base for effective civilian-military coordination in humanitarian response while developing new avenues for information sharing between humanitarian, military, and academic communities. More >

Project Dates: March 2018 - March 2020

Predictive Tool for Management of Pediatric Diarrhea

Bayesian Diagnostic for Etiological Management of Pediatric Diarrhea

The Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies has received funding from the Gates Foundation to develop a predictive tool to guide the treatment of pediatric diarrhea. CHRHS is working with the University of Utah (project lead) on developing and testing a smartphone decision app that can provide healthcare workers with probability estimates of the etiology of individual cases of diarrhea in children. More >

Project Dates: October 2018 - April 2020

Contemplative Peace Building for Ex-Combatants in Colombia

The goal for this project is to develop and implement a framework using contemplative practices for healing and peacebuilding with ex-combatants in the demilitarization process in Colombia. Over two years, the project team will work in Medellin, Colombia with a local non-profit to develop and refine this framework through a combination of qualitative, behavioral, and physiological research methodologies. The framework will be integrated into the local partner's core programming and we will produce a manual for use in Colombia and in other global peacebuilding contexts.

Project Dates: Jan 2018 - Jan 2020