Local perceptions and military-assisted health interventions in conflict settings

该项目旨在调查和提高人们对当地观念如何影响对冲突环境中流行病的反应的批判性认识，特别是那些得到军方援助的地方，以提高未来卫生干预的有效性。在最近在英国和美国举行的高级别会议上，政策制定者、学者、从业人员和军事行为者确定，需要进行更多的研究，以探索当地社区对军民关系的感受，特别是在冲突环境中的卫生应对方面。虽然以前的研究一方面分析了地方观念在卫生干预中的重要性，另一方面分析了冲突环境中军民协调的局限性，但目前审查这两个问题交集的研究有限。该研究项目建议明确关注这一关键时刻，从而解决现有学术和政策文献方面的重大差距。为了进行这一分析，该项目将审查目前在刚果民主共和国(DRC)受影响的冲突中正在进行的埃博拉应对措施。在刚果政府和世界卫生组织领导的埃博拉应对活动中，当地人的看法普遍被低估，而且没有得到解决。尽管有重要证据表明，某些应对方法以及军事行为者在卫生干预工作中的存在和参与导致社区抵制应对活动，但仍是如此。该项目旨在探讨刚果(金)当地社区成员的看法如何影响军事援助的动态。

This project aims to investigate and raise critical awareness of how local perceptions can influenceresponses to epidemics in conflict settings, particularly those assisted by the military, in order to improvethe effectiveness of future health interventions.In recent high-level meetings in the UK and the US, policy-makers, academics, practitioners and militaryactors determined that there was need for additional research exploring how local communities feelabout civil-military relations, particularly in health responses in conflict settings. While previous researchhas analysed, on the one hand, the significance of local perceptions within health interventions, and onthe other hand, the limitations of civil-military coordination in conflict settings, there is currently limitedresearch that examines the intersection of these two issues. This research project proposes to focusexplicitly upon this crucial juncture and thereby address a significant gap in existing academic and policyliterature.To carry out this analysis, this project will examine the currently ongoing Ebola response in the conflict affectedeastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Local perceptions are generallyundervalued and unaddressed in the Ebola response activities led by the Congolese government andWorld Health Organization. This is despite significant evidence suggesting that certain responseapproaches and the presence and involvement of military actors within the health intervention areleading to community resistance to response activities. This project proposes to explore exactly how theperceptions of local community members in the DRC are shaping the dynamics of the military-assisted.