IDN Newsletter_Spring 18 Final

SPRING 2018

IDN NEWS

INSTITUTE FOR DEVELOPING NATIONS

Bridging Development Practice and Scholarship in an Evolving World

IN THIS ISSUE
NEW INITIATIVES: AMPLIFYING
VOICES TO CHANGE THE WORLD

IDN VISITING SCHOLAR:
PROTECTING VULNERABLE

CHILDREN LOCALLY
AND GLOBALLY

WORKSHOP: MEASURING
VIOLENCE AGAINST

WOMEN IN ELECTIONS

GNroewwth

IDN NEWSLETTER Spring 2018 2

2 In This Issue
6 10
12 15 2 New Initiatives:
Amplifying Voices
to Change the World

6 IDN Visiting Scholar:
Protecting vulnerable
children locally
and globally

10 Where Are They Now?
12 Workshop: Measuring

Violence Against
Women in Elections
15 Partners in Practice
18 Growth Opportunities
19 Congratulations to our
Research Assistants

Bridging
Development Practice

and Scholarship in
an Evolving World
www.idn.emory.edu

From the Director

New growth surrounds us –
in the Japanese Magnolia buds,
in the promise of Emory’s graduating
seniors, and even in my five-year-old
son’s emerging swimming skills.
With growth comes change,
possibility, and opportunity.

IDN has been growing in a number of key ways. We are excited scholars and practitioners, especially when taking on
to share the details of some of our new programs, which are complex issues such as gender-based violence and violence
designed to share the brilliance of the Emory campus with the against women. Such conversations are only the beginning.
larger world. We have a new IDN resident with us on staff — IDN is excited to grow our programs and efforts at the
a visionary who brings global experience to researching the intersection of health and peace even further.
potential dangers facing unaccompanied immigrant children As we relish the new growth of spring and the new growth
here in Georgia. We also have new graduate interns and new at IDN, I return to President Carter’s words: “Go out on a
colleagues at The Carter Center to welcome. limb. That’s where the fruit is.”

In February, I had the chance to participate in the workshop Warm regards,
Researching Gender-Based Violence, held at the London
School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; I then returned DABNEY P. EVANS, PHD, MPH
to Atlanta for our workshop Measuring Violence against
women in Elections, organized in collaboration The Carter INTERIM DIRECTOR,
Center’s Democracy Program. INSTITUTE FOR DEVELOPING NATIONS

Listening to the more than 40 practitioners and researchers
working in this field, I reflected on IDN’s unique and
important role in bringing together practitioners and
scholars to address complex problems and suggest
solutions. In the wake of the #MeToo movement, it seemed
that nothing could be more timely than addressing the
interpersonal and institutional forms of violence directed at
women exercising their right to participate in government
— whether as voters, candidates, or elected officials.

For me, the discussion also reconfirmed the need for
interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration between

IDN NEWSLETTER Spring 2018 1

New initiatives

Amplifying voices
to change the world

Helen Baker (far left in a green shirt) working with students from Emory University and
The Togolese Midwifery Association, Lome, Togo, July 2016. Photo by: Koffi Fombo

2

Always evolving, IDN is excited to Helen Baker, Senior Clinical Instructor
announce two new programs Lillian Carter Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility
designed to share the outstanding work
being created at Emory and The Carter Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University
Center with a larger community. The IDN
Publishing and Presentation Fund will “The training I received through
foster the dissemination of work with the IDN fellowship will help me
the larger academic world, and the IDN teach nurses how to write about
Thought Leader Fellowship will train their expertise and experiences
Emory scholars to hone their writing/ working in global settings, which
storytelling skills so that they can assume can lead to greater visibility of
thought leader positions and share their the role of nurses in global and
expertise. These two new initiatives are community health.”
the brainchild of IDN interim director
Dabney P. Evans. HELEN BAKER

IDN Thought Leader IDN THOUGHT LEADER FELLOWSHIP
Fellowship for Faculty FOR FACULTY RECIPIENT

To promote public discourse broadly on issues related
to global development, IDN has partnered with The
OpEd Project to provide their fellows a series of day-
long workshops titled “Write to Change The World.” The
OpEd Project is collaborating with universities across
the US, helping them channel their best ideas to media
gatekeepers, and disseminate these ideas to the broadest
audiences. This initiative aims to break storytelling barriers
by introducing new voices and fresh ideas ‚— in this case,
thought leadership from the Emory community — in local
as well as national and international media.

IDN NEWSLETTER Spring 2018 3

Helen Baker, a senior clinical instructor at the Lillian Carter The IDN Thought Leader Fellowship for Faculty reflects IDN’s
Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility, which is commitment to advance human rights and alleviate human
part of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, was suffering. Thus, this fellowship will give prominence to
one of five IDN Thought Leader Fellows at the recent session unheard stories of the most marginalized people in society
on March 3. She explains, “The OpEd Project gave me the — namely, women and people of color, particularly those
tools to be able to write public scholarship and share these working in, and from, the developing world. Applications
tools with my nursing colleagues.” As a result of attending for this fellowship are available on the IDN website.
the workshop, Baker is currently working on an op-ed for
the Atlanta Journal Constitution with two nurse midwives on THE NEXT “WRITE TO CHANGE THE WORLD”
increasing access to maternity services in rural Georgia. WORKSHOP WILL BE ON
JUNE 2
“Through the support of the IDN, I now feel like I have a
stepping stone for writing to a more general audience as (application deadline: May 4),
well as resources to help me refine my writing for the general SEPTEMBER 15
population. Beginning in summer 2018, I will be taking
over the position of coordinator for global and community (application deadline: August 14),
engagement within the Lillian Carter Center. The training AND
I received through the IDN fellowship will help me teach
nurses how to write about their expertise and experiences DECEMBER 8
working in global settings, which can lead to greater visibility (application deadline: November 12).
of the role of nurses in global and community health.”

4

“IDN’s support for collaboration between Emory University and The Carter Center allows for research
opportunities that may not otherwise be available to us. So often, this collaborative partnership
manifests as a MPH student’s work which doesn’t usually have readily available funding sources.
This research involving current and former students often utilizes data for purposes that may
not have been originally budgeted for and so IDN does well to fill an important need.”

DEAN SIENKO, M.D., M.S.

VICE PRESIDENT, HEALTH PROGRAMS, THE CARTER CENTER

IDN Publishing and exposure to the scientific community, which will help inform
Presentation Fund the conclusions of my analysis. The feedback and discussion
from the poster presentation already have proved invaluable in
Andrew Nute, data manager at The Carter Center’s Trachoma the peer-review process. Although we can’t conclude causality
Control Program, is the first recipient of the IDN Publishing from cross-sectional data such as these, the correlation
and Presentation Fund. This funding helped Nute defray the between poverty and diseases transmitted through poor
cost involved in presenting a poster at the American Society hygiene and sanitation is well known. Improved hygiene and
for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in Baltimore in November. sanitation is crucial for accelerating and consolidating progress
His poster was titled “The Prevalence of Intestinal Parasite Co- in population health and key for national development.”
infection and Associated Factors among a Population-based
Sample of School-Age Children in Amhara, Ethiopia, 2011– Emory University faculty and staff, postdocs, researchers, and
2015.” His research demonstrates that school-age children currently enrolled graduate and undergraduate students,
in Ethiopia’s Amhara region are at a greater risk of acquiring in addition to Carter Center staff, are eligible to apply to the
parasitic infections through fecal contamination. These IDN Publishing and Presentation Fund. Priority will be given to
findings suggest that increased household socioeconomic projects related to health systems capacity building; neglected
status is associated with lower parasitic infections among tropical diseases; mental health; human rights; democracy
children in marginalized communities. and peacebuilding; and conflict resolution with a geographic
preference in China, Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Thanks to the IDN Publishing and Presentation Fund, Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. Applicants may
presenting my research has allowed me to gain valuable receive funding for one paper and one presentation per year.

“Thanks to the IDN Publishing and Presentation Fund, presenting my research
has allowed me to gain valuable exposure to the scientific community,
which will help inform the conclusions of my analysis.”

ANDREW NUTE

IDN PUBLISHING AND PRESENTATION FUND RECIPIENT

Andrew Nute (far left) with Scott Nash, senior author on the poster, and Dean Sienko, vice president for health programs at
The Carter Center posing in front of his poster presented during the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in
Baltimore, Maryland, held from November 5 to 9, 2017 Photo Credit: The Carter Center

IDN NEWSLETTER Spring 2018 5

Protecting
vulnerable children

LOCALLY AND GLOBALLY

It was a hot, sunny day in that day. Liwanga approached the boy and asked him in
February 2013 in the Democratic his native language why he was working. The boy, named
Republic of Congo (DRC) when Mutunda, age seven, explained that he had been working
Roger-Claude Liwanga returned in the mines since he was five years old. He and his brother
to his home country for a research had stopped going to school because their parents could
project that involved interviewing not afford the school fees, and so the children took up work
artisanal mine workers in the at the mine to support the family.
province of Katanga.
Liwanga explains that child miners work under inhumane
He immediately noticed a young boy, who instead of being conditions. They use their bare hands and feet to dig,
in school was sifting and washing cobalt in a small river transport, sift, and wash raw minerals such as cobalt. They
called Dilala near Kolwezi. Liwanga was shocked to see that work more than 10 hours a day to earn between 75¢ and
he was one of more than 100 children working in the mines $3 daily to support themselves or their family. Cobalt is a
fundamental material used in the fabrication of batteries for
our cell phones and laptops. The DRC annually contributes
to more than 52 percent of the world production of cobalt,
and by Liwanga’s calculation, 7.5 percent of the world’s
cobalt mines use child labor from the DRC.

6

That moment with Mutunda crystallized something for The research project aims to identify and evaluate the risk
Liwanga, so much so that he would spend his career working factors increasing the vulnerabilities to sexual violence for
to amplify the voice of vulnerable children and advocate on UAC during transit and after their arrival in the country of
their behalf. When asked if he had one wish for change in the settlement. Most of these children are coming into Atlanta
world, Liwanga responded that he “would abolish injustice from Central America and are majority Latin Americans. By
against vulnerable populations, particularly children.” partnering with local organizations who provide services
to these children, Liwanga and his team are interviewing
This semester Liwanga is an IDN visiting scholar, which will children to capture their experiences and find areas where
allow him to conduct his current research — addressing the the existing laws and policies were not able to protect them
sexual violence directed at Unaccompanied Alien Children effectively. The Emory community will have an opportunity
(UAC) arriving in Atlanta. A UAC is a person under the age to learn from Liwanga’s research when he presents his
of 18 who is not accompanied by a parent or legal guardian finding in the fall.
while entering the territory of another country and who is
apprehended by immigration authorities of that country.

IDN NEWSLETTER Spring 2018 7

When asked if he had one wish
for change in the world, Liwanga responded that he
“would abolish injustice against vulnerable populations,

particularly children.”

Roger-Claude Liwanga using a sift to wash the cobalt (Katanga, DRC) as miners observe

Liwanga’s passion for protecting vulnerable populations, Liwanga authored the book, Child Mining in an Era of High
particularly children, is deeply rooted in his past professional Technology: Understanding the Roots, Conditions and Effects
and personal experiences. He went to South Africa in 2008, of Labor Exploitation in the Democratic Republic of Congo
where he was doing his LLM at the University of Cape Town. (2017). He is a contributor to the CNN Freedom Project and
While there, Liwanga was also the project coordinator for Global Post on the child mining labor problem in Africa.
the Southern African Media and Gender Institute, where he His scholarly work has appeared in the Brooklyn Journal
established the refugee help desk. He provided guidance of International Law, Denver Journal of International Law
for refugees seeking asylum from other African countries and Policy, Suffolk Transnational Law Review, and Journal of
and witnessed firsthand the problems refugees faced in African Law.
South Africa, including xenophobia and the labeling of
refugees as troublemakers. Liwanga was heavily involved in In addition to being an IDN scholar, Liwanga is also a Fellow
raising awareness and providing education about refugees on Human Trafficking and Forced Labor with the FXB Center
to dispel the prejudices they faced. for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University and an
adjunct professor at Emory’s School of Law and the Rollins
When Liwanga’s wife moved to Boston to pursue her law School of Public Health.
degree at Boston University, he joined her and enrolled in
the SJD program at Suffolk Law School, where he completed
a four-year program in just a year and half.

8

About IDN’s Visiting Scholars
and Practitioners Program

IDN hosts visiting scholars and Baizhi Liao, March 2012
practitioners who conduct research in line
with IDN’s mission of finding new ways Assistant director of the Institute for West Asian and
to solve complex development problems African Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary
faced by the most disadvantaged and International Relations in Beijing, China. Liao was
vulnerable communities. The institute also working on his dissertation, which focuses on the
fosters partnerships that bring together rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. He also
development practitioners, policymakers, explored US and Chinese policy in the region.
academics, and activists. In addition to
working on their research, visiting scholars K. C. Gokarna, August 2012
and practitioners offer courses, lectures,
and seminars at Emory. Below is a list of Legal officer at Maiti Nepal, an NGO focused on
past IDN visiting scholars and practitioners. human rights and trafficking. Fights trafficking in
South Asia through advocacy and education of the
Markku Suksi, February 2016 public, rescue and rehabilitation of victims, and legal
action against those who engage in trafficking.
Professor of Public Law, Department of Law at
Åbo Akademi University, Finland. Professor Suksi Haroon Akram-Lodhi, May 2011
conducted research related to international election
norms in human rights law and international Professor of International Development Studies,
election observation. Trent University, Peterborough, Canada. Professor
Akram-Lodhi’s research focused on “rights-based
Ambassador Nureldin Satti, June 2014 economics” — the process by which global and local
economic processes of production and distribution
Director of the National Library of Sudan and co- are shaped by the unequal sharing of unpaid care
chair of the Woodrow Wilson International Center’s work between women and men, which not only
Sudan Working Group. Ambassador Satti conducted limits their individual and collective human rights
research focused on the Sudan and South Sudan but is also economically inefficient.
Peace Dialogue.
Uma Tamang, August 2010

A lawyer working with Maiti Nepal, an NGO that
works to end the trafficking of women and girls
in Nepal and India and to rehabilitate trafficking
victims. Her research focused on poverty and the
violation of women’s and girl’s human rights.

IDN NEWSLETTER Spring 2018 9

Where are
they now?

MEET GRANT BUCKLES

THIS 2017 EMORY GRADUATE WITH A
PHD IN POLITICAL SCIENCE IS CURRENTLY
A CONSULTING ASSOCIATE AT GALLUP.
WE ASKED GRANT TO TELL US ABOUT
HIS CURRENT WORK AND TO SHARE
HOW SERVING AS THE ELMO INITIATIVE
GRADUATE FELLOW IN 2015–2016
INFLUENCED HIS CAREER.

WHAT ARE YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES WHAT WAS YOUR RESEARCH ABOUT?
AND WHAT DOES GALLUP DO? HOW DID YOU USE IDN FUNDING?

I design and manage research projects for governments, My research focused on how to improve fragile institutions,
nonprofit organizations, and universities. I also contribute to such as elections and political parties, in developing
Gallup’s World Poll, the only truly global public opinion study democracies. I used IDN funding to continue work on my
consisting of annual nationally representative surveys in dissertation and other research projects, as well as to learn more
165 countries. Although known historically as a polling firm, about how technology can be used to improve data collection
Gallup provides analytics and advice to organizations around in developing areas. My work with the ELMO Initiative showed
the world, with an emphasis on solving important problems. me how important it is to improve real-time data collection
and reporting in order to better address human rights abuses,
WHAT DOES A DAY IN YOUR SHOES violence, election fraud, and other important outcomes.
LOOK LIKE?
WHAT RESULTED FROM YOUR
Every day is different, which is one of the best parts about RESEARCH? WHAT WAS THE IMPACT TO
my job. Some days I’m consulting government officials or AN ORGANIZATION OR INDIVIDUALS?
leaders of an organization, while other days I’m glued to my
computer analyzing data. There is a lot of variation in my A chapter of my dissertation was eventually published
days, which I enjoy. in British Journal of Political Science. I also hope my work

10

changed how people think about institutions WHAT IS ELMO
in developing democracies by more closely
examining the strategies and motives of those ELMO is The Carter Center’s open-source
excluded from power. ELection MOnitoring data collection
and reporting system. Given ELMO’s
DID THE IDN FUNDING versatility and effectiveness, particularly
ENHANCE YOUR CAREER? in volatile environments, the Institute
IF SO, HOW? for Developing Nations partnered
with the Laney Graduate School
It definitely enhanced my career since it gave me and The Carter Center’s Democracy
valuable experience working in a global, mission- Program to make ELMO available
driven organization such as The Carter Center. It as a research tool for Emory faculty,
helped me think about how I could use research graduate students, and staff. Through
to address real-world problems. From a practical this initiative, IDN offers an academic
perspective, I also learned how to manage year ELM0 Fellowship as well as summer
international projects with a lot of moving parts in predissertation funds for graduate
a way that also ensures quality outcomes. students who wish to conduct research
using ELMO.
WHAT’S THE BEST ADVICE YOU
WOULD YOU OFFER A PERSON IDN NEWSLETTER Spring 2018 11
ENTERING YOUR FIELD?

Always keep the big picture in mind. When working
on a lot of complex projects with tight deadlines,
it’s easy to forget the importance of your work.

HAS THE PARTNERSHIP
BETWEEN IDN AND THE CARTER
CENTER HAD AN IMPACT ON
YOUR STUDIES AND YOUR
CAREER? IF SO, HOW?

This partnership exposed me to the importance of
collaboration between academics and practitioners.
I learned that both sides have something to learn
from one another and true problem solving requires
them to share their expertise.

Measuring

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

in Elections

WHAT Avery Davis-Roberts, associate director, The Carter Center’s
Democracy Program, leading a breakout session during the “Measuring
A workshop titled “Measuring Violence against Women in
Elections” at The Carter Center, February 26–27. Organized Violence against Women in Elections” workshop at Emory University,
by The Carter Center’s Democracy Program and Emory February 27, 2018. Photo: Emory Institute for Developing Nations
University’s Institute for Developing Nations.
speech leading to fear and shame. And in Pakistan, women
“The partnership between The Carter were barred from voting by traditional councils and armed
Center and IDN allows us to bring together men at the polling booths. A growing body of evidence from
practitioners and scholars for discourse of around the world indicates that as more and more women
great importance in the hopes of solving step forward to participate in the electoral processes –
complex global problems.” whether as candidates or voters - they are too often met
with discrimination, harassment, psychological abuse, and
DABNEY P. EVANS, INTERIM DIRECTOR physical assault.
OF THE INSTITUTE FOR DEVELOPING NATIONS

WHY

Violence against women in politics and, more specifically,
violence against women in elections (VAWE) has emerged
as a serious obstacle to women’s rights and fully functioning
democracy. In January 2016, Jo Cox, a member of the British
parliament, was shot and stabbed multiple times a week
before the controversial Brexit referendum. In Mexico in
2016, a female mayoral candidate was decapitated just
a few weeks after launching her campaign. In addition
to candidates, women seeking to engage in political
participation have also been targeted. In the 2008 election
cycle in Guinea, dozens of women were raped when military
forces broke up a pro-election political rally in Conakry. In
2015, women in Nigeria faced threat of divorce or ostracism
from husbands and other family members, as well as hate

12

“I’m abused as a female
politician and I’m abused
as a black politician.”

DIANE ABBOTT

Member of Parliament, British Labour Party.
Statement made in The Guardian, Tuesday
September 5, 2017.

Diane Abbott is the first black woman elected

to the British Parliament. According to Amnesty
International, she is the most abused MP online.
The online abuse she experiences is often racist,
sexist, and includes threats of sexual violence.

Photo credit: British Parliament

This kind of violence creates a barrier to women’s PRESENTERS INCLUDED:
participation as voters, candidates, election officials,
activists, and political party leaders. Women’s full and Mona Lena Krook, Department of Politics,
equal participation is critical to building and sustaining Rutgers University
functioning, transparent democracies. As awareness of
VAWE grows, there is a need to move beyond anecdotal Elin Bjarnegard, Department of Government,
information to systematically collect data to inform Uppsala University
programs, legislation, and social change to ensure the full
and equal political participation of women. Jennifer Piscopo, Department of Politics,
Occidental College
WHO
Gabrielle Bardall, International Foundation for
More than 40 global participants, including representatives Electoral Systems
from UN Women, the International Foundation for Electoral
Systems, the Carnegie Endowment for International Caroline Hubbard, National Democratic Institute
Peace, the International Institute for Democracy and
Electoral Assistance, the National Democratic Institute, Sara Negrão, UN Women
the Organization of American States, the National Union
of Organization for the Disabled—Liberia, the Office for Sita Ranchod-Nilsson, former IDN director,
Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, and Constitution served as a consultant for the workshop.
and Reform Education Consortium—Kenya.
CHALLENGES
The broad range of participants reflects growing awareness
in electoral support and human rights communities. It also There is a broad consensus about the need to document
reflects a sense of urgency around collaborative efforts to VAWE through data collection and measurement and,
address the problem. subsequently, a sense of urgency that data are needed to
document the problem, hold perpetrators accountable, and
design effective interventions. Experts on VAWE generally
agree that the problem takes different forms: physical

IDN NEWSLETTER Spring 2018 13

violence, psychological violence, economic violence, and Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter present
sexual violence. The absence of common indicators to new and proliferating opportunities for socio-psychological
measure VAWE is a barrier to awareness and action. forms of violence targeting women that include rape threats,
death threats, and degrading a woman’s body and moral
Today, VAWE is being addressed by scholars in different fields character as well as threats to family members, including
and by human rights and election support practitioners. children. Collecting data in this space presents particular
Not surprisingly, there are disagreements about conceptual challenges in terms of the sheer quantity of posts and
and methodological issues. For example, is it possible to identifying perpetrators. New types of violence such as‘doxing’
distinguish between “everyday sexism” and specific harms (publishing someone’s private information online with the
that women experience in connection with their political intent to harm them) and ‘dogpiling’ (online attacks by more
activities? Is it possible to understand gendered political than one person) are emerging in this rapidly changing,
violence by focusing research on women, or does research unregulated space. According to UN Women, women are 27
also need to focus on political violence experienced by men? times more likely to be abused online than men.

Workshop participants introduced various approaches to NEXT STEPS
gathering data in different contexts and identified shared
goals, patterns of gendered political violence, and areas of Participants agreed that it was valuable to learn about data
complementary effort. How we gather data matters as we work collection efforts of scholars and organizations and felt it was
towards resolving conceptual and methodological differences. important for dialogue to continue in a formalized way, such
as annual meetings. Even as scholars and practitioners had
Gabrielle Bardall of the International begun addressing this topic through their research and work,
Foundation for Electoral Systems the challenge is broad and difficult to tackle independently.
explained: “I am reminded of an Collaboration becomes increasingly important and is
organization that produced two studies. enhanced by this workshop. Discussions like this also
One found women were rarely the subject increase the awareness and ability to collaborate on a more
of VAWE, less than 2%. The second study, visible level. For instance, the results of this workshop are
done years later, used totally different key to the agenda of UN Women and the Special Rapporteur
methodology and found over 50% women on Violence against Women. As scholars and practitioners
experienced VAWE. Had things changed? increase the data collecting and reporting done on violence
The organization found that method and against women, larger international bodies, like the UN,
data collection matters. How we pursue will be stronger suited to use their platform and authority
future data collection is important.” to report on these incidences as well, leading to increased
accountability and transparency on an international level.
Much of the existing data on electoral violence focuses
on political violence that takes place in the public sphere. In order to move toward this larger, collaborative goal,
However, VAWE often takes place within the private sphere election support organizations agreed, at the workshop, to
of homes and families, and may be perpetrated by family collect data on certain forms of VAWE (e.g., physical violence)
members in dissuading women from political participation. during campaigns and to provide gender-disaggregated
This means that data collection must go beyond quantitative data within their reports. Several smaller groups focused
methods and observation to include a wide range of on specific issues and began the process of developing a
qualitative methods. Researchers and practitioners have common set of VAWE indicators.
to be thoughtful with their methods, though, as the topic
can be culturally and personally sensitive. Participants also There is an ongoing commitment to find more
agreed that it is important to gather data during the entire opportunities for scholars and practitioners to collaborate
election cycle, not only the election period. on data collection and complementary projects involving
quantitative and qualitative research methods. Given that
VAWE is a multifaceted problem, a multidisciplinary, inter-
professional, comprehensive approach and variety of
participants is needed to address this issue successfully.

14

Partners
in Practice

EVE H. BYRD Tell us about a day in the life of Eve Byrd.

DIRECTOR, I start most days with a 40-minute walk with my husband. By
MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM, 7:30 a.m., I have my coffee and am on the phone. Today I had a
call with my project lead, Janice Cooper, in Liberia.
THE CARTER CENTER We’ve been working with the Ministry of Health in Liberia
since 2010 to help create a sustainable mental health system.
This morning she and I had a chance to update each other and
talk about the procurement of meds, the training of clinicians,
and strategies for how we might transfer more ownership of
the program to the Ministry of Health in Liberia.
Many mornings I will jumpstart the day with a breakfast
meeting before I head to The Carter Center. This week
I will have breakfast with a health care lobbyist as well as
the executive director of the Atlanta Regional Community
Health Initiative.

IDN NEWSLETTER Spring 2018 15

“...I would tell you to follow your passion because that’s what
is going to give you the energy to get up and continue the

challenge of changing the system for those who depend on it.”

EVE H. BYRD, DIRECTOR, MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM, THE CARTER CENTER

Once I’m in office, it’s all about meetings and dealing with we have made in terms of the coverage of mental health
the onslaught of email. I just met with my staff to prepare care by the insurance companies. We have to continue
for our upcoming session with our Mental Health Task Force, to make strides because there are still so many people
which includes many of the individuals who have been suffering because they can’t get the care they need owing to
working with and advising Mrs. Carter for decades, since stigma and lack of access as a result of financial constraints
she was in the White House. We are currently engaged in or workforce issues.
strategic planning with the group.
Can you tell us more about the Rosalynn
Most days, I eat lunch at my desk. Some days, I’ll have the Carter Fellowships for Mental Health
chance to meet face to face with Mrs. Carter and other days Journalism?
I’ll call her to ask her thoughts or to provide an update. I
try to leave the office by 6:00 p.m. I like to make dinner The idea for the fellowships was suggested during a
— unless it is Friday night — and I’m in bed by 9:30 p.m., brainstorming session more than 20 years ago. The group
usually reading historical fiction. was looking for a way to combat the stigma associated with
mental health and suggested that if we could get journalists
How is your work personal to you? to report mental health illness appropriately, we could make
real progress.
This work is really personal to me. Just like a quarter of the
population, mental illness and substance abuse issues have Mrs. Carter liked the idea and, during the past two decades,
touched my family and friends. I want my work to make we have provided our stipends and training to more than 200
a palpable difference in the lives of individuals who have journalists who have produced more than 1,500 stories —
these challenges. some of which were even nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.
Our fellows are not only influencing their newsrooms, but our
I feel honored and also feel a tremendous responsibility to recent evaluation has shown that their stories are having a
do impactful work that will continue to honor Mrs. Carter’s direct impact on mental health policy. That is so exciting!
legacy of 45+ years as a pioneer in the field.
And the impact of the program goes beyond the United
What’s the biggest challenge you face? States. We have mentored journalists from South Africa,
New Zealand, and Romania; our current fellows are from
Right now, in the current political climate, the biggest Columbia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
challenge for any of us in the field is to preserve the gains

16

Can you talk about how storytelling and Specifically, I can tell you that my work at the Fuqua Center
the stories that have come out of this had similar parameters. I was working to make life better for a
program have made a real difference in very specific population, but I also had a focus on stigma and
your work? changing policy. Today, I do similar work on a broader scale.

We have had facts and figures for years, but now that Describe one of your career highlights
we have the stories of real people being reported in a — training nurses in Liberia.
responsible way, we are seeing change.
I was invited to train nurses in Liberia for two weeks in 2010
One strong example is a 2016 four-part series in the as part of the first cohort sent by The Carter Center’s Mental
Oklahoman by Journalism Fellow Jaclyn Cosgrove titled Health Program. After more than a decade of civil conflict,
“Epidemic Ignored.” Jaclyn’s series explained how the it is profound to see a country with such few resources
closing of state mental institutions inadvertently had turned working to build a mental health system from scratch —
many mental health patients into inmates thanks to crimes literally from the ground up, building a system as it should
committed as a direct response to untreated mental illness be — totally integrated into the health care delivery system.
and addiction. Her series demonstrated that, at last count, And the new clinicians were eager, capable, and ready to
60 percent of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections’ do the work. As corny as it sounds, the experience was life
population, 17,000 people, have either symptoms or a history changing. In fact, I valued the experience so much that I
of mental illness. Cosgrove also showed that because of the vowed I would go back and teach again. And I did.
a lack of training and resources in the prison system, those
imprisoned with mental illness are often being mistreated, What inspires you about the partnership
misunderstood, and sometimes lethally mishandled. between IDN and The Carter Center?

Her stories made the problem real and the struggle human. As Our relationship with IDN is crucial to our work. I see our
a result, Oklahomans approved not one but two criminal justice work at The Carter Center as focusing on implementation,
reform measures. We’ve been told by a congressman from the but we need our academic partner to work closely with us as
area that those stories were paramount to passing that bill. we develop our programs. Our efforts have to be research-
or evidence-based, and IDN is our conduit in many ways to
How has your experience at Emory the academic expertise of Emory University.
prepared you for your current position
at The Carter Center? I’m also excited to see us continue to explore areas that are
of concern to both of us, like gender-based violence, which
I have been a part of the Emory community since I arrived is a horrible problem globally.
on campus at 22 to pursue a bachelor’s degree in nursing. I
must have liked it here because — except for several years What’s the best advice you would offer a
at Fulton County Public Health and a short stint in Savannah person entering your field?
as a home health nurse right after I married — I’ve been
here ever since. I earned my doctorate in nursing practice, I began my career as a nurse, so I will offer what advice I
my master’s to become a nurse practitioner, and a master’s can to young nurses. I would tell you to follow your passion
in public health at Emory. because that’s what is going to give you the energy to get
up and continue the challenge of changing the system
I was an instructor in Emory’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School for those who depend on it. I would also say to celebrate
of Nursing and executive director of Emory’s Fuqua Center small and large accomplishments. And finally, please don’t
for Late-Life Depression for 16 years. All of that experience think you can do it alone. You need good colleagues and
— the opportunity to work with governmental offices, partnerships to make real, sustainable change.
advocacy organizations, and all of my colleagues at Emory
— have prepared me for my work at The Carter Center.

IDN NEWSLETTER Spring 2018 17

Growth Congratulations
Opportunities to former
IDN intern
“Discrimination against women damages Rachel Lastinger
communities, organizations, companies, economies
and societies. That is why all men should support on her new position as program
women’s rights and gender equality. That is why associate at The Carter Center’s
I consider myself a proud feminist.” Democracy Program. Lastinger
will be working on the center’s
OPENING REMARKS BY UN SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO citizen observation project in
GUTERRES, AT THE 62ND SESSION OF THE COMMISSION the Democratic Republic of the
ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN (CSW62) Congo (DRC), which supports civil
society organizations to advance
IDN is committed to gender equity and as a result, I had the opportunity democratic elections in the DRC
to attend the 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women by improving their ability to
CSW62 parallel events, held in New York, NY in March 2018. The observe and report on electoral
Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global processes. Lastinger first joined
intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of the Democracy Program as a
gender equality and the empowerment of women. It is a sub-committee Mission Assistant supporting the
International Election Observation
of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the Mission (IEOM) in Nepal. She
six principal organs of the United Nations. traveled to Kathmandu, Nepal
for the country’s second phase
I knew I would hear from an array of people of parliamentary and provincial
from around the world who are seldom assembly elections that took
included in the conversation on women, place on December 7, 2017.
along with leaders in the field. One of Lastinger was introduced to the
my favorite take-aways was from a work of The Carter Center while
presentation on Nordic feminism. The working with IDN and is now
conversation reiterated that women excited to be on a project seeking
from all regions around the world face to promote citizen’s rights to
issues, no matter how privileged their participate in governance.
society. Although there is a powerful
notion that the Nordic nations have
“made it,” in terms of gender equality,
women in Nordic countries still confront
issues of poverty, victim blaming in instances

of sexual assault, and the preponderance of
extreme violence in pornography. It is not just is
the most disadvantaged countries that we must focus our
attention regarding gender equity, we all have a great deal of work we need to
do in all parts of the world to support women’s rights.

STEPHANIE SORQUIRA, IDN’S PROGRAM COORDINATOR

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CONGRATULATIONS

TO OUR IDN RESEARCH ASSISTANTS
GRADUATING THIS SPRING

We are so proud of our IDN research assistants who are about to
don their caps and gowns and take all they have learned here at Emory

to create impact in their fields here and abroad.

Abigail López Rivera will receive her MPH

in health policy and management from the Rollins
School of Public Health.

López Rivera has been named a 2018 Fulbright
Research Grant recipient and will be returning
to Sierra Leone to continue her research on the
sustainability of capacity building programs for
community health officers. She aspires to transform
the way the US provides aid and assistance for
global health to achieve greater self-sufficiency and
sustainable development.

López Rivera is also a health policy analyst in the
Division of Global HIV and TB at the US Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, where she utilizes
evidence to develop meaningful recommendations
and strategic communications for greater US
investment in the President’s Emergency Plan for
AIDS Relief and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

“What I will miss the most about working with IDN
is connecting the Emory community with inspiring
leaders from the field who share the goals of
building sustainable and just societies for their home
countries and for the world” says López Rivera.

Abigail López Rivera (R) with Marguerite Barankitse (L),
Emory 21 Days of Peace 2017 keynote speaker and
founder of Maison Shalom.

IDN NEWSLETTER Spring 2018 19

Raven Hinson will receive her MA in the Master’s in

Development Practice program, Laney Graduate School.
Hinson’s career passion includes urban planning combined with
monitoring and evaluation.
During the summer, she will be an intern at the Atlanta Regional
Commission for the transportation department. She will be
working on projects such as research analysis and writing
reports for qualitative data that has been collected. She also will
be part of transportation committees that have been formed to
help improve transportation development in the city of Atlanta.
“At IDN, I have gained practical skills that will help me with my
career goal of advancing the rights of citizens by making cities
become more equitable,” notes Hinson.

WELCOME

TO OUR NEW GRADUATE ASSISTANT

This spring, we welcomed Michael Kerzner as our newest graduate research

assistant — a first-year MPH student who will be working with IDN’s visiting scholar
Roger-Claude Liwanga on a research study that examines the risks and potential
factors of sexual violence against Unaccompanied Alien Children living in Georgia.
“I could not be more excited to be working with Dr. Liwanga on this project
at IDN. The intersection of immigration, human rights, violence, health, and
children struck at the heart of both my personal and professional interests. As
someone who has worked with Unaccompanied Alien Children elsewhere in
the country, I have seen firsthand the needs that exist for many of these kids.
The work we are doing is a crucial step forward in better understanding how
we as professionals can best protect the rights of these immigrant children
who are all too often forgotten by society.”
Eager to make a difference, Kerzner is also a reproductive health Intern
at the International Rescue Committee in Atlanta, where he is one of the
facilitators for the Youth Leadership Team. Before moving from New Jersey
to Atlanta, he was a social worker who worked with mentally ill youth. He also
spent more than five years with the nonprofit Attitudes in Reverse, where he
was on the Board of Trustees of the adolescent mental health education awareness

organization. Kerzner also has worked abroad in numerous capacities in Ecuador,
Peru, and Italy.

20

IDN

Who we are

In 2006 US President Jimmy Carter and Emory University President James Wagner founded the
Institute for Developing Nations (IDN) to signal their commitment to joining higher education and
international development. IDN connects research and academic programs at Emory and The Carter
Center’s Peace and Health programs to strengthen scholarship on development and provide direct
support to development efforts in some of the poorest countries in the world. Through research and

action, IDN is reshaping the role of higher education in international development.

What we do

IDN is deeply committed to finding new ways for higher education to help solve some of the world’s
most complex development problems by connecting practitioners and scholars working to advance
human rights and alleviate human suffering. IDN leverages the strengths of Emory University and
The Carter Center to unite research and action, and engage partners beyond the university. IDN
focuses on three specific areas­– problem solving, enhancing graduate student education, and
capacity strengthening with in-country partners. These three areas directly support the mission and

institutional function of IDN.

IDN.EMORY.EDU /INSTITUTEFORDEVELOPINGNATIONS /IDN_EMORY

IDN NEWSLETTER Spring 2018 21

Join Us!

To learn more about our work, get access to IDN resources,
newsletter, or to contribute, please visit

idn.emory.edu /InstituteforDevelopingNations /idn_emory

We welcome your ideas, interest and support!

Institute for Developing Nations
Emory University

1599 Clifton Road, NE, 6th Floor
Atlanta, GA 30322

P. 404.727.1438 • F. 404.727.6647

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