Call for Papers: Romani Global Diaspora: Implementation of the Right to Health

This Special Section of the Health and Human Rights Journal will examine the implementation of the right to health in the case of Romani populations across the globe. It will draw attention to ongoing discrimination against the Roma and Roma-related groups in relation to realization of the right to health.  Articles will consider access to health among Romani communities in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, and elsewhere.

Guest editors are Jacqueline Bhabha, Margareta Matache, and Teresa Sordé Martí.

Topics could include:

Implementation of the Roma right to health

• Conceptual and theoretical analysis of law and policy perspectives addressing the right to health of Roma communities around the world. Authors may adopt a human rights perspective, investigating the availability, accessibility, acceptability, quality and accountability of measures designed to realize the right to health of Romani members of the population.
• The challenges of addressing ongoing health inequalities and or tackling social determinants that hinder implementation of the right to health for the global Romani diaspora.
• Activities and policy initiatives targeting Roma and Roma-related groups living outside Europe.

The non-discrimination principle in the implementation of the Roma right to health

• An examination of discriminatory practices impinging on the access to healthcare of Roma and Roma-related groups throughout the world.
• Consideration of intersectional discrimination,, including against Roma people with disabilities, LGBTI Roma, Roma children and youth, Roma women and girls, Roma migrants.

Strategies and tactics to realize the Roma right to health

• A critical examination of health based initiatives, especially grassroots Roma-based initiatives pursuing Roma equal access to health.
• The impact of different strategies and tactics employed by governments and civil society organizations to reduce health discrepancies between Roma and non-Roma populations and overcome discrimination in access to health rights.
• Assessment of successful practices, strategies and players involved, the contexts in which they operate and challenges encountered at the time of implementation.
• Comparison of Roma related health laws, policies and interventions adopted and implemented in different countries of the world.

The Health and Human Rights Journal is a peer-reviewed, open access journal under the editorship of Partners in Health co-founder Paul Farmer. It is published twice yearly by Harvard University Press, with new issues released in June and December. There are no publication fees unless authors can use open access publication grants.

Submission Details

• Papers must be submitted by 28 February 2017.
• Papers have a maximum word length of 7,000 words, including references.
• Author guidelines are available on the website: http://www.hhrjournal.org/submissions/author-guidelines/.

Questions about this special issue can be directed to Margareta Matache at mmatache@hsph.harvard.edu or Carmel Williams, Executive Editor, Health and Human Rights Journal at HHRsubmissions@hsph.harvard.edu