Mental Health and the Psychological Impact of War on Individuals, Families and Communities in Yemen

This project remains ongoing and aims to address the adverse effects of armed conflict on the mental health of individuals, families and communities in Yemen, to bring mental health concerns into Yemen’s peace and reconciliation processes, and to strengthen recognition of the human right to mental health in Yemen and internationally.

December 31, 2017

An interdisciplinary, mixed methods investigation and human rights advocacy project, this initiative is led by Sarah Knuckey, Associate Clinical Professor of Law, Director of the Human Rights Clinic, and the faculty co-director of the Human Rights Institute at Columbia Law School, and Lindsay Stark, Associate Professor of Population and Family Health at Mailman School of Public Health.

Through advancing research, services, and advocacy on the current gaps on mental health in Yemen, this project is carrying out a study of the impacts of war on mental health in the country and the correlation this has with the human rights of those affected. The project also conducted targeted advocacy with government and non-governmental organizations, as well as UN agencies, to increase awareness of and focus on mental health issues, foster improved mental health policies, laws, and services, develop the international norm for the right to mental health, and to incorporate mental health considerations into the Yemen peace and reconciliation processes.

Columbia Global Centers, in collaboration with the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies (SCSS) and the Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic (HRC), held a three-day intensive meeting at the Amman Center on August 6-10, 2017, where project leaders were joined with the core team and a number of regional experts to solidify the goals of this initiative.