A MYANMAR CASE STUDY: promoting and protecting healthcare workers on the frontline

Australian Red Cross and the Queensland International Humanitarian Law Advisory Committee, in collaboration with The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, invite you to an online webinar to discuss international humanitarian law and the protection it provides to emergency medical personnel, medical transport and buildings in situations of armed conflict.

Myanmar will be engaged with as a case study to explain the threshold of when International Humanitarian Law ('IHL') applies and when it does not. Discussion will centre on the role and dangers experienced by emergency health care personnel administering medical care in conflict zones, as well as how IHL applies to them in these complex and challenging contexts.

The event will include speakers from both an IHL and emergency healthcare perspective and will include speakers with direct experience in Myanmar. The webinar and panel will be moderated by LARRY MAYBEE, Australian Red Cross Legal Advisor for the Humanitarian and Health Sectors.

Larry will be joined by DR GEORGINA PHILLIPS, an emergency care doctor and committee member of the Global Emergency Care Committee (‘GECCo’) of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (‘ACEM’). Georgina is also the lead international coordinator of the Myanmar Emergency Medicine Development Program. DR CLAIRE BROLAN (PhD Public Health), a health justice specialist and Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Policy Futures, The University of Queensland, and the community representative on GECCo, will also present.

Announcing speakers, DR TUN AUNG SHWE from the University of New South Wales and DAVID STEPHENS Asia Portfolio Manager at the Australian Red Cross.

Speakers

DR GEORGINA PHILLIPS

Georgina, based at St. Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, has been involved in the development of emergency care in the Asia-Pacific region since being an Australian Volunteer emergency doctor in Kiribati in 1996. She is currently a visiting emergency medicine (EM) specialist at Fiji National University and the University of Papua New Guinea, honorary EM Professor at University of Medicine (1), Yangon, Myanmar, the ACEM Country Liaison Representative for Solomon Islands and the Pacific Region, and the ‘Global Emergency Care’ section editor of Emergency Medicine Australasia journal. Georgina is also undertaking a PhD to explore the impact of EC capacity development in low resource environments.  

DR CLAIRE BROLAN

Dr Claire Brolan is an academic focusing on intersecting global health and development policy, governance, equity and rights issues around the formulation, and now implementation, of the  Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)/2030 Agenda in Australia as well as in the Asia-Pacific region. With some 60 peer-reviewed and other publications behind her, as well as engagement in a number of prestigious international and global health research projects, Claire tackles complex domestic and global health and development policy and planning challenges by applying a mix of interdisciplinary research techniques and analytic approaches that draw on her extensive international law, global health policy, social science (qualitative research), biomedical, as well as health and human rights education, training, and in–the-field experience.



DR TUN AUNG SHWE

Dr Tun Aung Shwe is a public health practitioner, researcher and is currently completing his doctoral study at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). He has over 29 years experiences in various disciplines such as public health, organisational development and sports medicine for development and peace. The National Unity Government of Myanmar appointed him in July 2021 as the government’s representative to the Commonwealth of Australia.

DAVID STEPHENS

David Stephens is the Asia Portfolio Manager for the Australian Red Cross International Programs. Australian Red Cross has a longstanding partnership with Myanmar Red Cross covering emergency health, disaster management and organisational development. David’s role is to support the leadership and priorities of Red Cross Red Crescent national societies in the region in alignment with the commitment for a more locally led humanitarian system. Prior to joining the Australian Red Cross David spent many years living and working in Asia supporting national and regional community networks working to improve the lives of people living with HIV. He holds a PhD 'Experts and Activists: AIDS and Human Rights in South East Asia' from La Trobe University, Melbourne. 



The other speakers for the webinar session will be released soon.