CALL FOR PAPERS
The 12th ISHHR Symposium for Health and Human Rights
The Role of Ceremony and Culture in Healing:
May 4-7, 2027
The International Society for Health and Human Rights (https://ishhr.com), is pleased to announce an upcoming symposium addressing ceremonial and culture-based approaches to healing as it relates to human rights abuses. All papers discussing these harms and the context in which it occurs are welcomed. However, the conference organizers specifically encourage papers that address intergenerational trauma and indigeneity.
We invite Indigenous leaders and community members, health and social welfare professionals, service providers, students, civil society organizers, educators, social scientists, legal professionals, front-line workers, and those involved in the support and care of survivors of traumatic events and human rights abuse to submit a proposal.
Please share your clinical, advocacy, and scholarly expertise. We welcome a range of approaches that address a diversity of individuals and communities.
The Deadline for abstract submissions is July 1, 2026
For more information about how to submit your abstract and the types of sessions available (e.g. symposium, posters) please go to WEBSITE
ISHHR – affiliations and memberships
ISHHR is affiliated with the ESTSS (European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies), and will be participating and presenting at the 18th biennial conference of the European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies in Tbilisi, Georgia in June 2025.
We are also members of the NGO Forum for Human Rights About NGO Forum for Human Rights – Norwegian Helsinki Committee, we cooperate with the Mental Health and Human Rights Info MHHRI | Mental Health and Human Rights Info and are also working with the Nonviolence International Nonviolence International
Of a more short term character, we have cooperated with a lot of local organisations where we have staged the various conferences of the past. It has been a motivation for our activites to create a platform where dissemination and sharing of knowledge takes place, and where networks for cooperation have been formed. We hope to continue with this in the future.
Since 1987, ISHHR has worked with programs of capacity building in different post-conflict regions every 3-5 years, followed by an International Conference on Health and Human Rights. This conference is a unique event for organizations and individuals working with mental health issues affecting people who have experienced trauma in the context of war and organized violence.
The conference took place at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia from November 21-25, 2022. Around 90 delegates, both local and international, took part. As usual, a combination of workshops, plenary and parallell sessions set the light on a variety of different aspects and approaches of working with persons subjected to various kinds of challenges. There were also social events organized, bringing the participants closer to different parts of local culture, be it food, music or nature.
The ISHHR is deeply grateful to our local organizers without whose help this event could not have taken place. We look forward to keeping in touch, preparing for the next step. As financial sponsor The Norwegian Human Rights Fund, Colombia branch, also contributed generously to make this possible. A comprehensive report about the conference will be published on this website soon.
Conversations on the way to Colombia
Photo by Kobby Mendez on Unsplash
Loes van Wiligen, founder and Honorary President of ISHHR, suggested arranging in this time of crisis a series of webinars, alternating between English and Spanish.
These “Conversations ” could prepare the ground for our planned capacity-building and the International Conference in Colombia in 2022 in cooperation with Colombian partners.
Facilitators and front-workers from Colombia and around the world could share perspectives on their work with the final beneficiaries: women and men in Colombia and other post-conflict countries – tools for coping and healing.
So far, we have arranged four exciting and informative webinars on our way to Colombia:
Webinar #1: ReConectando and Territorio Sagrado
Webinar #2: Learning in Times of Crisis: Ending Violence, Healing Trauma, Building Peace
Webinar #3: Mental Health Post Conflict
Webinar #4: Health, Well-being and Resilience
If you did not get the opportunity to participate in the webinars, you can now watch them here:
Collective Healing:
Restoring the relationship of humanity and nature
The 11th ISHHR Conference for health and Human Rights
The conference did take place at the
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
Bogotá, Colombia
November 21 – 25, 2022
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The Council
The ISHHR Council are elected by members of the organisation at each ISHHR Conference. The Council operates as a steering-committee that guides the decisions and actions made by ISHHR as an organisation.