![]() | emily ragus |
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03.07.2025-29.08.2025
Following the floodwaters: Injury and healing in Durban, South Africa
During my residency, I am driven by three primary goals. Firstly, I aim to transform the qualitative data collected during my disaster studies fieldwork in the flood-impacted region of KwaZulu Natal into a comprehensive report with the potential to influence global health and disaster policy on environmental disasters and injuries. Secondly, I seek to facilitate meaningful dialogue among health disaster clinicians concerning the ethical considerations in providing care during environmental disasters. Lastly, I actively pursue mentorship within this interdisciplinary community, with a specific focus on ensuring the successful completion of my dissertation during my residency.
These objectives also include my goal to engage meaningfully with fellow scholars throughout my stay. This involves facilitating the exchange of intellectual ideas and leveraging my established connections in Geneva. My firsthand experiences dealing with health challenges in various contexts, such as responding to violence in Azerbaijan, managing frontline ambulance services during the Ukraine war, and witnessing healthcare access issues for refugees during the COVID-19 peak in Malaysia Borneo, provide profound insights into the ongoing ethical considerations demanded by major emergencies. These experiences form the foundation for my active participation in the multidisciplinary discourse on the ethics of care during this residency.
The dialogue on the ethics of care will materialize through workshops organized by me on disaster ethics, hosted by the Brocher Foundation, with potential collaboration with the Sir John Monash Foundation of Australia. These workshops will not only cover disaster methods for data collection but will also delve into discussions related to the ethics of such data collection and the ethical considerations surrounding disaster medicine. Additionally, we will explore strategies to influence policy changes. These workshops are designed to extend beyond the residency, reaching academic and humanitarian agencies, including UNDP, WHO, and the Centre for Human Dialogue in Geneva, with invitations extended to Humanitarian Ethicist Hugo Slim. The overarching goal is to contribute to addressing foundational issues linked to healthcare ethics in societies facing environmental disasters—an urgent and widespread challenge within healthcare systems globally.
The value of this residency lies in providing exclusive access to exceptional mentors and academics, enhancing my capabilities as a prospective research leader with practical, real-world applications. The interdisciplinary and supportive environment seamlessly aligns with my research objectives. Engaging with fellow residents and interacting with faculty members from both the Brocher Foundation and the Geneva Graduate Institute and University of Geneva will yield valuable feedback on my research area and contribute to my postdoctoral project on disaster ethics and policy development. The round table discussions at the Brocher Foundation, focusing on humanity's impact on health through our relationship with the environment, serve as a complementary forum, providing ongoing mentorship that further enriches my perspectives.
This residency also offers the opportunity to collaborate with the Geneva Graduate Institute in exploring the ethical challenges at the intersection of medical rescue teams and environmental disasters. As global disasters become more frequent and severe, understanding the dynamics and challenges faced by these teams takes on heightened importance. This collaboration not only broadens the scope of my research but also contributes substantively to the broader discourse on disaster response and management. The well-established reputation of the Geneva Graduate Institute as a hub for global health and humanitarian studies positions it as an ideal partner for this endeavor.
Finally, this residency provides the space needed for reflection through interdisciplinary immersion, allowing me to ponder and incorporate the ethical challenges and considerations within my dissertation. Therefore, one of my main outcomes will be to complete this dissertation and have it ready for dissemination upon completion of the residency.