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I am a humanitarian practitioner
and researcher with an interest in transitional justice, humanitarian
protection and human rights. I have recently completed a PhD at the Post-war
Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU) at the
University of York in the UK, examining the issue of persons
missing in conflict and critiquing current practice in transitional justice (see below). The issue of the Missing remains a focus of my work. I have consulted for a range of international agencies, including the International
Committee of the Red Cross, the International Centre for Transitional Justice and the Institute for Security Studies; I continue to do research as an Associate of the PRDU. I am currently conducting a collaborative research project to study victim mobilisation in Nepal, supported by a grant from the Berghof Foundation, and working on a range of research projects with the Centre for Applied Human Rights at the University of York.
I am currently working with the ICRC in Geneva as Advisor on missing persons and their families. I previously worked as a delegate of the the ICRC to protect and assist victims of armed conflict, during missions in Timor-Leste, Uganda and Nepal.
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Photos of Nepal
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From early 2006 until September 2007 I was working for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Nepalgunj in western Nepal as head of the ICRC sub-delegation. For ten years Maoist insurgents had been fighting the Royal Government, and Nepalgunj is the headquarters of the region that has long been the Maoists' stronghold. Developments since April 2007 and the dramatic days of the People's Movement have led to the Maoists becoming the largest party in the Constituent Assembly tasked with drafting a new constitution. However, instability continues with the peace process essentially blocked by the lack of perceived common ground between the Maoists and the traditional parties. Social exclusion by class, caste, gender and ethnicity, that caused the conflict, remains largely unchallenged. (More details of the ICRC's work in Nepal can be found here.) |
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Left: Girl
from Dolpo. Below: View in Jumla |
Nepalgunj, Nepal 2006
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A small, provinicial town that is
the centre of the Mid West region of Nepal, here is a photo of the main
street in Nepalgunj.. |
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Uganda 2004-5
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I spent 18 months in Uganda
working in the ICRC Protection department in Kampala, and as head of the
ICRC sub-delegation in Gulu in the north. This was a difficult time,
with LRA attacks common and almost the entire Acholi population
displaced to camps. ICRC work was dominated by assistance to the displaced
and protection work for detainees and civilians impacted by the conflict. I would like to thank all my colleagues, especially those in Gulu (some of whom are shown on the right) for making this time so productive. |
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Some Congolese fabrics from the region...
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This was a brief trip around one of Uganda's few cultural sights, at Nyero, Kumi district, in the east of the country, November 2004. |
Timor-Leste 2003-4
From May 2003 to May 2004 I was based in Dili, Timor-Leste. Timor-Leste is recovering from its traumatic separation from Indonesia in 1999, and celebrated its independence in May 2002. I was working largely on the issue of people missing in relation to the conflict of the last 25 years, and assisting in the establishment of an East Timor Red Cross Society, the Cruz Vermelha de Timor-Leste.
Click here for more details of the work of the ICRC in East Timor.
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A few of my photos from East Timor can be found here.
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contact: simon.robins@NOSPAMsimonrobins.com
Last update: 22.02.2010