International Society for Social Pediatrics & Child Health

Dear colleagues and friends,

We are writing to urge you to attend the ISSOP annual meeting in Beirut (September 25-28) on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children.

The conference will inform us of the realities facing children exposed globally to armed conflict and its impact on their physical and mental health.  But most importantly—it will provide a forum for defining how we as pediatricians, child health professionals and child advocates can respond personally and professionally.  The conference will launch a concerted and sustained global movement to do so—in collaboration with global organizations on the front line of this work.

Just being there as a pediatrician and child health professional will make a statement—to our professional societies, national governments, global organizations, and most importantly to children and families—that we care and are committed to respond in whatever ways we can.  There are few other professions that have the respect and trust imbued in us as child advocates.  And no others that can bear witness as we can to the impact of violence and armed conflict on children.

For some among us, our countries are perpetrators in the carnage being inflicted on children in many places in the world.  For others, our children and families are the victims. But for all, we are complicit unless our voices are heard, and our actions felt in response.    

It is critically important that you attend.  And, that you ensure colleagues and members from your professional societies accompany you.  

Please register at: https://partnershipforchildhealth.org/issop-registration/. 

If you cannot attend, we will look forward to your involvement in our response.

Thank-you for what you do every day for children and families, and for your expertise and leadership in fulfilling the rights of children to optimal health and well-being.

With warmest regards,

Jeff Goldhagen, M.D., MPH, FAAP

President, International Society for Social Pediatrics and Child Health

Professor and Chief, Division of Community and Societal Pediatrics

University of Florida College of Medicine—Jacksonville

Email:  Jeffrey.Goldhagen@jax.ufl.edu