National suicide prevention strategy for Afghanistan (NSPS)

RESUMO: Do suicídio no Afeganistão é uma prioridade de saúde pública. O Afeganistão é um país de baixo rendimento, emergindo de três décadas de conflitos. Há uma alta prevalência de sofrimento psicológico, perturbações mentais e abuso de substâncias. Existem várias questões sociais, tais como, desequilíbrio/violência de género, pobreza, atitudes e costumes obsoletos, rápidas mudanças sócio-culturais, violação dos direitos humanos e especialmente dos direitos das mulheres e das crianças. Estes fatores de risco contribuem para o aumento da vulnerabilidade da população em relação ao suicídio. A relativa alta taxa de suicídio no Afeganistão é especialmente significativa comparada com as taxas baixas em todos os países islâmicos. Os estudos mostraram predominância de suicídio nas mulheres (95%) e em pessoas jovens. Existe, por isso, uma necessidade urgente do país ter uma estratégia de prevenção do suicídio. A estratégia foi desenvolvida pela criação de um grupo técnico/ de assessoria multi-sectorial de diferentes intervenientes tais como governo, ONGs, agências doadoras, as famílias das vítimas e outraas partes interessadas. A estratégia baseia-se os seguintes valores chave:, respeito pelas diversidades; sensibilidade para as questões sócio-cultura-religiosa e de género; promoção da dignidade da sociedade; respeito pelos direitos humanoss.. Os 'seis pontos estratégicos' são: envolvimento das principais partes interessadas e criação de colaboração intersectorial coordenada; fornecimento de cuidados às pessoas que fazem tentativas de suicídio e às suas famílias; melhoria dos serviços para pessoas com doença mental e problemas psicossociais; promover uma comunicação e imagem adequada dos comportamentos suicidas, pelos meios de comunicação; reduzir o acesso aos meios de suicídio e coligir informação sobre as taxas de suicídio, os fatores de risco, os fatores protetores e as intervenções eficazes. A estratégia nacional de prevenção do suicídio será inicialmente implementada por 5 anos, com uma avaliação anual do plano de acção para entender os seus pontos fortes e limitações. Recomendações e sugestões serão incorporadas nos próxima planos anuais para uma intervenção eficaz. Um sistema de monitorização irá medir o progresso na implementação da estratégia.-----------------------------ABSTRACT: Suicide in Afghanistan is a public health priority. Afghanistan is a low-income country, emerging from three decades of conflicts. There is high prevalence of mental distress, mental disorders and substance abuse. There are multiple social issues, such as gender imbalance/violence, poverty, obsolete attitudes and customs, rapid social-cultural changes, human right violations, and especially women and children rights. These risk factors contribute to increase the vulnerability of the population for suicide. The relative high rate of suicide in Afghanistan is especially significant as the rates are low in all Islamic countries. Research studies have shown predominance of suicide in women (95%) and in young age people. There is an urgent need for the country to have a suicide prevention strategy. The strategy has been developed by establishing a multi-sectoral technical/advisory group of different stakeholders from government, NGOs, donor agencies, victim’s families, and interested parties. The strategy is based on the following key values, namely, respect for diversities; sensitiveness to socio-culture-religious and gender issues; promotion of the society dignity and respect for the human rights of people. The six ‘Strategic directions’ are: involving key stakeholders and creating coordinated inter-sectoral collaboration; providing after care for people making a suicide attempt and their families; improving services for people with mental disorders and psycho-social problems; promoting the safe reporting and image of suicidal behaviour by media; reducing access to the means of suicide and gathering information about suicide rates, risk factor, protective factors and effective interventions. The National Suicide Prevention Strategy will be initially implemented for 5 years, with an annual evaluation of the action plan to understand the strengths and limitations. Recommendations and suggestions will be incorporated into the next annual plans for effective intervention. A monitoring framework will measure progress in implementing the strategy.

Modern piracy

A definição de pirataria ou a desmistificação da sua origem, no tempo e espaço, revela maiores dificuldades do que atualmente. Com este trabalho propusemo-nos a estudar como é que a pirataria era perpetrada e entendida no passado, bem como no presente. Também nos propomos a identificar limitações legais e as medidas operativas no combate à pirataria, como por exemplo: limites conceptuais, lacunas, estratégias, entre outros. Por outro lado, atendemos as soluções encontradas no combate à pirataria sem deixar de observar fraqueza da lei e conflitos entre jurisdições. Por fim, o curso da história dá-nos a seguinte percepção: a pirataria era tida como crime se fosse contra os interesses das nações. O desinteresse dos Estados para reprimir a pirataria possibilitou o seu aumento, proliferação, domínio e sofisticação em certas regiões do Mundo. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo trazer para o centro da discussão os direitos humanos numa perspetiva tripla: proibição da pirataria, supressão e raízes, aliando o estudo de possíveis respostas a dar a esta epidemia.

Surrogacy in Portugal

Surrogacy is the arrangement made by at least three people, in order for a surrogate or gestational mother to carry a pregnancy for the two intended parents, with the objective of the former party relinquishing all rights to the child, once the child is born. As it has only been in recent years that that same reproductive method has begun to be commonly accepted due to certain modern scientific developments that thus diminished ethical and moral negative stances, there is still an unsettling legal void (both at a national and international level) in regards to such subsidiary form of reproduction. As such, some countries have not only left their citizens with no choice but to travel abroad in order to enter a surrogacy arrangement (leading to private international law issues on establishing parenthood and nationality of the born child) or to resort to surrogacy within black market conditions. Unfortunately, one of those countries is Portugal as it has been considered, both by its political parties and experts in the area, and by its citizens as not dealing adequately with such theme and thus being poorly equipped to deal with surrogacy, at both a legal and social level. The present paper attempts to analyse Portugal’s current legal perspective by looking at the present efforts being made to contradict the current situation, and thus outline altruistic gestational surrogacy’s tangible future within such nation. In order to also become aware of possible improvements specifically regarding to the full protection of human rights and human dignity as a whole, the United Kingdom’s legal standpoint in relation to surrogacy was also studied. Via direct comparison of both social and legal perspectives, a new approach to altruistic surrogacy is thus proposed with view to suggest a harmonious solution for countries that have at least recognized that the present issue deserves to be duly noticed and that altruistic gestational surrogacy may exist in order to grant protection of human dignity and not to place it in check.

Cidadania pós-nacional

In the midst of changes of the world political order fostered mainly by the very debated phenomenon of globalization, the nation-state is confronted with new paradigms regarding their identification with society. Citizenship, as was defined up to the latter decades of the last century, rooted in nationalist ideals that tend to condition it full exercise on exclusionary policies oriented criteria, is not consistent with the human needs of present days. One can observe, mainly in Europe with the establishment of European citizenship, certain propensity towards a relative detachment between nationality and citizenship. It is expected with the present research to expose some of the arguments invoked by those who defend the possibility of a post-national conception of citizenship, i.e., decoupled from the concept of nationality and national boundaries, in order to develop a grounding for a necessary re-articulation of this institute. This assumption is based mainly on the movement of universal human rights and the revaluation of human dignity, especially through participatory policies on citizenship and respect for ethnic and cultural diversity.