Peacebuilding Through Health: Historical and Current Frameworks for Health-Related Peacebuilding Programs in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

Achieving peace is an essential step in promoting health, ending the devastating direct and indirect effects of conflict, and building functional health systems. Furthermore, health can be used as a tool to promote peacebuilding in conflict and post-conflict settings. Using a literature review and key informant interviews, this paper explores how health systems and health frameworks historically and currently are being used for peacebuilding. In addition, this paper highlights key lessons learned and recommendations on how health can be used as a tool to promote and sustain peacebuilding efforts, specifically for the Eastern Mediterranean Region which contains the highest prevalence of conflict in the world.