The Editors of Conflict and Health, in collaboration with the Thematic Working Group on Health Systems on Fragile and Conflict-Affected States (FCAS), would like to invite authors to submit papers presenting research articles, case studies, methodologies and reviews on health systems in FCAS.

These will form a Conflict and Health special series on health systems in FCAS. The Thematic Working Group is part of Health Systems Global[1], an international membership organization dedicated to promoting health systems research and organiser of the Global Symposia on Health Systems Research. The Third Global Symposium[2] will be in Cape Town on 30 September – 3 October 2014, with a focus on ‘people centred health systems’. Authors of accepted papers are encouraged to also present their papers at a satellite session on health systems in FCAS at the Third Global Symposium in Cape Town. The special series will be concluded with an editorial including key issues addressed during the satellite session.

Topics addressed in the submitted papers may include (but are not limited to):

1. How can health systems be designed to address governance challenges in FCAS?
2. What are the consequences of health financing policies for health and poverty outcomes in fragile and conflict affected states?
3. What are the challenges and opportunities for developing an effective health workforce in countries in and emerging from crisis and conflict?
4. What are the challenges and opportunities for building gender equitable health systems in fragile and conflict affected states?
5. What is the contribution of health systems strengthening to health systems development (institutional arrangements) and state building?
6. What are the methodological challenges and innovations to researching health systems in fragile states?
7. What does ‘people centredness’ mean in the context of health systems in FCAS

Rationale

FCAS present particularly difficult contexts to achieve health system outcomes such as better health, equity, social inclusion and trust. The health situation in FCAS often remains critical – as is illustrated by FCAS not achieving a single MDG to date. It is increasingly realised that improvement in health FCAS cannot be achieved with a ‘business as usual’ approach, but needs special attention, policies and programming. This special series will aim to provide evidence on health policies and programmes that do work in fragile or conflict-affected situations.

Timeline

Authors are invited to submit a manuscript by 15^th May 2014. Authors are strongly encouraged to submit a pre-submission inquiry (including an abstract) to editorial@conflictandhealth.com as soon as possible before submitting a full paper. The expected format is described in the ‘instructions for authors’ page at the Conflict and Health website[3]. Full papers will undergo a peer review process.  The journal’s regular article-processing charges will apply. The article-processing charges may be waived for papers submitted by authors from low-income countries. In addition, we may be able to provide a few additional waivers. To apply for a waiver please request one during the submission of the full manuscript.

Accepted papers will be published on a rolling basis; placed online shortly after acceptance and then linked with the other papers accepted as part of the special series.

Editorial team for this special series:

Bayard Roberts, Co Editor-in-Chief, Conflict and Health

Suzanne Fustukian, Institute for International Health and Development, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK, Guest-Editor

Egbert Sondorp, Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), Amsterdam, Netherlands, Guest-Editor