Vanquishing violence and vulnerability in humanitarian settings
Background paper for the joint African Union–UNAIDS (in capacity of serving
Chair of H6) high-level side event at the 73rd United Nations General Assembly,
24 September 2018, at UNHQ, Conference Room 3
Miscellaneous
Chapter J.7
This report serves the specific purpose of collating legally relevant information on conditions in countries of origin pertinent to the assessment of claims for asylum. It is not intended to be a general report on human rights conditions. The report is prepared within a specified time frame on the b...asis of publicly available documents as well as information provided by experts. All sources are cited and fully referenced.
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Tanzania is prone to refugee influxes, often of long duration. Despite facing its own economic challenges, for decades Tanzania has welcomed thousands of refugees fleeing conflicts in neighboring countries of Great Lakes Region. The counties geographic proximity to the strifetorn Congo Basin is resp...onsible in part for the ease access of displaced populations. As well Tanzania was an early signatory in the region to international agreements on the rights and welfare of refugee and asylum seekers As of December, 2018, Tanzania host some 284,300 camp-based refugees, 77% of who are children and woman, in Nduta, Nyarugusu and Mtendeli Refugee Camps in Kigoma region in Northwest Tanzania. About 74% are from Burundi, and the remaining 26% are primarily from Democratic republic of Congo.
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The adoption and the entry into force of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol challenge such attitudes and mark a profound shift in existing approaches towards disability.
Assessment of the quality of institutional care for adults with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities in the WHO European Region.
The specific objectives of the project were to address gaps in knowledge about the number and characteristics of such long-term institutions and to identify deficie...ncies in current care standards through the lens of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This publication examines and rates the quality of care and protection of human rights in selected institutions in over 20 countries in the Region using the WHO QualityRights toolkit. It identifies steps to take to continue progress toward deinstitutionalization and to ensure respect for the rights of people with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities.
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Growing evidence indicates that large proportions of children around the world experience physical, sexual and emotional violence every year, with enormous implications for human rights, public health and economic and social development.1 Over the last five years, national governments and Together f...or Girls – a global public-private partnership comprising UNICEF,
other United Nations (UN) agencies, the United States (US) Government and various private sector agencies – have worked to mobilize and sustain a global movement to end violence against children, with a focus on sexual violence against girls.
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The education sector forms an important part of the child protection response in refugee settings, and UNHCR’s Education Strategy (2012-16) reflects a focus on refugee education as a core component of UNHCR’s protection mandate. The right to education for all children also forms part of the Unit...ed Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. UNHCR’s Education Strategy promotes the importance of schools as safe learning environments, emphasises improving access to quality education for refugee children and maximises the protective benefits of participation in school. It advocates for the integration of refugee children into national education systems.
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In recognition that Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is not only a harmful practice but a violation of human rights, Kenya has adopted a robust legal framework. The country has ratified several international legal instruments that have become part of the Kenyan law as provided for in Article 2 of the... constitution.
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The right to adequate housing, despite having been recognized by multiple international instruments, continues to be a human right that is consistently violated. Around 2O% of the world's population do not have adequate housing . In Latin America, informal settlements generally lack the conditions r...equired to live a decent life, and local and national public policies fail to radically transform this situation.
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The world is facing an unprecedented range of emergencies. In reaction to these complex adversities, many people experience considerable distress and impairment, and a minority may even go on to develop mental health conditions. Meanwhile, those with pre-existing mental health conditions may experie...nce a worsening of their condition and are at risk of neglect, abandonment, abuse and lack of access to support. Unfortunately, evidence-based mental health care is often extremely limited in humanitarian settings. In response, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) published the Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) Humanitarian Intervention Guide (mhGAP-HIG) in 2015. This practical tool supports health-care providers in assessing and offering first-line management of mental, neurological and substance use (MNS) conditions in humanitarian emergency settings.
2 December 2021. The current report, Stories of change from four countries: Building capacity for integrating mental health care within health services across humanitarian settings, describes efforts in four countries to build evidence-based mental health systems in humanitarian emergency settings using the mhGAP-HIG. This report includes three sections, the first describing the importance of scaling up mental health care in emergency contexts, the second outlining case studies (“stories of change”) to scale up the Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) programme in four settings and the third describing lessons learned by stakeholders.
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In the region, it is estimated that there are over 650 million persons with disabilities. However, without accurate, timely and disaggregated data, countries are unable to develop effective policies and programmes, monitor the wellbeing of persons with disabilities and evaluate the equity and impact... of development efforts. This endangers country commitments to ‘leave no one behind’ and undermines their obligations to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
This groundbreaking report demonstrates the importance of ensuring data is inclusive and provides recommendations for immediate action in order to improve the collection, analysis and reporting of disability data. We hope this report will be used as a tool for future advocacy and ultimately better data for all.
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By almost any measure, human health is better now than at any time in history. Life expectancy has soared from 47 years in 1950–1955, to 69 years in 2005–2010, and death rates in children younger than 5 years of age have decreased substantially, from 214 per thousand live births in 1950–1955, ...to 59 in 2005–2010. But these gains in human health have come at a high price: the degradation of nature’s ecological systems on a scale never seen in human history. A growing body of evidence shows that the health of humanity is intrinsically linked to the health of the environment, but by its actions humanity now threatens to destabilise the Earth’s key life-support systems.
As a Commission, we conclude that the continuing degradation of natural systems threatens to reverse the health gains seen over the last century. In short, we have mortgaged the health of future generations to realise economic and development gains in the present.
Despite present limitations, the Sustainable Development Goals provide a great opportunity to integrate health and sustainability through the judicious selection of relevant indicators relevant to human wellbeing, the enabling infrastructure for development, and the supporting natural systems, together with the need for strong governance.
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Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that usually affects the lungs, though it can affect any organ in the body. It can develop when bacteria spread through droplets in the air. TB can be fatal, but in many cases, TB is preventable and treatable. This report examines the human rights impact of... the prevalence of Tuberculosis (TB) and Multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) among the Indigenous San peoples of Namibia. Combining political economy and root-cause methodology, the report explores the socioeconomic factors that make the San vulnerable to TB and limit their access to adequate health services.
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Building on our decades of commitment to human rights in medicine and healthcare, we have published a new report on emerging threats in health-related human rights both globally and in the UK.
'Health and human rights in the new world (dis)order' outlines a shifting rights landscape in which new ...technologies, environmental change and geopolitical reconfigurations are putting renewed and at times intense stress on human rights, both in medicine and healthcare more broadly.
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The main purpose of the meeting was to review tsetse control tools, activities and their contribution to the elimination of gHAT and the monitoring thereof. Seven endemic countries provided reports on recent and ongoing vector control interventions at the national level (Angola, Cameroon, Côte d’...Ivoire, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea and Uganda). Country reports focused on the in situations implementing and supporting vector control activities, the tools and the approaches in use, the coverage of the activities in space and time and their impacts on tsetse populations. Future perspectives for vector control in the respective countries were also discussed, including opportunities and challenges to sustainability.
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An estimated 1.3 billion people – or 16% of global population worldwide – experience a significant disability today. Persons with disabilities have the right to the highest attainable standard of health as those without disabilities. However, the WHO Global report on health equity for persons w...ith disabilities demonstrates that while some progress has been made in recent years, the world is still far from realizing this right for many persons with disabilities who continue to die earlier, have poorer health, and experience more limitations in everyday functioning than others. These poor health outcomes are due to unfair conditions faced by persons with disabilities in all facets of life, including in the health system itself. Countries have an obligation under international human rights law to address the health inequities faced by persons with disabilities. Furthermore, the Sustainable Development Goals and global health priorities will not progress without ensuring health for all.
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At the end of 2023, an estimated 117.3 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and events seriously disturbing the public order. The latest Global Trends report, published in June 2024, provides key statistical trends on forc...ed displacement. It includes the latest official statistics on refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced and stateless people, as well as the number of refugees who have returned home
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