The National Strategic Plan 2009-2012 on HIV and AIDS (NSP) is the result of more than a year of preparatory work, starting with the development of Rwanda's Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS) 2008-2012, which sets out the overarching goals for the response to HIV and AIDS as... well as reaffirming Rwanda's commitment to a multi-sector response. In addition, a wide range of analyses carried out in 2007 and 2008 have helped to ensure that the NSP is based on the most up to date understanding of the epidemic, that the strategies are based on evidence of what works in Rwanda and elsewhere, and that the strengths and weaknesses of the systems and mechanisms for responding to HIV and AIDS are addressed through the NSP.
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The Terre des hommes Child Protection Psychosocial Training Manual has been developed for use in the field
in order to train animators who work with children and other child protection programme staff. It has
been written in response to the needs which exist in Terre des hommes child protection pr...ogrammes,
and should be used as a practical tool alongside the Child Protection: Manual for Intervention in Humanitarian
Crisis, previously produced by Terre des hommes.
The modules in this manual have been grouped according to the following categories:
• Level 1: Facilitating a training
• Level 2: Basic concepts for intervention
• Level 3: Animator’s competencies
Each module is laid out under the following headings:
• What is it?
• Why is it useful?
• How can I use it?
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In the following you can find 51 Planning tools for Mental Health and Psychosocial support in disasters, that have been derived from an anylsis of 282 Psychosocial Mental Health guidelines and 678 Tools. The single planning tools are structured according to the most relevant topics and can be used i...ndividually.
The purpose of the Action Sheets
Each Action Sheet is a planning tool in itself that can be used individually
Each Action Sheet is an entrypoint into the main recommendations for this specific topic and gives information on further readings, tools and practice examples.
Each Action Sheet gives advice on how to plan and enhance quality in the selected area and topic.
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The project was developed by the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA), in line with the Federation’s statement “a world in which students are equipped with knowledge, skills and value to take on health leadership roles locally and globally so to... shape a sustainable future”. This was supported by an ongoing and vital engagement from the World Health Organization (WHO) and their work the United Nations Alliance on Climate Change Education, Training and Public Awareness. The overall objective was to create a “all in one” type of resource to bring together climate change, health and youth advocacy.
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The preparedness strengthening team deployed to Ghana focused on specific objectives in order to assist the country in becoming as operationally prepared as possible to detect, investigate and report potential EVD cases effectively and safely and to mount an effective response to prevent a larger o...utbreak. To accomplish this goal, the team conducted “scoping” activities, stakeholder meetings, site visits and a “table-top” simulation exercise to determine what systems were in place and what aspects of preparedness could be strengthened.
It is organized in 10 components of the WHO consolidated checklist for EVD preparedness: 1) planning and coordination; 2) epidemiological and laboratory surveillance; 3) rapid response teams; 4) contact tracing; 5) points of entry; 6) laboratory; 7) case management; 8) infection prevention and control; 9) social mobilization and risk communication; 10) budget.
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The Monitoring Report, which covers the first two months of the response from 25 August to 31 October, highlights the work of the Government of Bangladesh, in cooperation with humanitarian partners who are working to provide relief services for the refugee population and Bangladeshi host communities.... Of the 1.2 million people in need, around half have been reached with assistance. The Report also explains the challenges and gaps that remain. The risk of disease outbreak is high, and the impact of a cyclone or heavy rain would be massive. There is not enough land to provide adequate living conditions for the more than 830,000 refugees that now crowd Cox’s Bazar.
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As part of a wider organisational undertaking to better capture and communicate the effectiveness of its work, Oxfam developed an evaluative method to assess the quality of targeted humanitarian responses. This method uses a global humanitarian indicator tool which is intended to enable Oxfam GB to ...estimate how many disaster-affected men and women globally have received humanitarian aid that meets establishes standards for excellence. This method was used after the independence of South Sudan, which was followed by political tensions with its neighbour on issues unresolved from the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which include border demarcation, wealth-sharing and the fate of the disputed territory of Abyei.
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In April and May 2015, Nepal was hit by two major earthquakes killing around 9,000 people and leaving many thousands more injured and homeless.
To optimize the speed and volume of critical humanitarian assistance, the HCT has developed this Plan to:
1. Reach a common understanding of earth...quake risk to ensure early action is taken when required.
2. Establish a minimum level of earthquake preparedness across clusters.
3. Build the basis for a joint HCT response strategy to meet the needs of affected people in the first 6 weeks to 3 months of a response.
4. Define considerations for detailed contingency planning on the basis of the worst-case scenario, especially around access and logistics.
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Manual Logistical Management of Humanitarian Supply
The flood of relief supplies that arrive in the aftermath of large-scale disasters often poses serious logistic and management problems for national authorities. SUMA is a tool for the management of humanitarian relief supplies, from the time pled...ges are made by donors, to their entry into the disaster area and their storage and distribution.
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The ERP approach seeks to improve effectiveness by reducing both time and effort, enhancing predictability through establishing predefined roles, responsibilities and coordination mechanisms. The Emergency Response Preparedness Plan (ERPP) has four main components: i) Risk Assessment, ii) Minimum Pr...eparedness Actions, iii) Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), and iv) Contingency Plans for the initial emergency response. Besides these four elements, the preparedness package also includes the updated Multi-Sector Initial Rapid Assessment (MIRA) methodology, the Scenario Plan for a cyclone in Ayeyawaddy as well as the key documents for cash transfer programming in new emergencies.
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Crisis Group’s Watch List identifies ten countries or regions at risk of deadly conflict or escalation thereof in 2021. In these places, early action, driven or supported by the EU and its member states, could enhance prospects for peace and stability.
Crisis Group’s early-warning Watch List id...entifies up to ten countries and regions at risk of conflict or escalation of violence. In these situations, early action, driven or supported by the EU and its member states, could generate stronger prospects for peace. The Watch List 2021 includes an Introduction, detailed conflict analyses and EU-targeted recommendations on Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Iran & the Gulf, Libya, Mexico & Central America, Nagorno-Karabakh, Somalia, Thailand and Venezuela.
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With about 24 million of Yemen’s 30 million people in need of some form of assistance, the United Nations calls Yemen the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Cholera and other disease outbreaks are common, malnutrition is widespread, water is scarce, and the healthcare system is crumbling, with o...nly half of the country’s 5,000 or so health facilities fully operational and with massive medical supply and staff shortages. In August 2020, the UN warned the country was again on the brink of full-scale famine.
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The discourse on climate change and migration has shifted from labelling migration merely as a consequence of climate impacts, to describing it as a form of human adaptation. This article explores the adaptation framing of the climate change and migration nexus and highlights its shortcomings and ad...vantages. While for some groups, under certain circumstances migration can be an effective form of adaptation, for others it leads to increased vulnerabilities and a poverty spiral, reducing their adaptive apacities. Non-economic losses connected to a change of place further challenge the notion of successful adaptation. Even when migration improves the situation of a household, it may conceal the lack of action on climate change adaptation from national governments or the international community. Given the growing body of evidence on the diverse circumstances and outcomes of migration
in the context of climate change, we distinguish between reactive and proactive migration and argue for a precise differentiation in the academic debate
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Climate change and health vulnerability and adaptation assessment
In 2013 the World Health Organization (WHO) published the report Protecting health from climate change:
vulnerability and adaptation assessment. The aim was to provide basic and flexible guidance on conducting national or subnati...onal assessments of current and future vulnerability (the susceptibility of a population or region to harm) to the health risks of climate change, and of policies and programmes that could increase resilience, taking into account the multiple determinants of climate-sensitive health outcomes.
That guidance has been a very useful tool, applied to more than 50 countries and settings, and has helped countries to prepare their health contributions to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change national adaptation plans.
Since the launch of the guidance, WHO, technical partners such as Health Canada, and countries have learned much in terms of its applicability in different countries, at national and local levels.
At the same time, knowledge on climate change and health has increased.
WHO, the Pan American Health Organization and Health Canada have produced this updated version, which aims to better support countries in their assessments by proposing a simpler tool that incorporates all lessons learned.
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In 2015, 26% of the deaths of 5.9 million children who died before reaching their fifth birthday could have been prevented
through addressing environmental risks – a shocking missed opportunity. The prenatal and early childhood period represents
a window of particular vulnerability, where enviro...nmental hazards can lead to premature birth and other complications,
and increase lifelong disease risk including for respiratory disorders, cardiovascular disease and cancers. The environment
thus represents a major factor in children’s health, as well as a major opportunity for improvement, with effects seen in every
region of the world.
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In 2013 the World Health Organization (WHO) published the report Protecting health from climate change:vulnerability and adaptation assessment. The aim was to provide basic and flexible guidance on conducting national or subnational assessments of current and future vulnerability (the susceptibilit...y of a population or region to harm) to the health risks of climate change, and of policies and programmes that could increase resilience, taking into account the multiple determinants of climate-sensitive health outcomes.
That guidance has been a very useful tool, applied to more than 50 countries and settings, and has helped countries to prepare their health contributions to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change national adaptation plans.
Since the launch of the guidance, WHO, technical partners such as Health Canada, and countries have learned much in terms of its applicability in different countries, at national and local levels.
At the same time, knowledge on climate change and health has increased.
WHO, the Pan American Health Organization and Health Canada have produced this updated version, which aims to better support countries in their assessments by proposing a simpler tool that incorporates
all lessons learned.
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Climate Smart Agriculture provides an excellent opportunity for the transformation by uniting agriculture, development and climate change under a common agenda through integrating the three dimensions of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental) by jointly addressing food security... and climate challenge
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WHO needs US$2.54 billion to provide life-saving assistance to millions of people around the world facing health emergencies. WHO’s Health Emergency Appeal is a consolidation of WHO’s priorities and financial requirements for 2023 to carry out health interventions in emergency and humanitarian r...esponses. The number of people in need of humanitarian relief has increased by almost a quarter compared to 2022, to a record 339 million. WHO is responding to an unprecedented number of intersecting health emergencies: climate change-related disasters such as flooding in Pakistan and food insecurity across the Sahel in the greater Horn of Africa; the war in Ukraine; and the health impact of conflict in Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria and north eastern Ethiopia – all of these emergencies overlapping with the health system disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and outbreaks of measles, cholera, and other killers. Contributions to the appeal can be fully flexible, flexible across a region, or flexible within a country appeal.
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Cholera which disproportionally impacts poor countries and the most vulnerable continues to affect at least 47 countries across the globe, resulting in an estimated 1.3 – 4 million cases, and 21,000 - 143,000 deaths per year worldwide. In Ethiopia, despite major improvements seen in the increasing... access to healthcare, clean water, and improvement in maternal and child health, the country continues to be significantly affected by cholera outbreaks. From 2015 – 2021 for example, several outbreaks of cholera have occurred in multiple parts of the country resulting in over 105,000 cases and thousands of deaths. Some of the risk factors associated with cholera in Ethiopia include inadequate access to clean water, practice of open defecation, poor household and environmental sanitation, unhygienic latrine and weak sanitation practise among communities.
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WHO today released its first roadmap to tackle postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) – defined as excessive bleeding after childbirth - which affects millions of women annually and is the world’s leading cause of maternal deaths.
Despite being preventable and treatable, PPH results in around 70 000 de...aths every year. For those who survive, it can cause disabilities and psychological trauma that last for years.
“Severe bleeding in childbirth is one of the most common causes of maternal mortality, yet it is highly preventable and treatable,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “This new roadmap charts a path forward to a world in which more women have a safe birth and a healthy future with their families.”
The Roadmap aims to help countries address stark differences in survival outcomes from PPH, which reflect major inequities in access to essential health services. Over 85% of deaths from PPH happen in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Risk factors include anaemia, placental abnormalities, and other complications in pregnancy such as infections and pre-eclampsia.
Many risk factors can be managed if there is quality antenatal care, including access to ultrasound, alongside effective monitoring in the hours after birth. If bleeding starts, it also needs to be detected and treated extremely quickly. Too often, however, health facilities lack necessary healthcare workers or resources, including lifesaving commodities such as oxytocin, tranexamic acid or blood for transfusions.
“Addressing postpartum haemorrhage needs a multipronged approach focusing on both prevention and response - preventing risk factors and providing immediate access to treatments when needed - alongside broader efforts to strengthen women’s rights,” said Dr Pascale Allotey, WHO Director for Sexual and Reproductive Health and HRP, the UN’s special programme on research development and training in human reproduction. “Every woman, no matter where she lives, should have access to timely, high quality maternity care, with trained health workers, essential equipment and shelves stocked with appropriate and effective commodities – this is crucial for treating postpartum bleeding and reducing maternal deaths.”
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