The scale of West Africa’s Ebola epidemic has been attributed to the weak health systems of affected countries,
their lack of resources, the mobility of communities and their inexperience in dealing with Ebola. This briefing for African Affairs argues that these explanations lack important contex...t. The briefing examines responses to the outbreak and offers a different set of explanations, rooted in the history of the region and the political economy of global health and development. To move past technical discussions of “weak” health systems, it highlights how structural violence has contributed to the epidemic. As part of this, local people – their beliefs, concerns and priorities – have been marginalised. Both the crisis response and post-Ebola ‘reconstruction’ will be strengthened by acknowledgment of its long term structural underpinnings and from a more collaborative inclusion of local people.
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This rapid compilation of data analyses provides a ‘stock-take’ of social science and behavioural data related to the on-going outbreak of Ebola in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces. Based on data gathered and analysed by organisations working in the Ebola response and in the region mor...e broadly, it explores convergences and divergences between datasets and, when possible, differences by geographic area, demographic group, time period and other relevant variables. Data sources are listed at the end of the document.
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Since 24 February 2022, the war in Ukraine has caused widespread suffering to its people and serious damage
to the country’s infrastructure. Attacks on the country’s health system and its power network threaten people, compromise the provision of health care, and complicate the distribution of ...essential medicines and equipment.
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Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) threatens displaced women and girls, as well as men and boys, in all regions of the world. Creating safe environments and mitigating the risk of SGBV can only be achieved by addressing gender inequality and discrimination. While the scourge of SGBV is receivin...g much more attention internationally – as illustrated by Security Council Resolutions 1820, 1888 and 1960 – preventing SGBV is a complex challenge. To assist operations in addressing this core protection concern, UNHCR is presenting the Action against Sexual- and Gender-Based Violence: An Updated Strategy. This strategy provides a structure to assist UNHCR operations in dealing with SGBV on the basis of a multi-sectoral and interagency approach. UNHCR policies and programmes have for many years helped operations to address SGBV in coordination with other actors. 80% of operations in urban settings and 93% in camp settings work with SGBV Standard Operating Procedures which strengthen cooperation between partners. Moreover, support to community-based organisations has given communities a greater sense of ownership in addressing SGBV.
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As the war in Ukraine pushes food, fuel and fertilizer prices toward record levels putting food security in many of the world’s poorest countries at risk, the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) today launched a Crisis Response Initiative to ensure that small-scale farmer...s in high-risk countries can produce food over the next few months to feed their families and communities while reducing the threat to future harvests.
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Five months after the beginning of the desert locust upsurge in the Greater Horn of Africa and Yemen, and four months since the launch of the response plan (24 January 2020) a total of USD 130 million have been mobilized in the region.
As described in the recently published Food and Agriculture Org...anization of the United Nations (FAO) quarterly report (January to April 2020), a lot has been achieved already, thanks to generous contributions from resource partners and affected governments.
But bringing a desert locust upsurge under control and mitigating its impact on livelihoods and food security requires a prolonged effort and numerous factors could influence the duration and magnitude of the problem, including the widespread presence of COVID-19.
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27 March 2020
Countrys: World and Kenya, Zambia, Ethiopia
The restrictions on movement imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic constitute one of the largest single global challenges that the humanitarian community has ever encountered. Maintaining continuity and quality in the delivery of e...ssential assistance and services, including protection services, in the face of these restrictions requires operations to quickly innovate, leveraging fully the rich capacities and established networks within both communities of persons of concern, as well as host communities.
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Sudan has a long history of hosting refugees and asylum seekers with 991,787 individuals, 51 per cent female and 53 per cent children, expected to live in Sudan by the end of 2020.
This report brings attention to achieving gender equality in the context of women, girls, and the HIV response. This six-month consultation in 2016 with adolescent women and young girls found that #WhatWomenWant is: collaboration and joint action by all to invest in women's HIV and Sexual and Reprod...uctive Health and Rights (SRHR), to be leaders and articulate the priorities of women and girls in all their diversity, and to speak to the new Political Declaration on AIDS and the SDG framework as a tool for civil society to meet their agenda to achieve gender equality in the HIV and SRHR response.
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This handbook was designed primarily as a tool for district clinical specialist teams (DCSTs), and for the provincial specialists who will guide and support their work. This handbook will also be useful to managers of health facilities, heads of clinical units and nurses, doctors and allied health w...orkers at the coalface of clinical care. This handbook will be of interest to district managers and other members of the district management team who are dedicated to developing the capacity of the district health system to respond
effectively to the health needs of the population they serve. It will help them understand the role of the DCSTs and the type of
activities they need to engage in to improve the quality of care
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Contact tracing is a key component of the COVID-19 response, particularly as societies begin to lift non-pharmaceutical interventions. However, it is a time-consuming and resource-intensive effort that depends on a trained and motivated workforce. Emergent digital contact tracing and quarantine (...DCTQ) tools offer the potential to complement and strengthen conventional contact tracing initiatives on an unprecedented scale. Despite their visibility throughout the pandemic
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This checklist has been developed to support hospital preparedness for the management of COVID-19 patients.
Elements to be assessed have been divided into the following areas:
Establishment of a core team and key internal and external contact points
Human, material and facility capacit...y
Communication and data protection
Hand hygiene, personal protective equipment (PPE), and waste management
Triage, first contact and prioritisation
Patient placement, moving of the patients in the facility, and visitor access
Environmental cleaning
For each area mentioned above, the elements or processes were identified and the items to be checked are listed below.
A procedure for the self-auditing of compliance with this checklist should be considered.
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The arrival of COVID-19 in Afghanistan has brought heartache to millions of people who are now battling a deadly pandemic while simultaneously fighting for their survival amid poverty, disaster and war. Over my three years as Humanitarian Coordinator, I have marvelled at the resilience of the people... of this country to cope with the hardships of life in the world’s deadliest conflict – but even this remarkable strength is now being tested by the health, social and economic consequences of COVID-19. The virus is spreading across the country with frightening speed. Every province is now impacted, and people are understandably frightened.
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The purpose of this Strategy is to set out the way to meet the needs of the rural populations for improved domestic water supply services, access to and use of improved sanitation with elimination of open defecation, and improved hygiene behaviour by the Year 2030. It also addresses water, sanitatio...n and hygiene in schools up to high school level and health facilities up to township hospital level. The Strategy is supported by Investment Plans covering a financing period 2015 to 2030 in order to ensure sufficient funding for development and operation of services in accordance with the Strategy.
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Accessed: 02.05.2020
These interim IPC recommendations for health settings have been developed through the contributions of many individuals and institutions, such as the Centers for Disease Control-Kenya; ITECH; US Agency for International Development (USAID) Medicines, Technologies, and Pharmaceu...tical Services (MTaPS) Program; and WHO that are committed to ensuring that the transmission of COVID-19 to HCWs and the public within the health care setting is limited. The Ministry of Health (MOH) through the Directorate of Health Standards Quality Assurance and Regulations wishes to thank all the contributing authors led by the sub-committee on case management and IPC for the COVID-19 response for their expertise and time given to writing these guidelines.
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Pakistan, one of the countries that is most vulnerable to climate change, received more than three times its usual rainfall in August 2022. Torrential rains and flash-flooding began in early July 2022, severely damaging living areas, schools and other communal buildings in refugee villages and host ...communities. Unprecedented and unrelenting rainfall and flooding in late August 2022 worsened the already fragile humanitarian situation. Nearly 1,700 people are reported to have died, and over 12,800 were injured, including at least 4,000 children
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This guidance aims to support national clusters to implement their commitments on AAP and core people-related issues both before the beginning of a response (preparedness) and thereafter, throughout the Humanitarian Programme Cycle (HPC)
To support countries in adapting their response to different COVID-19 scenarios, the World Health
Organization (WHO) Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing commissioned this scoping review of published and grey literature. The objective was to identify interventions... implemented to maintain the provision and use of essential services for MNCAAH during disruptive events and to summarize lessons learned during these interventions. The review included outbreaks of Ebola virus disease (EVD), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Zika virus disease (ZVD), the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and natural disasters and humanitarian emergencies that caused disruption to services, transport and other activities.
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Yemen remains the world’s worst humanitarian crisis with staggering levels of humanitarian need. Eighty per cent of the population – 24.1 million people – need some form of humanitarian assistance. Economic decline, restrictions on imports, shortages of foreign exchange and liquidity, and fluc...tuations in the value of the currency continues to put millions of people at risk of famine. Key assessments remain blocked, complicating efforts to adjust programmes based on the latest evidence. This makes it difficult to know with certainty whether there are large pockets of unmet needs across the country.
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UNHCR, the UN Refuge Agency, and NGO partners are launching an appeal for US$2.7 billion to address the live-saving humanitarian needs of South Sudanese refugees in 2019 and 2020.
Five years on since the onset of a brutal civil war, over 2.2 million South Sudanese refugees have sought safety in six... neighboring countries Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Central African Republic (CAR). Another 1.9 million remain internally displaced inside South Sudan
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