A broad range of UNHCR’s key priorities overlap with MHPSS issues – for example, child protection and sexual and gender-based violence [SGBV] prevention and response.
Despite all these existent synergies, UNHCR’s current policies and guidelines do not sufficiently link with MHPSS principles.... For example, the Community Services section, which is closely aligned to the principles of MHPSS and could be well-positioned to guide the implementation of related programs, has not adopted the MHPSS language or approach.
There are opportunities for UNHCR to engage more strongly and clearly in this field. However, this requires a vision for how the organisation as a whole, and particular sectors within the organisation, will engage within the field of MHPSS activities. For a start, UNHCR can work to improve its understanding and framing of mental health and psychosocial issues, and how these issues fit within its broader mandate.
While the majority of MHPSS activities are delivered by implementing partners, UNHCR staff require familiarity with core principles in the field, such as the Intervention Pyramid contained in the IASC Guidelines, in order to support and monitor quality MHPSS activities.
more
Directions in Development
Human Development
The State of the World’s Children 2013: Children with Disabilities examines the barriers – from inaccessible buildings to dismissive attitudes, from invisibility in official statistics to vicious discrimination – that deprive children with disabilities of their rights and keep them from partic...ipating fully in society. The report also lays out some of the key elements of inclusive societies that respect and protect the rights of all children, regardless of disability, and progress in helping all children to flourish and make their contribution to the world.
more
Insecurity Insight Report 13-1.
This guideline provides global, evidence-informed recommendations on a number of specific issues related to the management of severe acute malnutrition in infants and children, including in the context of HIV.
The main aim of this assessment was to evaluate the PSS response of URCS to these VHF, against the needs of beneficiaries and communities focused on the areas of most ‘added value’ of the URCS; community engagement mobilisation and support, documenting any unintended outcomes and best practice r...elated to the operation.
more
The achievable imperative for global progress
Christian Connections for International Health (CCIH), a U.S.-
based nonprofit membership organization commissioned a
Family Planning (FP) survey of faith-based facility-based private
not-for-profit (FB-PNFP) health facilities in Uganda in 2013.
Country-wide health facilities of the Uganda Ortho...dox Church
Medical Bureau (UOMB), the Uganda Muslim Medical Bureau
(UMMB), the Uganda Catholic Medical Bureau (UCMB), and the
Uganda Protestant Medical Bureau (UPMB) were contacted by
phone and interviewed with established questions related to
family planning, contraceptive security, maternal and newborn
health.
more
This Communications Toolkit is intended to provide practical guidance and support to staff and partners who are looking to increase their communications capacity. It has been developed as a resource for project staff who work at field-level, to help them communicate responsibly, creatively, and effe...ctively about their work
more
The WHO Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI)’s new Polio Eradication and Endgame Strategic Plan targets the end of all kinds of polioviruses by 2018, including the wild and rare vaccine-related strains which cause paralysis among thousands of children worldwide. The plan is focused on develo...ping and deploying a shot version of the anti-polio vaccine to replace the current oral variant, which is known to occasionally cause the same disease that it is supposed to prevent. This document is intended for the use of individuals and organizations involved in polio eradication efforts
more
Humanitarian emergencies result in a breakdown of critical health-care services and often make vulnerable communities dependent on external agencies for care. In resource-constrained settings, this may occur against a backdrop of extreme poverty, malnutrition, insecurity, low literacy and poor infra...structure. Under these circumstances, providing food, water and shelter and limiting communicable disease outbreaks become primary concerns. Where effective and safe vaccines are available to mitigate the risk of disease outbreaks, their potential deployment is a key consideration in meeting emergency health needs. Ethical considerations are crucial when deciding on vaccine deployment. Allocation of vaccines in short supply, target groups, delivery strategies, surveillance and research during acute humanitarian emergencies all involve ethical considerations that often arise from the tension between individual and common good. The authors lay out the ethical issues that policy-makers need to bear in mind when considering the deployment of mass vaccination during humanitarian emergencies, including beneficence (duty of care and the rule of rescue), non-maleficence, autonomy and consent, and distributive and procedural justice
more
The emergency Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion (WASH) gap analysis project was funded by The Humanitarian Innovation Fund (HIF), a program managed by Enhancing Learning and Research for Humanitarian Assistance (ELRHA) in partnership with the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Per...formance in Humanitarian Action (ALNAP), and is a component of a larger initiative to identify and support innovations in emergency WASH. This paper gives an explanation of the background, methodology, and findings of the program.
more
Between 1992 and 2012, disasters caused more than 1.3 million deaths, affected more than 4.4 billion people and led to US$ 2 trillion in economic damages and losses around the world. This Disaster Risk Management Strategy explains how the Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED) anti...cipates disasters and advocates for more upstream consideration of their occurrence. There are sections on community based disaster risk management and ecosystem based disaster resilience, as well as a look to the future
more
Bulletin of the World Health Organization Volume 91, Number 4, April 2013, 237-312
Training Module on Malaria
The report offers an overview of the progress the humanitarian sector has made and the obstacles it has faced over the past 10 years. Accountability is no longer just a fashionable term, there is now a shared understanding of what it takes to be accountable. From changes at policy level, to concrete... actions taken in the field, this report documents this sector-wide shift. It also shows that being accountable to the people we aim to serve is not just the right thing to do, it is also the best way to ensure programmes are relevant, effective, efficient and sustainable
more