The context of the Ebola epidemic presented extreme challenges for Oxfam, as it did for many organisations. At the onset of the epidemic, there was a general lack of understanding of the disease and how to respond to it effectively and safely. A pervasive and persistent climate of fear, coupled with... changing predictions about the likely evolution of the epidemic, influenced analysis and response at all levels. There was strong pressure to treat the epidemic as a medical emergency requiring a medical response – organised through topdown processes – rather than standard humanitarian coordination
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The 2014–2015 Ebola epidemic in western Africa was the longest and most deadly Ebola epidemic in history, resulting in 28,616 cases and 11,310 deaths in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. The Ebola virus has been known since 1976, when two separate outbreaks were identified in the Democratic Repub...lic of Congo (then Zaire) and South Sudan (then Sudan). However, because all Ebola outbreaks prior to that in West Africa in 2014–2015 were relatively isolated and of short duration, little was known about how to best manage patients to improve survival, and there were no approved therapeutics or vaccines. When the World Heath Organization declared the 2014-2015 epidemic a public health emergency of international concern in August 2014, several teams began conducting formal clinical trials in the Ebola affected countries during the outbreak.
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The document introduces a simple classification, minimums standards and a registration form for Foreign Medical Teams (FMTs) that may provide surgical and trauma care arriving within the aftermath of a sudden onset disaster. These can serve as tools to improve the coordination of the foreign medical... team response, and be the reference for registration on arrival as well as a possible global registration mechanism similar to what exists for urban search and rescue teams
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Over 1 million people, including an estimated 450,000 children, are affected by Myanmar’s decade-long conflict and are increasingly vulnerable to gender-based violence, exploitation, abuse, detention and trafficking.
Community transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is increasing in... Myanmar. COVID-19 requires a nationwide response focusing on critical urban and vulnerable populations, such as those in overcrowded camps for internally displaced persons.
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VADEMECUM | This Vademecum is intended to provide a benchmark for aid workers—whether working in the field or at a strategic level—in particular concerning the formulation and implementation of programmes of prevention or response to humanitarian crises. It is not solely a theoretical document b...ecause, in addition to guiding principles, it also provides concrete examples of how to ensure protection of the rights of people with disabilities, including in terms of humanitarian aid. This Vademecum has been drafted in adherence to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which has been in force since 2006 and which reaffirms the importance of protecting the safety of people with disabilities in dangerous situations.
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The Ebola outbreak that started in December 2013 became a public
health, humanitarian and socioeconomic crisis with a devastating
impact on families, communities and affected countries. It also served
as a reminder that the world, including WHO, is ill-prepared for a large
and sustained disease ...outbreak.
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Update - 27 June 2018
During the reporting week, the monsoon rains brought 252 mm of rainfall compared to 95 mm during the previous week. The downpour caused 65% of the week’s weather-related incidents (i.e. landslides, wind-storms and floods). Three rain gauges were installed in Chakmarkul (...near Camp 21), Camp 16 and Kutupalong, complementing existing rain gauges in Cox’s Bazar and Teknaf, as well as the Meteorological Station installed by Samaritan Purse in Camp 12. This network of rain gauges provides localized rainfall data at regular intervals throughout the day, which will allow the humanitarian community to better monitor, anticipate and respond to developments within the camps. Relocation of families at risk of landslides and flooding continued; a total of some 200 families have already moved to Camp 20 Extension and more than 100 families to Camp Extension 4. Repair of access roads, culverts, bridges and infrastructure is ongoing with continued attention to preparing for further heavy rains.
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The Internews Humanitarian Information Services Learning Collection communicates key lessons, best practices, and programmatic methodologies used by Internews’ humanitarian teams around the world.
Each module within the Learning Collection includes three parts: Context, Case Studies, and a How-To... Guide. The Context and Case Studies are packaged separately for ease of use.
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This evaluation report of UNICEF’s Psychosocial Support Response for Syrian Children in Jordan was conducted by
Antares Foundation team (Albertien van der Veen, Reem AbuKishk, Shadi Bushnaq, Orso Muneghina, Reem Rawdha
and Tineke van Pietersom) under the supervision of guidance Farhod Kamidov, M...onitoring and Evaluation Officer
and Muhammad Rafiq Khan, Child Protection Specialist (CPiE).This is achieved through community-supported child and
adolescent friendly spaces (CFSs)1 and community-based
child protection mechanisms and processes. Currently,
in its fourth year of operation as part of the Syria crisis,
UNICEF considers it an opportune moment to take stock
of the programme’s overall effectiveness to date and in so
doing to inform its future.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has created challenges for forcibly displaced persons and the humanitarian organizations working to support them. With restrictions on movement and limited access to refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and stateless persons across the globe, UNHCR is s...upporting displaced communities to take the lead in the prevention of, and the response to, the existing and emerging protection needs of women, men, girls and boys of diverse backgrounds.
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COVID-19 pandemic has taken the entire world by surprise, creating the greatest global catastrophe since WWII, impacting all spheres of our societies, including health, economy, social protection, as well as security, and human rights. The virus affects people and communities indiscriminately in all... parts of the world, with particularly strong impact on poorer communities, especially those already suffering from the humanitarian consequences caused by conflicts, social-economic problems or disasters.
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Children living in humanitarian crises face an increased risk of abuse. While the threats of harm are increasing, the established systems in place to protect them are breaking down. Faced with the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts, vulnerable families suffer multiple hardships. Schools are closed an...d families have been pushed to the brink of poverty, sometimes having been denied the opportunity to protect and provide for their children.
The report provides an in-depth analysis of 19 Humanitarian Response Plans and Refugee Response Plans from 2019
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This one-day consultation workshop brought together both organizations of persons with disabilities (DPOs) and humanitarian actors to:-Identify priority areas for gender mainstreaming and GBV prevention and response across the Guidelines.-Collect useful resources, promising practices and other relev...ant information for gender and GBV actors to be integrated into the Guidelines.-Map opportunities for gender and GBV actors in the region to contribute to later phases of the Guidelines development and roll-out process.
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The regional Migrant Response Plan (MRP) for the Horn of Africa and Yemen includes urgent life-saving humanitarian and protection interventions to improve safe and dignified access to basic services for migrants and host communities while ensuring medium- to long-term actions aimed at addressing the... drivers of migration.
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The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the most complex and long-standing humanitarian crises in Africa. By the end of 2020, some 940,421 Congolese refugees and asylum seekers were hosted across the African continent. Ongoing conflicts in eastern DRC, as well as intercommunal violence,... continue to cause forced displacement within the DRC and into neighbouring countries, along with tragic loss of human life and destruction of communities.
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39 examples of field practices, and learnings from 20 countries, for all phases of humanitarian response. The report shows that deliberate and proactive action is required to ensure that persons with disabilities from all constituencies are systematically included and meaningfully participate in DRR... and humanitarian preparedness, response and recovery. It draws lessons from field practices, but does not provide technical guidance. The newly published IASC Guidelines are the reference document to seek in-depth theoretical and technical information.
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For humanitarian organisations to respond effectively to complex crises, they require access to up-to-date evidence-based guidance. The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the importance of updating global guidance to context-specific and evolving needs in humanitarian settings. Our study aimed to under...stand the use of evidence-based guidance in humanitarian responses during COVID-19. Primary data collected during the rapidly evolving pandemic sheds new light on evidence-use processes in humanitarian response.
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On September 10, 2022, the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced a cholera outbreak in Aleppo governorate with 15 laboratory confirmed cases reported between August 25 and September 9, 2022. Activities under this plan seek to address the immediate needs stemming from this outbreak and highlight respons...e priorities across all areas of the response and key sectors involved. This plan initially focuses on the Health, Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), and Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) responses for an initial period of 90 days. The activities detailed in this plan are also within the programmatic scope of the 2022-2023 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP).
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After five consecutive below-average rains, the humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa is expanding and deepening.
Combined with insecurity and macroeconomic volatility, the impact of the drought on food and nutrition security has been devastating. Across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, an estima...ted 22 million people are now acutely food insecure because of the drought. The malnutrition situation is also critical. Some 5.1 million children across drought-affected areas of the three countries are acutely malnourished in 2023, with dire implications for their health, growth and survival. Concerningly, the upcoming March-May 2023 rains are also forecast to be below-average. Should these rains fail, and humanitarian assistance not be delivered at scale, food insecurity will continue to deteriorate.
Regardless of how the 2023 rains perform, extremely high humanitarian needs will persist through 2023 while a full recovery from a drought of this magnitude will take years. To address the devastating drought-induced hunger and malnutrition across the region, WFP is pursuing an integrated dual track approach; meeting immediate life-saving food and nutritional needs while simultaneously building resilience to extreme climate variability.
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Medical care for people caught up in armed conflict and other insecure environments saves lives and alleviates suffering. It is one of the most immediate and high priority needs of an affected population and is often the first type of response activated and/or requested by authorities and affected c...ommunities. Medical teams working in armed conflict and other insecure environments
frequently face serious threats to their security and safety, challenges to patient access, and at times limited acceptance by affected communities in which they work and parties to the conflict. Such difficulties are likely to increase (6) and
thereby creating a critical need to establish contact and trust with all sides in conflicts and in other insecure environments to ensure operational continuity. This trust can best be achieved when all sides perceive the medical teams to be neutral, impartial, and independent, and specifically not aiding (or being perceived to aid) any one party to achieve a military, political or economic
advantage. For medical teams that are deploying increasingly closer to the frontlines, the implications of and consequences for both staff and patients of teams not being fully prepared, and/or not fully comprehending the context in which they work, can be severe. Medical response can easily be hindered or compromised by intentional or unintentional acts and the behaviour and
conduct of the teams themselves
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