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
Humanitarian crises can affect women, men, girls and boys in radically different ways. To address the different impacts of conflict and disasters on each group and promote the potential for positive transformation of gender norms, Oxfam calls for humanitarian agencies to analyse, plan, and respond t...o crises in ways that address practical gender needs and promote women’s rights. Oxfam is committed to promoting gender equality and preventing gender-based violence, through the implementation of its Minimum Standards for Gender in Emergencies. In addition, the promotion of gender equality must be central to the broader efforts to protect civilians and manage and prevent conflict and armed violence.
more
Guidelines.
The guidelines set out essential actions that humanitarian actors must take in order to effectively identify and respond to the needs and rights of persons with disabilities who are most at risk of being left behind in humanitarian settings.
The recommended actions in each chapter pl...ace persons with disabilities at the centre of humanitarian action, both as actors and as members of affected populations. They are specific to persons with disabilities and to the context of humanitarian action and build on existing and more general standards and guidelines.
These are the first humanitarian guidelines to be developed with and by persons with disabilities and their representative organizations in association with traditional humanitarian stakeholders. Based on the outcomes of a comprehensive global and regional multi-stakeholder consultation process, they are designed to promote the implementation of quality humanitarian programmes in all contexts and across all regions, and to establish and increase both the inclusion of persons with disabilities and their meaningful participation in all decisions that concern them.
more
This module has been developed to provide training and guidance to improve the quality of care and human rights conditions in inpatient, outpatient and community based mental health and related services, following the conduct of a comprehensive assessment using the WHO QualityRights assessment toolk...it.
more
Looking forward, the 2019-2020 Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRRP) for the DRC situation aims at addressing the needs of new arrivals of Congolese refugees in the region, and those in protracted situations. By supporting livelihoods opportunities and through a resilience-based approach, refugees w...ill be able to contribute to the development of their host countries, and of their country of origin upon their return. Given the limited capacity of host communities to support the impact of massive numbers of refugees, the response strategy will also address the needs of local populations, strengthening peaceful co-existence and building social cohesion.
more
Botswana CPD.
The 6th Government of Botswana/UNFPA Country Programme (2017-2021) is focusing on a transformative development agenda that is universal, inclusive, human rights-based, integrated and anchored in the principle of equality and leaving no one behind, while reaching the furthest left beh...ind first. The country programme will contribute directly to the three outcomes of the United Nations Sustainable Development Framework (2017-2021).
more
Alcohol contributes significantly to the disease and mortality burden in the WHO European Region, and primary health care systems play an important role in reducing the impact of harmful alcohol use. Screening and brief interventions (SBIs) for alcohol are an evidence-informed approach to addressing... the needs of the many patients presenting in primary care who may benefit from reducing their alcohol consumption. This manual provides information to plan training and support for primary care practitioners to confidently deliver SBI for alcohol problems to their patients. The manual outlines the background and evidence base for SBI, and gives practical advice on establishing an implementation programme as well as detailed educational materials to develop the knowledge and skills of participants in organized training sessions.
more
All young people, including those with special needs and from the most vulnerable groups, have the right to quality health care services. Unfortunately, this right is not a reality, particularly in the case of sexual and reproductive health services. Many youth in need of sexual and reproductive hea...lth care may either decline or be denied access to health services for a variety of reasons: Providers are often biased and do not feel comfortable serving youth who are sexually active; youth do not feel comfortable accessing existing services because they are not "youth-friendly" and may not meet their needs; and, often, community members do not feel that youth should have access to sexual and reproductive health services.
To address provider and site bias toward serving youth, EngenderHealth created a training curriculum intended to sensitize all staff at a health care facility on the provision of youth-friendly services. The curriculum was created as a result of the participatory work that we have been doing with youth in Nepal to address the needs of all levels of providers at different service-delivery settings. The curriculum has been field-tested and used in Nepal, Russia, Mongolia, and the United States.
Youth-Friendly Services allows staff to reflect upon and assess their own beliefs about adolescent sexuality while ensuring that those values and attitudes do not compromise the basic sexual and reproductive health rights to which youth are entitled. The curriculum also helps providers understand cross-cultural principles of adolescent development and health needs specific to youth. Once participant knowledge, attitudes, and skills are improved, sites conduct a self-assessment on the youth-friendliness of their services and create an action plan for specific improvements.
more
he WHO global disability action plan 2014-2021 is a significant step towards achieving health and well-being and human rights for people with disabilities. The action plan was endorsed by WHO Member States in 2014 and calls for them to remove barriers and improve access to health services and progra...mmes; strengthen and extend rehabilitation, assistive devices and support services, and community-based rehabilitation; and enhance collection of relevant and internationally comparable data on disability, and research on disability and related services. Achieving the objectives of the action plan better enables people with disabilities to fulfil their aspirations in all aspects of life.
more
2nd edition. Known as “Community Case Management of Sick Children” (CCM), this approach sends community-based health workers out to find, diagnose, and successfully treat sick children, in partnership with their families. Inspired by the classic “Immunization Essentials”, this guide methodic...ally documents what is known about CCM and how to make it work. First, health program managers are introduced to the basics. Then, CCM Essentials walks its readers through the process of designing and managing a high-quality CCM program. The ultimate result: lives of newborns, infants and children saved around the world
more
A field guide for accelerating and sustaining open defecation free communities through a Community-Led Total Sanitation approach
Follow-up MANDONA (FUM) is an action-oriented approach for accelerating community-wide sanitation and hygiene behaviour change following the initial triggering session. D...irectly based on Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) principles, FUM involves a series of participatory, facilitated sessions that brings the entire community together to analyze their sanitation situation
and collectively undertake small, immediate and doable actions to end open defecation (OD) in the shortest time possible
more
Burkina Faso remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with 44.5% of the population living below the poverty line. To promote the rights of persons with disabilities, the country has adopted almost all of the relevant initiatives and international legal texts on the rights of persons with d...isabilities including the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) that was ratified in 2009. The country has also adopted a National Strategy for the Protection and Promotion of Persons with Disabilities (SN-3PH, 2012), based on, amongst other approaches, Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR), promoted by the WHO and LIGHT FOR THE WORLD. Following on from the 2011-2015 country strategy that enabled LIGHT FOR THE WORLD to contribute strongly to the national dialogue on disability, the present strategy 2016-2020 aims to strengthen our achievements in order to work towards an inclusive society in which persons with disabilities fully enjoy their rights.
more
This manual presents a compelling case for action on carbapenem-resistant organisms (CROs) and describes the linkages between the prevention and control of CROs and the Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). It describes how the eight recommendations contained within the World Health ...Organization (WHO) guidelines for the prevention and control of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in health care facilities relate to general measures (that is, the core components of infection prevention and control [IPC] programmes) that need to be in place in all countries and health care facilities to prevent and control health care-associated infections (HAIs). The use of a stepwise approach is proposed to support implementation and improvement, based on the evidence and experience of what has worked in several health care settings worldwide. The focus is on adoptable and adaptable information.
more
This report is part of the gender and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) initiative launched by the WHO Regional Office for Europe, which aims to strengthen the response to NCDs through a gender approach. It is part of a series of country profiles and a synthesis report. The country profile of Ukraine ...presents a gender analysis of the WHO STEPwise survey (STEPS) data to support international commitments to reducing the burden of NCDs with evidence and knowledge exchange. A gender analysis of STEPS NCD risk-factor survey data describes how risk factors for chronic diseases differ between and among men and women by exploring and tracking the direction and magnitude of trends in risk factors and accessing services by sociodemographic variables. Important differences hide even in sex-disaggregated data that need to be unpacked through sociodemographic characteristics, because men and women are not homogenous groups. The report also recognizes gaps in evidence and calls for further analysis of the impact of gender-based inequalities.
more
his sequel to the Groundswell report includes projections and analysis of internal climate migration for three new regions: East Asia and the Pacific, North Africa, and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Qualitative analyses of climate-related mobility in countries of the Mashreq and in Small Island D...eveloping States (SIDS) are also provided. This new report builds on the scenario-based modeling approach of the previous Groundswell report from 2018, which covered Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America. The two reports’ combined findings provide, for the first time, a global picture of the potential scale of internal climate migration across the six regions, allowing for a better understanding of how slow-onset climate change impacts, population dynamics, and development contexts shape mobility trends.
Available in English, French, Arabic, Spanish
more
Tuberculosis continues to represent a severe public health problem in the Region of the Americas, even more so in the case of indigenous peoples, whose TB incidence is much higher than that of the general population. To achieve tuberculosis control in these communities, it is necessary to respond t...o communities’ diverse needs from an intercultural perspective that allows the application of a holistic approach—from a standpoint of equality and mutual respect—and considers the value of their cultural practices. In the Region of the Americas, although there has been progress toward recognizing the need for an intercultural approach to health services, obstacles rooted in discrimination, racism, and the exclusion of indigenous peoples and other ethnic groups persist. To respond to this situation, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) prepared this guidance which––based on an intercultural approach in accordance with the priority lines of the current PAHO Policy on Ethnicity and Health and its practical development in the Region’s indigenous populations––represent a support tool for implementing the End TB Strategy. This publication integrates PAHO’s accumulated experience and best practices developed by its Member States in recent years, including discussions and experiences shared in regional meetings on the issue, and emphasizes innovation and social inclusion. This requires an urgent shift away from traditional paradigms, taking specific actions that gradually reduce TB incidence and moving toward effective multisectoral actions that have proven effective in quickly containing the epidemic. This publication integrates PAHO’s accumulated experience and best practices developed by its Member States in recent years, including discussions and experiences shared in regional meetings on the issue, and emphasizes innovation and social inclusion. This requires an urgent shift away from traditional paradigms, taking specific actions that gradually reduce TB incidence and moving toward effective multisectoral actions that have proven effective in quickly containing the epidemic.
more
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a threat to global health and development and it contributes to millions of deaths worldwide each year. Inappropriate use and overuse of antibiotics are driving an increase in AMR and have a detrimental impact on the effectiveness of these critical medicines. Throug...h the Global Action Plan on AMR, WHO is working to improve the surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and reduce inappropriate antibiotic consumption.
There is a recognized need for high-quality resources to improve antibiotic prescribing globally. To address this need, a pragmatic approach was taken by WHO to develop actionable guidance for empiric antibiotic use.
The WHO AWaRe (Access, Watch, Reserve) antibiotic book provides concise, evidence-based guidance on the choice of antibiotic, dose, route of administration, and duration of treatment for more than 30 of the most common clinical infections in children and adults in both primary health care and hospital settings. The information included in the book supports the recommendations for antibiotics listed on the WHO Model Lists of Essential Medicines and Essential Medicines Children and the WHO AWaRe classification of antibiotics.
The WHO AWaRe antibiotic book is accompanied by summary infographics for each infection for both adults and children that provide a quick-reference guide for health care workers at the point of care.
more
This document, Programme and curriculum development guide, presents a systematic approach to developing programmes and curricula for implementation of the family planning (FP) and comprehensive abortion care (CAC) competencies,and the theory behind the approach. Specifically, the aim is for effectiv...e implementation of these competencies in the context of pre-service education and training, post-graduate studies and continuing professional development (CPD). This guide is designed for programme and curriculum developers who are preparing or revising formal education and training programmes and curricula for the FP and CAC workforce.
This guide proposes a new FP and CAC Educational Design Model for programme and curriculum development. This model can support competency-based education (CBE) for current and future FP and CAC services, with a pre-service training pathway of at least 12 months, and can also support in-service training. CBE provides the most effective means to orient educational programmes and curricula towards effective health services that meet population health needs, and this Educational Design Model provides a guide for linking the competencies required to provide a range of health services
more
In sum, the goal is to understand the need to increase fiscal space for health as a prerequisite, but within the framework of efforts to transform the health system. These changes should foster equitable and efficient expenditures and create or strengthen comprehensive integrated health systems with... a first level of care capable of solving health problems and coordinating networks, based on a primary health care approach that offers not only curative care but also health promotion and disease prevention services.
more
The importance of robust mortality surveillance systems cannot be overstated in an era marked by increasing global health challenges where health threats loom large and population dynamics continue to evolve. Accurate and timely mortality data is essential for identifying trends and detecting emergi...ng health threats, evaluating the impact of interventions, and guiding evidence-based policy decisions.
This framework outlines a holistic approach to strengthening routine mortality surveillance systems, considering the unique contextual factors and challenges faced by African countries. It emphasizes the importance of establishing efficient data collection mechanisms, enhancing data quality and completeness, and promoting data sharing and collaboration among stakeholders.
Moreover, the framework recognizes the pivotal role of technology in the integration of data from fragmented mortality data sources. It highlights the potential of innovative data capture methods, advanced analytics, and real-time reporting systems to enhance mortality data’s accuracy, efficiency, and timeliness.
The continental framework for mortality surveillance aligns with Africa CDC’s mission and strategic goal by serving as a fundamental component in strengthening public health systems, enhancing disease surveillance capacities and capabilities, informing evidence-based policies and interventions, and promoting collaboration and coordination among African countries to address health challenges and improve health outcomes on the continent.
The successful implementation of this framework requires collective commitment and concerted efforts from governments, health institutions, and the international community. We hope this document will serve as a catalyst for transformative change, enabling countries to build resilient mortality surveillance systems that protect public health, save lives, and contribute to evidence-based decision-making.
more