A practical handbook. This Health Cluster Guide (2nd edition, 2020) provides practical advice on how WHO, Health Cluster Coordinators and partners can work together during a humanitarian crisis to achieve the aims of reducing avoidable mortality, morbidity and disability, and restoring the delivery ...of and equitable access to preventive and curative health care.
It highlights key principles of humanitarian health action and how coordination and joint efforts among health and other sector actors can increase the effectiveness and efficiency of health interventions and promote better health outcomes. It draws on Inter-Agency Standing Committee and other expert guidance and includes lessons from field experience in acute and protracted crises.
The coordination principles and practice presented in Health Cluster Guide are equally valid for coordinators and members of health sector groups that seek to achieve effective health action in countries where the cluster approach has not been formally adopted.
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Large-Scale UN Response Needed to Address Health and Food Crises
This report is based on interviews with more than 150 health care professionals, Venezuelans seeking or in need of medical care who recently arrived in Colombia and Brazil, representatives from international and nongovernmental humani...tarian organizations. In addition, researchers analyzed data on the situation inside Venezuela from official sources, hospitals, international and national organizations, and civil society organizations.
We found a health system in utter collapse with increased levels of maternal and infant mortality; the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles and diphtheria; and increases in numbers of infectious diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis (TB). Although the government stopped publishing official data on nutrition in 2007, research by Venezuelan organizations and universities documents high levels of food insecurity and child malnutrition, and available data shows high hospital admissions of malnourished children.
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Guidance book for health workers who working in the handling of health crisis caused by natural disasters in Indonesia.
This manual refers to international standards.
For applying the new operational guidance on CB-MHPSS in the field, UNICEF country offices and partners will need ready access to tools and resources that can be used to implement the programs. By bringing together resources from different contexts, the compendium makes options available to country ...offices and partners for programming.
The compendium aims to strengthen UNICEF capacity for MHPSS programming consistent with the IASC Guidelines for MHPSS in Emergencies and described by the 9 circles of support in the UNICEF operational framework.
The compendium is a compiled set of resources, already being used by UNICEF and partners, both national and international, in diverse settings.
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This National Food and Nutrition Policy developed in 2013 builds on several achievements that have improved the status of nutrition and household food security in Rwanda during the past six years. The outlines ambitious but necessary strategies needed to solve serious and
persistent problems includ...ing the high prevalence of child stunting and high levels of anaemia in children and women. The NFNP also takes into account major differences in the economic development environment and the higher national and international priority placed on improving nutrition and related household food security problems in the second decade of the new millennium compared to 2007 when the country’s first National Nutrition Policy was adopted.
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BMC Health Services Research 14(1):42 · January 2014
The objective of this international comparative study is to describe and compare the mental health policies in seven countries of Eastern Europe that share their common communist history: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland..., Romania, and Slovakia.
The burden of totalitarian history still influences many areas of social and economic life, which also has to be taken into account in mental health policy. We may observe that after twenty years of health reforms and reforms of health reforms, the transition of the mental health systems still continues. In spite of many reform efforts in the past, a balance of community and hospital mental health services has not been achieved in this part of the world yet.
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This year marked the beginning of the WHO biennium 2016-2017 action plan; this annual report highlights WHO’s key achievements in 2016
It also documents the extraordinary efforts by a broad coalition of government ministries, municipalities, international agencies, community groups, women’s or...ganizations, religious and traditional leaders, media, private sector and donors towards restoration and improving health indicators.
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Gender-based violence, including rape is a problem throughout the world, occurring in every society, country and region. Refugees and internally displaced people are particularly at risk of this violation during every phase of an emergency situation. The systematic use of sexual violence as a method... of warfare is well documented and constitutes a grave breach of international humanitarian law.
The Arabic Version can be downloaded here: http://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/guidelines-health-staff-caring-gender-based-violence-survivors-including
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The Philippine Government, International Non-government Organizations (INGOs) and local NGOs are all making attempts to address the impact of disasters and climate change at various levels. The Philippine Government has made significant strides in the implementation of disaster risk reduction (DRR) ...planning and activities through the development of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) which acts as the lead agency for DRR in the Philippines. The disaster focal points are the NDRRMC and the Office of Civil Defence (OCD). The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is responsible for leading immediate disaster relief efforts.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is a primary responder in disasters and have been deployed frequently to several disaster relief operations in the country in recent years. The Philippines has endured disasters that involve national and international assistance.
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This guidance has been developed in line with the WHO corporate risk management framework, the WHO business continuity and contingency plans, as well as the Inter-Agency Emergency Response Preparedness Framework. It is based on a common organiza-tional approach and procedures for managing including ...emergency response across all hazards and at each level of the Organization. It relates WHO’s responsibilities (1) under the International Health Regulations (2005) and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, and other international treaties; (2) as the United Nations’ lead agency for health and the health cluster; and (3) as a member of the United Nations or Humanitarian Country Teams
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The information in this report is up-to-date as of June 2016.
The report, which follows a field visit to the country between 28 May and 6 June, also emphasises the need for international organisations to be mindful of the long present efforts of Greek lawyers and NGOs in the field, and recommends... that new initiatives should be targeted and sustainable.
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Gender-based violence is a life-threatening, global health and human rights issue that violates international human rights law and principles of gender equality. It is also a threat to lasting peace and an affront to our common humanity. United Nations Member States have called for urgent action to ...end GBV in emergencies, recognizing that in crises, the risk of GBV is heightened, particularly for women and adolescent girls.
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Myanmar is prone to various natural hazards that include earthquakes, floods, cyclones, droughts, fires, tsunamis, some of whichhave the potential to impact large numbers of people. In the event that large numbers of people are affected (such as was the case in 2008 following cyclone Nargis), the go...vernment may decide to request international assistance to respond to the disaster.
The overall goal of the ERPP is to mitigate the impact of disasters and save as many lives as possible from preventable causes. It aims to ensure that effective and timely assistance is provided to people in need through effective coordination and communication on emergency preparedness and humanitarian response between members of the HCTin Myanmar. The approach has been developed in collaboration with the Government, to facilitate a coordinated and effective support to people affected by humanitarian crises.
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For over a decade, Senegalese and international journalists, human rights advocates, and child protection experts have documented and denounced the ongoing exploitation, abuse and neglect of children living in many of Senegal’s traditional Quranic schools, or daaras. Thousands of these children, k...nown as talibés, continue to live in conditions of extreme squalor, deprived of adequate food and medical care.
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The World Health Organization (WHO)6, the Civil Society Action Committee and the Lancet Migration global collaboration are amongst many organisations that have advised governments against returning irregular migrants during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The expulsion of i...rregular migrants to under-prepared countries puts migrants and communities at risk, and is against the principles of solidarity and public health that should inspire action during these challenging times. It also puts at risk the staff who implement these policies. Detention, overcrowded conditions and lack of hygiene all render irregular migrants more vulnerable to the impact of COVID-19. Irregular laborers, agricultura land food workers, cleaners and caregivers are all essential in the response to the pandemic, there fore the temporary or longer term regularisation of migrants to facilitate their access to health, social services and employment should be considered as a humane, practical and self-interested alternative to forcible return.
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Refugee protection in the country is provided within the framework of these international and national refugee laws as well as the core international human rights treaties that have been ratified by the country. Continued insecurity within neighbouring states has resulted in sustained refugee moveme...nts, either directly as a result of internal conflict and human rights abuses or as a result of conflict related to competition for scare natural resources and drought related food insecurity.
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In recognition that Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is not only a harmful practice but a violation of human rights, Kenya has adopted a robust legal framework. The country has ratified several international legal instruments that have become part of the Kenyan law as provided for in Article 2 of the... constitution.
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The plan aims to practice the preparedness measures and response functions which need to be coordinated among relevant departments and organizations to reduce the risk of earthquakes. The plan has two main parts: preparedness and response. The first part includes the preparedness measures which can ...be practically implemented in collaboration with relevant government departments and communities. The latter part includes the response functions by the National Disaster Management Committee and it’s Work Committees if a damaging earthquake were to occur.
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Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) is advancing the global fight against acute malnutrition in children under 5 with the launch of its new guideline on the prevention and management of wasting and nutritional oedema (acute malnutrition). This milestone is a crucial response to the persistent... global issue of acute malnutrition, which affects millions of children worldwide.
In 2015, the world committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the ambitious target of eliminating malnutrition in all of its forms by 2030. However, despite these commitments, the proportion of children with acute malnutrition has persisted at a worrying level, affecting an estimated 45 million children under five worldwide in 2022.
In 2022, approximately 7.3 million children received treatment for severe acute malnutrition (SAM). Although treatment coverage has increased, children with SAM in many of the worst affected countries are still unable to access the full necessary care for them to recover.
The Global Action Plan (GAP) on child wasting recognized the need for updated normative guidance to support governments in the prevention and management of acute malnutrition. WHO answered this call to action and developed a comprehensive guideline that provides evidence-based recommendations and good practice statements and will be followed by guidance and tools for implementation.
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As Uganda builds back from the COVID-19 shock, the Ugandan government is strengthening its commitment to a more gender-inclusive and sustainable economy. This report supports these efforts by describing the gendered impacts of COVID-19 and provides recommendations for Ugandan policy makers and World... Bank Group operations to ensure women’s participation in an inclusive and sustainable recovery. It presents gender-disaggregated data from three main sources: high-frequency phone surveys that track the impacts of the COVID-19 shock: one of Ugandan nationals conducted in June and one of refugees conducted in November 2020; interviews with 28 representatives of government institutions, development partners, and women’s organizations in Kampala and in rural areas; and a review of relevant policy and gray literature on climate change, the green economy, and women’s economic empowerment.
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