The United Nations Network on Migration is committed to supporting all partners in pursuit of the implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, recognizing that this
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cooperative framework provides an invaluable tool for ensuring inclusive, collective responses to COVID-19 and its impact.
To that end, this briefing is part of a series by the Network looking at different aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic and how they relate to migrants and their communities. The document provides practical guidance to States and other stakeholders for an improved common understanding of safe and inclusive access to services for migrants. The brief makes the case for enhanced access to services for migrants in the context of COVID-19 preparedness, prevention, and response – and beyond.
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In March 2020 the IASC Reference Group on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support uniting 57 humanitarian organizations as member issued the Interim Briefing Note Addressing Mental Health
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and Psychosocial Aspects of COVID-19 Outbreak. This document has proven to be very useful in the response and has till now been translated in 24 languages. It covers a set of recommended activities as well as messages for different target groups.
The current document is an annex to the Interim Briefing Note and is meant to support the MHPSS operational response within the various sectors of humanitarian work. Approaches and interventions to MHPSS are not confined to one sector, but need to be integrated within many existing sectors and clusters.This document contains a wealth of operational information and practical approaches that can be used for humanitarian programming in health, SGBV, community-based protection, nutrition, camp management and camp coordination.
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The Participation Handbook for humanitarian field workers contains detailed practical advice on the participation of affected people in humanitarian action. It has three sections:
Developing
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a participatory approach (main issues, key factors, building mutual respect, communication methods and advice on reviewing your approach);
Implementing your participatory approach at every stage of the project cycle (initial assessment, project design, implementation, monitoring and final evaluation);
A list of tools and additional resources (books, internet sites, etc.)
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A broad range of UNHCR’s key priorities overlap with MHPSS issues – for example, child protection and sexual and gender-based violence [SGBV] prevention
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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.
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Operational guidance for managing programme quality.
These guidelines are about implementing the programme-quality standards of the Core Humanitarian Standard in limited access humanitarian respons
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e. They have been developed using approaches and tools tested by Oxfam, other INGOs and the UN in Afghanistan, DRC, Iraq, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. The guidelines are an operational resource to help programme designers and decision makers deliver ‘good enough’ programme quality in limited access humanitarian response.
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In 2017, the World Bank and partners created the Global Investment Framework for Nutrition as a roadmap towards achieving the World Health Assembly (WHA) nutrition targets by 2025. The framework est
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imates that the world needs to mobilize an annual additional investment of $7 billion per year to scale-up nutrition-specific interventions at the level needed to achieve the global targets. However, the world is off-track to meet the global targets. And it is unclear whether additional resources will be mobilized for life-saving and cost-effective nutrition-specific interventions, or whether donor support will be enough to meet the annual resource need established by the framework.
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It highlights the numerous challenges to quality service provision, along with the organisation’s response to mental health needs, and recommendations for international and regional decision-maker
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s including:
- Advocating and working towards mental health policies that support adequate funding for mental health care and government suppor
- Legislation to protect the rights of people with mental disorders and vulnerable communities
- Advocating for multi-year funding to support the sustainability of MHPSS programs
- Creating capacity building opportunities consistent with the IASC guidelines and supported with continuous supervision
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The purpose of this brief is to provide practical tips for UNICEF country offices, partners and young people themselves on engaging adolescents and
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youth as part of the COVID-19 preparedness and response. As a first step, we recommend engaging with adolescents and youth to understand what their needs are, and how they can take action. Consultations with adolescents and youth is your best ‘go-to’ resource to determine how UNICEF can engage, protect, and support adolescents and youth in the COVID-19 response.
Remember that the ‘do not harm’ principle must always be applied. All actions should be evaluated for potential risks for harm and, as necessary, plans developed to mitigate those risks.
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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
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and GBV prevention and response across the Guidelines.-Collect useful resources, promising practices and other relevant 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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This case study takes a closer look at experiences in three countries and one sub-region, each with a unique profile, a specific set of challenges and opportunities,
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and differing levels of WASH competencies. Through the lens of the participating National Societies and the communities they serve, this study captures rich layers of learning from multi-country implementation between 2016 to 2020.
The unfolding of the COVID-19 pandemic gives a glimpse of the resulting global restrictions that are testing aspects of National Society capacity and preparedness on the ground. It is an opportunity to take stock of progress and the outlook ahead - to celebrate achievements and share experiences with National Societies and partners contemplating capacity development in emergency WASH in the Asia Pacific region.
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This concept report was prepared by Faith for Earth Initiative in support of the efforts of the Government of Iceland to put forth a new resolution during UNEA 5.2 1
Executive summary On 27th and 28th April 2021, the division of Disease Control and Prevention in collaboration with Public Health England, organized a virtual consultative meeting as part of the con
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sultations with Member States and partners for the development of the Africa CDC five years strategic plan for the prevention and control of Non-communicable Diseases … Report: Expert and stakeholder virtual consultation meeting to develop the Africa CDC Non-Communicable Diseases and Mental Health Strategy
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First and foremost, Ukraine’s priority is winning the war and ensuring the safety and security of its people. Ukraine is facing a harsh winter
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and needs urgent aid and solutions including power generators, heating, and temporary housing to withstand freezing temperatures, ice, and snow. In addition to emergency support, the prime focus of Ukraine’s Western partners needs to be on military and economic aid to ensure Ukraine’s victory against Russian aggression and to support its economy in a time of war.
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The target audience of this document (and the associated online companion tool) includes WHO country offices
in Member States of the African Region; Member States’ ministries of health and their
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public health emergency
operation centres; relevant external assessment teams; and partners looking to identify preparedness gaps and
support interventions that help address them. In the event of a suspected or confirmed VHF case, the document also serves to provide any intervening partner with a sense of what structures should be in place, in order to guide
scale-up activities in line with regional and national plans.
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Millions of children in Yemen could be pushed to ‘the brink of starvation’ due to huge shortfalls in humanitarian aid funding amid the COVID-19 pandemic – according to a new UNICEF report marking more than five years since conflict escalated i
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n the country.
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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
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and its impacts, vulnerable families suffer multiple hardships. Schools are closed and 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 document is designed to provide UNICEF staff and UNICEF partner staff with principles and concepts that can assist them to respond to the psychosocial needs of children in natural disasters
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and social emergencies such as armed conflict and other forms of violence. It aims to introduce humanitarian workers to psychosocial principles and UNICEF’s position on these principles. It also provides a number of examples from field work of how these principles have been turned into concrete actions. These psychosocial principles and concepts inform both emergency responses and subsequent programmatic responses post-emergency.
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Child friendly spaces (CFS) have become a widely
used approach to protect and provide psychosocial
support to children in emergencies. However,
little evidence documents their outcomes and
impac
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ts. There is widespread commitment among
humanitarian agencies to strengthen the evidence
base of programming. Recognizing this, the Child
Protection Working Group (CPWG) of the Global
Protection Cluster and the Inter-Agency Standing
Committee (IASC) Reference Group on Mental
Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency
Settings have identified research in this area as a
high priority.
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In most contexts, the social stigma surrounding mental health issues exists because of cultural norms and a lack of understanding of mental health’s complexities and realities, resulting in isolat
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ion, increased vulnerability, and lack of support for people with mental health problems.
This stigma has been exacerbated during COVID-19, as more people may need mental health or psycho-social support but cannot access it due to the cessation of in-person services and limited remote care option
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According to the latest available estimates, more than 1 in 7 adolescents aged 10–19 is estimated to live with a diagnosed mental disorder globally. Almost 46,000 adolescents die from suicide each year, among the top five causes of death for their age group. Meanwhile, wide gaps persist between me
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ntal health needs and mental health funding. The report finds that about 2 per cent of government health budgets are allocated to mental health spending globally.
The full report , excecutive summary, brief reports are available in English, French, Spanish and Arabic athttps://www.unicef.org/reports/state-worlds-children-2021?utm_source=referral&utm_medium=media&utm_campaign=sowc-web
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