States, the United Nations and civil society organisations continue to raise concerns about the humanitarian impact caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas (EWIPA). This issue is currently being examined from political, legal, socio-economic and humanitarian perspectives. The GICHD... has undertaken research to provide a technical perspective on the destructive effects of selected explosive weapons to inform the international debate.
The research project attempts to reduce an observed knowledge gap regarding EWIPA. It seeks to provide clarity concerning the immediate physical effects and terminology used when discussing explosive weapons. The project is guided by a group of experts dealing with weapons-related research and practitioners who address the implications of explosive weapons in humanitarian, policy, advocacy and legal fields.
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Letter of the holy father
This publication, the third module of a resource manual to support the training of planners and practitioners in managing flash flood risk, deals with structural measures. It presents bioengineering techniques, physical measures for slope stabilisation and erosion control, and physical measures for ...river training. It also presents the concept of integrated flood management as a component of integrated water resource management. It emphasizes that structural measures are most effective and sustainable when implemented together with appropriate non-structural measures. The manual is aimed at junior to mid-level professionals with a civil engineering background working on flash flood risk management at the district level.
Flash floods are among the most destructive natural disasters in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region. Flash flood mitigation is generally addressed by community-based organisations, local non-governmental organisations, or district and local-level staff in government organisations. But these groups often lack adequate understanding of the processes causing flash floods and knowledge of flash flood risk management measures.
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This report addresses the impact of emergency shelter programs in the development of post-relief economies and in building incomes of affected populations. It provides a review and analysis of the available literature relevant to understanding the economic impact of emergency shelter programs, addit...ional research conducted by CHF International on income development of beneficiaries of emergency shelter programs, and the first steps toward rigorous and accurate measurement of the impact of these programs on the incomes of beneficiaries. Each of these analysis provides information useful to future programmers of relief assistance.
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Development finance institutions owned by European governments and the World Bank Group are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on expensive for-profit hospitals in the Global South that block patients from getting care, or bankrupt them, with some even imprisoning patients who cannot afford th...eir bills. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, some of these same hospitals denied entry to patients suffering from the virus or sold intensive care beds at eyewatering prices to the highest bidder. These development institutions have woefully inadequate safeguards, invest via a complex web of tax-avoiding financial intermediaries, and offer little to zero evidence on the impacts their investments are having. Oxfam is calling on rich-country governments and the World Bank Group to immediately halt their spending on for-profit private healthcare, and for an urgent independent investigation to be conducted into all active and historic investments.
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Benchmarking is a strategic process often used by businesses and institutes to standardize performance in relation to the best practices of their sector. The World Health Organization (WHO) and partners have developed a tool with a list of benchmarks and corresponding suggested actions that can be a...pplied to implement the International Health Regulations 2005 (IHR) and strengthen health emergency prevention, preparedness, response and resilience capacities.
The first edition of the benchmarks was published in 2019 to support countries in developing, implementing and documenting progress of national IHR or health security plans (e.g. national action plan for health security (NAPHS), national action plan for emerging infectious diseases, public health emergencies and health security and other country level plans for health emergencies). The tool has been updated to incorporate lessons from COVID-19 and other health emergencies, to align with the updated IHR monitoring & evaluation framework (IHR MEF) tools and the health systems for health security framework, and to support strengthening health emergency prevention, preparedness, response and resilience (HEPR) capacities and the Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats (PRET) initiative.
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This report analyses the intersection of HIV, COVID-19 and public debt in developing countries. The collision between COVID-19 and a crippling debt crisis have reversed decades of progress - putting present and future investments in health and HIV at risk. Pragmatic options to address the pandemic t...riad are proposed.
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Learnings from the COVID-19 evidence response and recommendations for the future.
Reflections and recommendations from the evidence synthesis community.
Lancet Infect Dis 2022;
22: 222–4
Just about everyone has experienced the joy that a healthy newborn child brings to parents, families and communities. But the arrival of a newborn who is small or sick often results in immediate worry and sadness. When the infant is at high risk of death or disability, these concerns can be a tremen...dous additional burden.
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