Policy Brief 2 June 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is a health and human crisis threatening the food security and nutrition of millions of people around the world. Hundreds ...ghlight medbox">of millions of people were already suffering from hunger and malnutrition before the virus hit and, unless immediate action is taken, we could see a global food emergency. In the longer term, the combined effects of COVID-19 itself, as well as corresponding mitigation measures and the emerging global recession could, without large-scale coordinated action, disrupt the functioning of food systems. Such disruption can result in consequences for health and nutrition of a severity and scale unseen for more than half a century.
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A comprehensive briefing by Half of Syria
April 2020
A comprehensive briefing on the critical challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic to Syrians, as reported by Syrian civil society organisations. T...hese challenges have been collated following extensive interviews with the teams of member and partner organisations working in the field in various sectors: health, child care, education, women’s empowerment, media and culture, research, human rights and accountability, relief and social services, and local governance.
This comprehensive briefing also include concrete recommendations formulated by the Syrian civil society.
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Early data estimates suggest that 90% of the Ukrainian population could be facing poverty and extreme economic vulnerability should the war deepen, setting the country – and the region – back decades and leaving deep social and economic scars fo...r generations to come
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The International Forum of Indigenous Women (IIWF) has prepared this report in order to have a
document for analysis and systematization of the impacts o...f the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives
of Indigenous Women, and to identify the strategies promoted by them. This document is expected
to serve as a political tool for advocacy. The methodology used in this analysis is a gender and
Indigenous Women’s collective and individual human rights approach. The results are mainly based
on a global, participatory survey, conducted in English, French and Spanish languages, aimed at
indigenous women’s organizations and leaders.
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An action research conducted in Bang Shau village Northern Shan State, Myanmar
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated and added yet another layer of vulnerability to an already dire web of vulnerabilities of girls in the Africa...n continent, which constitute about 49% of the total child population. Critically, gender equality and girls’ multidimensional vulnerability have been accentuated to an unprecedented level. The pandemic has triggered major concerns about the potential reversal of the strides achieved over the years towards gender equality and human development in Africa.
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STUDY REPORT | This study of the impact of the Nepal earthquake of 25 April, 2015, aims to under...stand the impact factors leading to the exclusion of older people and persons with disabilities from humanitarian action, barriers to their inclusion, and the extent to which their skills and knowledge were utilised to promote inclusive humanitarian action and, using this understanding, to formulate a set of recommendations for promoting inclusion. These recommendations will be used to sensitise the broader humanitarian community to the need for inclusive disaster risk management practices in future emergency responses which pay attention to factors such as gender, age, disability and ethnicity, and build upon the capacities of older people and persons with disabilities.
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The magnitude and complexity of these mental health conditions caused by prolonged and extensive trauma requires a diagnosis fitting the unique context of the Syrian conflict. Over half a million pe...ople have been killed since the beginning of the conflict in 2011, and more than 6.4 million are internally displaced with over 5 million living as refugees. SAMS documents the multi-dimensional nature of mental health disorders afflicting Syrians, including accounts of refugee experiences from Eastern Ghouta, Idlib, and beyond. This qualitative report seeks to raise awareness about increasing mental health needs, while sharing personal stories of those who have been affected by the trauma of the conflict.
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The COVID-19 pandemic is causing untold fear and suffering for older people across the world. As of 26 April, the virus itself has already taken the lives of some 193,710 people, and fatality rates ...for those over 80 years of age is five times the global average. As the virus spreads rapidly to developing countries, likely overwhelming health and social protection systems, the mortality rate for older persons could climb even higher.
Less visible but no less worrisome are the broader effects: health care denied for conditions unrelated to COVID-19; neglect and abuse in institutions and care facilities; an increase in poverty and unemployment; the dramatic impact on well-being and mental health; and the trauma of stigma and discrimination.
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At a time when the world is reeling from the deepest global disruption and health crisis of a lifetime, this year’s Living Planet
report provides unequivocal and alarming evidence that nature is unraveling and that our planet is flashing red war...ning signs of
vital natural systems failure. The Living Planet Report 2020 clearly outlines how humanity’s increasing destruction of nature is having
catastrophic impacts not only on wildlife populations but also on human health and all aspects of our lives.
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“The children are psychologically crushed and tired.
When we do activities like singing with them, they
don’t respond at all. They don’t laugh like they
would normally. They draw images of children
being butchered in the war, or tanks, or ...the siege
and the lack of food.”
Teacher in the besieged town of Madaya to Save the Children
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In 2015, 5.9 million children under age five died (1). The major causes of child deaths globally are pneumonia, prematurity, intrapartum-related complications, neonatal sepsis, congenital anomalies, diarrhoea, injuries and malaria (2). Most ...ass="attribute-to-highlight medbox">of these diseases and conditions are at least partially caused by the environment. It was estimated in 2012 that 26% of childhood deaths and 25% of the total disease burden in children under five could be prevented through the reduction of environmental risks such as air pollution, unsafe water, sanitation and inadequate hygiene or chemicals.
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Children in Kabwe are especially at risk because they are more likely to ingest lead dust when playing in the soil, their brains and bodies are still developing, and they absorb four to five times as much lead as adults. The consequences for children who are exposed to high levels ...bute-to-highlight medbox">of lead and are not treated include reading and learning barriers or disabilities; behavioral problems; impaired growth; anemia; brain, liver, kidney, nerve, and stomach damage; coma and convulsions; and death. After prolonged exposure, the effects are irreversible. Lead also increases the risk of miscarriage and can be transmitted through both the placenta and breastmilk.
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BMC Medicine201614:112 DOI: 10.1186/s12916-016-0660-0
The WHO Training Resource on Primary Ear and Hearing Care is a new set of four training manuals aimed at equipping primary health care workers in
developing countries with simple and effective meth...ods to reduce the burden of ear and hearing disorders.
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A new survey on the impact of the floods in Pakistan on older people reveals that hundreds of lives are needlessly being put at risk due to the dec...imation of health services and the rise of diseases like malaria and diarrhoea, which can be killers to older people with weaker immune systems.
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The article discusses the significant impact of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as a global health issue, with cigarette smoking as the main risk factor. However, in developing countrie...s, the causes of COPD are often multifactorial, involving environmental tobacco smoke, biomass fuel smoke, dust, fumes, childhood illnesses, and tuberculosis (TB). Up to half of COPD patients in these regions are non-smokers. The article emphasizes that while smoking is crucial, other risk factors contribute significantly to COPD, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. It highlights the need for targeted research and public health strategies to address these diverse contributors to COPD, especially in Africa.
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