The following checklist can help hospitals assess and improve their preparedness for responding to a community-wide outbreak of COVID-19. Each hospital will need to adapt this checklist to meet its unique needs and circumstances. This checklist shou
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ld be used as one of several tools for evaluating current plans or in developing a comprehensive COVID-19 preparedness plan.
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Although the COVID-19 crisis is, in the first instance, a physical health crisis, it has the seeds of a major mental health crisis as well, if action is not taken. Good mental health is critical to the functioning
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of society at the best of times. It must be front and centre of every country’s response to and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The mental health and wellbeing of whole societies have been severely impacted by this crisis and are a priority to be addressed urgently.
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This guidance note is for UNICEF Regional and Country Office WASH staff to help them in their preparedness and response to the current COVID-19 global pandemic. It provides an overview of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) and its intersection w
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ith water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and how UNICEF staff can help prevent infection and its spread in schools, through human to human and by touching surfaces contaminated with the virus. WASH services including waste management and environmental cleaning are all important for IPCs.
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Pandemics and outbreaks have differential impacts on women and men. From risk of exposure and biological susceptibility to infection to the social and economic implications, individuals’ experiences are likely to vary according to
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their biological and gender characteristics and their interaction with other social determinants. Because of this, global and national strategic plans for COVID-19 preparedness and response must be grounded in strong gender analysis and must ensure meaningful participation of affected groups, including women and girls, in decision-making and implementation.
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Due to Nepal’s difficult geographic structure, rapid urbanization, varied groundwater level, and increasing population the country is prone to earthquakes, floods, landslides, fires, lightning, hailstone, drought, epidemic, and other disasters. These disasters cause a huge
loss
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of life and property every year.
In normal circumstances, persons with disabilities are at a higher risk than others. Hence, they may be more vulnerable and affected in an event of a disaster. Especially those with severe disabilities, women, children, and senior citizens are more at risk during disasters persons with disabilities must be kept at the forefront for disaster mitigation and
preparedness to protect them from disaster risk
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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
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of climate-related mobility in countries of the Mashreq and in Small Island Developing 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
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Climate change has important implications for the health and futures of children and young people, yet they have little power to limit its harm, making them vulnerable to climate anxiety. This is the first large-scale investigation
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of climate anxiety in children and young people globally and its relationship with perceived government response.
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Europe and Central Asia Economic Update.
The Russian Federation’s war with Ukraine has triggered a catastrophic humanitarian crisis and threatened the stability of geopolitical relations. Economic output in the Europe and Central Asia region is f
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orecast to contract by more than 4.1% in 2022—the second major shock and regional recession in two years. Moreover, the war has added to mounting concerns of a sharp global growth slowdown.
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Over 400,000 girls and women in Guinea-Bissau alive today have experienced FGM. Overall, 52 per cent of girls and women aged 15 to 49 years have undergone the practice, varying from 96 per cent in Gabu region to 8 per cent in Biombo
The COVID-19 pandemic is having a major impact on the mental health of populations in the Americas. Studies
show high rates of depression and anxiety, among other psychological symptoms, particular
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ly among women, young
people, those with pre-existing mental health conditions, health workers, and persons living in vulnerable condi-
tions. Mental health systems and services have also been severely disrupted. A lack of financial and human resource
investments in mental health services, limited implementation of the decentralized community-based care approach
and policies to address the mental health gap prior to the pandemic, have all contributed to the current crisis. Coun-
tries must urgently strengthen their mental health responses to COVID-19 by taking actions to scale up mental
health and psychosocial support services for all, reach marginalized and at-risk populations, and build back better
mental health systems and services for the future.
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Human activities are driving fundamental changes to the biosphere and disrupting many of our planet’s natural systems. There is increasing scientific evidence that the unfolding climate crisis, global pollution, unprecedented levels
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of biodiversity loss, and pervasive changes in land use and cover threaten nearly every dimension of human health and wellbeing
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The Strategy aims to protect and improve the well-being
of society and of the individual, to protect and promote
public health, to offer a high level of
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security and well-being
for the general public and to increase health literacy. The
Strategy takes an evidence-based, integrated, balanced and
multidisciplinary approach to the drugs phenomenon at
national, EU and international level. It also incorporates a
gender equality and health equity perspective.
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Snakebite envenoming is a potentially life-threatening disease that typically results from the injection of a mixture of different toxins (“venom”) following the bite
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of a venomous snake. Envenoming can also be caused by venom being sprayed into a person’s eyes by certain species of snakes that have the ability to spit venom as a defence measure. Not all snakebites result in envenoming: some snakes are non-venomous and venomous snakes do not always inject venom during a bite. About 50–55% of all snakebites result in envenoming. Snake venoms are complex mixtures of protein and peptide toxins, varying from one species to another, and even within species. The toxins in snake venoms are evolutionarily adapted to interact with a large variety of cellular targets in the organisms exposed to them. In humans and animals, snakebite envenoming affects multiple organ systems (depending on the particular species of snake and the classes of toxins present in the venom) and can cause, among other things: haemorrhage and prolonged disruption of haemostasis, neuromuscular paralysis, tissue necrosis, myolysis (muscle degeneration), cardiotoxicity, acute kidney injury, thrombosis and hypovolaemic shock.
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UNFPA has been implementing programming for women and girls through Women Friendly Health Spaces (WFHSs), which provide access to critical services, information and support. The WFHS is providing: psychosocial counseling services; awareness raising sessions on PSS in the community; and life skills &
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vocational training opportunities. The WFHS also facilitates referral to other services including Psychosocial Counseling Centers (PSCCs).
The aim of this guidance note is to provide an overview of approaches on how to successfully integrate adolescent and youth (A&Y) programming into the WFHSs. UNFPA activities for women’s and girl’s protection in health facilities aim to protect women and girls including child marriage. Given that vulnerable women and girls in Afghanistan continue to access health facilities, particularly for reproductive health and maternal health services, it is crucial to provide support for survivors in the same location to improve access to essential psychosocial and protection support for women and girls. To support the integration of A&Y in the WFHS programming each WFHS will be supported by two full time Youth Educators. A female Youth Educator who will be working within the WFHS and a male Youth Educator who will be working in the community. The role of the Youth educators is to increase A&Y awareness and knowledge on living healthy lifestyles and ensuring a referral system to services in existing facilities.
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The response to a cholera outbreak must focus on limiting mortality and reducing the spread of the disease. It should be comprehensive and multisectoral, including epidemiology, case management, water, sanitation and hygiene, logistics, community en
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gagement and risk communication. All efforts must be well coordinated to ensure a rapid and effective response across sectors.
This document provides a framework for detecting and monitoring cholera outbreaks and organizing the response. It also includes a short section linking outbreak response to both preparedness and long-term prevention activities.
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The materials focus on promoting healthy eating habits and reducing risk factors for non-communicable diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. They emphasize actions to limit sugar, salt, and fat intake, including policy recommendations for eliminating trans-fats, reducing saturated fa
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ts, and improving public awareness through education and labelling. These strategies aim to create healthier food environments and improve dietary behaviors globally.
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The Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) is a global effort launched by WHO and UNICEF to implement practices that protect, promote and support breastfeeding. It was launched in 1991 in response to the Innocenti Declaration. The global BFHI materials have been revised, updated and expanded for i
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ntegrated care. The materials reflect new research and experience, reinforce the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, support mothers who are not breastfeeding, provide modules on HIV and infant feeding and mother-friendly care, and give more guidance for monitoring and reassessment.
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Findings from this report reveal that, rates of early marriage are high, a significant percentage of children contribute to the household’s income or are its main source
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of income, and restrictions on the mobility of women and girls constrain their participation in social and economic activities and their access to basic services. As the overwhelming majority of refugees do not have paid employment and rely mainly on aid and dwindling family resources, the more the situation of displacement is prolonged the greater the likelihood of higher rates of child labour for boys and early marriage for girls.
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This guidebook for people in school settings is intended to offer strategies for use and adaptation with children and families to re-establish routines of hygiene with basic access to water and sanitation services through an approach that visibly sh
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ows that the school is WASHfriendly, inclusive - so that all children, including those with disabilities have "ownership of the information and activities", and sustainable, repeating messages "over time to encourage lasting behaviour change"
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The Leonard Cheshire Disability and Inclusive Development Centre | University College London | 4 Taviton Street | London WC1H OBT | United Kingdom| Principal Investigator: Dr Raymond Lang | Email: r.lang@ucl.ac.uk | Tel: +44 (0)207 679 1519 | Research Commissioned by the Southern African Federation
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of the Disabled’s (SAFOD) |
DFID-funded Research Programme
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