A broad range of UNHCR’s key priorities overlap with MHPSS issues – for example, child protection and sexual and gender-based violence [SGBV] prevention 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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This framework has been developed with the aim of providing standard procedures, assessment and planning tools, and guidance in the delivery of case management services. As Malawi moves forward to build a holistic child protection system, case management will serve as a core anchor and a mobilizing ...force for child protection.
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The Terre des hommes Child Protection Psychosocial Training Manual has been developed for use in the field
in order to train animators who work with children and other child protection programme staff. It has
been written in response to the needs which exist in Terre des hommes child protection pr...ogrammes,
and should be used as a practical tool alongside the Child Protection: Manual for Intervention in Humanitarian
Crisis, previously produced by Terre des hommes.
The modules in this manual have been grouped according to the following categories:
• Level 1: Facilitating a training
• Level 2: Basic concepts for intervention
• Level 3: Animator’s competencies
Each module is laid out under the following headings:
• What is it?
• Why is it useful?
• How can I use it?
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The Call to Action on Protection from GBV in Emergencies, formally launched in 2013 by the United Kingdom and Sweden, aims to fundamentally transform the way GBV is addressed in humanitarian operations via the collective action of numerous partners, each bringing our various strengths and capacities... to the table. Our goal is to drive change and foster accountability within the humanitarian sphere. The commitment to act and to hold ourselves accountable for action is what binds us together under the Call to Action.
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Grounded in the foundations of child centered community development, the success of this strategy will be measured by how individual countries contribute to their child protection systems and partner at various levels to combat violence against children. This strategy is a result of a highly consult...ative process that reached children and youth, Plan International staff, external specialists globally and the paper has been put in place with the joint efforts of the global child protection programming reference group.
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The Handbook is primarily addressed to child protection coordination teams, which may include coordinators, co-leads and information managers, the guidance is equally valid for all members of the child protection coordination group, including national and international nongovernmental organizations ...(NGOs), government representatives and other members, who seek to achieve an effective and coordinated response
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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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Introduction
This document was prepared by a technical task force of the Shelter Working Group (SWG) in Jordan for the Syrian refugee response and is intended to guide HLP rights interventions in host communities. The objective of the document is to provide Shelter sector partners with basic info...rmation on, primarily, housing rights, as the most relevant part of Housing, Land and Property (HLP) rights.
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How we respond both now and going forward will help mitigate the impact of COVID-19, and to the extent possible preserve children’s rights to Survive, Learn, and Be Protected. We will focus our efforts on the most critical work essential to maintaining these commitments to the extent possible.
Guidance issued as of 25 March 2020
This guidance is intended for use by health authorities to guide the actions taken by health-care providers for refugees and migrants in relation to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. This document is intended to address the needs and rights of refugees a...nd migrants living in all types of setting.
General recommendations made by WHO in the COVID-19 response (link here) are the superseding guidelines. Unfounded measures regarding testing, health screening and quarantine should not be imposed on refugees and migrants.
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Right now, we are facing an unpredictable and highly dynamic situation as a global community. However, as we have seen from the solidarity, support and power of communities in the HIV epidemic and already in communities responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, the response must not be fear and stigma. W...e need to build a culture of solidarity, trust and kindness. Our response to COVID-19 must be grounded in the realities of people’s lives and focused on eliminating the barriers people face in being able to protect themselves and their communities. Empowerment and guidance, rather than restrictions, can ensure that people can act without fear of losing their livelihood, sufficient food being on the table and the respect of their community. Ultimately it will give us a more effective, humane and sustainable response to the epidemic.
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The health impact of radiological and nuclear emergencies can last for decades. Lessons learned from past radiological and nuclear accidents have demonstrated that the mental health and psychosocial consequences can outweigh the direct physical health impacts of radiation exposure. International rad...iation emergency preparedness and response standards outline provisions for mitigating these effects. Yet, practical guidance for addressing the mental health and psychosocial aspects of radiation emergencies remains scarce.
This framework aims to promote integration between the MHPSS and radiation protection fields. It is intended for officials and specialists involved in radiation emergency planning and risk management as well as MHPSS experts working in health emergencies.
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This guide is available in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic and Chinese
This guide consolidates COVID-19 guidance for human resources for health managers and policy-makers at national, subnational and facility levels to design, manage and preserve the workforce necessary to manage the COVI...D-19 pandemic and maintain essential health services.
The guide identifies recommendations to protect, support and empower health workers at individual, management, organizational and system levels.
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Urbanization, land use, global trade and industrialization have led to profound and negative impacts on nature, biodiversity and ecosystems across the world. The ongoing depletion of natural resources not only afects environmental conditions but also has an enormous impact on the well-being and secu...rity of societies.
This report provides an overview of the impacts of the natural environment on human health. It presents the ways nature and ecosystems can support and protect health and well-being, and describes how nature degradation and loss of biodiversity can threaten human health.
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This publication presents the Agenda for the Americas on Health, Environment, and Climate Change 2021–2030 (the Agenda). The Agenda is a call to action to the health sector to lead the charge to address environmental determinants of health in the Americas. The Pan American Health Organization (PAH...O) will work with Member States to achieve its goal and objective to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages using a sustainable and equitable approach that places a priority on reducing health inequity. The Agenda has been developed under the umbrella of the WHO Global Strategy on Health, Environment, and Climate Change, and builds upon the commitments set forth in the Sustainable Health Agenda for the Americas 2018–2030 and the PAHO Strategic Plan 2020–2025. The Agenda was developed in consultation with the Technical Advisory Group and through a consensus-driven decision-making process with Member States during the 2019–2020 period. Looking toward the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 3, the Agenda focuses on: improving the performance of environmental public health programs and institutions; fostering environmentally resilient and sustainable health systems; and promoting environmentally healthy and resilient cities and communities. Its implementation will be context-specific, based on the needs and realities of the countries. It will benefit countries and territories by promoting good governance practices, strengthening the leadership and coordination roles of the health sector, fostering cross-sectoral action, focusing on primary prevention, and enhancing evidence and communication. It will facilitate access to human, technical, and financial resources necessary to address environmental determinants of health and ensure that the Region is fully engaged in global health, environment, and climate change processes and agreements. The objective of the Agenda is to strengthen the capacity of health actors in the health and non-health sectors to address and adapt to environmental determinants of health (EDHs), prioritizing populations living in conditions of vulnerability, in order to meet Outcome 18 of the PAHO Strategic Plan 2020–2025 directly and several other outcomes of the Plan indirectly. To address and adapt to the challenges of EDHs in the Region, an integrated and evidence-informed approach within the health sector and across sectors will be needed, one enabled, and supported by good governance practices, adequate management mechanisms, high-level political will, and adequate human, technical, technological, and financial resources.
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In the face of rapid increases in the number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean, coupled with shortages of human and material resources, including medical equipment and gases, there is a need to redesign models of care in the Region to optimize available resources... and ensure that more patients receive the quantity and quality of oxygen they need. Oxygen is included in the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines and is used to care for patients at all levels of integrated health services networks. The efficacy of oxygen use in the treatment of patients with respiratory conditions caused by COVID-19 has been demonstrated, but there is great opportunity to improve the effectiveness of its use if it is used in a rational, sustainable, and safe way. Bearing in mind that the efficacy of a health technology is measured by its benefit under actual conditions of use, practical actions can be taken to improve the use of medical oxygen and avoid oxygen shortages. A drug is considered to be used rationally when patients receive it according to their clinical needs, in doses appropriate to their individual needs, for an appropriate period, and at a low cost to them and their community. By providing instruction on the rational use of oxygen and promoting it, negative repercussions can be avoided, such as loss of efficacy as a result of activities related to oxygen storage, distribution, and administration. Rational use of oxygen also involves controlling waste due to leaks in storage and distribution systems, use of gas at incorrect pressures, use of incorrectly adjusted flowmeters, and disconnections, among other problems. Another aspect to consider is the provision of adequate technical support for all oxygen production systems, in terms of maintenance and calibration, availability of electrical energy, and specific knowledge about these systems. For these reasons, a set of guidelines has been put together for the development of an efficient management system to deal with situations of oxygen scarcity, both now and in the future.
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This sourcebook aims to detail why health needs to be part of urban and territorial planning and how to make this happen. It brings together two vital elements we need to build habitable cities on a habitable planet: 1) Processes to guide the development of human settlements – in this document ref...erred to as “urban and territorial planning (UTP)”; and 2) concern for human health, well-being and health equity at all levels – from local to global, and from human to planetary health.
This sourcebook identifies a comprehensive selection of existing resources and tools to support the incorporation of health into UTP, including advocacy frameworks, entry points and guidance, as well as tools and illustrative case studies. It does not provide prescriptions for specific scenarios – these should be determined by context, people and available resources.
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Sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and sexual harassment (SEAH) violate the rights and wellbeing of the people we serve and the people with whom we serve. Such behaviours are directly in opposition to WHO’s values and our abiding responsibility to do no harm. WHO uses the umbrella term “sexual mi...sconduct” to encompass the full spectrum of prohibited and unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature (including rape and sexual assault) as described in WHO’s 2023 Policy for preventing and addressing sexual misconduct (1). This is because all such acts are prohibited – whether perpetrated by WHO’s own personnel or by implementing partners – and therefore constitute misconduct. The term sexual misconduct is also easier to communicate and translate, as
victims and survivors do not always understand the complicated acronyms and definitions used by the United Nations (UN) and the humanitarian sector. However, we use the terms sexual misconduct and SEAH interchangeably as required when we interact with UN and other stakeholders.
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Rabies remains an under-reported neglected zoonosis with a case-fatality rate of almost 100% in humans and animals. Dog-mediated human rabies causes tens of thousands of human deaths annually despite being 100% preventable. More than 95% of human cases are caused by the bite of a rabies-infected dog.... Dog-mediated human rabies disproportionately affects rural communities, particularly children, and economically disadvantaged areas of Africa and Asia, where awareness of the disease and access to appropriate post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) can be limited or nonexistent.
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Pregnancy and childbirth during adolescence profoundly affects the lives of millions of girls worldwide, and is a leading cause of maternal mortality and morbidity, and infant and child mortality. Every year, an estimated 21 million girls aged 15–19 years old in low- and middle-income countries be...come pregnant, and approximately 12 million give birth.
For many adolescent girls, the ability to control their sexual lives remains limited. Long-standing gender inequalities and discrimination, marginalization, harmful social and gender norms, and denial of rights, compounded by poverty and violence, render them vulnerable to early pregnancy, HIV and other health threats. Lack of age-appropriate sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) information and services create additional barriers to care and support; as a result, adolescent girls who become pregnant are much more likely to go on to have rapid repeated births.
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