This report includes six case studies from 12 individuals with lived experience of diverse health conditions. These case studies explore the topics of power dynamics and power reorientation towards ...individuals with lived experience; informed decision-making and health literacy; community engagement across broader health networks and health systems; lived experience as evidence and expertise; exclusion and the importance of involving groups that are marginalized; and advocacy and human rights.
It is the first publication in the WHO Intention to action series, which aims to enhance the limited evidence base on the impact of meaningful engagement and address the lack of standardized approaches on how to operationalise meaningful engagement. The Intention to action series aims to do this by providing a platform from which individuals with lived experience, and organizational and institutional champions, can share solutions, challenges and promising practices related to this cross-cutting agenda. The Intention to action series also aims to provide powerful narratives,inspiration and evidence towards the Fourth United Nations High Level Meeting on NCDs in 2025 and achieving the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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Since the release of the first volume in May 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to rage around the world. By mid-March, 2021, countries around the globe had reported over 123 million cases—a nearly five-fold increase since this report’s p...revious volume—and over 2.7 million deaths attributed to the disease. And while new case loads are currently on the rise again, the global health community has already administered almost 400 million doses of vaccines, at last offering some signs of hope and progress.
Economic impacts threaten to undo decades of recent progress in poverty reduction, child nutrition and gender equality, and exacerbate efforts to support refugees, migrants, and other vulnerable communities. National and local governments—together with international and private-sector partners—must deploy vaccines as efficiently, safely and equitably as possible while still monitoring for new outbreaks and continuing policies to protect those who do not yet have immunity.
More than ever, the world needs reliable and trustworthy data and statistics to inform these important decisions. The United Nations and all member organizations of the Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities (CCSA) collect and make available a wealth of information for assessing the multifaceted impacts of the pandemic. This report updates some of the global and regional trends presented in Volume I and offers a snapshot of how COVID-19 continues to affect the world today across multiple domains.
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This Joint Evaluation of the Protection of the Fundamental Rights of Refugees during the COVID-1...9 Pandemic was commissioned under the auspices of the COVID-19 Global Evaluation Coalition. The evaluation examines the effectiveness of international cooperation and the combined response of host states, United Nations (UN) system agencies, and non-governmental and civil society organisations including refugee-led organisations in ensuring the protection of the rights of refugees during the global pandemic.
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The “United Nations Framework for the immediate socio-economic response to COVID-19: Shared responsibility, global solidarity and urgent action for people in need” calls for protecting jobs, bus...inesses and livelihoods to set in motion a safe recovery of societies and economies as soon as possible for a more sustainable, gender-equal, and carbon-neutral path—better than the “old normal”.
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The COVID-19 Law Lab initiative gathers and shares legal documents from over 190 countries across the world to help states establish and implement strong legal frameworks to manage the pandemic. The goal is to ensure that laws protect the health and wellbeing ...ox">of individuals and communities and that they adhere to international human rights standards.
The COVID-19 Law Lab is a database of laws that countries have implemented in response to the pandemic. It includes state of emergency declarations, quarantine measures, disease surveillance, legal measures relating to mask-wearing, social distancing, and access to medication and vaccines. The database will continue to grow as more countries and themes are added.
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The recruitment and use of children violates their rights and causes them physical, developmental, emotional, mental, and spiritual harm. The impact on their mental and physical well-being breaches... the most fundamental human rights and represents a grave threat to durable peace and sustainable development, as cycles of violence are perpetuated. The Paris Commitments adopted in Paris in February 2007 are an expression of strengthened international resolve to prevent the recruitment of children and highlight the actions governments can and should take to protect children affected by conflict. The Paris Principles are the operational guidelines related to sustainable reintegration of children formerly associated with armed forces and groups.
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In recognition that Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is not only a harmful practice but a violation of human rights, Kenya has adopted a robust lega...l framework. The country has ratified several international legal instruments that have become part of the Kenyan law as provided for in Article 2 of the constitution.
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Country Progress Report January 2008 - December 2009
As the Burundi refugee crisis enters its fourth year, some 430,000 Burundian refugees are being hosted across the region by the governments and people of Tanzania, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of... the Congo, and Uganda. Although the spectre of mass violence in Burundi has receded, with the political situation still unresolved and the persistence of significant human rights concerns, refugee arrivals are expected to continue in 2018, albeit at lower levels than in previous years.
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This third edition of the National Gender Statistics Report provides the updated sex-disaggregated data in twelve fields: Population and Youth; Education; Health and Nutrition; Economic Activity and time use; Poverty & Social Protection; Justice & <...span class="attribute-to-highlight medbox">Human rights; Environment and Natural Resources; Decisionmaking and Public life; Infrastructure, ICT and Media; Trade and Business and Industry; Agriculture, Livestock and Forestry, and lastly the Income and Access to Finance. It should be noted that this report takes into account almost all quantitative indicators of the United Nations Minimum Set of Gender Indicators (UNMSGI) as developed by the United Nations Statistical Division (UNSD) and some of the approved quantitative SDGs gender related indicators.
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African countries, like many regions of the world, are affected by the legacy of atrocity crimes. Genocide, the transatlantic slave trade and slavery, colonialism and post-independence violence comm...itted during dictatorships, not to mention civil war and violent extremism, have severely violated human rights and left devastating marks on societies across the continent. The way in which societies deal with violent pasts has profound implications for the present and the future, as well as their chances of building sustainable peace.
Strengthening education about atrocity crimes, including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, is an essential part of addressing violent pasts and preventing future atrocity crimes. Echoing a series of United Nations resolutions on the importance of educational measures for genocide prevention,1 in 2013, the Secretary-General’s annual report Responsibility to protect: State responsibility and prevention included the recommendation: “Education curriculums should include instruction on past violations and on the causes, dynamics and consequences of atrocity crimes” as an important means to promote societal resilience to atrocity crimes.
This recognition is in line with the Education 2030 Agenda and, more specifically, target 4.7 of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 on Education. This target calls on countries to promote education that fosters sustainable development, human rights, gender equality, a culture of peace, global citizenship and an appreciation of cultural diversity.
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This assessment tool for HIV and internally displaced persons (IDPs) is an outcome of multisectoral, multi-agency assessment missions in Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Nepal an...d the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) first global consultation on HIV and internally displaced persons held in April 2007 in Geneva.
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Growing evidence indicates that large proportions of children around the world experience physical, sexual and emotional violence every year, with enormous implications for human ...ute-to-highlight medbox">rights, public health and economic and social development.1 Over the last five years, national governments and Together for Girls – a global public-private partnership comprising UNICEF,
other United Nations (UN) agencies, the United States (US) Government and various private sector agencies – have worked to mobilize and sustain a global movement to end violence against children, with a focus on sexual violence against girls.
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Gender-based violence is a life-threatening, global health and human rights issue that violates international human ...ight medbox">rights law and principles of gender equality. It is also a threat to lasting peace and an affront to our common humanity. United Nations Member States have called for urgent action to end GBV in emergencies, recognizing that in crises, the risk of GBV is heightened, particularly for women and adolescent girls.
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The WHO End TB Strategy aims to end the global TB epidemic by 2030, in alignment with Goal 3 of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goa...ls (SDGs). Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN committed to ending the TB epidemic through adoption of WHO’s End TB Strategy and the UN SDGs in 2014 and 2015, respectivel
Almost half of the deaths worldwide caused by TB in 2019 occurred in the WHO South-East Asia Region, home to around a quarter of the global population. Maintaining robust progress in this Region is therefore essential if the global goal of ending the TB epidemic is to be realized. Despite substantial gains made in the Region, the threat to
health worldwide posed by the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to reverse these gains and eclipse the focus on the global TB emergency.
While continuing to tackle COVID-19-related challenges, countries will need to rapidly and urgently deploy supplementary measures to address the large numbers of missed cases, poor treatment outcomes and, potentially, a higher TB burden.
The Regional Strategic Plan towards Ending TB in the Region 2021–2025 clearly articulates priority interventions, analyses the challenges, bottlenecks and opportunities, and focuses on implementation considerations in the Region.
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The QualityRights training and guidance modules have been developed to enhance knowledge, skills and understanding among key stakeholders on how to promote the rights of persons with psychosocial, i...ntellectual or cognitive disabilities and improve the quality of services and supports being provided in mental health and related areas, in line with international human rights standards, and in particular the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the recovery approach.
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As countries aim to progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and achieving universal health coverage, health inequities driven by racial discrimination and intersecting factors remain pervasive. Inequities experienced by indigenous peoples as well as people ...-highlight medbox">of African descent, Roma and other ethnic minorities are of concern globally; they are unjust, preventable and remediable.
Health systems themselves are important determinants of health and health equity. They can perpetuate health inequities by reflecting structural racism and discriminatory practices of wider society. For instance, systemic racism, implicit bias, misinformed clinical practice, or discrimination by health professionals contributes to health inequities. However, health systems can also be a leading force for tackling the inequities faced by populations experiencing racial discrimination.
Primary health care (PHC) is the essential strategy for reorientating health systems and societies to become healthier, equitable, effective and sustainable. In 2018, on the 40th anniversary of the Declaration of Alma-Ata, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) renewed the emphasis on PHC with their strategy,
WHO outlines 14 strategic and operational levers for policy-makers to strengthen PHC. Within each lever, there are multiple potential entry points for targeted actions to address racial discrimination, foster intercultural care, and reduce health inequities experienced by indigenous peoples as well as people of African descent, Roma and other ethnic minorities.
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In the region, it is estimated that there are over 650 million persons with disabilities. However, without accurate, timely and disaggregated data, countries are unable to develop effective policies and programmes, monitor the wellbeing of persons w...ith disabilities and evaluate the equity and impact of development efforts. This endangers country commitments to ‘leave no one behind’ and undermines their obligations to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
This groundbreaking report demonstrates the importance of ensuring data is inclusive and provides recommendations for immediate action in order to improve the collection, analysis and reporting of disability data. We hope this report will be used as a tool for future advocacy and ultimately better data for all.
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The World Population Dashboard showcases global population data, including fertility rate, gender parity in school enrolment, information on sexual and reproductive health, and much more. Together, these data shine a light on the health and rights ...of people around the world, especially women and young people. The numbers here come from UNFPA and fellow UN agencies, and are updated annually.
Accessed 26 February 2019
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Legislative and Policy analysis and recommendations for reform