The number of new Ebola infections in Sierra Leone is declining, despite the outbreak continuing to claim lives. New cases have dropped to around 9-12 per week, according to recent WHO figures. There were over 500 cases per week at the height of the
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crisis around late November 2014.
The impact on the lives of the thousands of people directly affected by the disease has been devastating. It has caused substantial suffering to many others, leaving the population very vulnerable.
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The report depicts the reality of forced displacement as a developing world crisis with implications for sustainable growth: 95 percent of the displaced live in developing countries and over half ar
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e in displacement for more than four years. To help the displaced, the report suggests ways to rebuild their lives with dignity through development support, focusing on their vulnerabilities such as loss of assets and lack of legal rights and opportunities. It also examines how to help host communities that need to manage the sudden arrival of large numbers of displaced people, under pressure to expand services, create jobs and address long-standing development issues.
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The funding requested in this supplementary appeal will enable UNHCR to enhance preventive, preparedness and response measures against EVD, participate in the regional and country inter-agency respo
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nse and ensure continuity of operations, including preparations for the resumption of the voluntary repatriation of Ivorian refugees, in the face of the Ebola crisis
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This document lays out economic arguments for investing in the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-Accelerator). Framed within an overall context that recognizes the broader human health and societal impacts of the COVID-19
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crisis, ACT-Accelerator's Economic Investment Case argues that investment in ACT-Accelerator is the world’s best bet and most viable solution for restarting the global economy. It is intended for governments, multilaterals, civil society, businesses and foundations and all those interested in the work required to change the course of the pandemic. The global deployment of ACT-Accelerator’s comprehensive package of tools will reduce the severity of COVID-19 disease, enabling countries to transition out of the crisis thereby restarting domestic and international economic engines driving our global economy.
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Despite growing evidence on the impact of psychosocial support interventions, there is an urgent need for a stronger evidence base on approaches that effectively support children affected by armed conflict. To contribute to this evidence base, and b
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uilding on a pilot study conducted in Uganda in 2009, War Child conducted an exploratory outcome evaluation of its psychosocial support intervention ‘I DEAL’ in South Sudan and Colombia in 2012. The objective of the evaluation was to explore the outcomes that I DEAL achieves for children and the factors that influence the achievement of those outcomes to further inform and strengthen the intervention
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The risk of increasing rates of acute malnutrition during the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates the urgent need to adapt, and expand access to, acute malnutrition diagnosis and treatment services in humanitar
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ian and fragile contexts.
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Oxfam’s report found that Covid-19 has the potential to increase economic inequality in almost every country at once, the first time this has happened since records began over a century ago. It sets out how a rigged economy is enabling a super-ric
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h elite to amass wealth in the middle of the worst recession since the Great Depression, while billions of people are struggling amid the worst job crisis in over 90 years. Unless rising inequality is tackled, half a billion more people could be living in poverty on less than $5.50 (£4.00) a day in 2030, than at the start of the pandemic.
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The purpose of this document is to provide agencies with a guide with three tools containing key assessment questions that are of common relevance to all actors involved in Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) independent of the phase of t
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he emergency. This guide will be useful for rapid assessments of MHPSS issues in humanitarian emergencies across sectors. The guide is designed for use by various humanitarian actors (governmental and non-governmental; local, national and global). It is based on the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings (IASC, 2007).
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The MHPSS MSP is an easy-to-follow intersectoral package, which spells out the activities and actions that all humanitarian actors should put in place in
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all emergencies for an effective MHPSS response. It speaks to different actors at the global, regional, national, and local levels to plan, coordinate and implement an effective MHPSS response.
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The COVID-19 pandemic is a multiplier of vulnerability, compounding threats to food insecurity, while exposing weaknesses in food and health systems. It is severely undermining the capacity of communities to cope
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in times of crisis and has become a stress test for political and economic stability.
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The compendium provides guidance on low-cost handwashing facilities that can be widely used in low and middle-income countries. We hope that this can be shared extensively as governments and agencies tackle the
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crisis in low and middle-income countries where handwashing facilities are urgently needed in households, communities, schools and healthcare facilities.
The compendium includes information and further reading on: handwashing facilities – including facilities that are accessible for all, environmental cues to reinforce handwashing behaviours, physical distancing hygiene promotion.
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Community-Based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) is a decentralised community-based approach to treating acute malnutrition. Treatment is matched to the nutritional and clinical needs of the child, with the majority children receiving treatme
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nt at home using ready-to-use foods. In-patient care is provided only for complicated cases of acute malnutrition. CMAM consists of four components: (1) stabilisation care for acute malnutrition with complications, (2) out-patient therapeutic care for severe acute malnutrition without complications, (3) supplementary feeding for moderate acute malnutrition and (4) community mobilisation.
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This document, endorsed by the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, provides guiding principles to support countries in their decision-making regarding provision or resumption of immunization services during severe disruptive eve
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nts such as COVID-19, natural disasters or humanitarian emergencies. It incorporates the Immunization Agenda 2030 principles of being people-centred, country-owned, partnership-based and data-guided.
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Impact of EU policies on accessing protection. The report highlights the tragedy hundreds of thousands of people face when seeking protection in Europe. Women, men and children escaping war, repress
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ion and violation of human rights often turn to Europe in the hope of finding a safe haven. But many are instead confronted with bureaucratic hurdles, denial of protection and inconsistent reception standards across Europe.
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This report found that fewer than 15 percent of more than 3,000 school-age asylum-seeking children on the islands were enrolled in public school at the end of the 2017-2018 school year, and that
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in government-run camps on the islands, only about 100 children, all preschoolers, had access to formal education. The asylum-seeking children on the islands are denied the educational opportunities they would have on the mainland. Most of those who were able to go to school had been allowed to leave the government-run camps for housing run by local authorities and volunteers
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Ethiopia has been repeatedly affected by conflict, flooding, drought, and disease outbreaks in the past years. As of January 2024, the country is actively responding to the longest recorded cholera outbreak which started
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in August 2022, recurrent measles outbreaks which started in August 2021, and the highest number of malaria cases reported since 2017. The El Niño phenomenon is expected to cause further havoc up to July 2024, by causing drought in some parts of the country, and flooding in others. Food insecurity due to lost harvest and livestock is aggravating already high malnutrition rates, negatively impacting morbidity and mortality.
The Health Cluster is closely collaborating with the Ministry of Health (MOH) to prepare for, prevent, and respond to public health emergencies by mobilizing resources to enable health partners to provide life-saving health services to vulnerable populations.
In an environment with ever-increasing needs and decreased funding, the below priorities for 2024 and 2025 have been identified: 1 Strengthen advocacy for longer-term, development funding to address root causes of recurrent disease outbreaks, including through the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus 2 Advocate for increased access to quality health services, with a strong focus on:
sexual and reproductive health services (including for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence)
inclusion of people with disabilities, older people, and people living with HIV
remote populations through inclusion of Mobile Health Teams (MHT) as part of the health system 3 Standardize health services provided by Health Cluster partners through the implementation of Essential Health Care packages, aligned with existing MOH guidance, aimed at ensuring quality service delivery for affected populations, especially at community level 4 Strengthen quality of, and access to data for needs analysis and informed decision-making 5 Strengthen subnational coordination, with increased focus on zones and local health partners
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The* Facilitator manual on community-based psychosocial support *and the* Volunteers manual on community-based psychosocial support* provides resources for trainers and participants in key aspects of psychosocial support, including understanding the
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impact of crisis events, supportive communication, protection issues and self-care.
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This article analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on foreign aid. Using examples from Canadian foreign aid, it argues that, despite the terrible toll it is exacting, the crisis has accelerated some significant positive pre-existing trends, b
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oth by destabilizing the perception of aid as flowing essentially from the Global North to Global South and by reinforcing awareness of the importance of joint efforts for global public goods and humanitarian assistance, as well as debt relief. However, it has also reinforced potentially harmful self-interested justifications for aid, which could align assistance more with donors’ priorities than the needs of the poor
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WHO needs US$2.54 billion to provide life-saving assistance to millions of people around the world facing health emergencies. WHO’s Health Emergency Appeal is a consolidation of WHO’s priorities and financial requirements for 2023 to carry out health interventions
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in emergency and humanitarian responses. The number of people in need of humanitarian relief has increased by almost a quarter compared to 2022, to a record 339 million. WHO is responding to an unprecedented number of intersecting health emergencies: climate change-related disasters such as flooding in Pakistan and food insecurity across the Sahel in the greater Horn of Africa; the war in Ukraine; and the health impact of conflict in Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria and north eastern Ethiopia – all of these emergencies overlapping with the health system disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and outbreaks of measles, cholera, and other killers. Contributions to the appeal can be fully flexible, flexible across a region, or flexible within a country appeal.
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This learning report attempts to understand the drivers for, and barriers to, effective implementation as well as review the experiences of Start Fund members in responding to these outbreaks to support evidence-based decision-making within the Star
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t Network at project, crisis, and system level. Specifically, it analyses the effectiveness, efficiency, and relevance of Start Fund disease outbreak responses by reviewing and analysing funding, decision-making and response activities before ultimately exploring implications and recommendations.
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