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OCHA Policy Brief on Gendered Drivers, Risks and Impacts of Food Insecurity in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (2023) CC

It is widely understood that the food insecurity crisis in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa is one of the world’s fastest growing and most neglected crises. It lacks sufficient global focus, resources and urgency. As in so many crises, women and girls are disproportionately affected and shoulder t ... he consequences of protracted neglect, with unconscionable impacts on their safety, life chances and agency. Gaining a holistic view of the gendered drivers, risks and impacts of food insecurity in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa is difficult. This is due to a lack of data and prioritization, and the large geographical and socioeconomic terrain covered by both regions. However, what we do know about this crisis is more than enough to urgently address the needs of women and girls. An OCHA discussion paper on this topic (which will be published imminently, and from which this policy brief is drawn) found that there is: A strong risk of profound regression in gender equality gains made to date in the countries of concern, including on education, sexual and reproductive health, and the economic independence of women and girls (with knock-on effects on broader humanitarian and development outcomes). An increasing challenge to reverse what must be recognized as a protracted and growing gender-based violence (GBV) emergency in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa. The food insecurity crisis in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa is protracted, multidimensional and highly gendered, with spiralling impacts on gender equality and food security outcomes. It is driven by interwoven and overlapping factors, including climate change, political instability, conflict, socioeconomic conditions, migration and displacement and, more recently, COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine. Interlinked with these factors are gendered structural drivers of food insecurity, including deeply entrenched gender inequalities and harmful social norms. Gendered risks and impacts of food insecurity include alarming limitations on access to education, sexual and reproductive health rights, women’s agency and participation, and dramatic increases in different existing forms of GBV and the emergence of new ones. Recognition of such gendered dimensions of food insecurity and of the need for a multisectoral approach in the response is key to addressing the crisis, along-side sustained commitment and adequate allocation of resources. This policy brief draws out key findings from the OCHA discussion paper on this topic, which includes a desk review of studies, assessments and reports, and interviews with local women’s organizations on the front lines of the food insecurity crisis in communities across both regions. Below are the most pressing gendered drivers, risks and impacts of food insecurity (not in order of priority), as well as key gaps in the current humanitarian response to food insecurity, and recommendations to take forward. more

Women in Nepal-Highlight statistics 2018

Central Bureau of Statistics, National Planning Commission Government of Nepal (2018) C1

Das Geschäft mit der Not - Menschenhandel von geflüchteten Kindern und Heranwachsenden in Deutschland

terre des hommes, ECPAT (2018) CC

Die Zahl der unbegleiteten und von ihren Eltern getrennten Kinder in Migration und auf der Flucht nimmt auf der Balkanroute ständig zu. Diese Kinder sind in höchstem Masse gefährdet, Opfer von Kinderhandel und Ausbeutung zu werden. terre des homm ... more

Engaging Communities during a Pandemic: Experiences of Community Engagement during the COVID-19 Response in Camps and Out-of-Camp Settings

Norwegian Refugee Council NRC (2020) C1

This report presents examples from different agencies on how they approached community engagement in their Covid-19 responses, the tools and methodologies used, as well as the challenges they encountered and how they attempted to overcome these. It discusses what community engagement means to the va ... more

Innovative and impactful strategies to accelerate the HIV response among sex workers in Myanmar

UNAIDS (2017) C1

Policy Brief, Updated in March 2017
Key messages
• Meaningful involvement of sex workers in the HIV response through peer-based education and outreach and consultation in policy making and programme planning is vital to reduce their vulnerability to HIV and other sexually transmitted inf ... more

Fit for women? Safe and decent PPE for women health and care workers. Excecutive Summary

Women for Global Health WGH (2022) CC

One of the many gender inequities in the health and care workforce that COVID-19 has exposed is around the fit and design of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The rapid onset and scale of COVID-19 led to shortages of PPE in most countries, causing preventable infection and mortality among healthc ... more

Environmental Determinants of Cardiovascular Disease

Bhatnagar, A. Circulation Research (2018) CC

Many features of the environment have been found to exert an important influence on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, progression, and severity. Changes in the environment due to migration to different geographic locations, modifications in lifesty ... more

Cultural Issues in Mental Health

Don Gorman and Wendy Cross (2011) C2

In: Mental health nursing: dimensions of praxis. Oxford University Press, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 427-442. ISBN 9780195566963 This chapter introduces you to the importance of culturally based health and well-being and to health care delivered by mental health nurses. There is a need for mental h ... more

Annual Report 2017 HIV /AIDS

National AIDS Council, Zambia (2017) C1

“There Is Enormous Suffering” - Serious Abuses Against Talibé Children in Senegal, 2017-2018

Seibert, L. Human Rights Watch (2019) CC

This report documents scores of serious abuses committed against talibé children by Quranic teachers or their assistants in 2017 and 2018, including deaths, beatings, sexual abuse, chaining and imprisonment, and numerous forms of neglect and endangerment. The abuses took place in at least eight of ... more

New hope for leishmaniasis

Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative DNDi (2022) CC

Leishmaniasis is a climate-sensitive disease. Changes in temperature, rainfall, and humidity can have strong impacts on the sandfly vector, altering their distribution and influencing their survival and population sizes. Increased temperatures shorten vector development time, reduce Leishmania para ... more

Health guide for asylum seekers in Germany
recommended

Ethnomedizinisches Zentrum e.V.; Bundesministerium für Gesundheit (2016) C1

Behaviour Change Communication in Emergencies: A Toolikt

UNICEF ROSA (2006)

EASL 2017 Clinical Practice Guidelines on the management of hepatitis B virus infection

European Association for the Study of the Liver (2017) CC

J Hepatol (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2017.03.021

Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific 2015: Bangladesh Country Profile

ESCAP (2016) C1

Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific 2015: India Country Profile

ESCAP (2016) C1