The GHS Index is intended to be a key resource in the face of increasing risks of high-consequence and globally catastrophic biological events and in light
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of major gaps in international financing for preparedness. These risks are magnified by a rapidly changing and interconnected world; increasing political instability; urbanization; climate change; and rapid technology advances that make it easier, cheaper, and faster to create and engineer pathogens.
Key findings from the study of 195 countries:
• Out of a possible 100 points, the average GHS Index score across 195 countries was 40.2.
• The majority of high- and middle-income countries do not score above 50.
• Action is urgently needed to improve countries’ readiness for high-consequence infectious disease outbreaks.
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The Philippine Government, International Non-government Organizations (INGOs) and local NGOs are all making attempts to address the impact of disasters and climate
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change at various levels. The Philippine Government has made significant strides in the implementation of disaster risk reduction (DRR) planning and activities through the development of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) which acts as the lead agency for DRR in the Philippines. The disaster focal points are the NDRRMC and the Office of Civil Defence (OCD). The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is responsible for leading immediate disaster relief efforts.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is a primary responder in disasters and have been deployed frequently to several disaster relief operations in the country in recent years. The Philippines has endured disasters that involve national and international assistance.
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According to the Report, cascading and interlinked crises are putting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in grave danger, along with humanity’s very own survival. The Report highlights the severity and magnitude of the challenges before u
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s. The confluence of crises, dominated by COVID-19, climate change, and conflicts, are creating spin-off impacts on food and nutrition, health, education, the environment, and peace and security, and affecting all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Report details the reversal of years of progress in eradicating poverty and hunger, improving health and education, providing basic services, and much more. It also points out areas that need urgent action in order to rescue the SDGs and deliver meaningful progress for people and the planet by 2030.
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A summary of what we know
Recent United Nations Conferences of the Parties (COPs) have demonstrated that health professionals are
playing an increasingly prominent role in calling for rapid action to address the climate cri
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sis.
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The World Climate and Security Report (WCSR) 2021 from the Expert Group of the International
Military Council on Climate and Security is a global
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assessment of the security dimensions of a changing
climate and effective means to address them. It is intended to inform timely climate and security policy
and action, and builds upon the analysis in the first WCSR, released in February 2020.
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Compared to the previous five-year assessment period 2011–2015, the current five-year period 2015–2019 has seen a continued increase in carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emissions and an accelerated increase in the atmospheric concentration of major greenho
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use gases (GHGs), with growth rates nearly 20% higher. The increase in the oceanic CO2 concentration has increased the ocean’s acidity.
The five-year period 2015–20191 is likely to be the warmest of any equivalent period on record globally, with a 1.1 °C global temperature increase since the pre-industrial period and a 0.2 °C increase compared to the previous five-year period.
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he statistics in this report are from the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) maintained by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) which records disasters which have killed ten or more people; affected 100 or more people; res
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ulted in a declared state of emergency; or a call for international assistance.
In the period 2000 to 2019, there were 7,348 major recorded disaster events claiming 1.23 million lives, affecting 4.2 billion people (many on more than one occasion) resulting in approximately US$2.97 trillion in global economic losses.
This is a sharp increase over the previous twenty years. Between 1980 and 1999, 4,212 disasters were linked to natural hazards worldwide claiming approximately 1.19 million lives and affecting 3.25 billion people resulting in approximately US$1.63 trillion in economic losses.
Much of the difference is explained by a rise in climate-related disasters including extreme weather events: from 3,656 climate-related events (1980-1999) to 6,681 climate-related disasters in the period 2000-2019.
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As a central component of the UNHCR Strategic Directions 2022-2026, UNHCR has identified eight focus areas for renewed attention and accelerated action, including Climate Action. This Focus Area Str
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ategic Plan for Climate Action sets out a global roadmap for prioritized action, providing further clarity on UNHCR’s role and direct contribution, its asks of others, and the immediate actions the organization will take to be optimally calibrated to advance this agenda.
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The World Climate and Security Report (WCSR) 2021 from the Expert Group of the International Military Council on Climate and Security is a global a
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ssessment of the security dimensions of a changing climate and effective means to address them. It is intended to inform timely climate and security policy and action, and builds upon the analysis in the first WCSR, released in February 2020.
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After five consecutive below-average rains, the humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa is expanding and deepening.
Combined with insecurity and macroeconomic volatility, the impact of the drou
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ght on food and nutrition security has been devastating. Across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, an estimated 22 million people are now acutely food insecure because of the drought. The malnutrition situation is also critical. Some 5.1 million children across drought-affected areas of the three countries are acutely malnourished in 2023, with dire implications for their health, growth and survival. Concerningly, the upcoming March-May 2023 rains are also forecast to be below-average. Should these rains fail, and humanitarian assistance not be delivered at scale, food insecurity will continue to deteriorate.
Regardless of how the 2023 rains perform, extremely high humanitarian needs will persist through 2023 while a full recovery from a drought of this magnitude will take years. To address the devastating drought-induced hunger and malnutrition across the region, WFP is pursuing an integrated dual track approach; meeting immediate life-saving food and nutritional needs while simultaneously building resilience to extreme climate variability.
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Who suffers Most from Extreme Weather Events? Weather-related Loss Events in 2019 and 2000 to 2019
The Global Climate Risk Index 2021 analyses and ranks to what extent countries and regions have been affected by impacts
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of climate related extreme weather events (storms, floods, heatwaves etc.). The most recent data available for 2019 and from 2000 to 2019 was taken into account.
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The Lancet Regional Health - Americas 2022;00: 100248 Published online xxx https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lana.2022.100248.
The Lancet Countdown report, discuss the overlapping social, climate and health challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean, a
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nd urge multisectoral and political action to transform these challenges into opportunities through adaptation and mitigation measures that place peoples’ health and wellbeing at the centre of public policies. Latin American and Caribbean governments are called upon to promote climate-resilient health care systems with adaptation plans that are tailored to guarantee quality access to care for all in this viewpoint.
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The Advancing Climate-Resilient Education Technical Guidance builds on the USAID 2022–2030 Climate Strategy and the 2018 USAID Education Policy to support USAID Missions and partners who seek to i
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ntegrate climate action and awareness into education programs and are committed to achieving climate-resilient education systems and fostering climate-resilient learners. It outlines how to identify opportunities for climate action that respond to known climate hazards through mitigative, adaptive, and transformative actions.
The guidance is designed for use at the activity design and monitoring and evaluation stages of the USAID Program Cycle. It does not prescribe new processes, but rather serves to aid Missions and partners in integrating climate considerations into existing processes
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Around the world, approximately 1 in 45 children are on the move – nearly 50 million boys and girls that have migrated across borders or been forcibly displaced within their own countries.1 Climate-related events
and their impacts are already con
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tributing significantly to these staggering numbers,with 14.7 million people facing new internal displacement as a result of weather-related disasters in 2015 alone. The annual average
since 2008 is higher still, at 21.5 million, equivalent to almost 2,500 people being displaced every single day.2
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Climate information is critical towards strengthening the decision making among different users interested in mitigating impacts of climate related
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disasters. However, there is need for the climate users to have basic knowledge on weather and climate concepts and to a larger extend, early warning early action (EWEA) system and approach. This manual presents an opportunity for the climate users including communities to acquire basic knowledge on Early Warning Early Action and this entails; understanding risk areas, existing early warning systems, communication of early warning information and enhancing disaster preparedness through translating early warning into early actions. The EWEA manual largely target the users in different sectors and communities. The execution of the EWEA manual is planned for 3 days and this does incorporate different methods such as; PowerPoint presentation, group work discussions as well as practical exercises.
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Lancet Planet Health 2021; 5: e415–25
Injection Safety and Safe Disposal of Medical Waste National Communication Strategy and Health Care Waste Management Standard
Operating Procedures (SOPs).
The overall objective of the consultancy
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was to review and align the three national technical and communication guiding documents on HCWM to the WHO Blue Book and other global standards and recommendations. The specific objectives of the assignment were ; to establish how well aligned the Kenya Healthcare Waste Management Guidelines, 2011, are to the WHO Blue Book on healthcare waste management, global recommendations and other global conventions on environmental protection; to establish the extent to which the Kenya Injection Safety and Safe Disposal of Medical Waste National Communication Strategy is aligned to the National Health Communication Guidelines, 2013; to determine the extent to which the current Standard Operating Procedures are aligned to the best available technologies (BAT) and best environmental practices (BEP) and international practices; and to assess current health care waste management practices at the health facilities supported by the GEF project.
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This concept report was prepared by Faith for Earth Initiative in support of the efforts of the Government of Iceland to put forth a new resolution
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during UNEA 5.2 1
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