The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the issues in regulating and managing in
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ternational emergency in a selection of large and small-scale sudden onset disasters (SODs). In doing so, it aims to contribute to several key international commitments as well as its objective in disasters and emergencies to “reduce the consequences the event may have on world health and its social and economic implications”.
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The UNICEF-GAIN Partnership Project
The report notes that iodine deficiency is a leading cause of preventable brain damage worldwide. Insuffi
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cient iodine during pregnancy and infancy results in neurological and psychological deficits, reducing a child’s IQ by 8 to 10 points. This translates into major losses in the cognitive capital of entire nations and thus their socio-economic development.
The report outlines urgent steps to reduce the risk of mental impairment to babies’ growing brains:
• Integrate salt iodization into national plans to support children’s nutrition and brain development in early childhood;
• Align salt iodization and salt reduction agendas;
• Establish surveillance systems to identify unreached populations;
• Strengthen regulatory systems to enforce existing legislation on salt iodization;
• Recognize the growing importance of fortified foods as potential sources of iodized salt.
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The health of the people and health services are in crisis, and together as partners this plan commits us to strategies aimed at achieving our goal
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of:
Strengthened primary health care for all, and improved service delivery for the rural majority and the urban disadvantaged.
Original file: 67 MB
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The guideline uses state-of-the-art evidence to identify effective policy options to strengthen community health worker (CHW) programme performance
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through their proper integration in health systems and communities.
Successful delivery of services through CHWs requires evidence-based models for education, deployment and management of these health workers. The guideline is intended as a tool for national policy makers and planners and their international partners to use in the design, implementation, performance and evaluation of effective community health worker programmes. It contains pragmatic recommendations on selection, training and certification; management and supervision: and integration into health systems and community engagement.
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WHO/ESCAP Training Manual on Disability Statistics | This training manual intends to enhance the understanding of the ICF-based approach to disabi
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lity measurement. It provides an overview of the ICF framework as well as guidelines on how to operationalize the underlying concepts of functioning and disability into data collection, dissemination and analysis.
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Cambodia drafted and adopted the National Action Plan for Disaster Risk Reduction 2014-2018 in 2014. This plan finalized the required policies and legal processes to strengthen DRM in Cambodia. It a
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lso focused on capacity building at national and sub-national levels and provided dedicated resources for strengthening the NCDM and the Sub-National Committees for Disaster Management. Cambodia’s legislature then passed the Law on Disaster Management in June 2015. This legal framework for disaster management assigns legally binding roles and responsibilities, establishes institutions, and assists with the allocation of resources and coordination. NCDM is Cambodia’s lead government agency for emergency preparedness and relief. The NCDM provides the overall leadership of the Plan of Action for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) coordination in Cambodia. Cambodia has adopted the Cambodia Red Cross (CRC) as the primary partner for relief operations.
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The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Georgetown University, and the United Nations Univ
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ersity have today launched new guidelines to provide the first-ever global policy framework that will help protect, include, and empower children on the move in the context of climate change.
The Guiding Principles for Children on the Move in the Context of Climate Change provides a set of 9 principles that address the unique and layered vulnerabilities of children on the move both internally and across borders as a result of the adverse impacts of climate change. Currently, most child-related migration policies do not consider climate and environmental factors, while most climate change policies overlook the unique needs of children.
The guidelines note that climate change is intersecting with existing environmental, social, political, economic, and demographic conditions contributing to people’s decisions to move. In 2020 alone, nearly 10 million children were displaced in the aftermath of weather-related shocks. With around one billion children – nearly half of the world’s 2.2 billion children – living in 33 countries at high risk of the impacts of climate change, millions more children could be on the move in the coming years.
Developed in collaboration with young climate and migration activists, academics, experts, policymakers, practitioners, and UN agencies, the guiding principles are based on the globally ratified Convention on the Rights of the Child and are further informed by existing operational guidelines and frameworks.
Recommendations for safeguarding the rights and well-being of children regardless of their location or migration status.
The guiding principles provide national and local governments, international organizations and civil society groups with a foundation to build policies that protect children’s rights. The organizations and institutions are calling on governments, local and regional actors, international organizations, and civil society groups to embrace the guiding principles to help protect, include, and empower children on the move in the context of climate change.
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This report reviews the current situation in relation to national capacity to address NCDs and the progress made at country level over the past dec
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ade. It highlights that, while progress is being made, there is still much work to be done to create the infrastructure, policies, surveillance and health systems response that will allow NCDs and their contributing risk factors to be successfully contained and reversed.
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Reporting on Climate Change and Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific: A Handbook for Journalists.
UNESCO Series on Journalism education.
It explores the essential aspects
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of climate change, including its injustices to vulnerable communities, especially women and girls and least developed countries, and provides examples of best practices and stories of hope unique to the region. It can be used as a resource for journalists to understand the science of climate change, as well as helping journalists to improve their reporting of the environmental, social, economic, political, technological and other angles of the story
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The pandemic presents tough choices for governments, local communities, health and school systems, as well as families and businesses: How to re-open safely? How to safeguard people’s lives and protect their livelihoods? Where to allocate scarce r
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esources? How to protect those unable to protect themselves? Answers to questions like these will affect our short-term success in battling the spread of the virus and could have impacts for generations to come.
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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DEVELOPMENT BULLETIN | No.74, June 2011 | Editor: Pamela Thomas | Features and case studies | Progress with implementing conventions and strategies | Progress with capacity building | Progress with disability-inclusive education | Disability-inclusive research | Innovative inclusion | Review
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of urbanisation in the Pacific | Development assistance and disability
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Health Statistics in the Western Pacific Region 2023: Monitoring health for the SDGs is the third biennial report providing an overview
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of the progress of the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region towards the health-related Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets. This edition also serves as a baseline assessment for the implementation of the global WHO Fourteenth General Programme of Work 2025–2028 (GPW14) within the Western Pacific Region and the for the Regional Vision “Weaving Health for Families, Communities, and Societies of the Western Pacific Region: Working Together to Improve Health, Well-Being and Save Lives”.
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The guide is designed to help disaster managers in national Governments gain basic knowledge of how to use international tools and services. It aims to support
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the growing disaster response and disaster response preparedness capabilities that exist at national level across Asia and the Pacific.
The guide is for national disaster management organizations (NDMOs) and line ministries involved in disaster response and disaster response preparedness. It is also a reference document for representatives of intergovernmental organizations, civilsociety actors and disaster-affected people.
The guide concentrates on key tools and services that can be helpful to disaster managers during the response and response preparedness phases of the disaster programme cycle.
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The Operational guide: use of referral laboratories for the analysis of foodborne hazards in
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the Pacific aims to strengthen the food analysis capacity of Pacific Island countries and areas by identifying national and reference laboratories capable of testing for priority foodborne hazards. The Pacific Island countries and areas are often vulnerable to food safety incidents and emergencies due to their geographical distribution and dependence on food imports. The guide outlines key considerations for selecting referral laboratories and submitting samples to them, enabling continuous improvement of food safety systems and providing safe food for all. The target audiences are health and food safety authorities.
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During the 17 years since Surgical approaches to the urogenital manifestations of lymphatic filariasis was first published, there has been heighten
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ed awareness of the physical, economic and emotional burden of the genitourinary manifestations of filariasis. With the impetus to provide better guidance for care of those suffering from LF, this update was both warranted and timely.
At the outset, the Committee noted that barriers continue to exist in care of patients affected by LF-associated morbidity. These barriers include lack of information for patients as well as for many healthcare providers, including general surgeons and others within health systems
This update offers a new consensus of the Committee regarding the staging of hydroceles caused by LF, also known as “filariceles”. It recommends integrating LF surgery with other efforts to strengthen surgical care by assessing health facilities for their surgical readiness using the WHO surgical assessment tool or “SAT”. It also recommends integratinghernia surgery with hydrocele surgery and integrating standards for prevention of surgical site infection (SSI).
The update revises recommendations for standard procedures and processes, offers an algorithm for diagnosis (including the use of ultrasound) and discusses postoperative care. It recommends collecting data using the staging and grading system described by Capuano and Capuano along with other metrics for public health management of LF.
A multifaceted approach has therefore been recommended to coordinate public health outreach with national surgical planning and local health systems to include supporting partners such as nongovernmental organizations. Surgical camps with mobile teams, as well as training of personnel at DCP3 “first level” or WHO Level II hospitals (depending on region and resources), have important roles for reducing LF morbidity.
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With its expert practical advice on security in situations of armed conflict, this updated set of guidelines will prove invaluable to humanitarian personnel working at
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the operational level. Following on from the success of the first edition, published in 1999, it addresses new and developing threats such as chemical, biological and nuclear hazards and includes new chapters on, among others, first aid, staying healthy on mission and how international humanitarian law protects humanitarian workers.
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Exposure to air pollution causes 7 million deaths worldwide every year and costs an estimated US$ 5.11 trillion in welfare losses globally. In the 15 countries that emit the most greenhouse gas emis
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sions, the health impacts of air pollution are estimated to cost more than 4% of their GDP. Actions to meet the Paris goals would cost around 1% of global GDP. The report provides recommendations for governments on how to maximize the health benefits of tackling climate change and avoid the worst health impacts of this global challenge.
It describes how countries around the world are now taking action to protect lives from the impacts of climate change – but that the scale of support remains woefully inadequate, particularly for the small island developing states, and least developed countries. Only approximately 0.5% of multilateral climate funds dispersed for climate change adaptation have been allocated to health projects
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