Opinion: It’s time to reassess the goals of humanitarian aid
Those caught in conflict and natural disasters are part of growing trend exemplified by Syria, South Sudan and the Philippines
David Miliband – International Rescue Committee
The Guardian :: Poverty Matters blog
28 Feb 2014

For the first time the UN has declared three simultaneous crises – in South Sudan, Syria and the Philippines – as level 3, the highest band of emergency. So this is a period of intense activity for NGOs such as the International Rescue Committee. But it is also a good time to reflect on the goals and working methods of the humanitarian system.

Approximately $18bn (£11bn) is spent annually on humanitarian aid by more than 140,000 staff. UN appeals solicit life-saving help for 52 million people across 19 countries. Yet the entire system is under unprecedented strain.

Civil strife means that whole populations are caught up in conflict. In Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Zimbabwe, an average of 75% of the entire population have been directly affected. Worldwide, more than 172 million people were touched by conflict in 2012. Last year, there were 35 million people displaced – 10.5 million across borders, and double that number within countries.

These trends have profound implications for humanitarian action. First, while huge numbers of people in Asia and Africa continue to rise out of poverty, those who remain are increasingly in fragile states, exposed to war and crisis. In 2005, just 20% of the global poor were in conflict-affected and fragile states. Today that figure is 50% and set to rise to more than 80% in 2025.

For many years, people have questioned the conventional distinction between the humanitarian system that responds to emergencies caused by wars and natural disasters, and the development community that, in the longer term, seeks to tackle poverty. When the majority of the global poor live in fragile states, and when the average refugee spends nearly 20 years outside their home country, the distinction has in reality dissolved – yet it still conditions many of the institutions that govern this work.

Second, we need to think hard about the modern needs of those displaced by conflict. The face of the refugee is no longer only someone living in a tent in a vast camp – it is increasingly that of a family squatting in an abandoned building in an urban area, or crammed into a one-room apartment on the outskirts of a small town, with nowhere to send their kids to school. With the urban populations of Africa and Asia set to double or even triple in coming decades, their services and systems will come under ever more stress.

We need to think about the universal services, infrastructure and local economies used by both host communities and those displaced by conflict, as well as targeted services for refugees. That means, among other things, working with and through local partners and governments not bypassing them.

Third, the demands on the humanitarian system are set to grow not just in scale and duration, but complexity. This is not just from the civil wars in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. Population surge, concentrated in cities, combined with the droughts, water shortages and natural disasters that are the consequences of climate change, will increasingly affect the most fragile areas of the world.

With new players coming into the humanitarian system, notably from Muslim-majority countries, there is pressing need for common purpose. The millennium development goals (MDGs), despite some shortcomings, brought focus, attention and resources to development efforts. We need a similar coalition for change in response to humanitarian crisis. Do we need humanitarian goals?

The classic definition of humanitarian action is simple: we exist to save lives.  But in fact we have other priorities too.  Protecting women and girls from violence, investing in disaster risk reduction, promoting economic livelihoods are part of the humanitarian enterprise.

Humanitarian goals (HuGos) could take several forms.  They could be distinct from the successor to the MDGs post-2015, or integrated within them. They could rationalise existing – and overlapping – humanitarian norms and technical standards (so-called Sphere standards that for example specify the minimum amount of water a person should receive per day), and give them teeth through global commitment and monitoring.  They could raise the bar of quality for the entire humanitarian system through global quality standards. More challenging given the diverse contexts, they could define outcomes, such as response times, literacy rates or child mortality.

HuGos could also address resource issues. Rich countries have made a commitment to spend 0.7% of their national income on aid, yet according to the OECD, just 11% of aid goes on humanitarian and food needs.

With the MDG revision process under way, and a humanitarian summit announced for 2016, now is the time to debate what purpose humanitarian goals could serve, and what they should be. At the moment we are playing catch up. It is time to get ahead of the curve.

WHO Briefing: Health situation in Syria
Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization
Briefing to the UN General Assembly
25 February 2014
Full text [Editor’s bolded text]

Mr President, Secretary-General, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,

I am speaking to you with a heavy heart. In March, the Syrian crisis will enter its fourth year. The long duration of the conflict has created a crisis for health. The health needs of the Syrian people are enormous, as is their suffering.

In the course of this conflict, more than 100,000 people have been killed, and more than 600,000 have been injured.

At least 6.5 million Syrians have been internally displaced, often crowded together under unsanitary conditions that favour the spread of disease. Another 2.3 million have fled to Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq, and Egypt, creating a heavy burden on these countries.

Health needs have skyrocketed at a time when domestic capacity to respond has been decimated. The country’s previously excellent health system has collapsed in a significant number of areas.

More than half the country’s public hospitals have been damaged, often following direct attacks, and many no longer function. The number of doctors, nurses, and other health workers still at work has dropped by more than half.

A once vibrant pharmaceutical manufacturing industry has nearly ceased operations, resulting in severe shortages of drugs. Many patients with chronic diseases, like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, are not being treated.

Immunization programmes, which reached 90% of children before the conflict, have been disrupted, leaving young children vulnerable to entirely preventable diseases. Safe childbirth is no longer readily accessible, placing pregnant women with life-threatening complications at heightened risk of losing their lives.

The suffering of the Syrian people is reflected in increased mental health disorders, food shortages, undernutrition, and an increase in sexual violence.

   The steep drop in childhood immunization opened the door for vaccine-preventable diseases to return to Syria. And they did, including polio.

   The first cases of polio in Syria since 1999 were reported in October 2013. This marked a significant added threat to Syria’s children, but also a setback to the global initiative to eradicate polio. Most significantly, it confirmed the renewed vulnerability of the Syrian people to diseases that had long disappeared from the country.

   Since detection of the polio cases in October, four mass vaccination campaigns have been conducted in Syria. The most recent campaigns, undertaken in January and February of this year, appear to have reached all districts in all governorates. Preliminary results indicate that immunization coverage was higher than 80% in all but two governorates.

   However, to control the outbreak, efforts on a similarly massive scale need to be sustained during three to four additional campaigns extending until at least June. The future of many Syrian children, and a worldwide eradication effort, are at stake.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Last year, life-saving medicines and supplies reached nearly 5 million Syrians. Much more needs to be done, despite the challenges.

All of these efforts to address the deteriorating health situation are being conducted under extremely difficult and dangerous conditions. Despite the greatest possible will to provide assistance, lack of access to people in need, wherever they reside, remains the most critical barrier to improving the health situation in Syria.

I began my intervention with a heavy heart, and conclude with a heartfelt plea. All parties in the conflict must respect the integrity and neutrality of health facilities.

They must ensure the protection of health workers and patients, in line with their obligations under international humanitarian law.

Thank you.

Keynote address to the UN Economic and Social Council
The changing development landscape: what will it mean for specialized agencies in a post-2015 era with focus on sustainable development?
Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization
New York, USA
25 February 2014
http://www.who.int/dg/speeches/2014/economic-social-council/en/
[Full text]

Distinguished representatives of missions, fellow UN agencies, ladies and gentlemen,

In pursuit of the health-related MDGs, WHO and the international health community have produced many good results, useful lessons, and best practices to guide our work in the post-2015 era.

Commitment to the MDGs left a legacy of innovative facilities and mechanisms for mobilizing funds, like GAVI, the Global Fund, and UNITAID, for purchasing and distributing life-saving commodities, and for developing badly needed new products for diseases of the poor.

Health has profited from a new breed of results-driven multi-stakeholder global initiatives like Every Woman, Every Child with built-in mechanisms for ensuring transparency and accountability. This builds confidence for investment in health by governments and development partners.

The epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria peaked and began a slow decline. The number of childhood deaths, stuck above 10 million per year for decades, dropped by nearly half. The introduction of novel incentives for R&D resulted in new vaccines for the two biggest killers of children, new diagnostics for TB, and new medicines for malaria. The price of medicines for treating AIDS dropped 100-fold.

These are some successes, sometimes stunning successes. The challenges that lie ahead will be more difficult.

The world has changed dramatically since the start of this century. The biggest threats to development are now much more complex and challenging. They can no longer be addressed by the health, education, energy, or food sectors acting alone.

Discussions on the evolving roles of governments, the UN, its agencies and other stakeholders are urgently needed for sustainable development in the post-2015 era…

…I want to shape the discussion by drawing your attention to three high-level trends that I find especially worrisome.

The first is the world’s growing social and economic inequalities. These inequalities are bad for development.

According to the OECD, inequalities, in income levels and opportunities, are at the most extreme level seen in half a century. Leading economists and policy analysts view inequality as an especially dangerous force that squeezes the middle classes, disrupts social cohesion, and destabilizes society.

In its global wealth report, issued last October, the Swiss bank Credit Suisse estimated that the world’s poorest 3.5 billion people possess less than 1% of global wealth, while the richest 1% account for nearly half of total wealth.

Put another way, the combined wealth of the world’s richest 85 people equals the combined wealth of the world’s poorest 3.5 billion people. This is a startling statistic.

In its latest assessment of risks to the global economy, issued last month, the World Economic Forum ranks income inequalities as number four in its list of the top ten risks.

Inequality is also the focus of UNDP’s latest report, on Humanity Divided, which explores the significance of inequality for development and development policies.

All of us in this room who care about development need to be deeply concerned by this lopsided way that wealth and opportunities are being distributed. The world does not need any more rich countries full of poor people.

   The second trend that worries me is the rise of chronic noncommunicable diseases. These diseases are certain to increase the world’s inequalities, in economic wealth as well as health, even further.

For decades, diseases like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases were thought to be closely linked to affluent lifestyles and largely confined to the wealthy world. Not anymore. Today, 80% of the burden of premature deaths from NCDs is concentrated in low- and middle-income countries.

The fact that NCDs have overtaken infectious diseases as the world’s leading killers is a seismic shift in the disease burden, with vibrations felt in economies all around the world.

Left unchecked, these costly diseases, with their need for long-term care, have the power to devour the benefits of economic gain, and move development backwards.

This is an unprecedented situation.

Beginning in the 19th century, improvements in hygiene and living conditions were followed by vast improvements in health status and life-expectancy. Today, the situation is much more complex.

Instead of diseases vanishing as living conditions improve, socioeconomic progress is actually creating the conditions that favour the rise of noncommunicable diseases. Economic growth, modernization, over-consumption, and urbanization have opened wide the entry point for the globalization of unhealthy lifestyles.

The UN Political Declaration on NCDs, issued in 2011, clearly stated that prevention must be the cornerstone of the global response to these diseases. But prevention faces forceful opposition.

Opposition comes from powerful economic operators that depend on the aggressive marketing of tobacco, alcohol, and unhealthy foods and beverages, also to children. Economic power readily translates into political power.

Governments must ensure policy coherence and multisectoral collaboration among agriculture, trade, education, and health to achieve balance between economic growth and public protection. Governments must provide the social environments to make healthy lifestyle choices the easy choices.

In the UN, the creation of a UN Agency Task Force for the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases, with ECOSOC engagement, is a smart and welcome move for improving coherence and coordination.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In a world of radically increased interdependence, countries are closely interconnected, but so are policy spheres.

The lines that distinguish different sectors and actors have become blurred. Actions in the public sector are no longer able, on their own, to influence all the forces that shape development.

Multisectoral collaboration and multi-stakeholder engagement with civil society and the private sector are the reality for sustainable development in the future, whether for securing health, education, energy, or an appropriate food supply.

   This brings me to a third trend of concern. The influence of stakeholders, especially the private sector, in multiple sectors is growing very rapidly at a time when the institutional and regulatory capacity of many countries remains weak.

In the absence of adequate legislation, human and regulatory capacity, the private sector takes on an enlarged role, with little control by the government over the quality and costs of the services being provided. The vital role of government in protecting the public interest is diminished.

In one especially alarming trend, provisions for the settlement of investor-state disputes are being used to handcuff governments and restrict their policy space. For example, tobacco companies are suing governments for lost profits when national legislation, aimed at protecting health, interferes with their business interests.

When private economic operators have more say over domestic affairs than the policies of a sovereign government, we need to be concerned.

If multisectoral collaboration and multi-stakeholder engagement are the reality for sustainable development in the post-2015 era, we need to debate what type of mechanisms are required to allow all stakeholders to make contributions and to protect against the influence of vested interest. We also need to consider the UN’s role as an honest broker that promotes fair play.

Thank you.

Speech: Innovation, Technology and the 21st Century Global Economy
By Christine Lagarde
Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
Stanford University, February 25, 2014

Excerpt

…Technology and rising inequality
This feeds into a broader concern: Technological advance creates a small cohort of big winners, leaving everybody else behind. Which brings me to my second topic today—the problem of rising inequality.

Income inequality is on the rise across the world—starkly so. According to Oxfam, almost half the world’s wealth is owned by one percent of the population and, stunningly, the bottom half of the world’s population owns the same as the richest 85 people in the world. Since 1980, the richest 1 percent increased their share of income in 24 out of 26 countries for which we have data.

Here in the US, the share of income taken home by the top 1 percent more than doubled since the 1980s, returning to where it was on the eve of the Great Depression. Since 2009, the richest 1 percent captured 95 percent of all income gains, while the bottom 90 percent got poorer.

While this is happening, the International Labor Organization tells us that labor’s share of income has fallen over the past two decades in 26 out of 30 advanced economies—even though labor productivity has risen.

What is causing such a convulsion in the distribution of income? There is no single factor here, although it seems clear that technology is one of the major factors—it can create huge rewards for the extraordinary visionaries at the top, and huge anxieties for the ordinary workers at the bottom.

Certainly, those with the lowest skills are having the toughest time in today’s economy. Here in the US, the unemployment rate for people without a high school diploma is three times greater than for those with a bachelor’s degree or higher. Indeed, over the past two decades, only those with college degrees have seen rising real wages. Some are simply giving up and dropping out of the labor force altogether—this is probably one reason why the participation rate is the lowest in a generation.

I know that these concerns resonate strongly at this university, which was founded—to use the words of Jane Stanford—with a “spirit of equality”. One of her goals for the university was “to resist the tendency to the stratification of society, by keeping open an avenue whereby the deserving and exceptional may rise through their own efforts from the lowest to the highest stations in life”. This noble ethos has always served Stanford well, and we will need more thinking like this in the years to come.

Why? Because if not managed carefully, rising inequality and economic exclusion can have pernicious effects. It can undermine economic, social—and perhaps even political—stability. It can tear the very fabric that holds society together.

We now have firm evidence—based partly on IMF research—that a severely skewed income distribution harms the pace and sustainability of growth over the longer term.

We also know from our work at the IMF that careful design of tax and spending policies can help reduce inequality. Think about improving access to health and education, putting in place effective, targeted social programs, and making taxation more progressive.

Policies aimed at countering inequality are hard to design. They throw up winners and losers. The potential for conflict and discord requires courage and determination. And yet, giving the huge stakes, the work must begin.

In the years ahead, it will no longer be enough to look simply at economic growth. We will need to ask if this growth is inclusive—whether the small boats rise with the big boats instead of being capsized by them.

The importance of education and the new multilateralism

This brings me to my third major point today. Taking a step back, how can we make the new economic age enhance, rather than diminish, our humanity? How can we make this amazing innovation advance the prospects of all people?…

…Putting it simply, educational systems are not keeping pace with changing technology and the ever-evolving world of work. Not enough people are thinking strategically enough in this area.

Fundamentally, we need to change what people learn, how people learn, when people learn, and even why people learn. We must get beyond the traditional model of students sitting passively in classrooms, following instructions and memorizing material. Computers can do that for us!

A 21st century educational system must focus on the areas where humans can outclass computers—such as in cognitive skills, interpersonal skills, fine motor skills, or sophisticated coding skills. Think of creative jobs, caring jobs, jobs that entail great craftsmanship. And given the rate and pace of change, we will need the ability to constantly adapt and change through lifelong learning.

This means that public and private sectors must work closely together. It means that institutes of education must think even harder about how to equip today’s generation for tomorrow’s world.

Top-tier schools like Stanford have an especially important role to play here. As you know so well, Stanford’s model of education was innovative from the outset—co-educational, non-denominational, and always practical, focusing on the formation of “cultured and useful citizens”. Stanford was ahead of its time back then. I know that it will continue to be ahead of its time as we venture into the exciting period ahead.

Yes, machines can replace our muscles. Computers may even replace our intelligence. But they can never replace the capacities that make us truly human: our creativity and innovation, our passion.

So education must be the bridge between the present and future, the old and the new. But we must also build an enduring platform. By that I mean a new way of thinking about the global economy—the “new multilateralism”, where all stakeholders take joint responsibility for the global common good, breaking down the borders and barriers that are really relics of a bygone age.

This is really the only surefire way to bend the new age to our will, to manage the complex channels of a hyperconnected world, to get to grips with global problems that are no longer amenable to only national solutions, because they completely ignore borders.

The good news is that we already have some key institutions of multilateralism at our disposal. Think about the IMF, for example. The Fund is essentially an economic club of 188 member countries that commit to working together and to helping each other in time of need—secure in the knowledge that in helping one, they are helping all.

Going forward, the new multilateralism must build on the old—and adapt to a world that is more interconnected and networked, but also more diffuse and dispersed in terms of power and decision making.

As a first step, that means that institutions like the IMF must be brought fully up to date, and made fully representative of the changing dynamics of the global economy—including the shift toward dynamic emerging markets. We are working hard on that.

More than this, the new multilateralism must also encompass the dense web of networks and coalitions that are now deeply embedded in the fabric of the global economy. Think about the rise of cities and multinational corporations. Think about civil society organizations that, thanks to technology, now have a global reach.

There will be many different types of actors on this new global stage. The challenge is for them to work cohesively—and together, write the next great act of our grand global destiny…

BRAC  [to 1 March 2014]

Aarong chief receives international women’s leadership award
25 February 2014, Dhaka. Tamara Hasan Abed, senior director of BRAC Enterprises, was honoured with the Outstanding Women Leadership Award by the World Women Leadership Congress on 14 February in Mumbai, India. “I am truly privileged to receive this award and to be considered among successful women leaders. I would like to accept this on behalf of the many women who have influenced my life, particularly those in my country of Bangladesh. Women are on a remarkable journey towards equality, marked ……Read More

BRAC Driving School starts driving training course for Bangladesh Police Officials
1 March 2014, Dhaka. BRAC Road Safety Programme has started a Basic Driving Training course for 20 constables and sub-inspectors of Bangladesh Police from 1 March, 2014 at BRAC Driving School, Uttara. The aim of the 33 days training programme is to provide basic driving training for promoting safe driving practises among the novice drivers. The BRAC Driving School, established in May 2012 conducts a variety of driving courses such as driver instructors, professional women drivers, Sur……Read More

BRAC @BRACworld Feb 28
Our chairperson Sir Abed will be doing a #MeetTheMentor session at @GESForum. Tweet your questions using #GESF. pic.twitter.com/AnpFqSUjEO

BRAC ‏@BRACworld Feb 26
Longitudinal survey conducted in 62 villages out of 64 across Bangladesh by BIDS, @RiceResearch and BRAC monitoring multi-level changes

BRAC @BRACworld Feb 26
Barefoot lawyers bring #legal #empowerment to the #poor – See more at: http://blog.brac.net/2014/02/barefoot-lawyers-bring-legal-empowerment-to-the-poor/#sthash.3h9vJwUa.dpuf …

Casa Alianza  [to 1 March 2014]
Covenant House [to 1 March 2014]

Covenant House rescues young from homelessness for 25 years
In celebration with  New Jersey’s 25 years of service, Press of Atlantic City, features an article about Covenant House.

ECPAT  [to 1 March 2014]

ECPAT International mourns the loss of Founder and Honorary President, Ronald O’Grady
BANGKOK, 26 February 2014—ECPAT International is deeply saddened to learn that after a battle with a prolonged illness, Founder and Honorary President of ECPAT International, Ronald Michael O’Grady passed away on 25 February 2014.
ECPAT conveys its deepest and sincere condolences to Ronald O’Grady’s wife Alison, his family and his many friends….Read more

ECPAT-USA ‏@ecpatusa Feb 27
TODAY is the day! The ECPAT-USA team is ready to shine a light on slavery! Are you? http://ow.ly/i/4JvmD  @enditmovement #enditmovement

Handicap International  [to 1 March 2014]

15 years of the Mine Ban Treaty
On March 1 1999, the Ottawa Treaty banning the production, use, storage and trade of antipersonnel landmines entered into force. For the first time in history, a conventional weapon was banned by 122 States. Central to this victory was a coalition of six NGOs, including Handicap International.

Fifteen years later, we count 161 States Parties to the Treaty, representing a major step forward: there has been a fivefold reduction in the annual number of reported victims, more than 4,000 sq.km. of land has been demined, and 70 million mines stored by States have been destroyed.

This anniversary provides a reminder of the need to continue campaigning, particularly to put pressure on States that have not yet signed the treaty, including the United States, or those, like Syria, which still use these weapons…

Handicap Int’l-US ‏@HI_UnitedStates Feb 28
Little help for #UXO victims in #Laos–- http://www.irinnews.org/report/99711/little-help-for-uxo-victims-in-laos … #NGOs like #handicapinternational & @WorldEd doing what we can to fill gaps

Retweeted by Handicap Int’l-US
WCPT ‏@WCPT1951 Feb 27
Why do global health decisions revolve around death not #disability? Handicap International @HI_UK & WCPT want change http://bit.ly/1cpFXPC

Handicap Int’l-US ‏@HI_UnitedStates Feb 24
@jess_feet arrives in the #Philippines to visit #haiyan survivors receiving support from #HandicapInternational http://www.handicap-international.us/jessica_cox_arrives_in_hard_hit_philippines …

Handicap Int’l-US ‏@HI_UnitedStates Feb 24
@jess_feet is flying to #Philippines to meet #Haiyan survivors helped by #handicapinternational. Before wheels up: https://www.facebook.com/HandicapInternationalUnitedStates …

Heifer International  [to 1 March 2014]

February 26, 2014
Heifer Projects Bring New Jersey Church Together To Fight Hunger During Lent
Full Press Release

February 26, 2014
United Methodist Church Youth Inspire Lent Focus on Poverty and Hunger
Full Press Release

February 26, 2014
Heifer Projects Brings Washington Farming Community Together
Full Press Release

February 25, 2014
Heifer International V.P. Wins National Fundraising Award
Full Press Release

Pierre Ferrari ‏@HeiferCEO 45m
In #Haiti, “Many don’t realize how the earthquake affected the countryside.” http://www.heifer.org/join-the-conversation/blog/2014/February/a-second-time-around.html … via @Heifer @world_ark @csanders114

Heifer South Africa ‏@HeiferSA Feb 26
Heifer embarks on providing Food and Income security for People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWA) http://ow.ly/tY5a8

Retweeted by Heifer International
Pierre Ferrari ‏@HeiferCEO Feb 24
Read interview w/@judithdschwartz on @world_ark Asked and Answered: Repairing the Earth http://www.heifer.org/join-the-conversation/magazine/2014/spring/repairing-the-earth.html … via @Heifer

HelpAge International  [to 1 March 2014]

Retweeted by HelpAge
Toby Porter ‏@tobyhporter Feb 28
“We are stronger now” – 4500 older people in Leogane, Haiti, represented by this Older Person’s Association pic.twitter.com/uYIonEmJg4

HelpAge ‏@helpage Feb 28
Check out our new Global AgeWatch blog looking at new research into public attitudes on #ageing around the world http://bit.ly/1huYEWx

HelpAge ‏@helpage Feb 27
New blog from @PensionWatch team! Lessons learnt on providing #socialprotection in rural areas http://bit.ly/OCyMhV  pic.twitter.com/dYGDq7wEBK

HelpAge ‏@helpage Feb 27
We’ve a great video on our Typhoon #Haiyan response & how older people are helping each other to recover from trauma http://bit.ly/1cUiYiY

Retweeted by HelpAge
Toby Porter ‏@tobyhporter Feb 26
Great meeting First Lady of #Haiti @SophiaMartelly. Gave her copy of our report on older people’s situation in Haiti! pic.twitter.com/xKNjDUEwyj

International Rescue Committee   [to 1 March 2014]

IRC Blog
Social Saturday: Follow the IRC on Instagram
Posted by The IRC on March 1, 2014
Follow the IRC on Instagram for exclusive pictures that tell the story of our more than 80 years of humanitarian work around the world – and give you a behind-the-scenes look into the latest IRC events. more »

IRC in the News: Early marriage for Syrian refugees, more…
Posted by The IRC on February 24, 2014
Women’s E-News looks at the efforts of the IRC and the United Nations to curb the practice of early marriage of Syrian refugee girls … plus other recent media coverage touching on the IRC’s work around the world: more »

Intl Rescue Comm IRC ‏@theIRC Feb 28
Do we need #humanitarian goals? Our president @DMiliband answers that question, & presents #HuGos.On @GdnDevelopment: http://bit.ly/HuGos

Intl Rescue Comm IRC ‏@theIRC Feb 27
“The commitment that I have to social justice reflects deep parts of my family history” @DMiliband Q&A @CrainsNewYork http://bit.ly/1hmlcJr

Intl Rescue Comm IRC ‏@theIRC Feb 27
A video on forced early marriage made by young #Syria‘n #refugee girls at @theIRC in #Jordan: http://bit.ly/IRCNews4  pic.twitter.com/bJvAPAiMlK

Intl Rescue Comm IRC ‏@theIRC Feb 24
VIDEO: @theIRC recently began providing food rations to 100s of families in northern #Syria.Part of the journey here: http://bit.ly/1cgSIvE

Intl Rescue Comm IRC ‏@theIRC Feb 24
MAP: @theIRC‘s response to the #Syria crisis with programs for #refugees. More at: http://bit.ly/IRCin2013  pic.twitter.com/K4W152cUZN

IRCT   [to 1 March 2014]

IRCT in Geneva
IRCT urges swift adoption of resolution on UN human rights treaty body
28 February 2014
The budgetary Committee of the UN General Assembly must adopt draft resolution A.68.L.37 to strengthen the UN human rights treaty body system including the Committee Against Torture (CAT).

While the resolution does not address all necessary reform initiatives to improve the treaty bodies ability to promote national implementation of human rights treaties, it does take some important first steps in the right direction.

The draft resolution, which has taken more than four years to develop, has finally been agreed on by the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly dealing with human rights issues and is now before its budgetary Committee. The resolution is a package deal making it imperative that it is adopted without any further negotiation of individual elements.

While we regret the limited scope of the package and the lack of focus on national efforts to implement human rights obligations, the resolution does increase funding for bodies like CAT and the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) so that they can scrutinise more states each year and process more individual complaints (in the case of CAT).

This is an important step as it enhances CAT’s and SPT’s ability to monitor implementation and hold states to account with higher frequency including for the implementation of the right to rehabilitation.

The IRCT has joined a large civil society coalition in welcoming the resolution and we call on the all stakeholders to, once adopted, ensure immediate implementation and to continue to take all necessary measures towards the effective functioning of the UN treaty bodies…

MSF/Médecins Sans Frontières  [to 1 March 2014]

Tens of Thousands of Patients at Risk in Myanmar After MSF Ordered to Cease Activities
February 28, 2014
AMSTERDAM/NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 28, 2014 – Médecins Sans Frontières Holland (MSF) has been ordered by the Union Government of Myanmar to cease all activities in the country. MSF is deeply shocked by this unilateral decision and extremely concerned about the fate of tens of thousands of patients currently under MSF’s care across the country.
More >

Press release
Medical Care Under Fire in South Sudan
February 26, 2014
MSF details the killings of patients and vandalism and destruction of hospitals.
More >

Press release
Between Rhetoric and Reality: The Ongoing Struggle to Access Health Care in Afghanistan
February 24, 2014
MSF report details how medical care remains out of reach for many patients.
More >

PATH  [to 1 March 2014]

Announcement | February 26, 2014
New PATH office opens in Myanmar
Team will support a range of country health priorities, from maternal and newborn health and nutrition to immunization systems

PATH ‏@PATHtweets Feb 28
How to monitor #drug & #vaccine safety in low-resource settings? New plan highlighted in @PATHdrugdev‘s news digest: http://bit.ly/1fZ0Yl4

PATH ‏@PATHtweets Feb 28
Muslim leaders in #Ethiopia encourage #vaccination. Full story on our blog: http://bit.ly/1e7EthZ

Retweeted by PATH
Steve Davis ‏@SteveDavisPATH Feb 27
Video: My interview with @Accenture at #WEF @davos about the importance of #digital #innovation in #globalhealth http://bit.ly/1hhg75i

SOS-Kinderdorf International  [to 1 March 2014]

Crisis escalates in South Sudan
28.02.2014 – Amid UN reports of shocking attacks in the South Sudan city of Malakal, and news that children, mothers, and other co-workers from the SOS Children’s Village located there had fled to a UN compound, SOS Children’s Villages on Friday reminded all parties to the conflict of their obligation under international human rights law to protect the rights of children.

Children’s Villages ‏@sos4children Feb 26
Congratulations @SOS_barnebyer on your compelling video! Now over 12 million views! http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/news/what-would-you-do-if-you-saw-a-freezing-child …

Children’s Villages ‏@sos4children Feb 26
Hope on the horizon in the #Philippines. Our latest update on recovering from #TyphoonHaiyan http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/news/typhoon-haiyan-emergency-appeal-2014/hope-on-the-horizon-in-tacloban … #Tacloban

Children’s Villages ‏@sos4children Feb 25
Our Children’s Village in Ukraine is safe despite recent unrest http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/news/sos-families-safe-as-ukraine-crisis-continues … #Ukraine

St. Christopher’s Hospice  [to 1 March 2014]

St Christopher’s Group Newsletter Spring 2014
Published on Monday, 24 February 2014
The first combined newsletter bringing you information from St Christopher’s and St Christopher’s Bromley is now available to download.

Tostan  [to 1 March 2014]

February 26, 2014
Communities use their conflict resolution skills and community development grants to implement own projects
On February 13-14, 2014, Community Management Committee (CMC) members and village chiefs from five communities gathered in Dioudé Diabé, a village in the northern Senegal department of Podor, to participate in financial management training and receive a Community Development Grant. Members of each of these communities – Thioubalel Lao, Dioudé Diabé, Barangol, Fondé Elimane, and Dounguel – had first gained project management and problem-solving skills while participating in Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program (CEP) and additional trainings on conflict resolution and problem-solving through our Peace and Security Project…

Women for Women International  [to 1 March 2014]

Women for Women Intl ‏@WomenforWomen Feb 26
Did You Know? #WfWI had a total of 949 graduates from #DRCongo last month in our core program. http://ow.ly/u1Qt8

Women for Women Intl ‏@WomenforWomen Feb 24
Follow us on Instagram as we share with you captivating photos of the #women we serve. #WfWI #WomenforWomen http://ow.ly/tWnTb

Laureates Collaborative [to 1 March 2014]
Laureates Collab ‏@hiltonlaureates 34s

Thanks for excellent @hiltonlaureates meeting 26 Feb in PAP: @Heifer @helpage @theIRC @operationsmile @PIH @sos4children & @tobyhporter

Laureates Collab ‏@hiltonlaureates 9m
Special thanks to @IRC Haiti staff for hosting visit to “Safe Spaces” for girls and young women at Croix de Bouquet and Tabarre…powerful.

United Nations – Selected Meetings Coverage and Press Releases [to 1 March 2014]
http://www.un.org/en/unpress/

UN Meetings
Ukraine, in Emergency Meeting, Calls on Security Council to Stop Military Intervention by Russian Federation (1 March 2014)
SC/11302

Success of Upcoming Elections Critical to Guinea-Bissau’s Future Economic, Social Stability, Security Council Told (26 February 2014)
SC/11298

Only Mali’s People Can Ensure Sustainable Peace, France’s Representative Tells Security Council after Leading Visiting Mission (26 February 2014)
SC/11297

Press Releases
Secretary-General Strongly Condemns Deadly Attack on Civilians in China (1 March 2014)
SG/SM/15678

Deputy Secretary-General, Briefing Security Council on Situation in Ukraine, Says Now Is Time for Cool Heads to Prevail (1 March 2014)
DSG/SM/751-SC/11303

Secretary-General Reiterates Call for Preservation of Ukraine’s Independence, Sovereignty, Territorial Integrity, Direct Dialogue to Solve Crisis (1 March 2014)
SG/SM/15677

Secretary-General Says in Message for Women’s Day ‘Equality Is Not a Dream, But a Duty of Governments, the United Nations, and Every Human Being’ (28 February 2014)
SG/SM/15676-OBV/1303-WOM/1977

Statement by Chair of Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict (27 February 2014)
SC/11301

Secretary-General, Applauding Global Partners for Saving Lives, Urges Ramping Up Efforts to Reach Every Woman, Every Child (26 February 2014)
SG/SM/15672

Security Council Press Statement on Guinea-Bissau (26 February 2014)
SC/11299-AFR/2828

Secretary-General Laments Loss of Life in Venezuela, Urging Meaningful Dialogue With View to Seeking Peace, Common Ground (26 February 2014)
SG/SM/15671

Secretary-General Urges Uganda to Revise or Repeal New Anti-Homosexuality Law, Warning that It Could Fuel Prejudice (25 February 2014)
SG/SM/15666-AFR/2825-HR/5170

Secretary-General, in General Assembly, Urges Syrian Parties to Ease Humanitarian Access, Treat Civilians Humanely (25 February 2014)
SG/SM/15665-GA/11486-IHA/1336