USAID [to 17 May 2014]
http://www.usaid.gov/

Press Releases
USAID Transports Critical Relief Supplies to the Central African Republic
May 16, 2014
On May 15, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance began airlifting life-saving relief supplies to the Central African Republic (CAR), where ongoing violence has left an estimated 2.5 million people—more than half the country’s population—in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.

ECHO [to 17 May 2014]
http://ec.europa.eu/echo/index_en.htm

EU assistance underway for flood victims in Serbia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina
17/05/2014 – The European Union is providing coordinated assistance through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism which has been activated upon the request of Serbia and Bosnia & Herzegovina due to the severe flooding in the two countries.

EU and UNICEF launch ‘Voices of Children in Emergencies’ joint campaign
15/05/2014 – Every year, the European Union and UNICEF work together to help millions of children affected by emergencies in their hour of greatest need.

First year anniversary of the European Emergency Response Coordination Centre
14/05/2014 – A year ago tomorrow, on 15 May 2013, the European Commission launched its Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC), enabling a better coordinated and faster European response to disasters in Europe and the world.

World Bank [to 17 May 2014]
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/all

Education Plays Key Role in Advancing Women, Girls, and Communities, Report Says
Less educated girls far more likely to suffer violence, child marriageWASHINGTON, May 14, 2014—Girls with little or no education are far more likely to be married as children, suffer domestic violence, live in poverty, and lack a say over household spending or their own health care than better-educated peers, which harms them, their children, and communities, a new report by the World Bank Group finds.Some 65 percent of women with primary education or less globally are married as children, lack control over household resources, and condone wife-beating, compared with 5 percent of women who finish high school, Voice and Agency: Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity finds.The report distills vast data and hundreds of studies to shed new light on constraints facing women and girls worldwide, from epidemic levels of gender-based violence to biased laws and norms that prevent them from owning property, working, and making decisions about their own lives. [see report summary in Week in Review above]

Africa’s Leaders Commit to Reducing Disaster Risks
WASHINGTON, May 12, 2014 – Hundreds of participants committed to reducing disaster risks and losses in Africa will gather in Abuja, Nigeria for the 5th Africa Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, May 13 – 16, 2014. The platform is a multi-stakeholder event that includes high-level government representatives, members of intergovernmental regional organizations, bilateral and multilateral donors, the United Nations, academic and technical institutions, mayors, community leaders, parliamentarians, youth, media and the private sector.

The Sphere Project [to 17 May 2014]
http://www.sphereproject.org/news/

Mainstreaming economic recovery into humanitarian response programming
11 May 2014 | Sphere Project
The first stages of a humanitarian response may have crucial consequences for the longer-term recovery that should begin once the crisis has subsided. If not properly done, economic development programs can do more harm than good. That’s where the Minimum Economic Recovery Standards (MERS) enter the picture, providing guidance to humanitarian practitioners who are not necessarily trained in market development.

BMC Public Health
(Accessed 17 May 2014)
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcpublichealth/content

Research article
Expanded program of immunization coverage and associated factors among children age 12 – 23 months in Arba Minch town and ZuriaDistrict, Southern Ethiopia, 2013
Worku Animaw, Wondimagegn Taye, Behailu Merdekios, Marilign Tilahun and Gistane Ayele
Abstract (provisional)
Background
Immunization averts an estimated 2 to 3 million deaths every year globally. In Ethiopia only quarter of children are fully immunized; the rest are remained at risk for vaccine-preventable mortality. To increase the immunization, its coverage and predictors has to be identified. This study has measured immunization coverage and identified the predictors.
Methods
Cross-sectional community based study has been conducted within 630 age 12-23 months children in 15 districts of Arba Minch town and Arba Minch Zuria district, Southern Ethiopia in March 2013. Census was done to identify eligible children. The 2005 world health organization expanded program of immunization cluster sampling method has been used. Data were collected using semi-structured pretested Amharic version questionnaire by interviewing index children’s mothers/caretakers, copying from vaccine card and observing BCG vaccine scar. Data were processed using SPSS version 16. Associations between dependent and independent variables has been assessed and presented using three consecutive logistic regression models. Result: Nearly three fourth (73.2%) of children in Arba Minch Town and Arba Minch Zuria district were fully immunized. The rest 20.3% were partially immunized and 6.5% received no vaccine. Mother education, mothers’ perception to accessibility of vaccines, mothers’ knowledge to vaccine schedule of their site, place of delivery and living altitude were independent predictors of children immunization status.
Conclusion
Expanded program of immunization (EPI) coverage at Arba Minch town and Arba Minch Zuria district is better than the national immunization coverage but still below the goal. Educating mother, promoting institution delivery could help to maintain and enhance current immunization coverage. More emphasis should be given to the highland areas of the area.

British Medical Journal
17 May 2014 (Vol 348, Issue 7958)
http://www.bmj.com/content/348/7958

Editorial
Collecting data on female genital mutilation
Katrina Erskine, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist
BMJ 2014; 348 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g3222 (Published 13 May 2014)
Cite this as: BMJ 2014;348:g3222
Excerpt
UK government’s actions still characterised by a failure to think things through
Female genital mutilation is defined by the World Health Organization as “all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genitalia for non-medical reasons.” A horrendous form of child abuse, in its most extreme form (type 3) it involves removing the clitoris and labia and narrowing the vaginal introitus. More than 100 million women worldwide are affected.
The procedure has many complications including dyspareunia, sepsis, and death—procedure related mortality was estimated at 2.3% in one country.1 It is done for many reasons—there is no single religious basis. In some cultures a woman who has not undergone the procedure may be thought unmarriageable. In women with type 3 mutilation, the introitus may be too narrow for childbirth, and the tissues that have sealed together need to be separated; this is termed deinfibulation. Female genital mutilation was made an offence in 1985 in the United Kingdom, with a penalty of up to 14 years in prison.
A government declaration to end the practice …

Brown Journal of World Affairs
20.1 Fall/Winter 2013
http://www.bjwa.org/index.php?subpage=currentissue

The Fight is for Women’s Rights
Michael Soussan
Abstract
When Daniel Cruise, Alex Scribner, and I started the Brown Journal of World Affairs 20 years ago, the cause of women’s rights was hardly on the forefront of the international agenda. When we marched for women’s rights causes, it was to support abortion rights in the United States. At the international level, policymakers and academics most often considered women’s rights as a development challenge. Dramatic circumstances have since made women’s rights one of the overarching security challenges of the international system and the single most productive area for investment worldwide in pursuit of further democratization, peace, and prosperity.
The conclusion is not simply derived from either the bad news—such as horrible acts of violence against women spanning from West and East Africa to the Middle East and South Asia, where most of the political instability in the globe persists—or even from the good news—such as advances in microcredit and the proven benefits of family planning, women’s education, and the strengthening of constitutional rights for women. It is derived from a macro-level analysis of the international system as it has evolved in the past 20 years. The following retrospective guides my firm belief today that the central focus of U.S. efforts, as the United States interacts with societies in conflict around the globe, must be on empowering women—and creating a powerful system of incentives and retribution for governments to get on board with this objective.

Meeting the Health Care Needs of Aging Societies
John W. Rowe & Linda P. Fried
Abstract
It is ironic that one of civilization’s greatest accomplishments—the dramatic and progressive increase in life expectancy around the globe—has also yielded one of its greatest challenges. Worldwide, countries struggle to develop effective approaches to design and finance health care services for their rapidly increasing numbers of older persons. Aging is universal in today’s world, and the progressive shift to longer life expectancies and lower fertility rates has led to numerous “aging societies.”
In discussions of national responses to the demographic transition, the observation “developed countries became rich before they grew old while poor countries are growing old before becoming rich” often serves to bifurcate the conversation into separate groups of national experiences and strategies based on GDP. We believe this division of debate into countries grouped by wealth diminishes recognition of the important commonalities both developed and developing nations face in dealing with their populations’ longer lives.

A 20-Year Perspective on Rural Poverty and Sustainability: Where are we Today?
Andrew Shephard
[No abstract]

Decreasing Gender Inequality in Agriculture: Key to Eradicating Hunger
Marcela Villarreal
[No abstract]

Conflict and Health
http://www.conflictandhealth.com/
[Accessed 17 May 2014]

Editorial
Conflict and Health: seven years of advancing science in humanitarian crises
Ruwan Ratnayake, Olivier Degomme, Bayard Roberts and Paul Spiegel
doi:10.1186/1752-1505-8-7
Published: 12 May 2014
Abstract (provisional)
Conflict and Health began in 2007 with an aim to provide a forum to document public health responses during and after conflict across the world. The journal has published over 120 articles that span the range of public health domains including, but not limited to, infectious disease control, reproductive health and sexual and gender-based violence, mental health, health system reconstruction, and ethics in emergencies. The growth of Conflict and Health has taken place during a time of increasing focus on evidence-based approaches to reducing mortality and morbidity in humanitarian emergencies, and increasing prominence of open-access peer-reviewed literature (1-3).

Globalization and Health
[Accessed 17 May 2014]
http://www.globalizationandhealth.com/

Research
Patient factors to target for elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV
Coceka N Mnyani, Adonia Simango, Joshua Murphy, Matthew Chersich and James A McIntyre
Abstract (provisional)
Background
There is great impetus to achieve elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (eMTCT) by 2015, and part of this is to identify factors to target to achieve the goal. This study thus identified key patient factors for MTCT in a high HIV prevalence setting in Johannesburg, South Africa. Between November 2011 and May 2012, we conducted a case-control study among HIV-infected women with HIV-infected (cases) and uninfected (controls) infants diagnosed around six weeks of age as part of routine, early infant diagnosis. Mothers and infants were identified through registers in six healthcare facilities that provide antenatal, postpartum and HIV care. Structured interviews were conducted with a focus on history of HIV infection, antenatal, intrapartum and immediate postpartum management of the mother-infant pair. Patient-related risk factors for MTCT were identified.
Results
A total of 77 women with HIV-infected infants and 154 with -uninfected infants were interviewed. Among HIV-infected cases, 13.0% of the women knew their HIV status prior to conception, and 83.1% reported their pregnancies as unplanned. Antenatal antiretroviral coverage was high in the control group – only 1/154 (0.7%) reported receiving no prophylaxis or treatment compared with 17/74 (22.9%) of cases. In multivariate analysis, key patient-related risks for HIV transmission were: unknown HIV status prior to conception (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 6.6; 95%CI = 2.4 – 18.4; p < 0.001); accessing antenatal care after 20 weeks gestation (AOR = 4.3; 95%CI = 2.0 – 9.3; p < 0.001); less than 12 years of formal education (AOR = 3.4; 95%CI = 1.6 – 7.5; p = 0.002); and unplanned pregnancy (AOR = 2.7; 95%CI = 1.2 to 6.3; p = 0.022). Mean age at first HIV test was 6.6 weeks (SD = 3.5) for infants who were diagnosed as HIV-infected, and the mean age at antiretroviral treatment initiation was 10.8 weeks (SD = 4.4). HIV-uninfected infants were diagnosed at a mean age of 6.0 weeks (SD = 0.2).
Conclusions
Undiagnosed maternal HIV infection prior to conception, unplanned pregnancies, delays in accessing antenatal care, and low levels of education were the most significant patient risk factors associated with MTCT. While the emphasis has been on increasing availability and coverage of efficacious antiretroviral regimens, and strengthening health systems within eMTCT initiatives, there is a need to also address patient-related factors if we are to achieve eMTCT goals.

Research
Translation, cultural adaptation and field-testing of the Thinking Healthy Program for Vietnam
Jane Fisher, Hau Nguyen, Priya Mannava, Ha Tran, Thao Dam, Huong Tran, Thach Tran, Kelly Durrant, Atif Rahman and Stanley Luchters
Abstract (provisional)
Background
Depression and anxiety are prevalent among women in low- and lower-middle income countries who are pregnant or recently delivered. There is promising evidence that culturally-adapted, evidence-informed, perinatal psycho-educational programs implemented in local communities are effective in reducing mental health problems. The Thinking Healthy Program (THP) has proved effective in Pakistan. The aims were to adapt the THP for rural Vietnam; establish the program’s comprehensibility, acceptability and salience for universal use, and investigate whether administration to small groups of women might be of equivalent effectiveness to administration in home visits to individual women.
Methods
The THP Handbook and Calendar were made available in English by the program developers and translated into Vietnamese. Cultural adaptation and field-testing were undertaken using WHO guidance. Field-testing of the four sessions of THP Module One was undertaken in weekly sessions with a small group in a rural commune and evaluated using baseline, process and endline surveys.
Results
The adapted Vietnamese version of the Thinking Healthy Program (THP-V) was found to be understandable, meaningful and relevant to pregnant women, and commune health centre and Women’s Union representatives in a rural district. It was delivered effectively by trained local facilitators. Role-play, brainstorming and small-group discussions to find shared solutions to common problems were appraised as helpful learning opportunities.
Conclusions
The THP-V is safe and comprehensible, acceptable and salient to pregnant women without mental health problems in rural Vietnam. Delivery in facilitated small groups provided valued opportunities for role-play rehearsal and shared problem solving. Local observers found the content and approach highly relevant to local needs and endorsed the approach as a mental health promotion strategy with potential for integration into local universal maternal and child health services. These preliminary data indicate that the impact of the THP-V should be tested in its complete form in a large scale trial.

Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management
Volume 4 issue 1 – Current Issue
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=2042-6747&volume=4&issue=1

Application of humanitarian last mile distribution model
Daria Battini, (Department of Management and Engineering (DTG), University of Padova, Vicenza, Italy), Umberto Peretti, (Department of Management and Engineering (DTG), University of Padova, Vicenza, Italy), Alessandro Persona, (Department of Management and Engineering (DTG), University of Padova, Vicenza, Italy), Fabio Sgarbossa, (Department of Management and Engineering (DTG), University of Padova, Vicenza, Italy)
10.1108/JHLSCM-01-2013-0001 (Permanent URL)
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to extend a routing model so that it may be applied to a real case study of material deliveries involved in a development operation, typical of regular humanitarian logistics, and to explore the impact of variations in available logistic assets.
Design/methodology/approach – The introduced model is a conceptual evolution of the study recently presented. It concerns the resource allocation and vehicle routing decisions in the well-known Haitian case. Different scenarios are analyzed and a sensitivity analysis is provided. Constraints related to transportation resources in a complex environment, transportation vehicle capacities, and delivery time restrictions are here considered.
Findings – This research shows how the logistic assets characteristics and their availability affect the distribution system performances, in terms of total distribution cost and shortages.
Originality/value – The present work explores the last mile distribution problem by providing a case study to assist decision makers in making effective and efficient distribution across the last mile. The research focusses upon the distribution systems management coupled with material distribution modalities.

The Lancet
May 17, 2014 Volume 383 Number 9930 p1693 – 1780
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current

Comment
Mandatory polio vaccination for travellers: protecting global public health
Paul D Rutter, Liam J Donaldson
Full Text
The goal of following smallpox eradication with another programme to eliminate a disease from the planet was too compelling to resist and, in 1988, the World Health Assembly set its sights on polio.1 26 years later, the dream is not yet a reality. On May 5, 2014, WHO issued strong recommendations that Pakistan, Syria, and Cameroon should ensure that their residents and long-term visitors have up-to-date vaccination against polio before they travel internationally, and that each individual is issued with an International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis as proof of this.

Beyond expectations: 40 years of EPI
Margaret Chan
Full Text

Use of vaccines as probes to define disease burden
Dr Daniel R Feikin MD a b, Prof J Anthony G Scott c d, Bradford D Gessner MD e
Summary
Vaccine probe studies have emerged in the past 15 years as a useful way to characterise disease. By contrast, traditional studies of vaccines focus on defining the vaccine effectiveness or efficacy. The underlying basis for the vaccine probe approach is that the difference in disease burden between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals can be ascribed to the vaccine-specific pathogen. Vaccine probe studies can increase understanding of a vaccine’s public health value. For instance, even when a vaccine has a seemingly low efficacy, a high baseline disease incidence can lead to a large vaccine-preventable disease burden and thus that population-based vaccine introduction would be justified. So far, vaccines have been used as probes to characterise disease syndromes caused by Haemophilus influenzae type b, pneumococcus, rotavirus, and early infant influenza. However, vaccine probe studies have enormous potential and could be used more widely in epidemiology, for example, to define the vaccine-preventable burden of malaria, typhoid, paediatric influenza, and dengue, and to identify causal interactions between different pathogens.

New England Journal of Medicine
May 15, 2014 Vol. 370 No. 20
http://www.nejm.org/toc/nejm/medical-journal

Perspective
Treating Hepatitis C in Lower-Income Countries
Channa R. Jayasekera, M.D., Michele Barry, M.D., Lewis R. Roberts, M.B., Ch.B., Ph.D., and Mindie H. Nguyen, M.D.
N Engl J Med 2014; 370:1869-1871May 15, 2014DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1400160
Excerpt
With costs that may exceed $90,000 per course, effective new hepatitis C treatments seem beyond the reach of low- and middle-income countries. But the global rollout of HIV treatment teaches us that it’s possible to make these agents broadly available and affordable.

Editorial
Advancing the Treatment for Chagas’ Disease
Pedro Albajar-Viñas, M.D., Ph.D., and João Carlos P. Dias, M.D.
N Engl J Med 2014; 370:1942-1943May 15, 2014DOI: 10.1056/NEJMe1403689
Excerpt
It is estimated that 8 million people are infected with Trypanosoma cruzi worldwide, with the majority of cases occurring in the Latin American countries in which the parasite is endemic. However, cases of Chagas’ disease have been increasingly detected in the United States, Canada, many European countries, and some Western Pacific countries, owing primarily to an increase in population movements between Latin America and other continents. Moreover, some countries in which the parasite is not endemic have higher estimated numbers of cases than many endemic countries in Latin America (e.g., >300,000 cases in the United States and >50,000 in Spain). . . .

PLoS One
[Accessed 17 May 2014]
http://www.plosone.org/

A Randomized Trial of an Early Measles Vaccine at 4½ Months of Age in Guinea-Bissau: Sex-Differential Immunological Effects
Kristoffer Jarlov Jensen, Mia Søndergaard, Andreas Andersen, Erliyani Sartono, Cesario Martins, May-Lill Garly, Jesper Eugen-Olsen, Henrik Ullum, Maria Yazdanbakhsh, Peter Aaby, Christine Stabell Benn, Christian Erikstrup
Research Article | published 16 May 2014 | PLOS ONE 10.1371/journal.pone.0097536
Abstract
Background
After measles vaccine (MV), all-cause mortality is reduced more than can be explained by the prevention of measles, especially in females.
Objective
We aimed to study the biological mechanisms underlying the observed non-specific and sex-differential effects of MV on mortality.
Methods
Within a large randomised trial of MV at 4.5 months of age blood samples were obtained before and six weeks after randomisation to early MV or no early MV. We measured concentrations of cytokines and soluble receptors from plasma (interleukin-1 receptor agonist (IL-1Ra), IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1, soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor), and secreted cytokines (interferon-γ, TNF-α, IL-5, IL-10, IL-13, IL-17) after in vitro challenge with innate agonists and recall antigens. We analysed the effect of MV in multiple imputation regression, overall and stratified by sex. The majority of the infants had previously been enrolled in a randomised trial of neonatal vitamin A. Post hoc we explored the potential effect modification by neonatal vitamin A.
Results
Overall, MV versus no MV was associated with higher plasma MCP-1 levels, but the effect was only significant among females. Additionally, MV was associated with increased plasma IL-1Ra. MV had significantly positive effects on plasma IL-1Ra and IL-8 levels in females, but not in males. These effects were strongest in vitamin A supplemented infants. Vitamin A shifted the effect of MV in a pro-inflammatory direction.
Conclusions
In this explorative study we found indications of sex-differential effects of MV on several of the plasma biomarkers investigated; in particular MV increased levels in females, most strongly in vitamin A recipients. The findings support that sex and micronutrient supplementation should be taken into account when analysing vaccine effects.
Trial Registration
clinicaltrials.gov number NCT 00168545

Women Have a Preference for Their Male Partner to Be HPV Vaccinated
Diane Medved Harper, Natalie Marya Alexander, Debra Ann Ahern, Johanna Claire Comes, Melissa Smith Smith, Melinda Ann Heutinck, Sandra Martin Handley
Research Article | published 14 May 2014 | PLOS ONE 10.1371/journal.pone.0097119

PLOS Currents: Disasters
http://currents.plos.org/disasters/
[Accessed 17 May 2014]

Funding Based on Needs? A Study on the Use of Needs Assessment Data by a Major Humanitarian Health Assistance Donor in its Decisions to Allocate Funds
May 16, 2014 • Research article
Emma Olin, Johan von Schreeb
Abstract
Background: International humanitarian assistance is essential for disaster-affected populations, particularly in resource scarce settings. To target such assistance, needs assessments are required. According to internationally endorsed principles, donor governments should provide funding for humanitarian assistance based on need.
Aim: The aim of this study is to explore a major donor’s use of needs assessment data in decision-making for allocations of funds for health-related humanitarian assistance contributions.
Setting: This is a case study of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), a major and respected international donor of humanitarian assistance.
Methods: To explore Sida’s use of needs assessment data in practice for needs-based allocations, we reviewed all decision documents and assessment memoranda for humanitarian assistance contributions for 2012 using content analysis; this was followed by interviews with key personnel at Sida.
Results: Our document analysis found that needs assessment data was not systematically included in Sida’s assessment memoranda and decision documents. In the interviews, we observed various descriptions of the concept of needs assessments, the importance of contextual influences as well as previous collaborations with implementing humanitarian assistance organizations. Our findings indicate that policies guiding funding decisions on humanitarian assistance need to be matched with available needs assessment data and that terminologies and concepts have to be clearly defined.
Conclusion: Based on the document analysis and the interviews, it is unclear how well Sida used needs assessment data for decisions to allocate funds. However, although our observations show that needs assessments are seldom used in decision making, Sida’s use of needs assessments has improved compared to a previous study. To improve project funds allocations based on needs assessment data, it will be critical to develop distinct frameworks for allocation distributions based on needs assessment and clear definitions, measurements and interpretations of needs.

UN Chronicle
Vol. LI No. 1 2014 May 2014
http://unchronicle.un.org/

The 50th Anniversary of the Group of 77 at the UN
Issue 1, 2014 celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the Group of 77 at the United Nations, with a focus on the negotiations leading to the 15 June 1964 signing of the “Joint Declaration of Seventy-Seven Countries”, as well as the Group of 77 role as a catalyst for international development.

Education as the Pathway towards Gender Equality
Azza Karam
Not being able to read or write is a significant barrier for underprivileged women, since this can lead to their failure to make use of even the rather limited rights they may legally have (to own land or other property, or to appeal against unfair judgment and unjust treatment).

Higher Learning Institutions and Global Citizen Education
Vera Jelinek and Jacques Fomerand
Through rigorous scholarship—fundamental or applied—universities are in a unique position to contribute to the search for more effective management and a resolution of such transborder problems as cybersecurity and terrorism, climate change, and cross border migration, to cite only a few.

Resilience: International Policies, Practices and Discourses
Volume 2, Issue 1, 2014
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/resi20/current#.U3im6SjDU1w

Resilience, rights and results in Swedish development cooperation
Ian Christoplosa
DOI: 10.1080/21693293.2014.914767
Abstract
Resilience is an amorphous concept for a development agency. This article, reflecting on the findings of a review of how resilience to natural hazards is addressed within Swedish development cooperation, looks at how resilience has been conceptualised and the implications of the emergence of attention to ‘resilience’ as both a new catchword and perhaps a new perspective on development. A key factor is the interplay of human rights and resilience goals in the relations between vulnerable people and duty bearers. In addition, the implications are considered of resilience in relation to the incentives and monitoring and evaluation frameworks that steer today’s results-based management systems for development cooperation. A conclusion is that resilience is a problematic concept in development cooperation, but may provide added value if it is tied to greater understanding of vulnerability, struggles over resources and recognition of the complexity and uncertainty of the development enterprise.

International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment
Volume 5 issue 2 2014
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=1759-5908&volume=5&issue=2

Stakeholder Management in Disaster Restoration Projects
Bassam Michael Baroudi, (University of South Australia), Randy Rapp, (Purdue University)
Abstract
Purpose – Disaster occurrences normally warrant substantial restoration and reconstruction efforts. This paper aims to identify stakeholder issues on disaster restoration projects from a contractor perspective. These projects involve the mitigation and repair of disaster affected buildings and structures.
Design/methodology/approach – This study is essentially exploratory in nature. It reviews relevant literature and then presents empirical research findings garnered from disaster restoration practitioners. A survey using a Likert rating scale method was used. The data was collected via an online questionnaire survey.
Findings – The results confirm that disaster restoration projects contain significant stakeholder issues and challenges. Furthermore, these can differ to conventional construction and the work of “first responders” to disaster situations. Hence, disaster restoration projects are seen as having their own unique identity.
Research limitations/implications – This paper has only set out to uncover stakeholder issues on disaster restoration projects. Future research that delves into the issues in greater depth would be useful.
Practical implications – Disaster restoration practitioners need to be aware of conflicting stakeholder interests. These need careful management so that stakeholder issues do not impact successful project outcomes. Hence, informing industry (and academia) on these issues carries significant importance.
Originality/value – Past research has tended to adopt macro perspectives on disaster preparedness, response and management. This research focuses on repairing and restoring disaster affected buildings and structures from a restoration industry standpoint. The findings should be useful to the global disaster restoration community and those in associated fields.

Some design aspects of sustainable post-disaster housing
Simon Tucker, (Cardiff University), Arosha Uppala Gamage, (University of Moratuwa), Chitral Wijeyesekera, (University of East London)
Abstract
Purpose – This paper discusses selected aspects of the design of post disaster housing building on current guidance in this area. We focus on the use of appropriate materials and technology to suit the climate and site and draw lessons from traditional housing types and settlement patterns.
Design/methodology/approach – A case study of a design project is used to illustrate an approach toward sustainable design. The approach is structured and could therefore fit into the wider structures and frameworks of providing such housing.
Findings – A design was generated that meets many of the desired environmental criteria. It was also found that important design resources are required by the design team not mentioned in the existing guidelines.
Research limitations/implications – A limitation of the paper is that the design is hypothetical and there has been no input from prospective inhabitants or other groups.
Practical implications – The design approach illustrated here may be of use to relief organizations working in the field, and also could be used to develop further awareness of sustainability. Organizations that provide for and coordinate post disaster construction could consider making further design resources available as part of a project.
Originality/value – The paper adds to discussion on the design of post disaster housing and supports the argument that such housing can help to support wider and longer term development.

The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine
Vol. 233 (2014) No. 1 May p. 43-48
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/tjem/233/1/_contents

Regular Contribution
Awareness of Disaster Reduction Frameworks and Risk Perception of Natural Disaster: A Questionnaire Survey among Philippine and Indonesian Health Care Personnel and Public Health Students
Motoki Usuzawa1) 2), Elizabeth O. Telan3), Razel Kawano4), Carmela S. Dizon5), Bachti Alisjahbana6), Yugo Ashino7), Shinichi Egawa1), Manabu Fukumoto8), Takako Izumi9), Yuichi Ono9), Toshio Hattori1) 2) 7)
Division of Disaster Medicine, International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University 2) International Post-Graduate Program in Human Security, Tohoku University 3) STD AIDS Cooperative Central Laboratory, San Lazaro Hospital 4) Graduate School Program in Public Health, Angeles University Foundation 5) Angeles University Foundation Graduate School 6) Health Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Padjadjaran 7) Division of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University 8) Department of Pathology, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University 9) International and Regional Cooperation Office, International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University
Published online May 09, 2014
Abstract
As the impacts of natural disasters have grown more severe, the importance of education for disaster medicine gains greater recognition. We launched a project to establish an international educational program for disaster medicine. In the present study, we surveyed medical personnel and medical/public health students in the Philippines (n = 45) and Indonesia (n = 67) for their awareness of the international frameworks related to disaster medicine: the Human Security (securing individual life and health), the Sphere Project (international humanitarian response), and the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015 (international strategy for disaster reduction). In both countries, more than 50% responders were aware of human security, but only 2 to 12% were aware of the latter two. The survey also contained questions about the preferred subjects in prospective educational program, and risk perception on disaster and disaster-related infections. In the Philippines, significant disasters were geophysical (31.0%), hydrological (33.3%), or meteorological (24.8%), whereas in Indonesia, geophysical (63.0%) and hydrological (25.3%) were significant. Moreover, in the Philippines, leptospirosis (27.1%), dengue (18.6%), diarrhea (15.3%), and cholera (10.2%) were recognized common disaster-related infections. In Indonesia, diarrhea (22.0%) and respiratory infection (20.3%) are major disaster-related infections. Water-related infections were the major ones in both countries, but the profiles of risk perception were different (Pearson’s chi-square test, p = 1.469e-05). The responders tended to overestimate the risk of low probability and high consequence such as geophysical disaster. These results are helpful for the development of a postgraduate course for disaster medicine in Asia Pacific countries.

Environmental Modelling & Software
Volume 58, August 2014, In Progress
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/13648152/58/supp/C

A cloud-based global flood disaster community cyber-infrastructure: Development and demonstration
Zhanming Wana, b, Yang Honga, b, Sadiq Khana, b, Jonathan Gourleyc, Zachary Flamigb, c,
Dalia Kirschbaumd, Guoqiang Tange
Highlights
:: We elaborate the global flood disaster community cyber-infrastructure (CyberFlood).
:: Cloud-based service is integrated to provide map and statistic visualization.
:: A crowdsourcing methodology is employed to enable the public to report flood events.
:: This CyberFlood presents an opportunity to modernize the way of managing flood data.
Abstract
Flood disasters have significant impacts on the development of communities globally. This study describes a public cloud-based flood cyber-infrastructure (CyberFlood) that collects, organizes, visualizes, and manages several global flood databases for authorities and the public in real-time, providing location-based eventful visualization as well as statistical analysis and graphing capabilities. In order to expand and update the existing flood inventory, a crowdsourcing data collection methodology is employed for the public with smartphones or Internet to report new flood events, which is also intended to engage citizen-scientists so that they may become motivated and educated about the latest developments in satellite remote sensing and hydrologic modeling technologies. Our shared vision is to better serve the global water community with comprehensive flood information, aided by the state-of-the-art cloud computing and crowd-sourcing technology. The CyberFlood presents an opportunity to eventually modernize the existing paradigm used to collect, manage, analyze, and visualize water-related disasters.

International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology
Volume 21, Issue 3, 2014
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tsdw20/21/3#.U3inuijDU1w

Special Issue: Managing Organizations for Sustainable Development in Emerging Countries
Managing organizations for sustainable development in emerging countries: an introduction
Angappa Gunasekarana, Charbel José Chiappetta Jabbourb* & Ana Beatriz Lopes de Sousa Jabbourb
DOI: 10.1080/13504509.2014.915439
pages 195-197
Abstract
This introduction article is for the special issue ‘Managing organizations for sustainable development in emerging countries: natural resources, biodiversity, and climate change’ in the International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology and presents an introduction to the topics and summarizes accepted contributions in the special issue. The accepted works may contribute with organizational management in the search for more sustainable organizations. The works focus on the challenges of managing organizations in a context of degradation of natural resources, loss of biodiversity, and climate change. Accepted papers discuss these issues, based on the reality of emerging economies (e.g. Brazil, India, and China).