The Sentinel

Human Rights Action :: Humanitarian Response :: Health ::
Holistic Development :: Sustainable Resilience
__________________________________________________
Week ending 29 November 2014

This weekly digest is intended to aggregate and distill key content from a broad spectrum of practice domains and organization types including key agencies/IGOs, NGOs, governments, academic and research institutions, consortiums and collaborations, foundations, and commercial organizations. We also monitor a spectrum of peer-reviewed journals and general media channels. The Sentinel’s geographic scope is global/regional but selected country-level content is included. We recognize that this spectrum/scope yields an indicative and not an exhaustive product. Comments and suggestions should be directed to:

David R. Curry
Editor &
Founding Managing Director
GE2P2 – Center for Governance, Evidence, Ethics, Policy, Practice
david.r.curry@ge2p2center.net

pdf verion: The Sentinel_ week ending 29 November 2014

blog edition: comprised of the 35+ entries posted below on 30 November 2014

UNAIDS Executive Director delivers his World AIDS Day 2014 message
[Full text]
On this World AIDS Day, let us also reflect on the lives lost to Ebola, on the countries and people affected by the outbreak in West Africa.

The Ebola outbreak reminds us of the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. People were hiding and scared. Stigma and discrimination were widespread. There were no medicines and there was little hope.

But today, thanks to global solidarity, social mobilization and civil society activism, we have been able, together, to transform tragedy into opportunity. We have been able to break the conspiracy of silence, to reduce the price of medicines and break the trajectory of the AIDS epidemic. This has saved millions of lives.

We now have to break the epidemic for good. If we don’t, it could spring back and it will be impossible to end.

We have a short five-year window of opportunity to reach the people who are being left behind, people who have been denied their rights—young women and adolescent girls, men who have sex with men, migrants, prisoners, sex workers, people who inject drugs.

To do this we need to ensure that health systems are strengthened to provide the essential services that are needed and civil society has to be supported so it can continue to play its vital role.

On World AIDS Day 2014, it is time to redouble our efforts, to fast-track our actions and close the gap between people who have access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services and people who are being left behind.

By fast-tracking countries, cities and communities we can reach people most affected by HIV. And with Fast-Track Targets like 90–90–90 we can ensure that, by 2020, 90% of people living with HIV know their status, 90% of people who know their HIV positive status are on treatment and that 90% of people on treatment have suppressed viral loads.

So, let us join together this World AIDS Day to close the gap and end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
.

On World AIDS Day, Secretary-General Calls on World Leaders to Unite in Common Cause to End Epidemic by 2030
26 November 2014
SG/SM/16375-AIDS/194-OBV/1410
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for World AIDS Day, observed on 1 December.

Secretary-General Expresses ‘Utmost Gratitude’ to Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos Following Her Decision to Step Down
26 November 2014
SG/SM/16374-IHA/1349
The following statement by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was issued today:

Valerie Amos has informed me of her intention to step down as United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. I would like to express my utmost gratitude for her outstanding service to the United Nations, the humanitarian community and people in need.

Ms. Amos has led the humanitarian response of the United Nations and partners, including non-governmental organizations, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, national authorities, civil society, the private sector and many others, to devastating natural disasters and conflicts. Her extensive experience, leadership and work in partnership with principals from the humanitarian community has helped find solutions for people who are facing the worst experiences in their lives.

Ms. Amos has tirelessly advocated for people around the world affected by disaster and conflict. For her, people have always come first. She also worked closely with humanitarian workers who often risk their own lives to serve people most in need.

At a time when the humanitarian system is particularly stretched, Ms. Amos also led the preparations for my World Humanitarian Summit to be held in 2016, which will identify new ways to tackle humanitarian needs in our fast-changing world and set a new agenda for global humanitarian action.

Letter to OCHA Staff, Valerie Amos Announces Resignation, 26 November 2014

UNCHR: Zeid urges restraint, and determined effort to root out institutionalized discrimination in wake of U.S. Ferguson verdict
The following statement was issued by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, in Geneva on 25 November 2014
The Grand Jury’s decision not to charge a police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, has led to violent protests, including looting and arson. I urge all protestors to avoid violence and destruction in the wake of this decision, in accordance with the expressed wishes of Mr. Brown’s parents and with the law. People have the right to express their dismay and their disagreement with the Grand Jury’s verdict, but not to cause harm to others, or to their property, in the process.

Without knowing the details of the evidence laid before the Missouri Grand Jury – which in turn depends on the quality of the investigation into the killing of Michael Brown – I am not, at this point, able to comment on whether or not the verdict conforms with international human rights law.

Nevertheless, I am deeply concerned at the disproportionate number of young African Americans who die in encounters with police officers, as well as the disproportionate number of African Americans in U.S. prisons and the disproportionate number of African Americans on Death Row.

It is clear that, at least among some sectors of the population, there is a deep and festering lack of confidence in the fairness of the justice and law enforcement systems. I urge the US authorities to conduct in-depth examinations into how race-related issues are affecting law enforcement and the administration of justice, both at the federal and state levels.

Concerns about institutionalized discrimination in the US have repeatedly been raised, by respected national bodies and by UN bodies monitoring the implementation of international human rights treaties, ratified by the US. These include, this year alone, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and the Human Rights Committee.* In addition, just two weeks ago, Michael Brown’s parents addressed the Committee against Torture** which is currently reviewing the United States’ application of its obligations under the Convention against Torture. That committee will deliver its conclusions on Friday.

Coming just three days after a 12-year-old African-American boy, Tamir Rice, was shot dead by police in Cleveland, Ohio, because he was holding a non-lethal replica gun, the high number of gun-related deaths in the United States is once again in focus. In many countries, where real guns are not so easily available, police tend to view boys playing with replica guns as precisely what they are, rather than as a danger to be neutralized.

Any use of firearms by police must be in accordance with the UN’s Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials.Article 9 of the Basic Principles clearly states that ‘Law enforcement officials shall not use firearms against persons except in self-defence or defence of others against the imminent threat of death or serious injury, to prevent the perpetration of a particularly serious crime involving grave threat to life, to arrest a person presenting such a danger and resisting their authority, or to prevent his or her escape, and only when less extreme means are insufficient to achieve these objectives. In any event, intentional lethal use of firearms may only be made when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life.’

I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the families of both Michael Brown and Tamir Rice. Mr. Brown’s parents’ tremendous dignity and deep anguish for their lost son profoundly impressed everyone they met when they were here in Geneva, and have once again been demonstrated, despite their evident disappointment, by their call for protests to remain peaceful after last night’s verdict.”

* The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination reviewed the US in August 2014 and the Human Rights Committee reviewed the US in March 2014. Both expert committees expressed concerns about a number of issues, including racial profiling by law enforcement officials; gun-related deaths and injuries which disproportionately affect members of racial and ethnic minorities; brutality and excessive use of force by law enforcement officials against members of racial and ethnic minorities, including against unarmed individuals; and that members of racial and ethnic minorities, particularly African Americans, continue to be disproportionately arrested, incarcerated and subjected to harsher sentences, including life imprisonment without parole and the death penalty.

The full concluding observations are available at:
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CERD%2fC%2fUSA%2fCO%2f7-9&Lang=en

** The Committee Against Torture reviewed the US on November 12 and 13. Its concluding observations will be available on Friday at:
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=930&Lang=en

CAT – Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
53 Session (03 Nov 2014 – 28 Nov 2014)
The UN Committee against Torture concluded its 53rd session on Friday 28 November in Geneva. The Committee’s session documentation on each State Party below are published here: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=930&Lang=en

The video webcasts of the Session are organized by State Party and available here: http://www.treatybodywebcast.org/category/webcast-archives/cat/

Selected issues discussed during the session are summarized below [full text from announcement with links to session Concluding Observations for each State Party reporting during 53rd Session].

SWEDEN: Restrictions on remand prisoners; excessive length of pre-trial detention; wide use of solitary confinement; no separate juvenile justice system; coercive measures, including physical restraints and isolation in psychiatric institutions and hospitals; detention of asylum seekers and irregular immigrants; race hate crimes; absence of definition of torture as defined in the Convention against Torture.

UKRAINE: Slow investigations, lack of accountability regarding excessive use of force by police in connection with protests since November 2013; reports of torture, ill-treatment, enforced disappearances, killings in areas under control of armed groups, notably in Donetsk and Lugansk regions; high rate of mortality among prisoners, mainly from tuberculosis; increase in the number of deaths and suicides in custody; high rate of domestic violence.

VENEZUELA: Large number of detentions; allegations of torture and ill-treatment of people detained after demonstrations February-July 2014; military participation in halting demonstrations and attacks allegedly committed by pro-government armed groups; attacks on and intimidation against human rights defenders; independence of the judiciary; the case of judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni.

BURUNDI: Allegations of torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement officials and prison officers; sub-standard conditions of detention; no independent body to monitor places of detention; high numbers in custody and pre-trial detention; political violence; the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

AUSTRALIA: Violence against women; trafficking in persons; indigenous people in the criminal justice system; compliance with non-refoulement obligations under the Convention; mandatory immigration detention for unauthorised arrivals, including children; offshore processing of asylum seekers claims; work of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

USA: Extraterritorial application of the Convention; inquiries into allegations of torture overseas; Guantanamo Bay detention facilities, transfer of detainees and reliance on diplomatic assurances; interrogation techniques; solitary confinement; use of death penalty; sexual violence, including rape, in prisons; excessive use of force by police, police brutality; sexual abuse in the US military.

CROATIA: Failure to guarantee access to fundamental legal safeguards against torture for detainees, such as immediate access to a lawyer; insufficient monitoring of places of deprivation of liberty; amnesties for acts of torture; violence against women; situation of people in psychiatric establishments; lack of information regarding application of non-refoulement principle.

KAZAKHSTAN: Torture and ill-treatment to extract “voluntary confessions” to show crimes solved; disregard of complaints about torture in judicial proceedings; forced placement in psychiatric institutions of anti-corruption activists, human rights defenders; high number of deaths in custody, especially of persons infected with HIV/AIDs; high incidence of violence among prisoners; use of internal troops, including masked guards, to maintain security in prison.

CESCR – International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
53 Session (10 Nov 2014 – 28 Nov 2014)
28 November 2014

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights this afternoon concluded its fifty-third session after adopting its concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of Viet Nam, Portugal, Finland, Montenegro, Guatemala, Slovenia, Nepal and Romania, which were reviewed during the session.

The concluding observations and recommendations will be available on the Committee’s webpage by the end of the day on Monday, 1 December. The Committee’s fifty-fourth session will be held from 23 February to 6 March 2015, during which it is scheduled to consider the reports of Gambia, Paraguay and Tajikistan on how they implement the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

UNODC: Global report on trafficking in persons
November 2014
The UNODC Global Report 2014 is the second of its kind mandated by the General Assembly. It covers 128 countries and provides an overview of patterns and flows of trafficking in persons at global, regional and national levels, based on trafficking cases detected between 2010 and 2012 (or more recent). The Global Report 2014 highlights the role of organized crime in trafficking in persons, and includes an analytical chapter on how traffickers operate. The worldwide response to trafficking in persons is also a focus of this edition of the Global Report.

Trafficking in persons is a truly global phenomenon: between 2010 and 2012, victims from at least 153 countries were detected in 124 countries worldwide. A great majority of the victims detected are females, although men and boys are also trafficked in significant numbers. Women and girls are not only trafficked for sexual exploitation, but also for forced labour and for other purposes. The percentage of children among victims is increasing and children now comprise nearly one third of all detected trafficking victims in the world.
Many countries have recently passed legislation criminalizing trafficking in persons as a specific offence. However, definitions of human trafficking vary, as does the capacity to identify offenders and victims. The overall criminal justice response to trafficking in persons, which has historically been very weak, has not improved.

The Country Profiles of the Global Report present a national level analysis for each of the 128 countries covered by this edition of the report.
Global: Full report (PDF, 5 MB)

PROFILES
Western and Central Europe
Eastern Europe and Central Asia
North America, Central America and the Caribbean
South America
East Asia and the Pacific
South Asia
North Africa and the Middle East
Sub-Saharan Africa

ODI: Global mental health from a policy perspective: a context analysis
Characterising mental health and recommending engagement strategies for the Mental Health Innovation Network
Overseas Development Institute; Jessica Mackenzie, author
November 2014 :: 44 pages
Report pdf: http://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/9285.pdf

Abstract
Mental health is a critically important issue in global health today and yet does not receive due policy attention. This report characterises mental health as a policy issue, and draws upon the experience of different social movements across global health to provide lessons for this field. It presents an array of engagement strategies to specifically inform how the Mental Health Innovation Network (MHIN) can best help to improve policy influence across aspects of the global mental health community.

Executive Summary [excerpt]
Mental health is a critically important issue in global health today, and yet does not receive due policy attention. Mental illness will likely affect one in four people within their lifetime and neuropsychiatric conditions now account for 13% of the global burden of disease – with 70% of that burden in low- and middle-income countries (WHO, 2001; Lopez et al., 2006). Despite this, mental health has not yet achieved the policy influence that would be proportionate to its burden, nor ‘commensurate visibility, policy attention, or funding’ that is warranted (Tomlinson and Lund, 2012).

This report applies several theoretical approaches to analyse mental health as a policy issue and the particular challenges it faces. This report applies the Overseas Development Institute (ODI)’s ‘Knowledge, Policy and Power’ (KPP) framework to assess the characteristics of mental health as a policy issue. It also applies other supporting analytical approaches regarding the tractability of a policy issue and for assessing the effectiveness of global health networks. The report focusses on mental health at a global level, but highlights the need for more detailed analysis at a more local level, given that policy traction is highly dependent on local context, actors and systems of decision-making.

By characterising the different aspects of mental health as a policy issue, it becomes easier to understand why it has faced problems achieving policy influence to date and what opportunities there are to harness change. Characteristics such as stigmatisation, heterogeneity, a recently emergent user movement, the individualistic nature of treatment, the role of the informal sector, low financial investment and lack of data, all act as barriers to achieving policy traction (as well as appropriate access to care, prevention and treatment). These features mean that the salience of the issue is diminished, its actual severity and prevalence is concealed and its ‘solvability’ negatively influenced.

However some positive entry points are also identified in the characteristics of mental health as a policy issue. Public interest in mental health, particularly in high income countries, is growing. Over the past 20 years the interest in promoting mental health and providing solutions has grown dramatically (Friedli, 2009; Secker, 1998; WHO, 2001; WHO, 2013). As public interest increases there will be corresponding demand for information and advice, which leaves the global mental health community (and networks like the Mental Health Innovation Network) well placed to be heard and have influence. While more detailed and rigorous political economy analysis is required, the changing international policy environment suggests that there could be a tipping point approaching in coming years for mental health. Increased international commitments and reporting against set targets will help to mitigate many of the current barriers, and the role of donors like Grand Challenges Canada (with funding from the Government of Canada) will be crucial in future. If the network can engage in the most effective way, and harness this potential upcoming opportunity, there could be a vast improvement in the way that mental health is treated as a policy issue…

UNCTAD: Least Developed Countries Report 2014
Growth with structural transformation: A post-2015 development agenda
UNCTAD
eISBN 978-92-1-056923-1 :: 198 pages

[Excerpt from press release]
The report argues that that the international community must learn from the failure of most of the poorest countries to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) despite registering strong economic growth – a phenomenon the Report dubs the “LDC paradox”. The LDC paradox arises from the failure of LDC economies to achieve structural changes despite having grown vigorously as a result of strong export prices and rising aid flows. Some other developing countries – not categorized as “least developed” – especially those that mostly depend on commodities for production, employment and exports, have also faced a similar paradox.

The report notes that LDCs “are the battleground on which the post-2015 development agenda will be won or lost. Its success will depend on action by the international community and the LDCs to structurally transform their economies and break the vicious circle of human and economic development that has trapped these countries in poverty.”
Under the MDGs, global poverty was halved by rapid progress in the more advanced developing countries, the Report says. But a central goal of the post-2015 development agenda is expected to be the eradication of poverty by 2030. This means reducing it to zero everywhere – and it is in the LDCs that this will be most challenging. Their performance will largely determine the success or failure of the whole post-2015 development agenda.

The Report highlights three key policy priorities as part of a post-2015 development agenda for LDCs: mobilizing resources for investment in such a way as to maximize their development impact, directing these resources towards economic activities that will contribute decisively to transforming their economies and establishing macroeconomic policies that promote investment and demand growth rather than inhibiting them. Diversifying rural economies must also be a principal element of the transformation if poverty is to be eradicated.

[From introductory pages of report]
What are the least developed countries?
At present, there are 48 countries designated by the United Nations as “least developed countries” (LDCs).
These are: Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Vanuatu, Yemen and Zambia.

The list of LDCs is reviewed every three years by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), based on recommendations of the Committee for Development Policy (CDP). The following three criteria were used by the CDP in its most recent review of the list in March 2012:

(a) Per capita income, based on a three-year average estimate of the per capita gross national income (GNI), with a threshold of $992 for candidate countries for addition to the list, and a threshold of $1,190 for graduation from LDC status;

(b) Human assets, involving a composite index (the Human Assets Index) based on the following indicators:
(i) nutrition (percentage of the population that is undernourished);
(ii) health (child mortality ratio);
(iii) school enrolment (gross secondary school enrolment ratio); and
(iv) literacy (adult literacy ratio); and

(c) Economic vulnerability, involving a composite index (the Economic Vulnerability Index) based on the following indicators:
(i) natural shocks (index of instability of agricultural production; and the percentage of victims of natural disasters);
(ii) trade-related shocks (index of instability of exports of goods and services);
(iii) physical exposure to shocks (proportion of population living in low-lying areas);
(iv) economic exposure to shocks (share of agriculture, forestry and fisheries in gross domestic product (GDP); index of merchandise export concentration);
(v) smallness (population in logarithm); and
(vi) remoteness (index of remoteness).

In all three criteria, different thresholds are used for identifying countries to be added to the list of LDCs, and those that should graduate from the list. A country will qualify to be added to the list if it meets the thresholds on all three criteria and has a population no greater than 75 million. But a country that meets these criteria will only be added to the LDC list if its Government accepts this status. A country will normally qualify for graduation from LDC status if it has met graduation thresholds under at least two of the three criteria in at least two consecutive triennial reviews of the list. However, if the per capita GNI of an LDC has risen to a level at least double the graduation threshold, the country will be deemed eligible for graduation regardless of its performance under the other two criteria.

Four countries have graduated from LDC status so far: Botswana in December 1994, Cape Verde in December 2007, Maldives in January 2011, and Samoa in January 2014. In March 2009, the CDP recommended the graduation of Equatorial Guinea. This recommendation was accepted by ECOSOC in July 2009, and endorsed by the General Assembly through a resolution adopted in December 2013. The same resolution also stated that the General Assembly endorsed the CDP’s 2012 recommendation to graduate Vanuatu from LDC status.

Equatorial Guinea and Vanuatu are scheduled to be taken out of the list of LDCs in June 2017 and December 2017, respectively. The next official review of the list by relevant United Nations bodies will take place in 2015, with particular attention to the potential graduation of Angola and Kiribati.

After a recommendation to graduate a country from LDC status has been endorsed by ECOSOC and confirmed by the General Assembly, that country is normally granted a three-year grace period before graduation effectively takes place. This grace period, during which the country remains an LDC, is designed to enable the graduating State and its development and trading partners to agree on a “smooth transition” strategy, so that the loss of LDC status at the time of graduation does not disrupt the socio-economic progress of the country. A “smooth transition” measure generally implies extending, for a number of years after graduation, a concession the country was normally entitled to by virtue of its LDC status.

ITU – Measuring the Information Society – MIS Report 2014
International Telecommunications Union
November 2014 :: 270 pages w/o Annex
pdf: http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/publications/mis2014/MIS2014_without_Annex_4.pdf

The MIS Report, which has been published annually since 2009, features key ICT data and benchmarking tools to measure the information society, including the ICT Development Index (IDI). The IDI captures the level of ICT developments in 166 economies worldwide and compares progress made during the last year. The MIS 2014 highlights the relationship between ICT development (as measured by the IDI) and the MDGs, a contribution to the ongoing discussions on the potential of ICTs as development enablers. The report includes the results of the ICT Price Basket (IPB) and new mobile-broadband price data for over 140 economies. Price data are analysed to provide insights into the relationship between affordability and income inequality, competition and regulation. The report also looks at new ICT data sources for measurement and examines the possible role of ICT big data for monitoring and development.

The 6th edition of the ITU Measuring the Information Society (MIS) Report was launched on November 24th, in Tbilisi, Georgia, at the World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium (WTIS) 2014.

Press Release [Excerpt]
Geneva, 24 November 2014 – Over three billion people are now online and information and communication technology (ICT) growth remains buoyant in just about every country worldwide, according to ITU’s flagship annual Measuring the Information Society Report.

The report is widely recognized as the repository of the world’s most reliable and impartial global data and analysis on the state of global ICT development, and is extensively relied upon by governments, financial institutions and private sector analysts worldwide.

Latest data show that Internet use continues to grow steadily, at 6.6% globally in 2014 (3.3% in developed countries, 8.7% in the developing world). The number of Internet users in developing countries has doubled in five years (2009-2014), with two thirds of all people online now living in the developing world.

Of the 4.3 billion people not yet using the Internet, 90% live in developing countries. In the world’s 42 Least Connected Countries (LCCs), which are home to 2.5 billion people, access to ICTs remains largely out of reach, particularly for these countries’ large rural populations…

…In the mobile cellular segment, the report estimates that by end 2014 there will be seven billion mobile subscriptions, roughly corresponding to the total global population. But it warns against concluding that everyone is connected; instead, many users have multiple subscriptions, with global growth figures sometimes translating into little real improvement in the level of connectivity of those at the very bottom of the pyramid. An estimated 450 million people worldwide live in places which are still out of reach of mobile cellular service.

Encouragingly, the report notes substantial improvements in access to international bandwidth in poorer countries, with developing nations’ share of total global international bandwidth rising from just 9% in 2004 to over 30% today. But lack of sufficient international Internet bandwidth in many of the LCCs remains an important barrier to ICT uptake in these countries, and often limits the quality of Internet access…
Executive Summary:

INFORM – Index for Risk Management
19 November 2014
Web tool developed as a collaboration of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Task Team for Preparedness and Resilience and the European Commission. The first global, objective and transparent tool for understanding the risk of humanitarian crises. INFORM The InfoRM model is based on risk concepts published in scientific literature and envisages three dimensions of risk: hazards & exposure, vulnerability and lack of coping capacity dimensions.

New, open-source tool to support resilience-building
The Index for Risk Management (InfoRM) sheds new light on what drives crises — and what communities need in order to face them
27 November 2014, Rome – Each year millions of people dependent on agriculture, forestry and fisheries are confronted by droughts, floods, plant pests or animal diseases, and conflict. When that happens, the livelihoods of communities can be left in tatters, while disruptions to food production and distribution undermine the food security of nations and entire regions…
…The index builds up a picture of risk by bringing together some 50 different indicators measuring three dimensions of risk: hazards and exposure of people, vulnerability of communities to those hazards, and their capacity to cope with them. This data is synthesized into a consolidated, simple risk profile for each country, which includes natural and human hazards, vulnerability and lack of coping capacity. Currently, InfoRM covers 191 countries.

1st Amref Health Africa International Conference
Theme: From Evidence to Action – Lasting Health Change in Africa
November 24 – 26, 2014, Nairobi,
Organised in Collaboration with the World Health Organization

Conference Communiqué
Preamble
We, the organisers, keynote speakers, scientists and researchers, leaders from governments, multilateral agencies, the private sector and civil society, representatives of development partners, delegates, participants and the media, came together in this inaugural Amref Health Africa International Health conference to:
:: Share cutting edge research on health and health systems in Africa
:: Identify and discuss priorities in addressing Africa’s health in the post-2015 agenda
:: Bring together stakeholders to reflect on home-grown solutions to health system challenges in Africa.

In the past three days, we have had rich sharing and discussion around the deep knowledge shared by keynote speakers, the findings of researchers, and the experience and skills of the private sector in innovation to find solutions to improved service delivery in Africa.

We Note That:
:: Africa has made progress in improving the health of her peoples in the MDG era, but that this progress has been inadequate to achieve the MDG targets for health.
:: Serious challenges in health persist in relation to the health of women and children, communicable diseases and infectious diseases that have long been eliminated or mitigated in other continents.
:: Africa additionally faces an emerging health burden from non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
:: More than one-third of African children are stunted due to chronic malnutrition, which seriously reduces their future economic productivity. This is a root cause of Africa’s under-development as malnutrition reduces national GDP by up to 3%.
:: In some countries, up to 40% of healthcare expenditure is out of pocket
:: African governments and the private sector must work together to invest in systems of production of human resources for health, taking maximum advantage of current technologies like e- and m-learning to lower the cost of training.
:: Accountability, efficiency, value for money, and transparent tracking of health expenditure must become standard principles in utilisation of health care resources by both state and non-state health stakeholders.
:: African governments must put in place enabling policies, invest in quality health services, and show greater political will to address the root causes of ill health and galvanise other stakeholders to contribute towards sustainable universal health care coverage.
:: African governments should enact polices that adopt task shifting to address the shortage of human resources for health.
:: African governments must urgently create the policy framework, legislation and investment to rapidly improve the health research output in the continent.
:: Implementers, researchers and policy makers must create the platforms that ensure that research is translated into evidence-based policy-making and action to improve health in Africa.
:: African governments should create policies to facilitate networking of African researchers to generate evidence from research for practice and policy change.
:: Non-governmental organisations must advocate with the key stakeholders to focus attention continuously on translation of evidence to investment decisions for sustainable health systems in Africa.
– Conference Bulletin Issue No. 1
– Conference Bulletin Issue No. 2
– Conference Bulletin Issue No. 3

United Nations – Selected Meetings Coverage and Press Releases [to 29 November 2014]
Secretary General, Security Council, General Assembly
http://www.un.org/en/unpress/

28 November 2014
SG/SM/16376-HR/5228-OBV/1411
Marking International Day for Abolition of Slavery, Secretary-General Urges States to Renew Efforts to Eradicate Practice Still Affecting 18 Million Worldwide
UN Secretary General Ban Ki moon’s message on the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, observed on 2 December.

28 November 2014
SG/SM/16377-HR/5229-OBV/1412
Adaptive, Assistive, Inclusive Technology Can Aid Persons with Disabilities in Reaching Their Potential in Communities, Workplace
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, to be observed on 3 December.

26 November 2014
SG/SM/16375-AIDS/194-OBV/1410
On World AIDS Day, Secretary-General Calls on World Leaders to Unite in Common Cause to End Epidemic by 2030
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for World AIDS Day, observed on 1 December.

26 November 2014
SG/SM/16374-IHA/1349
Secretary-General Expresses ‘Utmost Gratitude’ to Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos Following Her Decision to Step Down
Statement by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

25 November 2014
SG/SM/16370-OBV/1408-WOM/2011
Secretary-General, on International Day, Calls Violence against Women, Girls ‘Most Extreme Example’ of Oppression Worldwide, Urging All to Help End Global Disgrace
UN Secretary General Ban Ki moon’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, in New York.

25 November 2014
GA/SHC/4126
While Approving 14 Draft Resolutions without Vote, Third Committee Tackles Four Texts on Human Rights, Peace, International Democracy, Mercenaries
As the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) approved 18 draft resolutions, with 14 without a vote, delegations voiced concerns regarding four texts including one on the report of the Human Rights Council, debating whether that body had been politicized, thus undermining its legitimacy and credibility.

25 November 2014
GA/11592
General Assembly, Concluding Annual Debate on Question of Palestine, Situation in Middle East, Adopts Six Resolutions by Recorded Vote
Offering a range of solutions for moving the Middle East peace process forward, while regretting the steps backward due to escalation of violence in recent months, the General Assembly adopted six draft resolutions today by recorded vote on the question of Palestine and the situation in the Middle East overall.

UNESCO [to 29 November 2014]
http://en.unesco.org/

Director-General Addresses Organization of American States 28 November 2014
Addressing the Organization of American States in Washington D.C. on 19 April, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova stated that “the key question we need to ask is how education can contribute to mitigate inequality.”
“Fundamentally, quality education must craft the societies we aspire to – inclusive, dynamic and sustainable societies, free of poverty, societies anchored in respect for cultural diversity and human rights”, said Mrs Bokova, giving the 51st Lecture of the Americas on the theme of promoting human development and quality education in the region…

Assessment of inclusive policies: UNESCO supports evidence-based approaches and the participation of the populations concerned
28 November 2014
Organized within the framework of UNESCO’s Management of Social Transformations Programme (MOST), a workshop of experts on the measurement and assessment of social inclusion policies was held on 25 and 26 March 2013 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, with the aim to assist the work of the Organization’s Secretariat in the study and mapping of available indexes and methodologies to measure social inclusion and assess the level of inclusiveness of public policies.
Concretely, this expert workshop had as final goal the identification of the most effective methods of measuring and assessing in order to adapt or develop those that are likely to have a real impact on public policy-making and on the process of evaluating policies in all UNESCO Member States.
Held before the 11th session of the MOST Intergovernmental Council, this expert meeting focused on one of the two thematic priorities identified for 2012-2013 by the Member States of this Council and brought together, for a day and a half, more than sixty participants, all experts and stakeholders in the implementation, measurement and assessment of social inclusion policies…
…The main reflections and recommendations made during this international workshop of experts were delivered to the 35 Member States of the MOST Intergovernmental Council that met in Paris on 27 and 28 March 2013.
The entire workshop via the following links:
Sessions of 25 March 2013 – mms://stream.unesco.org/vod/most_25032013_floor.wmv
Session of 26 March 2013 – mms://stream.unesco.org/vod/most_26032013_floor.wmv

OECD [to 29 November 2014]
http://www.oecd.org/

Most Asia/Pacific countries need to improve affordable access to healthcare, says OECD
27 November 2014
Countries in the Asia/Pacific region need to step up their efforts to give more people access to affordable, quality health care. Too many people, especially women, cannot get the medical treatment they need due to high costs, difficulties in getting permission to see a doctor or a lack of health care providers in rural areas, according to a new OECD report:

Health at a Glance Asia/Pacific 2014, a joint publication with the World Health Organisation, presents key indicators on health status, determinants of health, health care resources and utilisation, health expenditure and financing, and quality of care for 27 Asia/Pacific countries and economies. This report offers a comprehensive and user-friendly framework to help policy makers design and implement better policies to support countries’ progress towards universal health coverage – and improve the health of their populations.

ICRC – International Committee of the Red Cross [to 29 November 2014]
http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/index.jsp

Internment in armed conflict: Basic rules and challenges
25 November 2014
Deprivation of liberty – detention – is a common and lawful occurrence in armed conflict that is governed by a large number of provisions of international humanitarian law (IHL). Like other bodies of law, IHL prohibits arbitrary detention.
Provided below is an outline of the basic concepts and rules related to detention in both international and non-international armed conflict with, subsequently, a particular focus on internment, i.e. detention for security reasons in situations of armed conflict. The similarities and differences between IHL and the corresponding rules of international human rights law are also addressed where relevant.
pdf: https://www.icrc.org/en/download/file/1980/security-detention-position-paper-icrc-11-2014.pdf

PATH [to 29 November 2014]
:: PATH names Dr. David Fleming as vice president for Public Health Impact
Global public health expert to serve on PATH executive leadership team and oversee diverse portfolio

Seattle, November 24, 2014—PATH has named Dr. David Fleming as its vice president for Public Health Impact. Dr. Fleming will begin January 5, 2015 and be based in PATH’s Seattle headquarters.

Dr. Fleming will lead PATH’s Public Health Impact division, which houses the organization’s reproductive health, maternal and child health and nutrition, noncommunicable diseases, malaria control and elimination, and HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis programs. He also will oversee cross-programmatic collaboration at PATH, which seeks to maximize the impact of the organization’s work across the value chain in critical health areas, including maternal and neonatal health, diarrheal disease, and malaria….

Disasters Emergency Committee [to 29 November 2014]
http://www.dec.org.uk/
[Action Aid, Age International, British Red Cross, CAFOD, Care International, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Islamic Relief, Oxfam, Plan UK, Save the Children, Tearfund and World Vision]

DEC publishes review of member agency assurance mechanisms
27/11/2014
The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has published today an independent report which shows how its member agencies provide assurance that they are following agreed ways of working when they respond to emergencies.

The report “DEC Accountability Self-Assessment Validation 2013-14” was prepared for the DEC by consultants from One World Trust who validated members’ self-assessed performance against 21 ‘Ways of Working’ [PDF] which DEC members are committed to following.

The report shows that DEC member agencies continue to report performance improvements and that the large majority of these self-assessments were likely to be accurate. Importantly however it also drew the attention of a minority of members to areas where their self-assessments were insufficiently supported by evidence.

DEC Chief Executive Saleh Saeed said: “The DEC Accountability Framework shows that our members do not simply sign up to commitments to observe best practice, they also put in place systems to ensure they live up to these commitments.”

“The process members go through to demonstrate they are following the agreed DEC ways of working can seem very abstract because it is about assurance mechanisms that provide evidence that policy and procedures are appropriate and systematically implemented. In reality, this approach is at the heart of the way the DEC works because it helps ensure our members are consistently working to the highest possible standards and continually seeking systematic improvements in their work.

“What it comes down to in the end is that getting aid work right isn’t just about good people who know what they doing delivering good work. If you want to ensure you are delivering consistently excellent work you also need good processes.”…

GAVI Watch [to 29 November 2014]
http://www.gavialliance.org/library/news/press-releases/

:: Canada commits C$ 500 million to support immunisation in developing countries
28 November 2014
Gavi welcomed the announcement by Canada of a C$ 500 million contribution to support immunisation in developing countries between 2016 and 2020.

:: International Finance Facility for Immunisation issues first Sukuk, raising US$ 500 million
Dubai, UAE, 27 November 2014 – The International Finance Facility for Immunisation Company (IFFIm) today issued its inaugural Sukuk, raising US$ 500 million for children’s immunisation in the world’s poorest countries through Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. This landmark transaction is the first socially responsible Sukuk with funds to be utilised for this purpose. This successful transaction marks the largest Sukuk al-Murabaha issuance in the public markets and is also the largest inaugural Sukuk offering from a Supranational.

The 3-year Sukuk – a financial certificate that complies with Islamic law – provides institutional investors with a socially responsible investment that will help protect tens of millions of children against preventable diseases