Thousands break Ebola quarantine to find food [Sierra Leone]
Associated Press | 4 November 2014
By SARAH DiLORENZO
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Thousands of people in Sierra Leone are being forced to violate Ebola quarantines to find food because deliveries are not reaching them, aid agencies said.
Large swaths of the West African country have been sealed off to prevent the spread of Ebola, and within those areas many people have been ordered to stay in their homes.
The government, with help from the U.N.’s World Food Program, is tasked with delivering food and other services to those people. But there are many “nooks and crannies” in the country that are being missed, Jeanne Kamara, Christian Aid’s Sierra Leone representative, said Tuesday…
…While public health authorities have said heavy restrictions may be necessary to bring under control an Ebola outbreak unlike any other, the Disasters Emergency Committee, an umbrella organization for aid organizations, warned on Monday that they were cutting off food to thousands of people.
“The quarantine of Kenema, the third largest town in Sierra Leone, is having a devastating impact on trade — travel is restricted so trucks carrying food cannot freely drive around,” the committee said in a statement. “Food is becoming scarce, which has led to prices increasing beyond the reach of ordinary people.”
Because services are not reaching them, people who are being monitored for signs of Ebola — and should be staying at home — are venturing out to markets to look for food, potentially contaminating many others, said Kamara of Christian Aid…

United Nations – Selected Meetings Coverage and Press Releases [to 8 November 2014]
http://www.un.org/en/unpress/

4 November 2014
SG/SM/16312-HR/5224-L/T/4437
On Thirtieth Anniversary of Convention against Torture, Secretary-General Urges 156 State Parties to Fulfil Treaty’s Promise, Banish ‘Heinous Practice’
Following is Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message on the thirtieth anniversary of the Convention against Torture, in Geneva today:

Thirty years have passed since the United Nations Convention against Torture entered into force, enshrining in international law an unequivocal prohibition of this heinous practice under all circumstances.

The Convention has inspired new national laws, helped put in place important protection mechanisms and raised awareness about the needs and rights of victims. Yet torture continues across the world, with devastating impacts on people and societies alike.

Universal ratification and full implementation of the Convention must remain our imperatives. I fully support the Convention against Torture initiative to achieve universal ratification in the next 10 years. I would also like to highlight the crucial role of civil society in fulfilling the goals of the Convention.

I call on the 156 States parties to the Convention to do more to uphold the responsibilities assigned to them by this Treaty. Equally important, I call on States to meet their reporting obligations. Reporting to the Committee against Torture provides a unique opportunity for States to comprehensively and self-critically review and improve domestic laws and practices. I also encourage States to respond promptly to the recommendations provided by the Committee, take meaningful steps to eradicate torture and meet the needs of traumatized torture victims and their families.

People have a right to trustworthy institutions of justice; Governments have a duty to protect, not oppress, people. Torture has no place in the peaceful, equitable and sustainable future we are striving to build. Together, let us spare no effort to banish torture, bring torturers to justice and uphold human rights for all.

UNHCR [to 8 November 2014]
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/hom

UNHCR welcomes new General Recommendation on refugee and stateless women
5 November 2014
The UN refugee agency has welcomed a new set of international guidelines, adopted today by the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, calling for countries to adopt a more gender-sensitive approach to dealing with women refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless people in order to take account of the abuses they frequently suffer.

“We see many cases of women who flee their countries and seek asylum as a result of widespread gender-based violence. This General Recommendation should assist countries on how to deal with these cases in a gender-appropriate way,” said UNHCR’s Director of International Protection, Volker Türk.

Building on UNHCR’s own guidelines and work on gender-related persecution, the General Recommendation explains that countries need to take account of gender equality and non-discrimination in their asylum processes. A failure to adopt a gender-sensitive approach can all too often result in inconsistent asylum decisions and deprive many women and girls of international protection.

Arranging for women-asylum seekers to be interviewed by female case officers is a crucial element in the new guidelines, alongside putting in place procedures that allow women to present their claims in their own right, in a safe environment, free from intimidation. “These guidelines reinforce that no woman or girl shall be returned to persecution or gender-based violence and that they have a right to seek asylum,” Mr Türk emphasised.
Another key focus is women’s right to nationality, including the right to acquire, change or retain their nationality and to confer their nationality on their children and spouses. Removing gender discrimination from nationality laws is one of the 10 Actions proposed in the Global Action Plan to End Statelessness: 2014-2024, which was launched by UNHCR yesterday as part of a new campaign on the issue (http://www.unhcr.org/stateless2014/). There are still 27 countries, for example which do not allow women to pass on their nationality to their children, which can render children stateless, with devastating consequences for their childhood and into adulthood.

“The General Recommendation is an important tool to help us tackle this issue and avoid future generations joining the ranks of the world’s stateless; there are currently 10 million stateless people in the world and we want to eradicate this anomaly, not see it further increase,” said Türk….

WHO & Regionals [to 8 November 2014]

:: PPP launched to improve prevention of women’s cancers and quality of cancer registries in Latin America and the Caribbean
04 NOVEMBER 2014,
– PAHO (Pan American Health Organization) Foundation and International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) combine efforts to improve breast and cervical cancer prevention and control.
– The partnership aims to improve understanding and practices among primary health care providers and patients for breast cancer screening and early detection as well as increase capacity of cancer registries in the region.
– Three-year joint project is receiving $600,000 funding from IFPMA as well as in-kind contributions such as communications and infrastructure supplies.
New York, 4 November 2014 – The PAHO (Pan American Health Organization) Foundation and the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) announced today a partnership to jointly build regional capacity to fight woman’s cancers in Latin America and the Caribbean. The three-year collaboration will allow the first phase of a $5M initiative to focus on women’s cancers in selected countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. …

UNAIDS [to 8 November 2014]
http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/

Press statement
Namibia’s Supreme Court upholds the dignity of women living with HIV
GENEVA, 6 November 2014—UNAIDS welcomes Namibia’s Supreme Court decision to uphold the Namibian High Court finding that three women living with HIV were subjected to coercive sterilization in public hospitals without their informed consent.
“This is a great victory for all women in Namibia and the world. This decision reinforces the right to sexual and reproductive health for all women, irrespective of their HIV status,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé.
The Supreme Court’s dismissal of the appeal follows the 30 July 2012 ruling of the High Court of Namibia—in the first formal court case of its kind in Africa—that medical practitioners have a “legal duty to obtain informed consent from a patient” and that the health service provider could not forcibly obtain consent during labour.
UNAIDS worked closely with civil society and other key partners in the AIDS response in Namibia to ensure that the voices of the women affected were heard. UNAIDS calls on countries to investigate and address all reported cases of forced sterilization as well as other legal and social practices violating the basic rights of all people in health-care systems…

UNDP United Nations Development Programme [to 8 November 2014]
http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/presscenter.html

07 Nov 2014
Reaching out to people living with disabilities in Sierra Leone
Through its Ebola Response programming, UNDP ensures that vulnerable groups such as people living with disabilities in Sierra Leone receive tailor-made information and tools to help prevent the spread of the Ebola virus disease.

07 Nov 2014
Samoa starts cross-sectoral response to climate change adaptation
Samoa is set to adopt a whole-of-government approach to climate change adaptation through a US$12.3 million initiative, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

05 Nov 2014
Ebola crisis draining development budgets in West Africa, study finds
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is impairing the ability of governments to raise revenues, increasing their exposure to domestic and foreign debts and may make them more dependent on aid, according to the latest study on the socio-economic impact of the crisis carried out by the UN development agency.

UNFPA United Nations Population Fund [to 8 November 2014]
http://www.unfpa.org/public/

06 November 2014 – Dispatch
UNFPA partners with the Guardian in the fight against FGM
NAIROBI, Kenya – A new campaign highlighting the critical role of media in helping to end female genital mutilation (FGM) was launched in Kenya, Nairobi, last week. The campaign will engage global media outlets, particularly in Africa, on how to improve their coverage of the consequences of this practice on women and girls, their families and their communities. It will also encourage reporting on the communities’ efforts to abandon FGM and protect women’s and girls’ rights. The aim is to help end this practice within a generation.

03 November 2014 – Dispatch
Fistula campaign in South Sudan seeks lasting solutions
WAU, South Sudan – In South Sudan, an estimated 60,000 women and girls are living with obstetric fistula, a devastating injury caused by prolonged obstructed labour without treatment. The condition can leave women incontinent, stigmatized and in deepening poverty. In July, a UNFPA-supported programme brought an international group of surgeons to Wau to bring relief to women suffering fistula, and sought to address the need for long-term solutions.

03 November 2014 – Press Release
New Report Shows More Women and Girls Have Access to Contraceptives in the World’s Poorest Countries
LONDON—Today, Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) released its second progress report detailing achievements since the landmark 2012 London Summit on Family Planning.

UNCTAD [to 8 November 2014]
http://unctad.org/en/Pages/Home.aspx

UNCTAD and Slow Food hold workshop on promoting traditional food products from least developing countries
07 Nov – Participants consider how laws on geographical indications and branding initiatives can assist rural communities in LDCs to promote their products and enter value chains, while preserving territorial integrity and biodiversity.

Biofuels remain an important and growing sector for developing countries, new UNCTAD report says
04 Nov – The report entitled: “The State of the Biofuels Market: Regulatory, Trade and Development Perspectives” offers a comprehensive snapshot of today’s biofuels market and how it contributes to enhancing access to renewable energy sources sustainably and improving the livelihoods of people in developing countries.

ITU International Telecommunications Union [to 8 November 2014]
http://www.itu.int/net/pressoffice/press_releases/index.aspx?lang=en#.VF8FYcl4WF8

International community commits to Global ICT Agenda for 2020
Connect 2020 Agenda sets out vision, goals and specific targets for future development of ICT sector
Busan, 6 November 2014 – A global agenda to shape the future of the ICT sector has been unanimously adopted at the ITU 2014 Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-14). Resolution WG-PL/9 ‘Connect 2020 Agenda for Global Telecommunication/ICT Development’ sets out the shared vision, goals and targets that Member States have committed to achieve by 2020 in collaboration with all stakeholders across the ICT ecosystem. ITU will contribute to Connect 2020 Agenda through its 2016-2019 Strategic Plan, which has also been adopted at PP-14.
Through the Connect 2020 Agenda ITU Member States committed to work towards “an information society, empowered by the interconnected world, where telecommunication/ICT enables and accelerates socially, economically and environmentally sustainable growth and development for everyone.”
The four pillars of the agenda – growth, inclusiveness, sustainability, and innovation and partnership – represent an invitation to all stakeholders, including the private sector, civil society and academia, to work together towards achieving agreed, quantifiable and specific targets. Building on the UN’s previous commitments to sustainable development as defined in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), the work of the UN Broadband Commission for Digital Development, and the on-going discussions on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, the Connect 2020 goals aim to ensure that telecommunications and ICTs act as key enablers of the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development…

ITU and Internet Society collaborate to combat spam
Spam accounts for 80 per cent of global e-mail traffic
Busan, 06 November 2014 – ITU and the Internet Society today signed a letter of agreement to collaborate on combating the global problem of spam. Spam now accounts for a significant amount of all global e-mail traffic and presents particular difficulties in areas where bandwidth is insufficient to handle the congestion that spam creates.
…Under the new agreement, the Internet Society and the ITU Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D) will identify the best ways to build long-term capacity for addressing spam in developing countries. This collaborative partnership will explore and identify potential joint cooperative activities to address the growing need for information on how to address the issue of spam…

ITU, GSMA and Internet Society unite in fight against Ebola
Busan, 3 November 2014 – At the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Busan the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the GSMA and the Internet Society (ISOC), announced that they are joining forces in the fight against Ebola. The three organizations will bring together the global telecommunications and Internet communities, leveraging their extensive reach, capacity and respective memberships to increase the effectiveness of information and communications technologies (ICT), especially mobile communication and the Internet, for better preparedness, early warning and response.
ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun I. Touré convened a special session with ITU membership during the Plenipotentiary Conference currently underway in Busan, Republic of Korea, to identify recommendations for a more effective use of ICTs in the fight against Ebola.
Dr Touré stated: “The ICT Sector is critical in dealing with the Ebola threat. ICTs are already being used by ITU and its partners to support awareness raising and emergency communications, and our immediate challenge is to ensure regulatory barriers are removed to facilitate deployment and use of telecommunications applications for the purpose of saving lives. We will focus on innovative measures to increase the effective use of communications systems and applications. Human life has to be preserved and protected.” …

USAID [to 8 November 2014]
http://www.usaid.gov/

USAID Launches Long-term Commitment to Afghan Women and Girls
November 8, 2014
USAID’s Largest Gender Program Will Build upon Afghan Progress from the Past Decade
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah today launched a five-year program in Afghanistan focusing on the education, promotion, and training of 75,000 Afghan women between 18 and 30 years of age. The Promote program will support women’s efforts to enhance their contribution to Afghanistan’s development by strengthening women’s rights groups, boosting female participation in the economy, increasing the number of women in decision-making positions within the Afghan government, and helping women gain business and managerial skills. USAID is committing $216 million to Promote and is seeking up to $200 million in additional financial commitments from other donors. Promote is the largest women’s empowerment program supported by USAID anywhere in the world.

U.S. Government Announces Chid Stunting Rates Drop in Ethiopia, Maize Yields Increase in Zambia
November 6, 2014
Bipartisan legislation to support Feed the Future pending in House and Senate
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced new data today demonstrating the impact of the U.S. Government’s innovative global hunger efforts, including the Feed the Future initiative led by USAID in partnership with 10 other federal agencies. Just weeks after the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced the number of chronically undernourished people in the world has fallen by more than 100 million over the last decade, new data in Zambia and Ethiopia underscore the impact of U.S. leadership in the fight against global hunger and undernutrition.

USAID Announces Four Grants to Pilot Innovative Technologies for Atrocity Prevention
November 4, 2014
Today, USAID announced four new grants to winners of the joint USAID-Humanity United Tech Challenge for Atrocity Prevention. The grants of up to $50,000 will help recipients partner with an operational NGO or an established human rights group to further develop and pilot their innovations to document atrocities and facilitate communication for those at risk.

African Union [to 8 November 2014]
http://www.au.int/en/

COMMUNIQUE OF AFRICA BUSINESS INITIATIVE RESPONSE TO EBOLA
AU Conference Centre, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 8 November 2014
8 November 2014
At an historic meeting today, the African Union together with African Development Bank, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and leading businesses in Africa committed to join forces to create and support a funding mechanism to deal with the Ebola outbreak and its consequences.

To date, the Ebola virus disease has devastated communities, infecting more than 13,700 people and killing over 4,900. While the global response to the current crisis has increased in recent weeks, there is still a critical need for additional competencies to care for those infected, strengthen local health systems and prevent the disease spreading.

African business leaders at the Roundtable comprised CEOs from different sectors, including banking, telecommunications, mining, energy, services and manufacturing, among others. They agreed to establish a fund under the auspices of the African Union Foundation through a facility managed by the African Development Bank, to boost efforts to equip, train and deploy African health workers to fight the epidemic.

At the meeting, participants saluted Governments, International Organizations, Institutions, NGOs and businesses that have been at the frontlines of the Ebola response, and agreed to urgently scale up the deployment of health workers in the three most affected countries: Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. They also noted with appreciation that a number of African countries to date have pledged over 2,000 trained health workers to support the efforts in West Africa, with additional commitments expected.

Responding to appeals from these countries, leading companies in Africa, present at the Roundtable, committed logistical support, in kind contributions and over $28 million as part of the first wave of pledges. In addition, a number of businesses represented in the meeting undertook to immediately consult with their governance structures and will announce their pledges to this effort in the next few days. Roundtable participants further called on the private sector across Africa to join them in this effort. Businesses also agreed to leverage their resources and capacity to help galvanize citizen action around a ‘United Against Ebola’ campaign, and to provide individuals across Africa and globally with an opportunity to contribute.

These funds will be used to support an African medical corps – including doctors, nurses and lab technicians – to care for those infected with Ebola, strengthen the capacity of local health services and staff Ebola treatment centres in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. These resources will be deployed in the framework of the African Union Support to Ebola Outbreak in West Africa (ASEOWA), in close coordination with the national taskforces in the Ebola-affected countries and the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER). The resources mobilized will be part of a longer term program to build Africa’s capacity to deal with such outbreaks in the future.

Moreover, participants decided that the Africa Business Roundtable would become an annual meeting of the African Union to help solidify collaboration with the private sector in Africa on key development issues facing the region

Business leaders agreed on a follow up mechanism to implement the commitments made at today’s meeting, reach out to other business entities, monitor the roadmap and agreed to act with urgency.

World Bank [to 8 November 2014]
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/all

Data and Measurement Essential to Reaching the World Bank’s Twin Goals
This October the World Bank’s research department released a Policy Research Report entitled “A Measured Approach to Ending Poverty and Boosting Shared Prosperity: Concepts, Data, and the Twin Goals .” Prepared by a team led by Peter Lanjouw and Dean Jolliffe, economists in the research department, the report makes the case that campaigning around the World Bank Group’s twin goals of ending poverty and boosting shared prosperity requires an understanding of the theory and accompanying measurement challenges of the goals.The World Bank hosted two events at its headquarters to highlight the report’s findings and facilitate a dialogue around the World Bank’s twin goals: first a Policy Research Talk in which Peter Lanjouw discussed the report in depth…
Meetings. Date: November 6, 2014

Amref Health Africa [to 8 November 2014]

ASTRAZENECA LAUNCHES HEALTHY HEART AFRICA PROGRAMME TO ADDRESS HYPERTENSION IN AFRICA
Published: 07 November 2014 Marie Kinyanjui
AstraZeneca has today launched a programme aimed at tackling the burden of hypertension in Africa. Healthy Heart Africa is designed in consultation and collaboration with non-governmental and community based organisations, international organisations, health experts…

ECPAT [to 8 November 2014]

Announcement of the Global Study and its Taskforce to End Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel and Tourism
NEW GLOBAL TASKFORCE LAUNCHED TO END CHILD SEX TOURISM
Time to re-think what works, as the problem continues to outpace the response

4 NOVEMBER 2014, LONDON, UK: A new global Taskforce, launched in London today, aims to tackle the rapid acceleration of sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism. Eight eminent leaders from the travel industry, the United Nations, Governments and NGOs, under the leadership of Dr. Maalla M’jid Former Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, will re-think approaches to a crime that has, to date, outpaced every attempt to respond. The sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism is now a phenomenon of global dimensions, and as Dr. Maalla M’jid states, a phenomenon that “seriously harms countless children around the world, often with irreparable consequences.”…

…Offenders are increasingly adept at using the travel and tourism industries as a route to child exploitation and new developments have heightened the dangers for children: the rise of the Internet and greater access to international travel have expanded ‘demand.’ At the same time, social and economic disparities, poverty and lack of education – combined with weak child protection systems – have fuelled the ‘supply’ of children…
…The Taskforce will oversee the ECPAT International-initiated Global Study on the Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel and Tourism, the first of its kind, funded by the Dutch Government.

“The global study, which will involve many actors at international, regional and national level – including children – aims to provide a global and updated picture of sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism,” says Dr. Najat Maalla M’jid. “It will analyse its emerging trends and its global dimensions, highlighting the progress made and the remaining challenges since the last World Congress on the Sexual Exploitation of Children in 2008, in Rio. The Global Study aims to provide a set of concrete recommendations to improve government, non-government and private-sector responses to protect all children, without discrimination, from this crime”…

…Milena Grillo, Executive Director of Fundación Paniamor in Costa Rica and the ECPAT Representative at the Taskforce concludes: “It is ECPAT’s conviction that countries of origin and destination need to work together to put a halt on the growing crime of commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents linked to travel and tourism. The Global Study aims to present these countries and other interested parties at global and regional levels – mainly the tourism industry, international cooperation agencies and the NGO community – with state-of-the art, reliable information to inform a multi-country and sustained commitment to ensure that this exploitation is not only punishable, but socially unacceptable. We owe this to the children of the world.”…

Heifer International [to 8 November 2014]

November 4, 2014
Heifer International Releases New Kid’s Book for Read to Feed Program
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.
Heifer International is pleased to release our newest children’s book, “Flora and the Runaway Rooster,” written by author John Claude Bemis and illustrated by Robert Crawford

HelpAge International [to 8 November 2014]

Older people key to success in rebuilding Haiyan-affected communities
Older people have been key to helping 150,000 people recover from Typhoon Haiyan, says a new report released today by HelpAge International and the Coalition of Services of the Elderly.
Posted: 08 November 2014

Latin American Experts to Discuss Financial Needs of Aging Populations in a Joint Initiative between Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion, HelpAge International, and MetLife Foundation
On November 11, 2014, over 40 leaders from across Latin America, including the banking, microfinance, academic, and aging advocacy sectors, will join together in Bogota, Colombia for a roundtable on the topic of Aging and Financial Inclusion.
Posted: 07 November 2014

International Rescue Committee [to 8 November 2014]
07 Nov 2014

Ericsson and the International Rescue Committee join forces to transform humanitarian response
Ericsson and the IRC partner on frontline response to improve disaster and crisis response using mobile technology
07 Nov 2014 – Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) today announced a multi-faceted partnership aimed at connecting and providing support for those impacted by health, natural disaster and conflict-driven humanitarian crises.
The partnership initially will focus on the use of mobile phones and applications designed to support Ebola infection-prevention efforts at primary healthcare facilities in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Specifically, the technology will enable IRC teams to more accurately and efficiently capture and monitor data related to the facilities’ Ebola preparedness and response.
The partnership also will provide technology and services that enable displaced families to reconnect with one another. Longer term, the organizations will collaborate on employee volunteer engagement, common projects, advocacy and knowledge-sharing…

ICRC – International Committee of the Red Cross [to 8 November 2014]
http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/index.jsp

Peacekeeping operations: ICRC statement to the United Nations, 2014
Statement
06 November 2014
Comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping operations, United Nations, General Assembly, 69th session, Fourth Committee, item 53 of the agenda, statement by the ICRC, New York, 31 October 2014.
The mandates of peacekeeping missions have grown increasingly complex in recent years. Peacekeeping has moved beyond its traditional role of monitoring peace agreements to focus as well on the rule of law, security sector reforms, humanitarian assistance and the protection of civilians, to name but a few dimensions…

Refugees, returnees and displaced persons: ICRC statement to the United Nations, 2014
Statement
05 November 2014

Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, questions relating to refugees, returnees and displaced persons and humanitarian questions. United Nations, General Assembly, 69th session, Third Committee, Item 61 of the agenda, statement by the ICRC, New York, 7 November 2014.
The number of internally displaced persons worldwide has reached an unprecedented level. If the international community is to curb this trend, it must address two distinct challenges.
The first is better conflict prevention and resolution – tasks that are primarily incumbent upon States…

Ebola: The world needs humanitarian workers in West Africa
Statement
04 November 2014
The world needs humanitarian workers in West Africa. Stigmatizing them or restricting their movement will hinder the global response.
Statement by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
An effective global response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa requires unhindered movement to and from the region for humanitarian workers. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is urging all governments to support and facilitate this, and ensure health workers returning from Ebola-affected countries are treated with respect and without discrimination. These workers are on the frontline of all our efforts to contain and combat the disease…

Mercy Corps [to 8 November 2014]
http://www.mercycorps.org/press-room/releases

Philippines: Mercy Corps expands mobile banking in the Philippines
November 5, 2014
Portland, Ore. – One year after Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines, Mercy Corps is helping expand mobile banking solutions in remote, low-income communities hardest hit by the storm. Mercy Corps and BPI Globe BanKO, the Philippines’ first mobile phone-based savings bank, have distributed a total of US $2.3 million in emergency cash assistance to typhoon-affected families since the storm hit 12 months ago.

OXFAM [to 8 November 2014]
http://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases

Oxfam volunteers go door-to-door to prevent Ebola spread
6 November 2014
Hundreds of local volunteers are helping Oxfam to provide support and information to more than 400,000 people living in Ebola-affected communities in West Africa to stop the spread of the disease.