Science
16 January 2015 vol 347, issue 6219, pages 209-348
http://www.sciencemag.org/current.dtl

The Ebola Epidemic
High hopes for Guinean vaccine trial
Martin Enserink*
The push to test Ebola vaccines in the field is accelerating. Two candidates may go into phase III trials in a matter of weeks; a third one has just entered a phase I trial. Researchers have designed very different phase III studies for Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, the three countries with ongoing virus transmission. One problem they’re facing is that the number of new cases has dropped sharply in Liberia and is beginning to ebb in Sierra Leone. That’s why many scientists say Guinea—where researchers plan to try a highly unusual ring vaccination design—is the most promising testing ground.

Ebola/EVD: Additional Coverage

UNMEER [UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response] @UNMEER #EbolaResponse

Editor’s Note: UNMEER’s website is aggregating and presenting content from various sources including its own External Situation Reports, press releases, statements and other formats.

We present a composite below from the week ending 17 January 2015. We also note that 1) a regular information category in these reports – human rights – has apparently eliminated as it no longer appears in any of the continuing updates, and 2) the content level of these reports continues, in our view, to trend less informative and less coherent. We will review continuing coverage of this material over the next few weeks.

UNMEER External Situation Reports
UNMEER External Situation Reports are issued daily (excepting Saturday) with content organized under these headings:
– Highlights
– Key Political and Economic Developments
– Human Rights
– Response Efforts and Health
– Logistics
– Outreach and Education
– Resource Mobilisation
– Essential Services
– Upcoming Events

The “Week in Review” will present highly-selected elements of interest from these reports. The full daily report is available as a pdf using the link provided by the report date.

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:: 16 Jan 2015 UNMEER External Situation Report
Response Efforts and Health
2. In Sierra Leone, the UNICEF-led Family Tracing and Reunification (FTR) network have identified 15,258 children as being directly affected by the Ebola crisis (7,664 girls and 7,594 boys), with 7,968 children having lost one or both parents to Ebola and 552 unaccompanied or separated from their caregiver. 9,103 Ebola-affected children have been provided with psychosocial support.
8. The OCHA Ebola Virus Outbreak Overview of Needs and Requirements, now totaling USD 1.5 billion, has been funded for USD 1.15 billion, which is around 77% of the total ask.
Essential Services
13. The guidelines for the reopening of schools in February was shared with educational authorities in Sinoe County, Liberia. The schools need to establish a committee to oversee the implementation of the guidelines, register the students and identify people trained in IPC procedures. Medical Team International (MTI) offered to distribute the guidelines to the schools. UNICEF will provide three thermoflashes per school to 220 schools. Among the challenges and issues in instituting the guidelines are: 1) the lack of personnel to implement them in the schools (some schools have one teacher for 100 students); 2) the inaccessibility of some schools due to their remote location; 3) lack of basic equipment like printers and photocopiers to disseminate the guidelines; and 4) lack of clarity on no-touch policy for people caring for children under 3-years-old (it may not be possible to institute the policy in these cases). The general community health volunteers (gCHVs) plan to support the schools in some locations.
14. Preparations are underway for a second mass distribution of anti-malaria treatments in Ebola hotspots in Sierra Leone. An estimated 2.5 million are expected to be reached in the coming

:: 15 Jan 2015 UNMEER External Situation Report
Key Political and Economic Developments
1. According to press reports, President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone predicted while visiting Port Loko, Tonkolili and Bombali in the northern District that his country would be Ebola-free by May.
2. In Forécariah, Kindia Prefecture, Guinea, following the lynching of two police officers and a driver by the local population on 17 January, tension remains high. Evaluation team for the campaign “Zero Ebola in 60 days” reported that several villages were currently inaccessible due to the heightened tension.

:: 14 Jan 2015 UNMEER External Situation Report
Key Political and Economic Developments
1. UNDP is leading an Early Recovery Assessment mission in the three most affected countries. The mission includes representatives from the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the European Union and UN agencies. In Liberia, the mission met with President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, as well as with Ministers and Deputy Ministers, the Governance Commission, Land Commission, Civil Services Agency and the leadership of the IMS and UNMEER. The mission is today in Sierra Leone and will then travel to Guinea before compiling a plan for early recovery in the three most affected countries.
2. The Islamic Development Bank (IDB), has announced financing in the amount of USD 35 million to countries affected by Ebola.
Response Efforts and Health
3. Health workers have been paid across Liberia in a coordinated effort led by the Ministry of Health and supported by UNDP and UNMEER. In total, more than USD 1 million in cash was distributed to thousands of workers, with Ministry of Health, Ministry of Finance and UNDP staff travelling to remote areas over the past six days. Logistics assistance was provided by WFP and UNMEER, as well as the County Health Teams. The Ministry is now collecting data from the field and will report on final numbers this week.
6. As of last week, the number of children in Liberia registered as orphaned due to EVD is 4,372. All of the children identified are currently receiving follow-up and psychosocial support. The Child Protection Sub-Cluster estimates that there can be as many as 7,500 Ebola orphans in Liberia. UNICEF is partnering with the government and NGOs to train and engage more social workers to identify and ensure that all the orphans are in an adequately protective environment.

:: 13 Jan 2015 UNMEER External Situation Report
Key Political and Economic Developments
3. Two new World Bank reports indicate that the socio-economic impacts of Ebola in Liberia and Sierra Leone are far-reaching and persistent. Both countries continue to experience job losses, despite their differing health outlooks. These impacts have not been limited to the areas where infections have been the highest, which points to economy-wide slowdowns. As a result, many households have been forced to take short-term actions to cope, which can have substantial long-term effects on welfare.
Outreach and Education
14. UNICEF, in partnership with the Monrovia and Paynesville city councils, Liberia launched Operation Stop Ebola – a mass media, community outreach and engagement campaign targeting 900,000 people or about 80 percent of the population of Montserrado County. To this end, 170 commissioners, governors and community leaders have been trained.
15. In Sierra Leone, social mobilizers from various agencies mobilized 782 religious leaders and 2,077 community leaders and reached 11,003 households to inform them about improvements in services and to mobilize people to seek early care and treatment. The intensification resulted in an increase in number of calls to the 117 hotline to report sick or suspected cases or to seek information and care. It also led to an increase in ‘walk-ins’ and

:: 12 Jan 2015 UNMEER External Situation Report
Response Efforts and Health
3. WFP has finalised the rehabilitation of a hospital in Kambia, Sierra Leone, to be managed by Partners in Health (PiH). This hospital will be used as a Holding Centre with 40 beds and on 9 January was officially inaugurated by President Ernest Bai Koroma. WFP has the capacity to provide additional necessary equipment and staff to support the construction of additional wings at the hospital; this Centre could be extended to become an Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) with a capacity to hold up to 100 beds, by erecting an additional 10m x 24m Mobile Storage Unit (MSU).

The Sentinel

Human Rights Action :: Humanitarian Response :: Health ::
Holistic Development :: Sustainable Resilience
__________________________________________________
Week ending 10 January 2015

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 10 January 2015

blog edition: comprised of the 35+ entries to be posted below on 11 January 2015

UNHCR report shows further growth in forced displacement in first half 2014
Press Releases, 7 January 2015
With war raging across large swathes of the Middle East and Africa plus elsewhere, an estimated 5.5 million people became newly uprooted during the first six months of 2014, signaling a further rise in the number of people forcibly displaced.

UNHCR’s new Mid-Year Trends 2014 report shows that of the 5.5 million who were newly displaced, 1.4 million fled across international borders becoming refugees, while the rest were displaced within their own countries (IDPs). Taking into account existing displaced populations, data revisions, voluntary returns and resettlement, the number of people being helped by UNHCR (referred to in the report as People of Concern) stood at 46.3 million as of mid-2014 – some 3.4 million more than at the end of 2013 and a new record high.

Among the report’s main findings are that Syrians, for the first time, have become the largest refugee population under UNHCR’s mandate (Palestinians in the Middle East fall under the care of our sister-organization UNRWA), overtaking Afghans, who had held that position for more than three decades. At more than 3 million as of June 2014, Syrian refugees now account for 23 per cent of all refugees being helped by UNHCR worldwide.

Despite dropping to second place, the 2.7 million Afghan refugees worldwide remain the largest protracted refugee population under UNHCR care (the agency defines a “protracted refugee situation” as one that has existed for at least five years). After Syria and Afghanistan, the leading countries of origin of refugees are Somalia (1.1 million), Sudan (670,000), South Sudan (509,000), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (493,000), Myanmar (480,000) and Iraq (426,000).

Pakistan, which hosts 1.6 million Afghan refugees, remains the biggest host country in absolute terms. Other countries with large refugee populations are Lebanon (1.1 million), Iran (982,000), Turkey (824,000), Jordan (737,000), Ethiopia (588,000), Kenya (537,000) and Chad (455,000)…

…”In 2014 we have seen the number of people under our care grow to unprecedented levels. As long as the international community continues to fail to find political solutions to existing conflicts and to prevent new ones from starting, we will continue to have to deal with the dramatic humanitarian consequences,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres. “The economic, social and human cost of caring for refugees and the internally displaced is being borne mostly by poor communities, those who are least able to afford it. Enhanced international solidarity is a must if we want to avoid the risk of more and more vulnerable people being left without proper support.”

Another major finding in the report is the shift in the regional distribution of refugee populations. Until last year, the region hosting the largest refugee population was Asia and the Pacific. As a result of the crisis in Syria, the Middle East and North Africa have now become the regions hosting the largest number of refugees.

UNHCR’s Mid-Year Trends 2014 report is based on data from governments and the organization’s worldwide offices. As information available to UNHCR at this point in the year is incomplete it does not show total forced displacement globally (those figures are instead presented in June each year in UNHCR’s annual Global Trends report, which as of end 2013 showed that 51.2 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide). Nonetheless, the data it presents is a major component of the global total and an important indicator of worldwide refugee and IDP trends.

:: UNHCR: Mid-Year Trends 2014
January 2015 :: 24 pages
The full report: http://unhcr.org/54aa91d89.html
Accompanying tables: http://www.unhcr.org/statistics/mid2014stats.zip

The Haitian Earthquake Five Years On — Children’s Psychological Scars Remain
Save The Children
January 8, 2015
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (Jan. 8, 2015) – Although the catastrophic physical damage to housing, roads and public buildings wrought by the Haitian earthquake on Jan. 12, 2010 is still visible, the psychological legacy that many young earthquake survivors are still struggling to live with is less easy to see with the naked eye.

Five years since the earthquake hit the tiny Caribbean island nation of Haiti, many children there still have limited access to education, and some report exposure to exploitation and sexual violence after the already-fragile country descended into chaos in the aftermath of the disaster. Many Haitian children still show signs of emotional and psychological stress, and remain in desperate need of assistance and protection today.

Their on-going distress, along with their hopes for a better future, is what Riccardo Venturi, World Press Photo award winner in 1997 and 2011, hoped to capture while visiting Save the Children relief programs in Haiti. Venturi’s resultant images are a humbling reminder to all involved in the rebuilding of Haiti that the international response to the disaster is far from complete.

Children who have lost one or both parents, are unaccompanied by a family member, or are still living in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, are particularly at risk of exploitation, with sexual violence against minors in such settlements commonplace.

“I don’t feel safe here at all because people don’t respect each other. There are many cases of abuse,” said *Marie Darline, a 15-year-old girl who has been living in a sprawling Haitian IDP camp for four years.

She is one of more than 85,500 people still living in temporary accommodations following the earthquake, more than half of which are children…

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Haiti Earthquake: Five Years On – Results & Lessons Learned
Save the Children
January 2015 :: 22 pages
Excerpt: p.17

Lessons Learned and Perspectives
As we review the work of the past five years we once again thank our multiple donors, partners, and the government of Haiti. Our work would not be possible without your generosity and confidence in our ability to manage successful programming for Children. As we close this chapter on the five year commemoration of the 2010 earthquake we take a moment to express what we have learned:

:: At the outset of disaster, short-term measures to keep children safe, reunite families, improve institutional care and develop viable alternative care must be implemented immediately;

:: Prioritizing improved access to and the dependable delivery of quality primary health care, with an emphasis on maternal, infant and child health and nutrition and related hygiene and sanitation is an essential priority;

:: The international response must support the Ministry of Health and partners to restore and expand access to basic health care for women and children, as well as access to potable water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure and facilities;

:: Expanding universal access to basic education must be an immediate goal of the government and development partners, particularly for the minority of children who still have not enrolled at the beginning of the school year;

:: Longer-term, substantial and sustained investments are needed to strengthen the education sector and enable the Ministry of Education to assume the leadership and oversight role required to achieve the constitutionally mandated goal of universal coverage at the primary level and the initiation of an Early Childhood Development component;

:: The transition from recovery to development must include strategies to include the beneficiaries, particularly children, in the design and implementation of the programs and activities that affect their future;

:: Over the long term, the government and development partners must invest the financial and technical resources in building a national system to protect children from abuse and trafficking, including activities in disaster risk reduction and resiliency.

Commitment to Development Index 2014
Center for Global Development
Petra Krylová and Owen Barder
5 January 2015 :: 11 pages

The Commitment to Development Index ranks 27 of the world’s richest countries on their policies that affect more than five billion people living in poorer nations. Moving beyond comparing how much foreign aid each country gives, the CDI quantifies a range of rich country
policies that affect poor people:
:: Quantity and quality of foreign aid
:: Openness to trade
:: Policies that encourage investment and financial transparency
:: Openness to migration
:: Environmental policies
:: Promoting international security
::: Support for technology creation and transfer

The Index gives credit for generous and high quality aid, incentives for foreign direct investment and financial transparency, open immigration policies, robust support for technological research and development, and contributions to global security and the environment. Scores are reduced for barriers to imports from developing countries, selling arms to poor and undemocratic nations, barriers to sharing technology, and policies that harm shared environmental resources.

The Bottom Line
For the third year in a row, Denmark tops the Commitment to Development Index in 2014. Denmark is also the only country which is at or above the average on all seven components. The runners up are Sweden, Finland, the United Kingdom, and Norway. These five countries do well on the index because of their consistently high performance across all policies.

Among the G7 countries—those that matter most by dint of their economic power—only the United Kingdom places in the top 5. France ranks 9th with average performance across the components, and Germany follows in 12th place, ranking below average on finance and security. The United States is above average in trade, but below average in every other component. Japan and South Korea languish at the bottom of the table, with small aid programs for their sizes, tight borders to the entry of goods and people, and limited involvement in peacekeeping. They are joined near the bottom by Switzerland which ranks last on finance and second last on trade. The Visegrád Group of countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) rank at or below average in most components but their rapid progress in reducing carbon emissions is recognized in the environment dimension….

WHO: Sexual and intimate partner violence affects millions in Africa
Brazzaville, 5 January 2015 – In the African Region, one in five girls have been sexually abused during childhood, with estimates from some countries placing that proportion closer to one in three. This startling statistic is highlighted in the newly released Global status report on violence prevention 2014.

The report – the first of its kind – features data collected from 27 countries in the African Region and around the world. It highlights some of the key strategies for preventing sexual and intimate partner violence by promoting gender equity, creating a climate of non-tolerance for violence, and starting prevention efforts at a young age.

According to the report, intimate partner violence is a significant social and public health problem affecting 36.6% of ever-partnered women in the African Region.

This violence can lead to unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, reproductive health problems, and sexually transmitted infections, such as HIV and syphilis – all conditions undermining progress toward the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Violence is also associated with other leading causes of death such as heart disease, stroke, cancer and HIV/AIDS as a result of victims adopting behaviours such as smoking, alcohol and drug misuse, and unsafe sex in an effort to cope with the psychological impact of violence.

Despite strong evidence linking experiences of violence to mental health problems, only 15% of countries in African Region reported the availability of mental health services to address the needs of victims. This demonstrates a critical gap that needs to be filled in health systems throughout the Region.

“There is no simple or single solution to the problem of violence but there is a growing body of knowledge on how to prevent violence. Countries are investing in prevention programmes but they are not being implemented in a manner or on a level that is necessary to achieve significant and sustainable reductions in violence,” said Dr Luís Sambo, WHO Regional Director for Africa.

The problem of violence in Africa, highlighted in the African Health Report 2014 and the Global status report on violence 2014 highlights the need to include several violence prevention goals in the post-2015 development agenda. These include halving violence-related deaths everywhere, ending violence against children, and eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls by 2030.

One WHO recommendation is to integrate known violence prevention strategies into pre-existing health platforms. This is because violence is a risk factor in many health outcomes such as HIV and sexually transmitted diseases, mental health and substance abuse disorders, and many of these platforms may already exist.

Violence of all types is strongly associated with social determinants of health and cross-cutting risk factors such as excessive use of alcohol. Proven measures to reduce the harmful use of alcohol include restrictions on the sale and serving of alcohol – for example, through excise taxes on beer, wine and spirits, reduced hours or days of sale of alcoholic beverages, minimum age for the purchase of alcohol, and other industry regulations.

In many countries, knowledge about the true extent of sexual and intimate partner violence is hindered by lack of data. Without such data it is difficult to develop effective national plans of action, policies, prevention programmes and services for victims.

Enforcing Human Rights in Latin America
Published January 9, 2015
The MacArthur Fondation reports that a brief from FUNDAR, recipient of the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, explores three cases in which international courts have made pioneering rulings ordering governments to allocate resources and implement policies that seek to enforce and protect human rights. The cases are from Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico, where the judiciary made ruled to restore and enforce the right to education, to an adequate policy for internally displaced people, and to health services, respectively. The brief emphasizes that judicial reviews are transforming justice processes in Latin America and highlights the role of judges as agents of social change and the importance of organized coalitions in providing legal support to victims.

:: JUDICIAL REVIEWS: AN INNOVATIVE MECHANISM TO ENFORCE HUMAN RIGHTS IN LATIN AMERICA
Through ground-breaking rulings, judges in Latin America are driving social change by ordering governments to restore and enforce human rights.
Janet Oropeza Eng, Researcher and ELLA Project Coordinator
29 de septiembre de 2014 :: 7 pages
FUNDAR, Policy Brief – ELLA Evidence and Lessons from Latin America
Summary
Due to persistent and systematic human rights violations, lawsuits have increasingly been brought before various Latin American courts. In some cases, courts have made pioneering rulings ordering governments to allocate budget resources and implement specific public policies aimed at enforcing and protecting human rights. This Brief focuses on three successful cases from Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico, where the judiciary made innovative rulings to restore and enforce the right to education, to an adequate policy for internally displaced people and to health, respectively. In particular, this Brief highlights the way that judicial reviews are transforming processes of justice in Latin America, including the role of judges as agents of social change and the importance of organised coalitions in providing legal support to victims. Since judicial reviews have evolved considerably in Latin America over recent years, human rights practitioners from other regions will likely benefit from learning about the particular characteristics of this phenomenon in Latin America.

EBOLA/EVD [to 10 January 2015]
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC); “Threat to international peace and security” (UN Security Council)

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Ban Ki-moon on his priorities for 2015 – General Assembly, Informal meeting of the plenary – 8 Jan 2014
– Video: http://webtv.un.org/watch/ban-ki-moon-on-his-priorities-for-2015-general-assembly-informal-meeting-of-the-plenary/3978253934001
– Text: http://www.un.org/sg/statements/index.asp?nid=8312
Excerpt on Ebola

…The outbreak of Ebola in West Africa has been a human tragedy and a setback for development in the hardest hit countries, and has highlighted the need for global vigilance and solidarity.

I thank the General Assembly for its unprecedentedly rapid action to establish UNMEER, the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response. The affected countries are beginning to see some improvements, thanks to their own mobilization and global support. Mali has made progress in controlling the virus, and we hope that Mali will be declared Ebola-free this month.

I have been especially moved by the deployment of health workers from many African countries and other parts of the world. But, Excellencies, we are still short of people and resources. As we strive to fill those gaps, we also need to address the wider impacts and to meet recovery needs.

We must also prepare for any possible new epidemic, wherever it may occur. Strengthening national health systems is a priority. International rapid response capacities must be improved. In that regard, I support the efforts of the World Health Organization led by Dr. Margaret Chan, to begin work on the way forward….

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WHO: Ebola response roadmap – Situation report 7 January 2015
[Excerpt]
Summary
:: Reported case incidence continues to fluctuate in Guinea, with no identifiable downward trend. Ebola virus disease (EVD) continues to spread geographically within the country, with the prefecture of Fria reporting 2 confirmed cases for the first time. Case incidence has declined to low levels in Liberia. There are signs that incidence has levelled off in Sierra Leone, although transmission remains intense in the west of the country.

:: The UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) set twin targets of isolating and treating 100% of EVD cases, and conducting 100% of burials safely and with dignity by 1 January, 2015, in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

:: Each of the intense-transmission countries has sufficient capacity to isolate and treat patients, with more than 2 treatment beds per reported confirmed and probable case. However, the uneven geographical distribution of beds and cases, and the under-reporting of cases, means that the UNMEER target of isolating and treating 100% of EVD cases is still not met in some areas. An increasing emphasis will be put on the rapid deployment of smaller treatment facilities to ensure that capacity is matched with demand in each area.

:: Similarly, each country has sufficient capacity to bury all people known to have died from EVD, though the under-reporting of deaths means that the UNMEER target of 100% safe burial was not met.

:: In addition to the two UNMMER targets, there are several other crucial aspects of the response, including rigorous contact tracing, access to laboratory services, and community engagement.

:: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone report that more than 90% of registered contacts are monitored, though the number of contacts traced per EVD case remains lower than expected in many districts. In areas where transmission has been driven down to low levels, rigorous contact tracing will be essential to break chains of transmission.

:: There are currently 23 laboratories providing case-confirmation services in the three intense-transmission countries. Five more laboratories are planned in order to meet demand.

:: Case fatality among hospitalized patients (calculated from all hospitalized patients with a reported definitive outcome) is approximately 60% in the three intense-transmission countries.
:: A total of 820 health-care worker infections have been reported in the intense-transmission countries; there have been 488 deaths.

:: Many elements of the response to the EVD outbreak, from safe burials to contact tracing, rely on actively engaging affected communities to take ownership of the response. UNICEF leads the community engagement arm of the EVD response. At present, 33 of 38 (87%) of districts in Guinea, 100% of districts in Liberia, and 57% (8 of 14) of districts in Sierra Leone have systems in place to monitor community engagement activities.

1. COUNTRIES WITH WIDESPREAD AND INTENSE TRANSMISSION
There have been in excess of 20,000 confirmed, probable, and suspected cases of EVD in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone (table 1), with more than 8,000 deaths (deaths are under-reported).

A stratified analysis of cumulative confirmed and probable cases indicates that the number of cases in males and females is about the same (table 2).

Compared with children (people aged 14 years and under), people aged 15 to 44 are three times more likely to be affected (33 reported cases per 100 000 population, compared with 98 per 100,000 population). People aged 45 and over (125 reported cases per 100 000 population) are almost four times more likely to be affected than are children.

There have been 26 reported confirmed and probable cases per 100,000 population in Guinea, 206 cases per 100,000 population in Liberia, and 170 cases per 100,000 population in Sierra Leone…

United Nations – Selected Press Releases [to 10 January 2015]
Secretary General, Security Council, General Assembly
http://www.un.org/en/unpress/

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9 January 2015
SG/A/1537-BIO/4681-PKO/462
Secretary-General Appoints Major General Salihu Zaway Uba of Nigeria as Force Commander for United Nations Mission in Liberia
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today the appointment of Major General Salihu Zaway Uba of Nigeria as the Force Commander for the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).

8 January 2015
SG/SM/16449-GA/11610-ORG/1591
‘From Development to Peace to Human Rights, the United Nations Must Be Ever More Fit for Purpose,’ Secretary-General Tells General Assembly Mapping Year’s Work
Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to an informal meeting of the General Assembly on the year ahead, in New York today…

8 January 2015
SC/11730
Across West Africa, Unparalleled Public Health Crisis, Political Tensions, Insecurity, Terrorism Threaten to Derail Elections, Security Council Told
West Africa’s political landscape remained delicate as nations across the region continued to grapple with insecurity, terrorist threats and tensions ahead of a busy election cycle, the United Nations senior official there told the Security Council this afternoon.

6 January 2015
SC/11726
Urging End to Ceasefire Violations, Under-Secretary-General Tells Security Council Peace Talks between Mali Government, Armed Groups at Crucial Stage
As serious fighting continued among warring armed groups in Mali, resulting in heavy casualties among both civilians and peacekeepers alike, the strife-torn nation’s ongoing peace talks had reached a crucial stage and must move forward, the head of United Nations peacekeeping told the Security Council this afternoon.

UNICEF Watch [to 10 January 2015]

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:: UNICEF helps restart measles immunizations in Ebola-hit countries
ENEVA/DAKAR/CONAKRY/FREETOWN/MONROVIA, 9 January 2015 – UNICEF is helping governments and communities restart stalled immunizations amid a surge in measles cases in Ebola-affected countries, where health systems are overwhelmed and tens of thousands of children are left vulnerable to deadly diseases.

“Measles is a major killer of children that can easily be stopped through a safe and effective vaccine,” said Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa. “But immunization rates have dropped significantly, further threatening children’s lives.”

In Guinea, where a measles outbreak was declared in early 2014 – prior to Ebola – the number of confirmed measles cases increased almost fourfold, from 59 between January and December 2013 to 215 for the same period in 2014, according to WHO. In Sierra Leone, the figure tripled from 13 to 39 over the same period.

In Liberia, which had reported no measles in 2013, four cases have been confirmed in Lofa County, one of the areas hardest hit by Ebola.
The increase in cases of measles – a highly contagious disease – is of particular concern as a drop in immunization coverage rates has left children vulnerable at a time when measles transmission traditionally peaks in West Africa, between December and March…

…As vaccinators venture out to provide lifesaving vaccines, which in many cases are long overdue, they also help with the control of the Ebola outbreak. In compliance with infection prevention and control (IPC) procedures and WHO guidelines on immunization in the context of an Ebola outbreak, UNICEF is providing not only vaccines, but also kits that include gloves and infrared thermometers for vaccinators. Vaccinators are being trained on infection prevention and control measures, supervision during immunization activities, and on how to conduct outreach sessions in areas which have not reported an Ebola case for 42 days…

WHO & Regionals [to 10 January 2015]

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:: WHO grants approval for safe, effective meningitis A vaccine for infants
9 January 2015
WHO has opened the door to routine immunization of infants in Africa by approving for use an innovative and affordable vaccine that has all but rid the meningitis belt of a major cause of deadly epidemics.
Since its introduction in Africa in December 2010, MenAfriVac has had an immediate and dramatic impact in breaking the cycle of meningitis A epidemics, leading the safe, effective technology to be approved by WHO through its prequalification process for use in infants, and paving the way for protecting millions more children at risk of the deadly disease.
Read the news release on meningitis A vaccine

UNFPA United Nations Population Fund [to 10 January 2015]
http://www.unfpa.org/public/

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Midwives help lower Afghanistan’s towering maternal death rate
7 January 2015
NEW YORK/KABUL – Boosting the ranks of midwives has helped to lower Afghanistan’s towering maternal and newborn death rates, a new report shows.
Decades of grinding conflict and repressive attitudes towards women had led to enormous maternal and infant death rates, according to the report, the State of Afghanistan’s Midwifery 2014. After Taliban insurgents gained control in 1996, restrictions on women’s health care – in particular, a prohibition on receiving care from male health workers – left many pregnant women without the assistance of skilled health personnel such as doctors, nurses or midwives.
By 2002, Afghanistan’s maternal mortality ratio was one of the highest in the world. For every 100,000 live births, some 1,600 women died from causes related to pregnancy or childbirth, says the report, which was jointly produced by UNFPA, Afghanistan’s health ministry, and other partners.
Empowering midwives
To reverse this trend, health officials and international partners sought to strengthen midwifery services – both in hospital settings and in rural communities, where many women live beyond the reach of conventional health facilities. To develop the skills of midwives, UNFPA and partner organizations supported a variety of two-year training programmes…

Mobile app promises to speed Ebola response in Guinea
5 January 2015
CONAKRY, Guinea – As the Ebola epidemic continues to ravage parts of West Africa, health officials are intensifying their efforts on the ground. Now included in their arsenal is a mobile phone application that promises…

UNDP United Nations Development Programme [to 10 January 2015]
http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/presscenter.html

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08 Jan 2015
Europe gears up for new development agenda
The Year will be officially launched on 9 January in Riga, Latvia by the European Union as Latvia assumes the EU Presidency. At this occasion Homi Kharas of the Brookings Institution will deliver a Kapuscinski Development Lecture, an initiative of the European Commission and UNDP.

08 Jan 2015
Time for Global Action on Sustainable Development Says UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Launching a new campaign, 2015: Time for Global Action, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said world leaders have an historic opportunity this year to make transformative economic, environmental and social changes that will have a positive and meaningful impact on people’s lives and ensure peace and stability.

07 Jan 2015
New leadership set for UNDP’s governing body
Ambassador Luis Fernando Carerra of Guatemala was today elected as the President of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Executive Board, the Organization’s governing body, for 2015.

05 Jan 2015
UNDP and Zambian Government sign multi-donor support for the 2015 presidential by-election
The Ministry of Finance, Electoral Commission of Zambia, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on behalf of Ireland, Japan, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America have entered into a cooperative agreement to support the 2015 Presidential Election to be held on 20 January, 2015 with a total sum of USD3.09 million.

The African Development Bank Group [to 10 January 2015]
http://www.afdb.org/en/news-and-events/press-releases/

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African Water Facility to help tackle food insecurity, flooding and droughts in Uganda and South Sudan.
09/01/2015 – The African Water Facility (AWF) announced on January 9, 2015 that it has offered a €1.97 million grant to the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program (NELSAP) to increase water availability for multiple purposes in the Nyimur region of Uganda and South Sudan. The grant will support the improvement of irrigated agriculture and food production, fisheries, electricity generation and sanitation as well as the prevention of flooding and droughts in the region.

Ghana and Togo sign project agreement to bring drinking water to Lomé and Ghana’s coastal communities
09/01/2015 – The governments of Ghana and Togo signed on 12 December 2014 a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the construction of an African Water Facility -supported pipeline to bring drinking water from the lower Volta River in Ghana to the city of Lomé in Togo and the Ghanaian communities along the water transfer route.

World Bank [to 10 January 2015]
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/all

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Developing Countries Need To Rebuild Fiscal Space to Weather Growth Slowdowns, Says a New Report by the World Bank Group
WASHINGTON, January 7, 2015 – Faced with weaker export prospects, an impending rise in global interest rates, and fragile financial market sentiment, developing countries need to rebuild fiscal buffers to support economic activity in case of a growth slowdown, says the new edition of Global Economic Prospects, released today by the World Bank Group. For many developing economies, lower oil prices have provided a timely opportunity for doing so.In countries with elevated domestic debt or inflation, monetary policy options to deal with a potential slowdown are constrained. In the foreseeable future, these countries may need to employ fiscal stimulus measures to support growth. But many developing countries have less fiscal space now than they did prior to 2008, having used fiscal stimulus during the global financial crisis…

Danish Refugee Council [to 10 January 2015]
http://drc.dk/news/archive/

1 million liters of water per day to South Sudanese refugees (08.01.15)
For months, South Sudanese refugees have waded through the flood waters at Leitchuor camp in Gambella, Ethiopia. Built on a floodplain, the camp has been submerged since the beginning of the rainy…

DRC returns to Ukraine (07.01.15)
After completing a six-year mission in Ukraine in January 2013 the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) has returned to begin emergency relief operations for internally displaced in the war-torn country….

ICRC – International Committee of the Red Cross [to 10 January 2015]
http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/index.jsp

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Democratic Republic of the Congo: 152 former child soldiers reunited with families
News release
09 January 2015
Families living in the eastern provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Orientale are due to be reunited with their children today after months or even years apart. The 147 boys and five girls all belonged to armed forces or groups until recently.

MSF/Médecins Sans Frontières [to 10 January 2015]
Selected Press Releases/Field News
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Field news
Health Care Underprioritized in Haiti Reconstruction
January 08, 2015
Five years have passed since a devastating earthquake shook Haiti, affecting approximately 3 million people and killing 220,000, according to government estimates. What is the situation in Haiti now after five years of reconstruction efforts, and what health care services does Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) still provide in the country? MSF’s Haiti Country Director Oliver Schulz discusses…

Field news
Oxford University Begins Trial of Possible Ebola Treatment at MSF Treatment Center in Monrovia
January 07, 2015
A clinical trial of a possible treatment for Ebola began on January 1, 2015, at ELWA 3, the Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Ebola Management Center in Monrovia, Liberia. Led by Oxford University, the trial aims to determine if the antiviral drug brincidofovir is a safe and effective treatment for Ebola. While MSF hopes that brincidofovir might help patients survive infection, it is still not sure whether this will be the case.

Field news
Providing Care and Health Education for Mothers in South Sudan
January 07, 2015
On the bright morning of November 3, 2014, a 29-year-old mother of three named Adem arrived at the Yambio State Hospital’s maternity ward with advanced labor pains. While taking her medical and obstetric history, the medical team discovered that she had undergone a Caesarean section exactly one year earlier.

Operation Smile [to 10 January 2015]
Upcoming Mission Schedule
Jan 11 – 18 | Nagercoil, India
Jan 12 – 16 | Hanoi, Vietnam
Jan 30 – Feb 2 | Siem Reap, Cambodia
Feb 2 – 6 | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Feb 2 – 6 | Hanoi, Vietnam
Feb 5 – 9 | Balabac, Palawan, Philippines
Feb 12 – 20 | Guadalajara, Mexico
Feb 15 – 21 | Cauayan, Isabela, Philippines
Feb 18 – 21 | Cobarruguis, Quirino, Philippines
Feb 19 – 27 | Tegucigalpa, Honduras