IRC International Rescue Committee [to 24 October 2015]
http://www.rescue.org/press-release-index

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Press Release
22 Oct 2015
New localized website connects refugees in Europe to vital information
The IRC, in partnership with Google and Mercy Corps, has launched RefugeeInfo.eu, a website accessible by mobile phone that provides up-to-date, location-specific information to refugees arriving in Europe.

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Press Release
21 Oct 2015
Backlog of refugees stranded on Lesbos has added further stress to an already volatile situation, says the IRC

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Blog
Thousands of refugees still risking sea crossing to Europe, even as winter nears
Posted by The IRC on October 20, 2015
Despite bitter cold and choppy seas, refugees from Syria and other conflict-ridden countries continue to risk the perilous six-mile boat journey from Turkey to Greece—a devastating testament to their desperation.

ICRC [to 24 October 2015]
https://www.icrc.org/en/whats-new

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Yemen: ICRC deeply concerned by the impact of fighting in Taiz
News release
22 October 2015
Geneva / Sana’a – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is deeply concerned about the humanitarian impact of increasingly intense fighting in the city of Taiz, where there has been indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas and essential supplies are being blocked from entering the city…

Syria: Emergency aid reaches thousands of people trapped in besieged areas
News release
19 October 2015
Damascus (ICRC/SARC) – The Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), together with the United Nations, have delivered lifesaving medical items to treat seriously injured and sick patients in the besieged towns of Zabadani and Madaya in rural Damascus. Simultaneously, SARC delivered relief items to the besieged towns of Foua and Kifraya in northwestern Syria’s Idleb governorate…

Islamic Relief [to 24 October 2015]
http://www.islamic-relief.org/category/news/

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Health for displaced people
October 23, 2015
Temporary help is being offered to families who have been displaced by conflict in Kunduz, northern Afghanistan.

Cholera outbreak in Iraq
October 21, 2015
In the last month, there have been 1,500 confirmed cases of cholera in Iraq. Islamic Relief’s Project Coordinator Rouwaida Majid discusses the outbreak.

Reducing the impact of disasters
October 20, 2015
Disaster risk reduction experts have come together to discuss ideas and priorities to reduce the impact of disasters in Pakistan.
The event, held on Tuesday, October 13, to mark International Day for Disaster Reduction (DRR), was led by Islamic Relief’s Pakistan office and saw a panel of experts discussing ways to reduce mortality, economic loss, and damage to infrastructure in a disaster, and increase resilience substantially by 2030.

MSF/Médecins Sans Frontières [to 24 October 2015]
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news-stories/press/press-releases

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MSF Forced to End Activities in Donetsk, Leaving Thousands Without Health Care
October 23, 2015
Brussels—On October 19, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) received written notification from the Humanitarian Committee of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) that its accreditation in the self-proclaimed state had been withdrawn. The international medical humanitarian organization was asked to immediately stop its activities. It was not provided with a reason for the decision.

Field news
Kunduz: Death Toll from Attack on MSF Hospital Still Rising
October 23, 2015
Nearly three weeks on from the US bombing of the Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) trauma center in Kunduz, Afghanistan, on October 3, MSF today announces with sadness that the death toll is still rising, with one more MSF staff member confirmed to have been killed. As of October 23 the revised figures now stand at 13 MSF staff members dead and one presumed dead; 10 patients dead and two patients presumed dead. Efforts are ongoing to determine the identities of seven other unrecognizable bodies found in the wreckage of the hospital, all of whom have now been buried.

Field news
Papua New Guinea: Treating TB in a “Land Without Land Cruisers”
October 21, 2015
Traversing the seas off the coast of Papua New Guinea’s Gulf Province can be treacherous. For around five months a year, the South East trade winds—known locally as laura bada—regularly howl at around 30 knots per hour, whipping up huge waves and ensuring many of the small open boats used in these parts remain moored.

Field news
Chad: From One Nutrition Crisis to the Next
October 20, 2015
With international attention focused on the displacement crisis in the Lake Chad area of western Chad, where tens of thousands of people continue to seek refuge from Boko Haram violence, another chronic emergency continues. Chad is in the grip of a malnutrition crisis—not just in the Lake region and not for the first time. There are estimates that some 3.4 million people lack reliable access to food, with 495,000 children across the country at risk of acute malnutrition.

Field news
Thousands of Refugees Exposed to Unnecessary Suffering Across the Balkans
October 19, 2015
Thousands of refugees and migrants in Serbia, stranded by delays at border crossings and registration points across the Balkans, have been exposed to conditions that pose a threat to their health as assistance fails to meet minimum standards. Unless adequate protections are urgently put in place, Doctors Without Bordesr/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warns that thousands of pregnant women, young children, and elderly people will be exposed to extremely harsh conditions this winter with potentially life-threatening implications.

Mercy Corps [to 24 October 2015]
http://www.mercycorps.org/press-room/releases

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How to Build Peace and Manage Conflict? Start Early
Central African Republic, October 19, 2015
Recent Mercy Corps report in Central African Republic shows benefits of conflict-management programs
Bangui, Central African Republic — An assessment of a recent, 15-month effort by the global organization Mercy Corps in the Central African Republic (CAR) reveals that when it comes to conflict management and violence prevention, an early focus on conflict resolution makes a profound difference.

Mercy Corps launched a conflict management program in CAR in January 2014 at the height of violence between a mostly Muslim armed alliance, Séléka, and mostly Christian community defense militias, anti-Balaka. Thousands of men, women and children had been killed, and one million civilians displaced from their homes. Many communities feared the violence would spiral toward a protracted civil war or genocide. Fortunately, that has not happened.

A key aspect of the Mercy Corps program was to improve conflict-management skills among key community leaders, resulting in a shift toward peaceful resolution of individual conflicts.

OXFAM [to 24 October 2015]
http://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases
Six months on from Nepal earthquake, delays in policy and fuel crisis holding up recovery efforts
23 October 2015
Relief for the 8 million people affected by the huge Nepal earthquake six months ago is still being disrupted by delays in reinstating the government’s National Reconstruction Agency, says Oxfam. An on-going fuel crisis is adding to the problems, putting at risk the health and safety of thousands of people as winter approaches. More than 8,600 people were killed and half a million houses destroyed by the quake.

UN Security Council should seize opportunity to restart Yemen peace process
19 October 2015
In an open letter sent today, Oxfam, Norwegian Refugee Council, Save the Children, Action Contre La Faim and seven other agencies urge the UN Security Council to press parties in the Yemen conflict to implement an immediate ceasefire and kick-start the peace process.

Paris climate summit showing green shoots of international cooperation
19 October 2015
The 150 countries that have now publicly committed to carbon reduction pledges show that December’s UN climate summit in Paris could, at last, be built on international cooperation rather than competition.

Typhoon Koppu hits the Philippines: We are ready to respond
18 October 2015
We are ready to dispatch rapid assessment teams to survey the damage left in the path of Typhoon Koppu, and assess and respond to the greatest needs if the Philippines Government requests international assistance.

Norwegian Refugee Council [to 24 October 2015]
http://www.nrc.no/

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Somalia
Paving the way for voluntary return
22. oktober 2015
More than one million Somali refugees remain trapped in protracted displacement in the region. “Insecurity is likely to be the greatest hindrance to voluntary return”, said Regional Director for the Norwegian Refugee Council Gabriella Waaijman, speaking at a conference on voluntary repatriation.

News
NRC is taken to court
(20.10.2015)
This week a former NRC employee, Steve Dennis, is pursuing legal action against NRC following the attack in Dadaab in 2012. The attack is the most serious event in the history of NRC. Although a number of efforts to settle the case have been made, it has not been possible to reach an agreement and the case has now come to court in Oslo.

Statement | Yemen
UN Security Council should seize opportunity to restart Yemen peace process
(19.10.2015)
In an open letter sent today, NRC, Oxfam, Save the Children, Action Contre La Faim and seven other agencies urge the UN Security Council to press parties in the Yemen conflict to implement an immediate ceasefire and kick-start the peace process. They also demand a new international monitoring mechanism to investigate mounting evidence of possible war crimes, and an expansion of the arms embargo to ensure that no military equipment supplied to any party can be used in Yemen.

PATH [to 24 October 2015]
http://www.path.org/news/index.php

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GSK and PATH joint statement on WHO advisory group recommendation on use of RTS,S malaria vaccine candidate
October 23, 2015—The World Health Organization’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) and Malaria Policy Advisory Committee (MPAC) have today jointly recommended implementation of GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) malaria vaccine candidate RTS,S (Mosquirix™) through a number of pilot projects. This is an important step in the process toward making RTS,S available alongside existing tools currently recommended for malaria prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and control. GSK and PATH will now review the SAGE/MPAC advice as we wait for the final policy recommendation from the WHO expected by the end of 2015.

GSK and PATH stand ready to work with the WHO on the pilot implementation of the vaccine, in order to provide the additional information needed about how to best deliver the vaccine in a real-world setting, enabling implementation of a wider scale immunisation programme in children in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The results of a large scale phase III efficacy and safety trial of RTS,S, have shown that RTS,S could provide a meaningful public health benefit in reducing the burden of malaria when used alongside currently available interventions such as bed nets and insecticides.

The SAGE/MPAC joint recommendation comes after the vaccine candidate received a positive scientific opinion from the European regulators in July 2015 for the prevention of malaria in young children in SSA.

In 2013, there were an estimated 584,000 deaths from malaria with around 90 percent of these occurring in SSA, and 83 percent in children under the age of five.

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Press release | October 20, 2015
Visualize No Malaria campaign to prove malaria elimination possible in Africa
PATH & Tableau Foundation form unique partnership to aid elimination efforts in Zambia using data visualization

Plan International [to 24 October 2015]
http://plan-international.org/about-plan/resources/media-centre

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21 October 2015
Open Plan: Volume 1 | Issue 4 | July 2015
Open Plan is a quarterly research journal for Plan International. This edition features 2 articles relating to gender-based violence in and around school. The first is a study across 5 Asian countries, exploring the way in which education systems can be gender responsive with zero-tolerance to school related gender based violence. The second is a study undertaken in Thailand alongside Unesco and Mahidol University, investigating a range of issues in relation to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender bullying among Thai secondary school students.

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Nepal Earthquake Response: Six Month Review
20 October 2015
The Nepal Earthquake Response: Six Month Review highlights Plan International’s achievements and sector interventions in the aftermath of the 25 April earthquake in Nepal, which impacted the lives of more than 8 million people, including 3.2 million children.

In the last 6 months, Plan International has raised nearly €20 million to help 255,120 individuals, including 106,739 children impacted by the earthquakes in Nepal. Plan International’s response in Nepal focused on 6 key sectoral areas: Education in Emergencies; Child Protection in Emergencies; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH); Shelter and Non-Food Items (NFIs); Health; and Food Security and Livelihoods.

Moving forward, Plan International will focus particularly on the education, protection and shelter needs of children and their families, aiming to reach more children and adults living in some of the most remote, devastated earthquake-affected areas of Nepal.

Save The Children [to 24 October 2015]
http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6150563/k.D0E9/Newsroom.htm

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More Than 4.6 Million Children in Ethiopia Facing Hunger from Unprecedented El Niño Drought
October 22, 2015

Aid Agencies: UN Security Council Should Seize Opportunity to Restart Yemen Peace Process
October 19, 2015

Up to 4.5 Million Children Affected by Typhoon Koppu in the Philippines, Warns Save the Children
October 18, 2015

SOS-Kinderdorf International [to 24 October 2015]
http://www.sos-childrensvillages.org/about-sos/press/press-releases

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SOS emergency director to global leaders: We can always do something to improve a child’s situation
20.10.2015 – Children’s needs and viewpoints must be taken into account in global response, SOS Children’s Villages’ international emergency director tells World Humanitarian Summit Global Consultation.

Women for Women International [to 24 October 2015]
http://www.womenforwomen.org/press-releases

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When Women’s Rights Are Not Enough
October 20, 2015 | Huffington Post
WfWI’s CEO Jennifer L. Windsor shares how in countries where laws or local norms do not protect women’s rights, WfWI is training and sensitizing men to build awareness and strengthen local voices to ensure women can access opportunities for social and economic empowerment.

Disasters Emergency Committee [to 24 October 2015]
http://www.dec.org.uk/media-centre
[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]

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Nepal fuel crisis hampers relief response as winter approaches
23/10/2015
:: Six months on DEC appeal totals £85 million
:: DEC funds help member agencies reach 900,000 people with aid
More than 400,000 people in the high mountains of Nepal are facing a winter of sub-zero temperatures without adequate shelter and supplies, nearly six months after the devastating earthquake struck the country on 25 April 2015, the DEC said today.

The Elders [to 24 October 2015]
http://theelders.org/news-media

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News 21 October 2015
How can the next Secretary-General secure the UN’s future?
The Elders mark the UN’s 70th anniversary by pressing for a more transparent Secretary-General selection process.

Gavi [to 24 October 2015]
http://www.gavialliance.org/library/news/press-releases/

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News
Gavi and Global Fund Statement on Malaria Vaccine Recommendations
23 October 2015
GENEVA – Today’s recommendations by two advisory bodies to the World Health Organization, the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) and the Malaria Policy Advisory Committee (MPAC), for use of the RTS,S malaria vaccine are a step toward making the vaccine available in countries with a heavy malaria burden as well as an opportunity to assess its likely real world impact.

They have called for pilot implementations of the vaccine in three to five settings in sub-Saharan Africa. This follows an earlier four-year trial of the vaccine that found it safe and effective, providing 39 percent efficacy at preventing clinical cases of malaria.

Replicating that success rate in a non-clinical setting poses challenges. The RTS,S vaccine requires four doses and the last dose is critical for sustaining the protective effect of the vaccine. The first three doses of the vaccine will be administered to children between 5 and 9 months of age and the fourth dose is given around the second birthday. This is partially outside the existing immunization schedule in which most vaccines are administered to infants 6 to 14 weeks after birth, potentially posing logistical challenges to health systems in low-income countries. Further assessing the feasibility of providing these vaccinations and the resulting impact is therefore a prudent approach…

Global Fund [to 24 October 2015]
http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/news/

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News
Gavi and Global Fund Statement on Malaria Vaccine Recommendations
23 October 2015
GENEVA – Today’s recommendations by two advisory bodies to the World Health Organization, the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) and the Malaria Policy Advisory Committee (MPAC), for use of the RTS,S malaria vaccine are a step toward making the vaccine available in countries with a heavy malaria burden as well as an opportunity to assess its likely real world impact.

They have called for pilot implementations of the vaccine in three to five settings in sub-Saharan Africa. This follows an earlier four-year trial of the vaccine that found it safe and effective, providing 39 percent efficacy at preventing clinical cases of malaria.

Replicating that success rate in a non-clinical setting poses challenges. The RTS,S vaccine requires four doses and the last dose is critical for sustaining the protective effect of the vaccine. The first three doses of the vaccine will be administered to children between 5 and 9 months of age and the fourth dose is given around the second birthday. This is partially outside the existing immunization schedule in which most vaccines are administered to infants 6 to 14 weeks after birth, potentially posing logistical challenges to health systems in low-income countries. Further assessing the feasibility of providing these vaccinations and the resulting impact is therefore a prudent approach…

News
Malawi and Global Fund Deepen Partnership
22 October 2015
LILONGWE, Malawi – Malawi and the Global Fund are strengthening their partnership by signing grants worth more than US$332 million, to expand treatment and prevention for HIV, TB and malaria and build resilient and sustainable systems for health. This brings the total Global Fund commitment to Malawi to US$616 million from 2014-2017.
The financial resources provided through the Global Fund come from many sources and partners, represented at the signing ceremony today by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Ireland and Norway, as well as technical partners such as UNAIDS and WHO…

News
Global Fund Statement on Cambodia’s Programs against Malaria
20 October 2015
Cambodia has made impressive progress against malaria, with a 70 percent decline in the number of cases from 2009 to 2014, and a sharp reduction in deaths in the same period.
However, the situation remains critical, and preliminary data on an increase in malaria cases in parts of Cambodia since mid-2014, as well as resistance to artemisinin-based combination therapies, carries serious implications for the broader Mekong region.

The Global Fund is working with key partners, including the Government of Cambodia and the United Nations Office of Project Services and others, to take all possible measures to reverse the recent increase.

The Global Fund implements a framework of accountability that requires transparent reporting on investments in health, so that a maximum of available resources go toward serving people affected by malaria and other diseases.

The Global Fund has a zero tolerance policy for fraud and corruption, and requires a high degree of transparency and accountability from all partners, even in challenging operating environments where governance and accountability systems do not meet international standards.

In Cambodia, the Global Fund is working with the Ministry of Health to address implementation challenges and to support efforts that maximize results and impact and that further strengthen systems for health to serve the people of Cambodia.

InterAction [to 24 October 2015]
http://www.interaction.org/media-center/press-releases

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NGO Alliance InterAction Announces 14th Annual Effective Assistance Photography Contest
Oct 21, 2015
WASHINGTON – InterAction, the largest alliance of international NGOs and partners in the United States focused on the world’s poor and most vulnerable, has opened submissions for its 14th annual Effective Assistance Photography Contest.

Start Network [to 24 October 2015]
http://www.start-network.org/news-blog/#.U9U_O7FR98E
[Consortium of British Humanitarian Agencies]

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Mindfulness and stress management for aid workers
October 22, 2015
Posted by Helen James in Blog.
Hitendra Solanki, Mindfulness & Wellbeing Adviser for ACF-UK & The Start Network on the importance of being aware of mental health issues in humanitarian response.

Vacancy for Start Fund Officer
October 20, 2015
Posted by Helen James in News.
The Start Network is seeking a Start Fund Officer to ensure our grant processes and information management systems are being run as efficiently as possible, so that aid reaches crisis-affected populations as quickly as possible

CHS International Alliance [to 24 October 2015]
http://chsalliance.org/news-events/news

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23/10/2015
CHS Alliance appoints Verity Stiff as Head of People Capacity and Development
Verity is a human resources (HR) professional with extensive experience in organisational management and development, both as head of the HR function and as a consultant working with UK- and US-based non-profit and international development organisations.

20/10/2015
Key findings from the CHS Alliance mission to improve the Ukraine humanitarian response
The CHS Alliance’s deployments team undertook a mission to Ukraine from 12-25 July 2015, to identify gaps and best practices in the response and assist in setting up Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) and prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) systems.
The full mission report presents findings on how effectively the response is applying each of the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS)’s nine commitments as well as suggested ways forward. The mission took place following a request from the Kiev-based NGO forum and was hosted by Save the Children. The Alliance met over 30 representatives of national and international NGOs, and UN agencies, as well as individuals from affected communities including both internally displaced persons (IDPs) and locals…

EHLRA/R2HC [to 24 October 2015]
http://www.elrha.org/resource-hub/news/

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Innovating GBV interventions
23.10.2015
Supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), HIF’s GBV new thematic work will aim to create and stimulate innovation approaches to tackling GBV, using targeted resources and partnership…

HIF Consultancy Opportunity
22.10.2015
The HIF has an exciting opportunity for a specialist with expertise in business model design to support humanitarian innovators.

The 2015 Sustainable Development Goals and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction: a year for policy coherence
21.10.2015
Professor Virginia Murray, Consultant in Global Disaster Risk Reduction for Public Health releases new blog on Evidence Aid. 2015 is a crucial year with the Sendai Framework, SDGs and Climate Agreements…

HIF Call for Proposals
19.10.2015
Do you have a creative solution to humanitarian needs – an innovation that could help people in crises? The Humanitarian Innovation Fund (HIF), managed by ELRHA, supports organisations and individuals to…