PLoS Medicine
http://www.plosmedicine.org/
(Accessed 24 October2015)

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Monitoring Mortality in Forced Migrants—Can Bayesian Methods Help Us to Do Better with the (Little) Data We Have?
Peter Heudtlass, Niko Speybroeck, Debarati Guha-Sapir
Essay | published 20 Oct 2015 | PLOS Medicine
10.1371/journal.pmed.1001887

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Effect of Health Risk Assessment and Counselling on Health Behaviour and Survival in Older People: A Pragmatic Randomised Trial
Andreas E. Stuck, André Moser, Ueli Morf, Urban Wirz, Joseph Wyser, Gerhard Gillmann, Stephan Born, Marcel Zwahlen, Steve Iliffe, Danielle Harari, Cameron Swift, John C. Beck, Matthias Egger
Research Article | published 19 Oct 2015 | PLOS Medicine
10.1371/journal.pmed.1001889

PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
http://www.plosntds.org/
(Accessed 24 October2015)

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Cholera Transmission in Ouest Department of Haiti: Dynamic Modeling and the Future of the Epidemic
Alexander Kirpich, Thomas A. Weppelmann, Yang Yang, Afsar Ali, J. Glenn Morris, Ira M. Longini
Research Article | published 21 Oct 2015 | PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
10.1371/journal.pntd.0004153

PLoS One
http://www.plosone.org/
[Accessed 24 October2015]

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Community Participation in Health Systems Research: A Systematic Review Assessing the State of Research, the Nature of Interventions Involved and the Features of Engagement with Communities
Asha S. George, Vrinda Mehra, Kerry Scott, Veena Sriram
Research Article | published 23 Oct 2015 | PLOS ONE
10.1371/journal.pone.0141091
Abstract
Background
Community participation is a major principle of people centered health systems, with considerable research highlighting its intrinsic value and strategic importance. Existing reviews largely focus on the effectiveness of community participation with less attention to how community participation is supported in health systems intervention research.
Objective
To explore the extent, nature and quality of community participation in health systems intervention research in low- and middle-income countries.
Methodology
We searched for peer-reviewed, English language literature published between January 2000 and May 2012 through four electronic databases. Search terms combined the concepts of community, capability/participation, health systems research and low- and middle-income countries. The initial search yielded 3,092 articles, of which 260 articles with more than nominal community participation were identified and included. We further excluded 104 articles due to lower levels of community participation across the research cycle and poor description of the process of community participation. Out of the remaining 160 articles with rich community participation, we further examined 64 articles focused on service delivery and governance within health systems research.
Results
Most articles were led by authors in high income countries and many did not consistently list critical aspects of study quality. Articles were most likely to describe community participation in health promotion interventions (78%, 202/260), even though they were less participatory than other health systems areas. Community involvement in governance and supply chain management was less common (12%, 30/260 and 9%, 24/260 respectively), but more participatory. Articles cut across all health conditions and varied by scale and duration, with those that were implemented at national scale or over more than five years being mainstreamed by government. Most articles detailed improvements in service availability, accessibility and acceptability, with fewer efforts focused on quality, and few designs able to measure impact on health outcomes. With regards to participation, most articles supported community’s in implementing interventions (95%, n = 247/260), in contrast to involving communities in identifying and defining problems (18%, n = 46/260). Many articles did not discuss who in communities participated, with just over a half of the articles disaggregating any information by sex. Articles were largely under theorized, and only five mentioned power or control. Majority of the articles (57/64) described community participation processes as being collaborative with fewer describing either community mobilization or community empowerment. Intrinsic individual motivations, community-level trust, strong external linkages, and supportive institutional processes facilitated community participation, while lack of training, interest and information, along with weak financial sustainability were challenges. Supportive contextual factors included decentralization reforms and engagement with social movements.
Conclusion
Despite positive examples, community participation in health systems interventions was variable, with few being truly community directed. Future research should more thoroughly engage with community participation theory, recognize the power relations inherent in community participation, and be more realistic as to how much communities can participate and cognizant of who decides that.

A Mumps Outbreak in Vojvodina, Serbia, in 2012 Underlines the Need for Additional Vaccination Opportunities for Young Adults
Jasminka Nedeljković, Vesna Kovačević-Jovanović, Vesna Milošević, Zorica Šeguljev, Vladimir Petrovic, Claude P. Muller, Judith M. Hübschen
Research Article | published 23 Oct 2015 | PLOS ONE
10.1371/journal.pone.0139815

Science
16 October 2015 vol 350, issue 6258, pages 249-352
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/current

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Policy Forum
Ocean
Making waves: The science and politics of ocean protection
Jane Lubchenco and Kirsten Grorud-Colvert
Science 23 October 2015: 382-383.
Published online 15 October 2015 [DOI:10.1126/science.aad5443]
Mature science reveals opportunities for policy progress
Summary
The ocean has recently taken a more prominent role on the international policy stage. In June, the United Nations (UN) initiated development of a treaty for conservation of biodiversity on the High Seas. One of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the UN in September focuses on the ocean. In early October, the second Our Ocean Conference (OO-2015) provided a high-profile platform for nations to tout progress or make promises to protect and restore the ocean. We discuss recent progress in creating and enforcing strongly protected areas, and we emphasize the need to accelerate the pace and draw on scientific knowledge

Journal of ERW and Mine Action
Vol. 14: Iss. 3, Article 21.
The Growing Threat to Humanitarian Operations
Adrian King, Allen-Vanguard
Abstract
Deminers and other humanitarian-aid workers around the world, though previously viewed as off-limits, have become targets of distrust and even violence by certain groups. This article explores the reasons for this shift in ideology, and what action humanitarian organizations must take in order to protect their personnel.

Tradable Refugee-Admission Quotas (TRAQs), the Syrian Crisis and the New European Agenda on Migration
IZA Discussion Paper No. 9418
October 2015
Jesús Fernández-Huertas Moraga Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and IZA
Hillel Rapoport, PSE, University Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne, MPC, European University Institute and IZA
Abstract
The Syrian Civil War gave rise to the largest refugee flight reaching Europe since the Yugoslavian wars in the 1990s. The crisis evidenced the deficiencies of the European Union
Asylum Policy, which struggled both to offer solutions to Syrian refugees and to efficiently allocate costs across Member States. We draw on previous theoretical work to simulate how a system of tradable refugee-admission quotas coupled with a matching mechanism assigning refugees to their preferred destinations and destinations to their preferred types of
refugees would give more flexibility to Member States while respecting refugee rights and preferences.

Managing the humanitarian supply chain: developing a generic model to improve collaboration, efficiency and effectiveness
Ramsden, Gary P.
Academic Publishing, Saarbrücken, Germany. ISBN 9783659618970
Abstract
Humanitarian disasters are expected to increase 5-fold over the next 50 years. It is suggested that the scale of resource dedicated to logistics provision in response to disasters accounts for upwards of 80% of the total budget, hence humanitarian logistics is very much in the spotlight. Collaborative working has been promoted as a Silver Bullet in many areas of Supply Chain Management and is contended to be a mechanism to prevent organisations optimising solely their own results, rather than integrating their goals and activities with others to benefit overall end user value. Collaborative techniques inherent within commercial supply chains have not been observed in the humanitarian relief chain. This study investigates why this is the case, as this lack of collaboration leads to inefficiency; which at worst results in increased humanitarian suffering and additional loss of life. The findings reveal ways to advance collaborative working within the humanitarian relief supply chain. A conceptual generic model of the supply chain is developed which highlights significant issues which, if addressed will improve collaboration and thereby benefit overall efficiency and effectiveness.

Ensuring the Health of Children in Disasters
Policy Statement
American Academy of Pediatrics
DISASTER PREPAREDNESS ADVISORY COUNCIL, COMMITTEE ON PEDIATRIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE
pdf: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2015/10/13/peds.2015-3112.full.pdf
Abstract
Infants, children, adolescents, and young adults have unique physical, mental, behavioral, developmental, communication, therapeutic, and social needs that must be addressed and met in all aspects of disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. Pediatricians, including primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists, and pediatric surgical specialists, have key roles to play in preparing and treating families in cases of disasters. Pediatricians should attend to the continuity of practice operations to provide services in time of need and stay abreast of disaster and public health developments to be active participants in community planning efforts. Federal, state, tribal, local, and regional institutions and agencies that serve children should collaborate with pediatricians to ensure the health and well-being of children in disasters.

Issues in Comprehensive Pediatric Nursing
Published online: 15 Oct 2015
Ethical considerations: pediatric short-term medical missions in developing countries
John S. Murray PhD, RN, CPNP-PC, CS, FAAN
DOI:10.3109/01460862.2015.1088595
Abstract
For many years pediatric healthcare experts have debated how much benefit was derived by host nations from the well intentioned efforts of Pediatric Short-Term Medical Missions (STMMs). Most of the literature on STMMs, while limited, has focused on frameworks for the delivery of care. Today the focus of these endeavors is on the ethical implications. The purpose of this article is to describe how the focus of STMMs has changed over the past 15 years from delivery of care frameworks to ethical considerations.

Media/Policy Watch
This section is intended to alert readers to substantive news, analysis and opinion from the general media on vaccines, immunization, global; public health and related themes. Media Watch is not intended to be exhaustive, but indicative of themes and issues CVEP is actively tracking. This section will grow from an initial base of newspapers, magazines and blog sources, and is segregated from Journal Watch above which scans the peer-reviewed journal ecology.

We acknowledge the Western/Northern bias in this initial selection of titles and invite suggestions for expanded coverage. We are conservative in our outlook in adding news sources which largely report on primary content we are already covering above. Many electronic media sources have tiered, fee-based subscription models for access. We will provide full-text where content is published without restriction, but most publications require registration and some subscription level.

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Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/
Accessed 24 October2015
Going After Customized Lung Cancer Vaccines, Gritstone Grabs $102M
Exciting things are happening in cancer immunotherapy, but scientists don’t have all the pieces of the puzzle yet for most patients. Today, a startup has gotten more than $100 million straight out of the gate to see if it can make customized types of puzzle pieces–cancer vaccines based on a patient’s […]
Luke Timmerman, Contributor Oct 20, 2015

Three Ways Sanofi Pasteur Encourages Collaboration
When you think of companies that foster and encourage employee collaboration, a big pharmaceutical company probably doesn’t top your list. But thanks to enthusiastic employees and visionary leadership, Sanofi, one of the top five pharmaceutical companies in the world, is leading the charge in a new wave of collaboration. I sat […]
Jacob Morgan, Contributor Oct 20, 2015

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The Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Accessed 24 October2015
The Fight Against Yellow Fever Must Go On
Dr. Orin Levine
Director of Vaccine Delivery, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
16 October 2015
As health systems around the world get stronger and more vaccines are available to more communities, it can be easy to grow complacent and forget that this absence of disease is the result of ongoing efforts that must be sustained. The most destructive Ebola outbreak in history provides a valuable reminder of the terrible toll of epidemic infectious diseases. Earlier this year, Germany and the United States experienced their first measles deaths in years and just last month, polio crept back into Ukraine. Now, as governments and heroic health workers continue working to treat ill patients while increasing efforts to reach more communities with vaccines, global attention may be tempted to shift elsewhere.. But it shouldn’t…

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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Accessed 24 October2015
WHO Chief Says U.S., Saudi Discussing MERS Vaccine
GENEVA — The United States and Saudi Arabia are discussing the possibility of readying a vaccine for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) before the next outbreak of the disease, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO)
October 20, 2015 – By REUTERS

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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Accessed 24 October2015
A new wave of diseases threatens Southern Europe and the Middle East
With new infection hot zones developing in Europe, world leaders need to get ahead of potential epidemics.
Peter J. Hotez | Editorial-Opinion | Oct 23, 2015
While global attention has been focused on strengthening health systems in West Africa in the aftermath of the Ebola outbreak there, a new wave of tropical infectious disease is threatening Southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

The unprecedented appearance of tropical diseases in Southern Europe in recent years has been well documented. Dengue fever appeared on Madeira off the coast of Portugal in 2012, and chikungunya arrived in Spain this year. Malaria has returned to Greece after being eliminated in the 1960s, and West Nile virus has gained a foothold throughout Southern Europe. These infections are transmitted by mosquitoes that now inhabit the region. Schistosomiasis, a parasitic blood fluke infection transmitted by snails, just made its first recorded appearance on the island of Corsica, while outbreaks of opisthorchiasis, a liver fluke that causes bile duct cancer, have occurred in Italy.

We are still investigating the forces responsible for the transformation of Southern Europe into a tropical disease “hot zone.” Among the possible causes are the severe economic downturns in Greece, Italy and Spain, which may have slowed national public-health efforts, and global warming, which is creating temperature and rainfall conditions better suited for insects and other carriers of disease adapted to tropical climates.

But a third factor must also be considered: The conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa. Ebola arose in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, in part because the health systems of the affected countries had been weakened by years of conflict and human migration. That same combination is now present in the Islamic State-occupied areas of Syria, Iraq and Libya, as well as in Yemen…

The Sentinel

Human Rights Action :: Humanitarian Response :: Health ::
Holistic Development :: Sustainable Resilience
__________________________________________________
Week ending 17 October 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, consortia 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 version: The Sentinel_ week ending 17 October 2015

blog edition: comprised of the 35+ entries  posted below on 18-19 October 2015

UNHCR, the Environment and Climate Change
UNHCR
Updated Version, October 2015 :: 20 pages
Pdf: http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c10a.html

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Press Release
UNHCR commits to follow up on the Nansen Initiative on climate and disaster displacement and launches new overview of its work in this area
Press Releases, 14 October 2015
110 countries endorsed the “Agenda for the Protection of Cross-Border Displaced Persons in the Context of Disasters and Climate Change” at the Nansen Initiative Global Consultation that took place on 12 and 13 October 2015 in Geneva. The Agenda identifies the practices necessary to address the possible protection needs of people displaced across borders in the context of disasters and climate change, in a principled and practical way. UNHCR has, from the very beginning, been a staunch supporter of the Nansen Initiative and is committed to continuing to work with relevant partners to maximize support to States.

Among the most important lessons derived from the Nansen Initiative is that States can prevent and prepare for increased displacement in future when the right policies are in place. Stepping up adaptation and disaster risk reduction efforts needs to go hand in hand with mitigation. And the protection dimension must be central in these endeavours.

With the Paris Climate Conference only a few weeks away, UNHCR is renewing its call for states to conclude a meaningful agreement that must take into account the growth of climate-change related migration and displacement and the need to take proactive measures in response.

“If we can draw any lessons from the current refugee situations in Europe and the Middle East, it is to take the forecasting seriously, accept the realities of migration and displacement, and deal with them effectively and as a matter of urgency. Radical action is required of us now to mitigate against the worst effects of climate change. The Paris agreement presents an opportunity to achieve this,” said Volker Türk, Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, in his keynote address at the Nansen Initiative Global Consultation in Geneva on Monday.

The new overview UNHCR, the Environment and Climate Change explains the most serious challenges being faced as well as the solutions UNHCR is implementing to tackle climate change, environmental degradation and natural disasters. The report comes at a time when more and more people are being displaced by disasters and climate change.

The majority of the almost 60 million people displaced around the world today are situated in ‘climate change hotspots’. Climate change is a megatrend that will compound other megatrends, including food and water insecurity, and competition over resources. The movement of people is intrinsically linked to climate change and climate change could, in combination with other factors, drive even more displacement in future. Enhancing the resilience of people of concern and the communities hosting them is also a concern to UNHCR as a means to avoid secondary displacement.

An average of 26.4 million people per year since 2008 have been displaced from their homes by disasters brought on by natural hazards. This is equivalent to one person being displaced every second and displacement risk is largely driven by the fact that more and more vulnerable people are living in disaster-prone areas.

UNHCR is tackling the displacement problems posed by climate change through a number of initiatives, most notably through its support for the Nansen Initiative. UNHCR has also developed guidance, together with the Brookings Institution and Georgetown University, on planned relocation of populations threatened by disasters and climate change.

Framework for Action on Food Security and Nutrition in Protracted Crises
COMMITTEE ON WORLD FOOD SECURITY
Forty-second Session – “Making a Difference in Food Security and Nutrition”
Rome, Italy, 12-15 October 2015 :: 14 pages
Pdf: http://www.fao.org/3/a-mo194e.pdf
[Excerpts]

Objective
8. The overall objective of the Framework for Action for Food Security and Nutrition in
Protracted Crises (CFS-FFA), also referred to as the Framework, is to improve the food security and nutrition of populations affected by, or at risk of, protracted crises in a way that addresses underlying causes, thus contributing to the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security.
Purpose
9. To achieve this objective, the Framework seeks to mobilize high level political commitment
and promote coordinated multi-stakeholder processes, including the review of progress and sharing of lessons learned, to inform policies and actions aimed at preventing, mitigating, responding to and promoting early recovery from food insecurity and malnutrition in protracted crises.
10. This Framework outlines the Principles and actions that can assist stakeholders in improving
food security and nutrition in protracted crises….

II. THE PRINCIPLES FOR ACTION FOR IMPROVING FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION IN PROTRACTED CRISES
18. The Principles for action are intended to guide the development, implementation and monitoring of policies and actions to improve food security and nutrition in protracted crisis situations.
19. The interpretation and application of these Principles should be customized to the particular contexts and the specific needs of all members of affected and at risk populations and people living in vulnerable situations.
20. These Principles describe how to address critical food insecurity and undernutrition
manifestations and build resilience in protracted crises (Principles 1 and 2), in a manner that is adapted to the specific challenges of these situations (Principles 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8), and that avoids exacerbating underlying causes and, where opportunities exist, contributes to resolving them (Principles 9, 10, and 11).

Address Critical Manifestations and Build Resilience
21. It is crucial in protracted crises to promote coherent and well-coordinated humanitarian and
development programming to address food insecurity and undernutrition, to save lives and to build resilience. Humanitarian assistance helps meet acute needs, in order to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain and protect human dignity. Resilience boosts the capacity to absorb, prepare for, and prevent humanitarian disasters, crises, and long-term stresses. It also contributes to the adaptation and transformation of livelihoods and food systems, progressing along a pathway out of the protracted crisis situation. This approach emphasizes women’s empowerment, as well as smallholder agriculture productivity and the wider economy, which are often neglected in responses to protracted crises. Given the severity of undernutrition in these situations, the nutritional needs of members of affected and at risk populations, vulnerable and marginalized groups, as well as people living in vulnerable situations, also benefit from a special focus.

Principle 1 – Meet immediate humanitarian needs and build resilient livelihoods
Principle 2 – Focus on nutritional needs
Principle 3 – Reach affected populations
Principle 4 – Protect those affected by or at risk from protracted crises
Principle 5 – Empower women and girls, promote gender equality and encourage gender sensitivity
Principle 6 – Ensure and support comprehensive evidence-based analyses
Principle 7 – Strengthen country ownership, participation, coordination and stakeholder buy-in, and accountability
Principle 8 – Promote effective financing
Principle 9 – Contribute to peacebuilding through food security and nutrition
Principle 10 – Manage natural resources sustainably and reduce disaster risks
Principle 11 – Promote effective national and local governance…

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Press Release
Global accord demands new approach to hunger and nutrition in protracted crises
Framework for Action seeks coherent humanitarian and development efforts
15 October 2015, Rome – The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) has approved the world’s first global agreement involving all stakeholder groups on coordinated action to combat hunger and undernutrition among people living in protracted crises.

The Framework for Action on Food Security and Nutrition in Protracted Crises is a voluntary agreement offering guidance to address food security and nutrition needs in these challenging contexts. It also outlines how to adapt to specific challenges in areas persistently wracked by natural calamity and civil conflict.

The Framework comprises 11 principles that recognize the need for coherent and integrated humanitarian and development efforts to address both the immediate and the longer-term food security and nutrition needs of people in protracted crises.

Protracted crises result in disrupted livelihoods and food systems, higher illness and mortality rates, increased displacements, hunger and severe undernutrition.

The prevalence of undernutrition is typically three times higher in protracted crises situations than in the rest of the developing world…

…The Framework emphasizes women’s empowerment and the agricultural productivity of smallholders, noting that both are often neglected in responses to crisis situations. Over time, protracted crises reverse years of previously accumulated development gains, and undermine livelihoods, making the Sustainable Development Goal of eradicating hunger and poverty by 2030 harder to achieve.

The political consensus reached on the Framework for Action can be leveraged by FAO, the World Food Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development, key CFS stakeholders already working together to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable and at risk people. Working closely with the Rome-based Agencies, implementing the Framework for Action is a priority for FAO…

World Bank’s New End-Poverty Tool: Surveys in Poorest Countries
Working with countries and partners, plan will ensure household surveys every three years in 78 countries
WASHINGTON, October 15, 2015— Addressing huge gaps in the collection of poverty data, the World Bank Group pledged today to work with developing countries and international partners to ensure that the 78 poorest nations have household-level surveys every three years, with the first round to be completed by 2020.

Poverty-fighting efforts have long been constrained by a lack of data in many countries. The World Bank has identified 29 countries that had no poverty data from 2002 to 2011. Another 28 had just one survey that collected poverty data during that time. These gaps prevented analysts from identifying trends in how countries were making progress toward their goals, and posed a barrier to improving the lives of poor people.

The announcement by World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim offers key support to the organization’s mission to end extreme poverty by 2030 and boost shared prosperity for the bottom 40 percent of people in developing countries.

“We will not be able to reach our goal unless we have data to show whether or not people are actually lifting themselves out of poverty,” Kim said. “Collecting good data is one of the most powerful tools to end extreme poverty. We pledge, working alongside our partners in countries and international organizations, to do something that makes common sense and is long overdue: to conduct surveys in all countries that will assess whether people’s lives are improving.”
Date: October 15, 2015 Type: Press Release

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Addressing the Youth Employment Crisis Needs Urgent Global Action
In the coming decades, global growth will depend on today’s young people. Combatting the persistent youth employment crisis requires a global effort and proactive action: report
WASHINGTON, October 13, 2015 – One third of the world’s 1.8 billion young people are currently neither in employment, education or training. Of the one billion more youth that will enter the job market in the next decade, only 40 percent are expected to be able to get jobs that currently exist. The global economy will need to create 600 million jobs over the next 10 years – five million jobs each month — simply to keep pace with projected youth employment rates. Reversing the youth employment crisis is a pressing global priority and the socio-economic cost of inaction is high, says a new report.

This inaugural report, entitled Toward Solutions for Youth Employment: A 2015 Baseline Report, is being released today by Solutions for Youth Employment (S4YE) – a multistakeholder global coalition established to improve youth access to work opportunities. This coalition is a partnership started by the World Bank Group, Plan International, the International Youth Foundation (IYF), Youth Business International (YBI), RAND, Accenture, and the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Date: October 13, 2015 Type: Press Release

International Religious Freedom Report for 2014
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
US State Department
October 14, 2015
Executive Summary: http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm#wrapper

On October 14, 2015, Secretary Kerry submitted the 2014 International Religious Freedom Report to the United States Congress. Now in its 17th year, this congressionally-mandated Report comprises almost 200 distinct reports on countries and territories worldwide and continues to reflect the United States’ commitment to, and advancement of, the right of every person to freedom of religion or belief.

Key Developments
In 2014, non-state actors committed some of the world’s most egregious abuses of religious freedom and other human rights. Government failure, delay, and inadequacy in combatting these groups often had severe consequences for people living under significant and dire restrictions on, and interference with, their exercise of freedom of religion. Other concerning trends over the year included significant increases in the number of recorded anti-Semitic incidents, and increasing restrictions on religious liberty imposed under the pretext of combatting terrorism and violent extremism.

Non-State Actors’ Suppression of Religious Freedom
In the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia, a range of non-state actors including terrorist organizations, set their sights on destroying religious diversity. Members of religious minorities were disproportionately affected. In these regions, religious intolerance and hostility, often toxically mixed with political, economic and ethnic grievances, frequently turned violent, resulting in death, injuries, and displacement.

Government Violations, Abuses, and Restrictions of Religious Freedom
The 2014 Report notes a continuation of many restrictive governmental policies affecting religious freedom including laws criminalizing religious activities and expression, the threat and enforcement of blasphemy and apostasy laws, prohibitions on conversion or proselytizing, and stringent or discriminatory application of registration requirements for religious organizations.

Combatting Terrorism and Violent Extremism as Justification for Restrictions on Religious Practice
In numerous authoritarian countries around the world, regimes co-opted the language of preventing and countering terrorism and countering violent extremism in their efforts to neutralize and repress political opposition emanating from peaceful religious individuals or groups.

Positive Developments in 2014
While the IRF report aims to shed light on a broad range of limitations on the exercise of religious freedom, it also seeks to highlight positive actions taken by some governments and civil society to provide greater protections for religious minorities and to take measures to ensure the human rights of individuals to worship, practice, learn, teach, and believe, or not believe – according to their own conscience. Across the globe, religious, and civil society groups, as well as interfaith coalitions took steps to promote greater respect for religious beliefs, practices and diversity.

Creating a paradigm shift: statement for the World Humanitarian Summit Global Consultation
Humanitarian Policy Group
Overseas Development Institute
Briefing papers October 2015 :: 2 pages
Pdf: http://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/9897.pdf

The humanitarian system is suffering a crisis of legitimacy. The conduct of war and the nature of disasters look very different today than they did in 1945, when the humanitarian sector came of age, or indeed in the 1990s, when many of the concepts, mechanisms and tools of the current, formal humanitarian system took shape. There have been important efforts to adapt to these changes, many of them good. Indeed, humanitarian organisations have provided more assistance to more people in more places than could have been conceived even a generation ago. Mortality, disease and malnutrition in conflicts and disasters have decreased, while clean water, sanitation, education and shelter are available for tens of millions of people caught up in emergencies.

While advances have been made in how humanitarian assistance is organised, funded and delivered, these changes have invariably been tinkering at the edges, rather than getting to the heart of the challenges facing the system. Despite widespread recognition of the need to diversify alliances and reorient activities away from the current centralised model, the formal humanitarian system, while altruistic in its aims, tends to be selfish in its conduct. This applies less to individual staff, who work tirelessly – and often at great personal risk – on the frontlines of crisis response and recovery, and more to the institutions they belong to. The current conduct of the sector points to enduring structural problems, perverse incentives and unintended consequences that work against its principles, aims and aspirations.

In its current form, the humanitarian sector often seems more concerned with the way it organises itself than with the problems it is supposed to address. Power within the sector is concentrated at its apex and aligned with the priorities and desires of its donors, the mandates and organisational priorities of its largest agencies and the foreign policy priorities of its most powerful nations. Meanwhile, crisis-affected countries are increasingly resisting or rejecting international aid interventions in favour of home-grown organisations, structures and funding streams which they deem to be more trustworthy and legitimate.

The aid architecture is at a critical juncture. Major transformations in the geopolitical landscape require a fundamental shift in how aid works. The World Humanitarian Summit comes at a particularly timely moment. The global ambition to reshape aid and involve people from as many traditions as possible is an opportunity to push for this change.

The key question is how to bring about the changes needed to create a more diversified and decentralised response that addresses humanitarian needs in all their complexity. Here, we outline three key areas of change, developed further in our forthcoming report [Time To Let Go: The End of Humanitarianism as We Know It, HPG (forthcoming)]

Forge a new ‘humanitarian consensus’
There is a tendency to assume that humanitarian action is about how outsiders protect and assist civilians, neglecting the fact that affected people are the first line of defence when it comes to their safety and livelihoods. Addressing the specific needs of people in conflict requires a renewed commitment by all parties and actors to limit the effects of war on civilians and societies. This includes more focused implementation of existing norms and laws, more systematic engagement with perpetrators of violence and finding stronger, more effective means of holding parties to account. A new ‘humanitarian consensus’ should be brokered between local and international humanitarian organisations, states and armed non-state actors on the rules of armed conflict, based on applicable legal norms, humanitarian principles, involvement of communities and protection of aid workers. Ways will need to be found to nationalise and localise such conversations. Affected people are not passive in the face of threats to their safety: they make arrangements with belligerents, work to prevent violence against their communities, document violations and train communities on where to find refuge during attacks.

Redefine success
Improving system-wide performance requires managing the trade-offs and changing the pay-offs so that the longer-term incentives for mutual cooperation in the interests of crisis-affected people outweigh the short-term incentives to compete for resources and visibility. In these terms, success means moving away from a centralised, tight-knit system and working with smaller, specialised, local organisations, accepting greater local autonomy and ceding power and resources to structures and actors currently at the margins of the formal system.

Change culture and behaviour
Fundamentally, the current culture of the humanitarian system and its self-image as indispensable saviour and rescuer reinforces the sharp inequality of power between international aid agencies and their recipients, many of whom find themselves in crisis in the first place because of other types of inequitable power relationships. It also marginalises local capacities to cope and recover, and presents a fundamental barrier to new entrants and new forms of assistance and giving. Confining crisis response to a limited set of humanitarian actors has the effect of reinforcing the exclusive nature of the system and determining who can and cannot take part. Rather than distinguishing humanitarian action as legitimate and trusted, such humanitarian ‘exceptionalism’ actually prevents us from working effectively and cooperatively with experts and institutions with greater knowledge and understanding of the issues at hand. This needs to change.

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Five points WHO would like to see reflected at the World Humanitarian Summit
14 October 2015
In May 2016, the global community will converge on Istanbul, Turkey, for the World Humanitarian Summit – the culmination of a worldwide consultation process involving eight regions and more than 23 000 contributing parties. It will bring together the greatest ideas and best practices from around the world and set the agenda for humanitarian action for years to come.

As part of the consultation process, the World Health Organization has submitted a position paper arguing for the centrality of health in humanitarian action. Here are the five key messages from the document:

1. The health and well-being of affected populations is the ultimate goal of humanitarian action
Regardless of the type of event – natural disaster, conflict or disease outbreak – there are always risks to health. United Nations surveys reveal that health is consistently among the top three priorities for crisis-affected populations.

2. The risks to health posed by humanitarian emergencies are at all-time highs – and worsening
Past decades have witnessed major events that pose huge risks to health, including sudden onset natural disasters (eg. the Haiti earthquake), conflicts (eg. Syria), and disease outbreaks (eg. Ebola in West Africa). There are currently 80 million crisis-affected people in need of assistance worldwide.

3. Protracted conflict situations are among the greatest threats to health and health workers globally
It is estimated that 60% of preventable maternal deaths and 53% of under-five deaths take place in settings of conflict, displacement, and natural disasters. Attacks against health are another disturbing feature of today’s conflicts. A WHO report found that 603 health workers died from violent attacks during humanitarian emergencies in 2014.*

4. Crises caused by disease outbreaks require the health and humanitarian communities to work together
The Ebola crisis in West Africa was a “defining moment for the health of the global community”. It showed that a strong WHO response capacity is required. But WHO cannot manage such crises alone – the health and humanitarian communities must work more closely together.

5. Managing health risks is essential: preparedness pays at all levels – country regional and global
By managing risks to health, people are better able to recover and sustain effective livelihoods in the aftermath of a disaster. The Sendai Framework for Action for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), adopted by 187 countries, puts health at the centre of global policy and action to reduce the risks associated with disasters.

Full WHO Position Paper: http://www.who.int/entity/mediacentre/events/2015/world-humanitarian-day/whowhspositionpaper.pdf?ua=1

Review of Maritime Transport 2015
UNCTAD, 2015 :: 122 pages
Pdf: http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/rmt2015_en.pdf

Press Release
Maritime transport and climate policy at a critical juncture, UNCTAD Report says
UNCTAD/PRESS/IN/2015/008
Geneva, Switzerland, (14 October 2015)
Maritime transport is at a critical juncture as the global community commits to the new Sustainable Development Goals and gears up for a new international climate policy agreement. The UNCTAD Review of Maritime Transport 20151 highlights the role of freight transport, including maritime transport, in addressing the global sustainability and resilience agenda.

With more than 80 per cent of world merchandise trade by volume being carried by sea, maritime transport remains the backbone of international trade and globalization, the report says. Equally, the sector is a key enabling factor for other sectors and economic activities.

The sector has a new opportunity both to assert its strategic importance as an economic activity – one that creates jobs and revenue, enables trade, supports supply chains and links communities – and to underscore its potential to generate value in terms of social equity, conserving resources and protecting the environment. For the sector to take up this role effectively, however, sustainability and resilience criteria need to be integrated into transport development plans at the early stages of planning, decision-making and investment.

Removal of the physical and non-physical barriers that drive up costs and undermine trade is essential to the sustainability of freight transport systems including maritime transport. Developing countries in particular are faced with relatively higher transport costs due to limited transport connectivity and access to markets resulting from transport infrastructure gaps and inadequacy. In this context, a well-articulated vision for transport infrastructure should be pursued as a matter of priority. Another key element of enhancing the sustainability and resilience of maritime transport is the need to address the nexus between energy, transport costs, environmental degradation and climate change. Breaking away from fossil fuel-intensive maritime propulsion systems to reduce the sector’s overdependence on oil is essential. Investing in energy efficiency measures, alternative energy sources and more sustainable operational and management practices can help control fuel and transport costs, derive efficiency gains, enable more effective access to markets, promote trade competiveness, protect the environment and manage carbon emissions.

The Review of Maritime Transport 2015 underlines that maritime transport is facing the dual challenge of climate change mitigation and adaptation. While curbing greenhouse gas emissions remains urgent to ensure manageable global warming levels, the effects of climate variability and change – irrespective of the causes – are already being felt in different parts of the world, often in the poorest countries which are less able to cope.

Seaports, acting as key nodes in international transport networks across supply chains, are particularly vulnerable to climate change due to their location in coastal and low-lying areas. They are likely to be affected directly and indirectly by climatic factors such as rising sea levels, extreme weather events and rising temperatures. These factors will also affect port hinterland connections and transport corridors across transport networks as international trade increasingly requires the use of rail, road and waterway transport. In this context, building the climate resilience of maritime transport systems is a precondition for their long-term sustainability, the UNCTAD report says…

United Nations – Secretary General, Security Council, General Assembly   [to 17 October 2015]
http://www.un.org/en/unpress/
Selected Press Releases/Meetings Coverage

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16 October 2015
GA/11708
General Assembly Praises African Union’s Agenda 2063, Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals as Comprehensive Blueprint for Africa’s Advancement
Speakers praised the African Union’s ambitious 50-year “Agenda 2063”, which together with its first 10-year implementation plan, the Addis Ababa funding scheme, and the universal 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, was a holistic and coherent framework for advancing and following up on Africa’s development, the General Assembly heard today as it took up the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).

16 October 2015
SC/12083
Amid New Violence in West Bank, Speakers in Security Council Urge Palestinians, Israelis De-escalate Situation, Respect Status Quo around Holy Sites
The crisis sparked by fresh violence in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza could not be stopped by security measures alone, the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs told the Security Council today, urging Palestinians and Israelis to respect decades-old status quo arrangements around holy sites, and for political leaders on all sides to calm their language in a joint effort to deescalate the situation.

15 October 2015
GA/11707
General Assembly Elects Egypt, Japan, Senegal, Ukraine, Uruguay as Non-Permanent Members of Security Council for 2016-2017
In one round of voting, the General Assembly today elected Egypt, Japan, Senegal, Ukraine and Uruguay to serve as non-permanent members of the Security Council for the next two years.

15 October 2015
DSG/SM/908-IHA/1378
Humanitarian Actors Should Not Create Dependency for Refugees, Displaced Persons, Deputy Secretary-General Tells World Summit
Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson’s remarks at the World Humanitarian Summit Global Consultation, today in Geneva, Switzerland.

14 October 2015
SC/12080
Speakers Urge Greater Action to Implement Women, Peace and Security Agenda, as Security Council Concludes Debate on Resolution 1325 (2000)
Fifteen years after the adoption of resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security, the Security Council this afternoon continued Tuesday’s high-level debate on strengthening implementation of that and subsequent resolutions, urging “action instead of talk”.

14 October 2015
GA/SHC/4135
Opening Debate on Children’s Rights, Officials Warn Third Committee of Disturbing Spike in Targeted Abductions, Recruitment by Armed Groups, Shuttered Schools
The plight of children living in the midst of conflict had worsened in many parts of the world, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) heard today as it began its consideration of the promotion and protection of the rights of young people with an interactive dialogue with top United Nations officials.

13 October 2015
SC/12076
Security Council Unanimously Adopts Resolution 2242 (2015) to Improve Implementation of Landmark Text on Women, Peace, Security Agenda
The Security Council today outlined sweeping actions to improve implementation of its landmark women, peace and security agenda, covering its work on countering violent extremism and terrorism, improving working methods and broadly taking up the gender recommendations of a just-completed global study it had requested two years ago.

UN OHCHR Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights [to 17 October 2015]
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/media.aspx?IsMediaPage=true
Selected Press Releases/Announcements

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Belgium: UN expert group calls for robust integrated action to address risks posed by foreign fighters
10/16/2015

Human Rights Committee holds its one hundred and fifteenth session in Geneva from 19 October to 6 November 2015
15 October 2015

Committee on the Rights of the Child [to 17 October 2015]
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRC/Pages/CRCIndex.aspx

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Draft General Comment on article 4 of the Convention – Public spending and the rights of the child
Call for comments
The Committee on the Rights of the Child is currently elaborating a General Comment on article 4 of the Convention and specifically on public spending and the rights of the child.
This exercise draws upon the Day of General Discussion (DGD) on: “Resources for the Rights of the Child – Responsibility of States”, which the Committee held in 2007.

The Committee invites all interested parties to comment on the initial draft of its draft General Comment in writing to the following email address: crc@ohchr.org.

After a thorough and due consideration of inputs provided, only the Committee will decide on the contents of the final version of the General Comment.

All submissions :
:: Should be submitted in one of the official languages of the Committee – English, French or Spanish;
:: Should be submitted in WORD format;
:: Will not be translated;
:: Will be posted on the CRC webpage devoted to this draft General Comment
Deadline:
Comments must be submitted by 1 December 2015.
The initial draft General Comment can be found here