British Medical Journal
17 October 2015 (vol 351, issue 8029)
http://www.bmj.com/content/351/8029

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Editorials
Practical tools for improving global primary care
BMJ 2015; 351 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.h5361 (Published 13 October 2015)
[Initial text]
Universal health coverage can be achieved only by strengthening primary care, and new tools are needed
The sustainable development goals launched last month commit the world to achieving universal health coverage by 2030.1 Achievement will depend on providing high quality primary healthcare. Last month also saw the launch of a new partnership, the Primary Health Care Performance Initiative (www.phcperformanceinitiative.org), which aims to strengthen primary care in low and middle income countries through enhanced monitoring and sharing of best practices and tools. But the few practical tools that currently exist are often inadequate. We need better integrated, concise, and user friendly materials that can help health workers manage the wide range of problems seen in primary care.
For the past three decades, the World Health Organization has led the development of practical tools for primary care with the publication of charts, handbooks, and intervention guides for use by health workers with limited resources and training. The guidelines of the 1990s advised empirical treatments with essential medicines for clusters of symptoms and covered sexually transmitted infections2 and life threatening illnesses in young children.3 In the 2000s this approach was replicated for pregnancy and childbirth4 and respiratory conditions. …

Globalization and Health
http://www.globalizationandhealth.com/
[Accessed 17 October 2015]

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Research
Trade liberalization, social policies and health: an empirical case study
McNamara C Globalization and Health 2015, 11:42 (12 October 2015)
Abstract
Background
This study investigates the health impacts of a major liberalization episode in the textile and clothing (T&C) sector. This episode triggered substantial shifts in employment across a wide range of countries. It is the first study to empirically link trade liberalization to health via changes in employment and offers some of the first empirical insights on how trade liberalization interacts with social policies to influence health.
Methods
Data from 32 T&C reliant countries were analysed in reference to the pre- and post-liberalization periods of 2000–2004 and 2005–2009. Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) was used to examine the association between countries’ a) level of development b) labour market and welfare state protections c) T&C employment changes and d) changes in adult female and infant mortality rates. Process tracing was used to further investigate these associations through twelve in-depth country studies.
Results
Results from the fsQCA relate changes in employment after the phase-out to both changing adult female and infant mortality rates. Findings from the in-depth country studies suggest that the worsening of adult female mortality rates is related to workers’ lack of social protection, both in the context of T&C employment growth and loss.
Conclusions
Overall, it is found that social protection is often inaccessible to the type of workers who may be the most vulnerable to processes of liberalization and that many workers are particularly vulnerable due to the structure of social protection policies. Social policies are therefore found to both moderate pathways to health and influence the type of health-related pathways resulting from trade liberalizing policies

Journal of Development Economics
Volume 117, Pages 1-170 (November 2015)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03043878/115

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“Flypaper effects” in transfers targeted to women: Evidence from BRAC’s “Targeting the Ultra Poor” program in Bangladesh
Original Research Article
Pages 1-19
Shalini Roy, Jinnat Ara, Narayan Das, Agnes R. Quisumbing
Highlights
:: We evaluate a randomized water education campaign in South African townships.
:: Treated households were more likely to pay their water bill and paid 25% more.
:: The treatment did not operate by increasing consumers’ information.
:: Nonpayment can be reduced by strategies other than increased enforcement.
Abstract
Many development interventions target transfers to women. However, little evidence directly explores the “flypaper effects” of whether women retain control over these transfers once within the household and how reallocation of the transfers affects women’s empowerment. We study these dynamics in the context of BRAC’s randomized CFPR-TUP program in Bangladesh, which provides livestock and training to rural women in “ultra poor” households. Our analysis confirms previous findings that CFPR-TUP increased household asset ownership, but shows complex effects on targeted women. Women appear to retain ownership over transferred livestock, but new investments from mobilized resources are largely owned by men. CFPR-TUP also reduces women’s movement outside the home and control over income, consistent with transferred livestock requiring maintenance at home. However, beneficiary women also report “intangible” benefits such as increased social capital and, even with limited mobility, a preference for work inside the home given a hostile environment outside the home.

The Lancet
Oct 17, 2015 Volume 386 Number 10003 p1509-1598 e18-e20
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current

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Editorial
Ageing and health—an agenda half completed
The Lancet
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)00521-8
The unprecedented increase in longevity across the world is a dividend from investment in health and progressive socioeconomic policies. It should be the source of celebration and pride; yet, the very systems that fostered longevity now risk squandering that success—and shaming themselves—because they are not aligned to the challenges and opportunities of older populations. To make healthy ageing a reality, radical changes are required in the education, organisation, and delivery of health care. The Lancet Series on ageing, published in 2014, outlined the challenges; now WHO’s World report on ageing and health, published Sept 30, guides the public health response.

The report avoids rigid age-definitions that perpetuate discrimination. Instead, it emphasises the heterogeneity of individuals and the importance of functional ability, rather than chronological age. Key domains that optimise functional ability are basic needs, autonomy, mobility, relationships, and contribution to society. Much of the diversity observed in older age is a consequence of social determinants and the advantages and disadvantages that accumulate across an individual’s life course. The authors consider how these factors can be influenced through environmental strategies, the delivery of health and long-term care, and policy.

Environment is formed not only by physical location, but also by government policies and societal attitudes. Environments are dynamic and can modify the trajectory of functional ability in older age by influencing an individual’s physical and mental capacity as either a facilitator or barrier to healthy ageing. They go beyond housing (which should be affordable, safe, and accessible), to include transport, cultural and community factors, opportunities for physical activity, and exposure to tobacco and other harmful materials.

Historically, health-care systems were designed to address isolated acute episodes of illness, rather than to manage the chronic multimorbidity that becomes increasingly common with age. So disappointed with their experience of care was one WHO sample of older patients from high-income countries, that it dissuaded almost a quarter of them from seeking care at a subsequent episode. A total change is called for, from improving the skills and understanding of health-care providers to a more age-friendly, holistic, integrated, sustainable, and dignified approach that focuses care across a range of services on common priorities identified by the individual. While such a role might seem tailored for primary care, it requires underpinning from adequately supported centres of expertise in geriatric care and a cadre of trained care-providers. A further weakness of current approaches is that non-clinical carers are often inadequately prepared, resourced, and respected for their role.

Changes are also necessary in the organisation of health care. Just as it seems unimaginable to deliver equitable care of high quality to older people in the absence of universal health coverage, some form of integrated and affordable social support in old age will also be required. To demonstrate the simultaneous acuteness and distance of that goal, the UK released figures on Oct 6 showing that only a minority of the 1·85 million requests for social services in the previous financial year, 72% of which came from people aged older than 65 years, could be supported by local councils.

The report is a welcome catalyst for much-needed research in the care of older people. The messages are relevant to all practitioners and health systems, particularly in middle-income and low-income countries where, by 2050, 80% of people aged older than 60 years will live. To translate the report into action, WHO is working with Member States to develop a global strategy and action plan, which is open for a web consultation until Oct 30. Engagement at high levels is important, including linkage with the Sustainable Development Goals for inclusiveness and wellbeing. However, just as older people will each have unique needs and preferences, so, too, countries will need to adapt their own health systems to local needs and circumstances.

At present only one country, Japan, has more than 30% of its population aged older than 60 years. By 2050, there will be many, including Chile, China, Iran, and Thailand. Opportunities for shared learning abound, such as the ongoing Joint Research Network on Ageing and Health in Asia, a multidisciplinary, multicountry collaboration, organised jointly by Mahidol University and the University of Tokyo that meets in Bangkok on Oct 22. Sharing perspectives and ideas in similar gatherings will create the environment from which local innovative solutions arise.

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Comment
Maternal, newborn, and child health and the Sustainable Development Goals—a call for sustained and improved measurement
John Grove, Mariam Claeson, Jennifer Bryce, Agbessi Amouzou, Ties Boerma, Peter Waiswa, Cesar Victora, Kirkland Group
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)00517-6
Immunisation is one of the great global health successes of the past century, with millions of lives saved.1 Ensuring vaccination of millions of children is complex, but is made possible by one fundamental task: systematic counting at multiple levels and at frequent intervals. From charts in thousands of rural health posts, to databases in ministries of health, to standardised surveys and global reports from WHO, UNICEF, and GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, a robust interconnected system of data collection and use enables health workers, programme managers, and global actors to track who is vaccinated and make course corrections as needed to improve performance, policies, and programmes…

PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
http://www.plosntds.org/
(Accessed 17 October 2015)

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Complete Protection against Pneumonic and Bubonic Plague after a Single Oral Vaccination
Anne Derbise, Yuri Hanada, Manal Khalifé, Elisabeth Carniel, Christian E. Demeure
Research Article | published 16 Oct 2015 | PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
10.1371/journal.pntd.0004162
Abstract
Background
No efficient vaccine against plague is currently available. We previously showed that a genetically attenuated Yersinia pseudotuberculosis producing the Yersinia pestis F1 antigen was an efficient live oral vaccine against pneumonic plague. This candidate vaccine however failed to confer full protection against bubonic plague and did not produce F1 stably.
Methodology/Principal Findings
The caf operon encoding F1 was inserted into the chromosome of a genetically attenuated Y. pseudotuberculosis, yielding the VTnF1 strain, which stably produced the F1 capsule. Given orally to mice, VTnF1 persisted two weeks in the mouse gut and induced a high humoral response targeting both F1 and other Y. pestis antigens. The strong cellular response elicited was directed mostly against targets other than F1, but also against F1. It involved cells with a Th1—Th17 effector profile, producing IFNγ, IL-17, and IL-10. A single oral dose (108 CFU) of VTnF1 conferred 100% protection against pneumonic plague using a high-dose challenge (3,300 LD50) caused by the fully virulent Y. pestis CO92. Moreover, vaccination protected 100% of mice from bubonic plague caused by a challenge with 100 LD50 Y. pestis and 93% against a high-dose infection (10,000 LD50). Protection involved fast-acting mechanisms controlling Y. pestis spread out of the injection site, and the protection provided was long-lasting, with 93% and 50% of mice surviving bubonic and pneumonic plague respectively, six months after vaccination. Vaccinated mice also survived bubonic and pneumonic plague caused by a high-dose of non-encapsulated (F1-) Y. pestis.
Significance
VTnF1 is an easy-to-produce, genetically stable plague vaccine candidate, providing a highly efficient and long-lasting protection against both bubonic and pneumonic plague caused by wild type or un-encapsulated (F1-negative) Y. pestis. To our knowledge, VTnF1 is the only plague vaccine ever reported that could provide high and durable protection against the two forms of plague after a single oral administration.
Author Summary
Yersinia pestis, the agent of plague, is among the deadliest infectious agents affecting humans. Injected in the skin by infected fleas, Y. pestis causes bubonic plague, which occasionally evolves into the very lethal and contagious pneumonic plague. Y. pestis is also a dangerous potential bioweapon but no plague vaccine is available. The current study describes the development of a vaccine highly efficient against plague in both its bubonic and pneumonic forms. The strategy consists of a live, avirulent, genetically modified Yersinia pseudotuberculosis that produces the capsule antigen of Y. pestis, named F1. The goal was to propose a vaccine that would be both easy to produce rapidly in large amounts with high quality, and easy to administer to individuals via a single oral dose. The VTnF1 strain described fulfills these demands. The immune response generated is long-lasting, involving both antibodies and memory cells directed against F1 and other antigens. We conclude that VTnF1 is a very promising candidate vaccine against plague.

PNAS – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/
(Accessed 17 October 2015)

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Biological Sciences – Population Biology:
Measuring the impact of Ebola control measures in Sierra Leone
Adam J. Kucharski, Anton Camacho, Stefan Flasche, Rebecca E. Glover, W. John Edmunds, and Sebastian Funk
PNAS 2015 ; published ahead of print October 12, 2015, doi:10.1073/pnas.1508814112
Significance
Between June 2014 and February 2015, thousands of Ebola treatment beds were introduced in Sierra Leone, alongside other infection control measures. However, there has been criticism of the timing and focus of this response, and it remains unclear how much it contributed to curbing the 2014–2015 Ebola epidemic. Using a mathematical model, we estimated how many Ebola virus disease cases the response averted in each district of Sierra Leone. We estimated that 56,600 (95% credible interval: 48,300–84,500) Ebola cases were averted in Sierra Leone as a direct result of additional treatment beds. Moreover, the number of cases averted would have been even greater had beds been available 1 month earlier.
Abstract
Between September 2014 and February 2015, the number of Ebola virus disease (EVD) cases reported in Sierra Leone declined in many districts. During this period, a major international response was put in place, with thousands of treatment beds introduced alongside other infection control measures. However, assessing the impact of the response is challenging, as several factors could have influenced the decline in infections, including behavior changes and other community interventions. We developed a mathematical model of EVD transmission, and measured how transmission changed over time in the 12 districts of Sierra Leone with sustained transmission between June 2014 and February 2015. We used the model to estimate how many cases were averted as a result of the introduction of additional treatment beds in each area. Examining epidemic dynamics at the district level, we estimated that 56,600 (95% credible interval: 48,300–84,500) Ebola cases (both reported and unreported) were averted in Sierra Leone up to February 2, 2015 as a direct result of additional treatment beds being introduced. We also found that if beds had been introduced 1 month earlier, a further 12,500 cases could have been averted. Our results suggest the unprecedented local and international response led to a substantial decline in EVD transmission during 2014–2015. In particular, the introduction of beds had a direct impact on reducing EVD cases in Sierra Leone, although the effect varied considerably between districts.

Reproductive Health
http://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/content
[Accessed 17 October 2015]

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Research
How prepared are young, rural women in India to address their sexual and reproductive health needs? a cross-sectional assessment of youth in Jharkhand
Sushanta Banerjee, Kathryn Andersen, Janardan Warvadekar, Paramita Aich, Amit Rawat, Bimla Upadhyay
Reproductive Health 2015, 12:97 (17 October 2015)
Abstract
Background
Young, rural Indian women lack sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and agency and are at risk of negative sexual and reproductive health outcomes. Youth-focused interventions have been shown to improve agency and self-efficacy of young women to make decisions regarding their sexual and reproductive health. The objectives of this study were to assess young women’s sexual and reproductive health knowledge; describe their health-seeking behaviors; describe young women’s experiences with sexual and reproductive health issues, including unwanted pregnancy and abortion; and identify sources of information, including media sources.
Method
A cross-sectional survey with a representative sample of 1381 married and unmarried women young women (15–24 years) from three rural community development blocks in Jharkhand, India was conducted in 2012. Participants were asked a series of questions related to their SRH knowledge and behavior, as well as questions related to their agency in several domains related to self-efficacy and decision-making. Linear regression was used to assess factors associated with greater or less individual agency and to determine differences in SRH knowledge and behavior between married and unmarried women.
Results
Despite national policies, participants married young (mean 15.7 years) and bore children early (53 % with first birth by 17 years). Women achieved low composite scores on knowledge around sex and pregnancy, contraception, and abortion knowledge. Around 3 % of married young women reported experiencing induced abortion; 92 % of these women used private or illegal providers. Married and unmarried women also had limited agency in decision-making, freedom of mobility, self-efficacy, and financial resources. Most of the women in the sample received SRH information by word of mouth.
Conclusions
Lack of knowledge about sexual and reproductive health in this context indicates that young rural Indian women would benefit from a youth-friendly SRH intervention to improve the women’s self-efficacy and decision-making capacity regarding their own health. A communication intervention using outreach workers may be a successful method for delivering this intervention.

Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública/Pan American Journal of Public Health (RPSP/PAJPH)
August 2015 Vol. 38, No. 2
http://www.paho.org/journal/

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SERIES ON EQUITY IN HEALTH AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Desigualdades educacionales en mortalidad y supervivencia de mujeres y hombres de las Américas, 1990–2010 [Educational inequalities in mortality and survival of women and men in the Americas, 1990–2010]
Mariana Haeberer, Isabel Noguer y Oscar J. Mújica

Assessing equitable care for Indigenous and Afrodescendant women in Latin America
[Evaluación de la equitatividad de la atención a las mujeres indígenas y afrodescendientes de América Latina]
Arachu Castro, Virginia Savage, and Hannah Kaufman

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLES
Formative evaluation of a proposed mHealth program for childhood illness management in a resource-limited setting in Peru [Evaluación formativa de un programa de salud móvil propuesto para el manejo de las enfermedades de la infancia en un entorno del Perú con recursos limitados]
T. A. Calderón, H. Martin, K. Volpicelli, C. Diaz, E. Gozzer, and A. M. Buttenheim

CURRENT TOPICS
Paving pathways: Brazil’s implementation of a national human papillomavirus immunization campaign [Allanando el camino: implementación de una campaña nacional de vacunación contra el virus del papiloma humano en Brasil]
Misha L. Baker, Daniella Figueroa-Downing, Ellen Dias De Oliveira Chiang,
Luisa Villa, Maria Luiza Baggio, José Eluf-Neto, Robert A. Bednarczyk, and Dabney P. Evans
Abstract
In 2014, Brazil introduced an HPV immunization program for girls 9–13 years of age as part of the Unified Health System’s (SUS) National Immunization Program. The first doses were administered in March 2014; the second ones, in September 2014. In less than 3 months more than 3 million girls received the first dose of quadrivalent HPV vaccine, surpassing the target rate of 80%. This paper examines three elements that may influence the program’s long-term success in Brazil: sustaining effective outreach, managing a large technology-transfer collaboration, and developing an electronic immunization registry, with a focus on the State of São Paulo. If these three factors are managed, the Government of Brazil is primed to serve as a model of success for other countries interested in implementing a national HPV vaccination program to decrease HPV-related morbidity and mortality.

The Sentinel

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

blog edition: comprised of the 35+ entries  posted below on 12-13 October 2015

Refugees/Migrants/IDPs [to 10 October 2015]
Editor’s Note:
The crises across the globe involving refugees, migrants and internally-displaced persons continue. We continue to track and present the numerous statements, analyses and calls to action from the IOM and other UN agencies, state actors, CSOs and INGOs in the respective “Watch” sections below. We highlight below Security Council Resolution 2240 (2015) authorizing – under Chapter VII – Member States to intercept vessels off the Libyan Coast suspected of migrant smuggling; UNHCR’s press release which challenges the “growing politicization” of the crises, and the historic joint address this week by François Hollande and Angela Merkel to the European Parliament.
Adopting Resolution 2240 (2015), Security Council Authorizes Member States to Intercept Vessels off Libyan Coast Suspected of Migrant Smuggling
7532nd Meeting (AM)
9 October 2015
SC/12072
The Security Council this morning decided to authorize Member States for a period of one year to inspect vessels on the high seas off the coast of Libya that they had reasonable grounds to suspect were being used for migrant smuggling or human trafficking from that country.

Adopting resolution 2240 (2015) with 14 votes in favour and one abstention by Venezuela, and acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, the Council further decided to authorize Member States to seize vessels that were confirmed as being used for migrant smuggling of human trafficking from Libya. Member States, acting nationally or through regional organizations were authorized to use all measures in confronting migrant smuggles or human trafficking in full compliance with international human rights law. However, the Council also underscored that the authorizations did not apply with respect to vessels entitled to sovereign immunity under international law.

The Council called upon Member States acting nationally or through regional organizations engaged in the fight against migrant smuggling and human trafficking to inspect on the high seas off the coast of Libya any unflagged vessels that they had reasonable grounds to believe had been, were being, or imminently would be used by organized criminal enterprises for migrant smuggling or human trafficking from Libya, including inflatable boats, rafts and dinghies.

The Council further called for Member States to consider ratifying or acceding to, and for States parties to effectively implement the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.

The Council took those actions as it deplored the continuing maritime tragedies in the Mediterranean Sea that had resulted in hundreds of casualties and noted with concern that such casualties were in some cases the result of exploitation and misinformation by transnational criminal organizations that facilitated the illegal smuggling via dangerous methods for personal gain and with callous disregard for human life.
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UNHCR’s Volker Türk warns against growing politicization of refugee and asylum matters as number of forcibly displaced soars, urges new global compact
Press Release, 8 October 2015
…In a speech in Geneva to UNHCR’s annual Executive Committee meeting and looking at how protection of refugees and others is bearing up under pressure of today’s almost 60 million people forcibly displaced people globally, Volker Türk, UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection spoke of a worrying outlook, with asylum and humanitarian considerations too often becoming trumped by security and domestic ones.

Türk described in his speech a troubled global landscape of increased war and conflict, a worsening humanitarian funding crunch, some countries building fences or walls to keep refugees out, countries using deterrence to push people away or simply shift them onto the territories of their neighbours, miserable reception and living conditions that make it impossible for refugees to stay where they are, detention of asylum seekers including children, absence of schooling for children and – for adults – denial of possibility to work legally.

“Push-backs, building walls, increasing detention, and further restricting access, combined with few legal avenues to safety, will never be the answer,” he said. “The impact is simply the diversion of refugee movements along other routes and the aggravation of already precarious situations in regions embroiled in conflict. Worse still, these measures compel more people who have nothing left to lose to risk dangerous journeys onward in the hope of finding eventual safety and stability.”…

…Türk paid tribute to what he called the “remarkable outpouring of public compassion and a groundswell of public support” seen in Europe and elsewhere this year in response to such arrivals, including from NGOs, faith-based organizations, political and spiritual leaders, private individuals and communities – including the many instances of people inviting refugees to stay in their homes or tourists handing out emergency care.

But he warned too that with the rapidly rising numbers of refugees and migrants in Europe and continued increases in the numbers of forcibly displaced people globally, today’s biggest challenge had become “populist politics and toxic public debates, and the climate of fear they engender”…

…”We need an all-out effort to ensure that protection, and in particular the institution of asylum remains life-saving, no

-political, and fundamentally humanitarian,” he said, adding that the 1951 Refugee Convention recognizes in its opening lines that the problems of forced displacement cannot be achieved by countries working in isolation.
“This speaks to the most critical protection gap we are facing today – the need for a global compact on predictable and equitable burden and responsibility-sharing. In a world in turmoil, we need a sense of equanimity, purpose, and trust to make such a compact a reality.”
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François Hollande and Angela Merkel face MEPs
07-10-2015
Video: 1:55:27
Plenary Session Press release
The current situation in the European Union and challenges to be tackled together, and notably migration, were at the heart of Wednesday afternoon’s debate between European Parliament political group leaders, President of the French Republic François Hollande and Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Angela Merkel.

The visit by François Hollande and Angela Merkel was “a symbol of Franco-German reconciliation and European unity”, said Parliament’s President Martin Schulz.

Since their predecessors François Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl addressed the European Parliament in 1989, “you are the first heads of state and government to take the floor together, to address Europe’s unprecedented challenges before the representatives of European peoples”, he noted.

“When Franco-German cooperation does not work well, the whole of Europe suffers. If, in crises, France and Germany come to a good compromise, it is beneficial for all partners and the whole of the EU”, added Mr Schulz.

President of the French Republic François Hollande
Against the temptation for EU countries “to retreat into their national shells”, which condemns Europe to “powerlessness”, Mr Hollande advocated an “outgoing Europe”, able to “reaffirm the simple and clear principles of solidarity, responsibility and firmness”. Firmness in the face of the “brutal violation of international law” in Ukraine. And responsibility against terrorism, “which threatens the soul of our continent”. Mr Hollande also defended the principle of solidarity with refugees.

“Faced with these challenges, I am convinced that if we do not move ahead with integration, we shall stop or slip back”, said Mr Hollande. He therefore proposed “consolidating the Euro area” in order to “coordinate policies, promote fiscal convergence and harmonisation, investment, and tax and social policy”, adding that “Institutional choices will be necessary”.

Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Angela Merkel
“The huge number of refugees is a test of historic proportions. And to allow these people a dignified life in their homelands, is a European and a global challenge” said Ms Merkel.

“We must now resist the temptation to fall back into national government action. Right now we need more Europe! Germany and France are ready. Only together will we in Europe succeed in reducing the global causes of flight and expulsion. We can protect our external borders successfully only if we do something to deal with the many crises in our neighborhood – Turkey plays a key role”, said Ms Merkel, adding that “EU-wide return programmes are also important. The Dublin process, in its current form, is obsolete”…

Fundamental Principles: Reaffirming our Humanity, Reasserting our Neutrality and Impartiality
Statement – 08 October 2015
By Tadateru Konoé, President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross

The 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Fundamental Principles is an opportunity to reflect on the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement’s role in shaping principled humanitarian action in the past, present, and future.

Although we are celebrating the anniversary of their formal adoption these principles did not simply appear overnight in 1965. They were forged at the very beginning of the Red Cross, on the battlefields of Solferino, and have been shaped by over a century of experience in protecting the lives and dignity of people affected by armed conflicts and disasters worldwide.

Our principles – Humanity, Impartiality, Neutrality, Independence, Voluntary Service, Unity and Universality – guide our decisions, provide substance for our reflections and help us shape our actions to the situation and era in which we operate. They give us the courage and inspiration to respond to the most complex and daunting humanitarian challenges that mark our era.

The Fundamental Principles bind our Movement together, and they give us our distinct identity. Visit any of the 189 National Societies and you will see that, despite the breadth of activities they deliver, they are underpinned by a common architecture that creates the space in which humanitarian action is possible: a commitment to Humanity, and to responding to the needs of communities in an impartial and neutral way.

Reaffirming our Humanity
We are marking the anniversary of the Fundamental Principles at a time when millions of people are affected by conflict. This spiral of horror has forced millions of people to flee their homes, triggering movements of people across Europe and the Middle East, and throughout Africa, the Americas and Asia. For many, the decision to flee is also prompted by other factors, including natural disasters, poverty, the impacts of climate change, and scarcity of basic services. For too many, humanitarian aid is the only lifeline.

But among the many tragedies, there are also stories of Humanity. Thousands of Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers from Mexico to Greece to Indonesia have mobilized to provide basic healthcare, food and water, and to help people reconnect with their loved ones. This is just one of many examples – from the Nepal earthquakes, to the Indian Ocean Tsunami to the Haiti earthquake – where Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers have stood shoulder to shoulder with their communities to offer hope beyond tragedy and disaster.

On the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Fundamental Principles, we reaffirm Humanity as the raison d’être of our work. We may still feel the overawed by the problems that we face, but guided by Humanity we do not shirk the challenges before us.

Reasserting our Impartiality and Neutrality
While Humanity is at the core of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent mission, we can only carry out effective humanitarian action if our Neutrality and Impartiality is understood and respected.

Whether it be safe drinking water or the medical care that’s vital to ensure people’s basic health, we deliver services impartially to people on all sides of a conflict, and to those affected by a disaster, whatever their ethnicity, religion or nationality. The only criterion is need and need alone.

Our impartial engagement, however, is too often cast under a light of suspicion; somehow, people make out that our assistance – especially if we have to negotiate with armed groups to get it through – legitimizes a political end. The reality is quite the contrary; we are able to provide services impartially because we are a neutral organization, but our neutral and impartial identity needs to be accepted and respected.

The politicization of humanitarian aid is the biggest threat to our ability to provide assistance in some parts of the world. On the 50th anniversary, let us remind ourselves that to maintain access and delivery of services where the needs are the most severe, we must reclaim our Neutrality and Impartiality from being hijacked for political ends. We call on States to respect our Neutrality, and we urge humanitarian actors to be rigorous as they apply Impartiality in the delivery of humanitarian aid.

The way to navigate through today’s uncharted humanitarian waters might be confusing and unclear, but this is where the Fundamental Principles come into their own. For 150 years they have been our compass, guiding our ethical and operational choices. On the 50th anniversary of their formal adoption, we must pause to mark the Fundamental Principles’ continued relevance to humanitarian protection and assistance even today. We must continue to nurture them, reaffirm our commitment to them, and introduce them to new generations.

Why? Because they work.

Urban services during protracted armed conflict: A call for a better approach to assisting affected people
ICRC
02-10-2015 – Publication Ref. 4249 :: 72 pages
Pdf: https://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/publications/icrc-002-4249.pdf
Overview
Urbanization is constantly on the rise, with cities already absorbing more than half of the world’s population and armed conflicts increasingly being fought in urban settings. Regions facing protracted armed conflict see a steady decline in essential public services, while the relief-rehabilitation-development paradigm and funding mechanisms fail to provide a satisfactory response in these settings. Based on more than 30 years of ICRC experience in protracted armed conflict in urban settings, this report underlines the challenges, describes the characteristics and complexity of essential services, questions current paradigms and proposes new avenues to be explored to better respond to the needs of urban communities increasingly affected by these phenomena.

[From Executive Summary]
What are the main messages of this report?
1. The relief-rehabilitation-development paradigm is counterproductive in contexts of protracted armed conflict in urban areas. Experience of disaster relief and rural armed conflict has shown that it constricts planning by limiting interventions to those that are “relief” or “post-war” in nature and that may be seen as the first steps in bridging an artificial gap between conflict and development. In many current protracted armed conflict contexts, interventions in urban areas can fall far short of the mark when it comes to people’s needs.

2. A new paradigm is required in order to rise to the challenges posed by protracted armed conflict in urban areas. It must take account of the complexity of the challenges, whose origins lie in (a) the sheer scale of the challenges (infrastructure is so complex in large cities that the restoration of parts of it can immediately benefit several hundred thousand people but the option is often too costly for municipalities and humanitarian agencies that are geared to more traditional emergency responses); (b) the duration of the challenges (the people in Iraq have been living in a combination of international armed conflict (IAC) and non-international armed conflict (NIAC) for decades; (c) the multifaceted interconnectivity of the essential services; (d) cumulative and indirect impacts as well as direct impacts; (e) the politics of a highly securitized operating environment (implicitly, good relationships with local authorities are not only crucial, they are constantly changing and not without risk); (f ) the significant shortcomings resulting from gaps in evidence and analysis; (g) challenges associated with the enforcement and application of international humanitarian law (IHL); and (h) funding that does not match the duration or scale of the needs.

3. Urban services are based on interdependent people, hardware and consumables. Disruptions to essential urban services can be caused by adverse effects on any one of the components that make up the service: critical people (especially operations and maintenance staff), critical hardware (e.g. infrastructure, equipment) and critical consumables (e.g. fuel, chlorine, medicine). No one component is sufficient on its own. It is pointless having the spare parts required to repair a power substation, for instance, if the only skilled staff able to install them have fled the conflict.

4. “Urban” extends beyond the city. Some critical elements of essential services (e.g. those provided by electrical power plants, supply routes, water and wastewater treatment plants) are more often than not located outside the city limits. Very distant active combat can thus have dramatic effect on urban dwellers. In this report, we define “urban” in the context of humanitarian responses as the area within which civilians vulnerable to disruptions in essential
services reside and the network of components supporting those services.

5. Urban services are interconnected. For instance, a damaged electrical transformer can immediately shut down the supply of water to an entire neighbourhood or hospital, greatly reducing the quality of the public health service and drastically increasing the risks posed to public health and wellbeing. The set of skills required to best address such interconnectivity calls into question the silo mentality that exists all too often in municipalities and humanitarian agencies and that impedes cross-sectoral cooperation (e.g. between health, water and sanitation, energy and agriculture). Moreover, many humanitarian agencies have tended to focus historically on developing their capacity to deal with water quantity and quality issues and few, if any, have developed the necessary competences to tackle the urban infrastructural challenges associated with energy supply and wastewater treatment.

6. Services are disrupted by interconnected direct, indirect and cumulative impact. Armed conflict can disrupt any one of the three components (people, hardware and consumables) that make up a service either directly (e.g. a water tower pierced by a tank shell, chlorine shortages due to sanctions) or indirectly (e.g. critical municipal or humanitarian agency staff not showing up for work because access is unsafe). Over time, direct and indirect effects can have an incremental impact on a service, with the result that their effect is cumulative –
and much more difficult to address.

7. If not dealt with in time, “vicious cycles” may render the restoration of a service unfeasible. The accumulation of incremental impacts can lead to progressive deterioration of any service and an associated cumulative impact on people. The effect may at some point become unavoidable and the “vicious cycles” of cumulative impact on all three components (people, hardware and consumables) during protracted armed conflicts in urban areas can lead to a condition that is too technically difficult or simply too expensive to reverse. At present, most assistance is failing to achieve the objective of avoiding such cycles. The new paradigm is therefore driven by a desire to remedy that situation.

8. International humanitarian law (IHL) offers a degree of protection. However, while IHL protects all service components from the direct impact of armed conflict, there are specific challenges arising from its interpretation and application in urban warfare, in particular the extent to which IHL provides protection against the indirect or cumulative impact of hostilities on essential services. The ICRC is actively seeking to address some of these challenges, in
particular through its work on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.

9. Insufficient research has been conducted on the impact of disruptions to urban services on people’s lives over time. One priority area is the need to gain an understanding of how disruptions to services affect people’s livelihoods, food security, human security and health. Many humanitarian agencies have programmes targeting the direct impact of these disruptions but not the indirect or cumulative impact.

Development Goals in an Era of Demographic Change
Global Monitoring Report | 2015/2016 :: 307 pages
World Bank Group/IMF
Pdf: http://pubdocs.worldbank.org/pubdocs/publicdoc/2015/10/503001444058224597/Global-Monitoring-Report-2015.pdf
Overview
This year’s Global Monitoring Report, produced jointly by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, details the progress the world has made towards global development goals and examines the impact of demographic change on achieving these goals.

The report details the decline of those living in global poverty, which is reclassified as living on $1.90 or less a day, to a forecast 9.6 percent of the world’s population in 2015 — a projected 200 million fewer people living in extreme poverty than in 2012. It also revises world economic growth projections for 2015 down to 3.3 percent on the basis of lower growth prospects in emerging markets.

The Global Monitoring Report also analyzes how profound demographic shifts could alter the course of global development. The world is undergoing a major population shift that will reshape economic development for decades. The direction and pace of this transition varies dramatically from country to country, with differing implications depending on where a country stands on the spectrum of aging and economic development, the report said.

“With the right set of policies, this era of demographic change can be turned into one of sustained development progress,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. To accelerate gains, the report says, development policies must take into account this altering landscape. Depending on the circumstances, this means that countries need to spark their demographic transition, accelerate job creation, sustain productivity growth, and adapt to aging.

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Press Release
World Undergoing Major Population Shift with Far-reaching Implications for Migration, Poverty, Development: WB/IMF Report
LIMA, October 7, 2015 — As migrants and refugees from Africa and the Middle East continue to arrive in Europe in unprecedented numbers, a new World Bank/IMF report says that large-scale migration from poor countries to richer regions of the world will be a permanent feature of the global economy for decades to come as a result of major population shifts in countries.

According to the Global Monitoring Report 2015/2016: Development Goals in an Era of Demographic Change, released in Peru at the start of the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the IMF, the world is undergoing a major population shift that will reshape economic development for decades and, while posing challenges, offers a path to ending extreme poverty and shared prosperity if the right evidence-based policies are put in place nationally and internationally.

The share of global population that is working age has peaked at 66 percent and is now on the decline. World population growth is expected to slow to 1 percent from more than 2 percent in the 1960s. The share of the elderly is anticipated to almost double to 16 percent by 2050, while the global count of children is stabilizing at 2 billion.

The direction and pace of this global demographic transition varies dramatically from country to country, with differing implications depending on where a nation stands on the spectrum of aging and economic development. Regardless of this diversity, countries at all stages of development can harness demographic transition as a tremendous development opportunity, the report says.

“With the right set of policies, this era of demographic change can be an engine of economic growth,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. “If countries with aging populations can create a path for refugees and migrants to participate in the economy, everyone benefits, Most of the evidence suggests that migrants will work hard and contribute more in taxes than they consume in social services.”

More than 90 percent of global poverty is concentrated in lower-income countries with young, fast-growing populations that can expect to see their working-age populations grow significantly. At the same time, more than three-quarters of global growth is generated in higher-income countries with much-lower fertility rates, fewer people of working age, and rising numbers of the elderly.

“The demographic developments analyzed in the report will pose fundamental challenges for policy-makers across the world in the years ahead,” said IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde. “Whether it be the implications of steadily aging populations, the actions needed to benefit from a demographic dividend, the handling of migration flows—these issues will be at the center of national policy debates and of the international dialogue on how best to cooperate in handling these pressures.”

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World Bank Forecasts Global Poverty to Fall Below 10% for First Time; Major Hurdles Remain in Goal to End Poverty by 2030
WASHINGTON, October 4, 2015 – The number of people living in extreme poverty around the world is likely to fall to under 10 percent of the global population in 2015, according to World Bank projections…
Date: October 4, 2015 Type: Press Release

Global Employment Trends for Youth 2015: Scaling up investments in decent jobs for youth
‎ILO
08 October 2015 :: 98 pages :: 978-92-2-129635-5[ISBN]
Pdf: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—dgreports/—dcomm/—publ/documents/publication/wcms_412015.pdf
Overview
The Global Employment Trends for Youth 2015 provides an update on key youth labour market indicators and trends, focusing both on the continuing labour market instability and on structural issues in youth labour markets. The report offers valuable lessons learned on “what works” for youth employment and on emerging practices in policy responses. Ideally, these will shape future investments in youth employment, as countries continue to prioritize youth in their national policy agendas.

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Press Release
Youth employment crisis easing but far from over
Despite a mild recovery in the 2012-2014 period, the youth unemployment rate remains well above its pre-crisis level. For millions of young people around the world finding a decent job is still a drawn-out uphill struggle.

GENEVA (ILO News) – The global youth unemployment rate has stabilized at 13 per cent following a period of rapid increase between 2007 and 2010 but it is still well above the pre-crisis level of 11.7 per cent, according to the ILO’s Global Employment Trends for Youth 2015 report released today.

The report highlights a drop in the number of unemployed youth to 73.3 million in 2014. That is 3.3 million less than the crisis peak of 76.6 million in 2009.

Compared to 2012, the youth unemployment rate has decreased by 1.4 percentage points in Developed Economies and the European Union and by half a percentage point or less in Central and South-Eastern Europe (non-EU) and CIS, Latin America and the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa. The remaining regions – East Asia, South-East Asia and the Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa – saw an increase in the youth unemployment rate between 2012 and 2014, or no change in the case of South Asia…

…The report offers new evidence on how young people move into the labour market based on data from recent school-to-work transition surveys (SWTS)* . For young people who aspire to a stable job, the transition period takes an average of 19 months. A young person with university education is able to move to a stable job in one-third of the time needed for a youth with primary education. In most cases the transition takes longer for young women than men.
Time to scale up action: Investing in skills and in quality job creation
Rapid changes in technology, in patterns of work and employment relationship, as well as new forms of start-ups, require constant adjustment to new labour market conditions and addressing skills mismatches.

Providing youth the best opportunity to transition to a decent job calls for investing in education and training of the highest possible quality, providing youth with skills that match labour market demands, giving them access to social protection and basic services regardless of their contract type, as well as levelling the playing field so that all aspiring youth can attain productive employment regardless of their gender, income level or socio-economic background.

“We know that today’s youth do not face an easy labour market transition and with the continued global economic slowdown, this is likely to continue, but we also know that greater investment in targeted action to boost youth employment pays off. It is time to scale up action in support of youth employment,” says Azita Berar Awad, Director of the ILO’s Employment Policy Department…

Global Standards for quality health-care services for adolescents
WHO
2015 :: Number of pages: 40, 28, 100, 132
WHO reference number: 978 92 4 154933 2
Volume 1: Standards and criteria pdf, 918kb
Volume 2: Implementation guide pdf, 867kb
Volume 3: Tools to conduct quality and coverage measurement surveys to collect data about compliance with the global standards pdf, 887kb
Volume 4: Scoring sheets for data analysis pdf, 927kb
Policy brief pdf, 770kb

Overview
Global initiatives are urging countries to prioritize quality as a way of reinforcing human rights-based approaches to health. Yet evidence from both high- and low-income countries shows that services for adolescents are highly fragmented, poorly coordinated and uneven in quality. Pockets of excellent practice exist, but, overall, services need significant improvement and should be brought into conformity with existing guidelines.
WHO/UNAIDS Global Standards for quality health care services for adolescents aim to assist policy-makers and health service planners in improving the quality of health-care services so that adolescents find it easier to obtain the health services that they need to promote, protect and improve their health and well-being.

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Press Release
WHO and UNAIDS launch new standards to improve adolescent care
GENEVA, 6 October 2015—New Global Standards for quality health-care services for adolescents developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS aim to help countries improve the quality of adolescent health care.

Existing health services often fail the world’s adolescents (10-19-year-olds). Many adolescents who suffer from mental health disorders, substance use, poor nutrition, intentional injuries and chronic illness do not have access to critical prevention and care services. Meanwhile, many behaviours that have a lifelong impact on health begin in adolescence.

“These standards provide simple yet powerful steps that countries – both rich and poor – can immediately take to improve the health and wellbeing of their adolescents, reflecting the stronger focus on adolescents in the new Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health that was launched in New York in September,” says Dr Anthony Costello, Director of Maternal, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health at WHO.

Adolescents form a unique group, rapidly developing both physically and emotionally but are often dependent on their parents or guardians. WHO and UNAIDS Global Standards for quality health-care services for adolescents recommend making services more “adolescent friendly”, providing free or low-cost consultations, and making medically accurate age-appropriate health information available. They also highlight the need for adolescents to be able to access services without necessarily having to make an appointment or requiring parental consent, safe in the knowledge that any consultation remains confidential, and certain that they will not experience discrimination…

…“AIDS is the leading cause of death among adolescents in Africa and the second primary cause of death among adolescents globally,” says Dr Mariângela Simão, Director of Rights, Gender, Prevention and Community Mobilization at UNAIDS. “All adolescents, including key populations, have a right to the information and services that will empower them to protect themselves from HIV.” …

…The Global Standards for quality health-care services for adolescents call for an inclusive package of information, counselling, diagnostic, treatment and care services that go beyond the traditional focus on sexual and reproductive health.

Adolescents should be meaningfully involved in planning, monitoring and providing feedback on health services and in decisions regarding their own care.

More than 25 low- and middle-income countries have already adopted national standards for improving adolescent health services.

The global standards from WHO and UNAIDS are built on research from these countries, as well as feedback from health providers and more than 1000 adolescents worldwide. They are accompanied by an implementation and evaluation guide that outlines concrete steps that countries can take to improve health care for adolescents.

Nobel Prizes – 2015
http://www.nobelprize.org/

2015 Nobel Peace Prize
Press release
Oslo, 10 October 2015
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2015 is to be awarded to the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet for its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011. The Quartet was formed in the summer of 2013 when the democratization process was in danger of collapsing as a result of political assassinations and widespread social unrest. It established an alternative, peaceful political process at a time when the country was on the brink of civil war. It was thus instrumental in enabling Tunisia, in the space of a few years, to establish a constitutional system of government guaranteeing fundamental rights for the entire population, irrespective of gender, political conviction or religious belief.

The National Dialogue Quartet has comprised four key organizations in Tunisian civil society: the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT, Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail), the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA, Union Tunisienne de l’Industrie, du Commerce et de l’Artisanat), the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH, La Ligue Tunisienne pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme), and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers (Ordre National des Avocats de Tunisie). These organizations represent different sectors and values in Tunisian society: working life and welfare, principles of the rule of law and human rights. On this basis, the Quartet exercised its role as a mediator and driving force to advance peaceful democratic development in Tunisia with great moral authority. The Nobel Peace Prize for 2015 is awarded to this Quartet, not to the four individual organizations as such.

The Arab Spring originated in Tunisia in 2010-2011, but quickly spread to a number of countries in North Africa and the Middle East. In many of these countries, the struggle for democracy and fundamental rights has come to a standstill or suffered setbacks. Tunisia, however, has seen a democratic transition based on a vibrant civil society with demands for respect for basic human rights.

An essential factor for the culmination of the revolution in Tunisia in peaceful, democratic elections last autumn was the effort made by the Quartet to support the work of the constituent assembly and to secure approval of the constitutional process among the Tunisian population at large. The Quartet paved the way for a peaceful dialogue between the citizens, the political parties and the authorities and helped to find consensus-based solutions to a wide range of challenges across political and religious divides. The broad-based national dialogue that the Quartet succeeded in establishing countered the spread of violence in Tunisia and its function is therefore comparable to that of the peace congresses to which Alfred Nobel refers in his will.

The course that events have taken in Tunisia since the fall of the authoritarian Ben Ali regime in January 2011 is unique and remarkable for several reasons. Firstly, it shows that Islamist and secular political movements can work together to achieve significant results in the country’s best interests. The example of Tunisia thus underscores the value of dialogue and a sense of national belonging in a region marked by conflict. Secondly, the transition in Tunisia shows that civil society institutions and organizations can play a crucial role in a country’s democratization, and that such a process, even under difficult circumstances, can lead to free elections and the peaceful transfer of power. The National Dialogue Quartet must be given much of the credit for this achievement and for ensuring that the benefits of the Jasmine Revolution have not been lost.

Tunisia faces significant political, economic and security challenges. The Norwegian Nobel Committee hopes that this year’s prize will contribute towards safeguarding democracy in Tunisia and be an inspiration to all those who seek to promote peace and democracy in the Middle East, North Africa and the rest of the world. More than anything, the prize is intended as an encouragement to the Tunisian people, who despite major challenges have laid the groundwork for a national fraternity which the Committee hopes will serve as an example to be followed by other countries.

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2015 Nobel Prize in Literature
The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2015 is awarded to the Belarusian author Svetlana Alexievich “for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time”.

2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2015 was awarded with one half jointly to William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites and the other half to Youyou Tu for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against Malaria.

2015 Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2015 was awarded jointly to Takaaki Kajita and Arthur B. McDonald “for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass”.

2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015 was awarded jointly to Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar “for mechanistic studies of DNA repair”.

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50 years after UNICEF received Nobel Peace Prize, children still face ‘conflict and crisis, deprivation and disadvantage’ — UNICEF Chief
Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake marking the 50th Anniversary of UNICEF being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
NEW YORK, 6 October 2015 –

“In accepting the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of UNICEF in 1965, UNICEF’s second Executive Director, Henry Labouisse, said that “the welfare of today’s children is inseparably linked with the peace of tomorrow’s world.” Today, in a world of growing turmoil, his words still ring true. And they speak to us all.

“For while a child born in 2015 has a far greater chance to survive and fulfil her potential than a child born in 1965, the welfare of far too many children today is jeopardized by conflict and crisis, deprivation and disadvantage. Many are seeing and experiencing things no child should ever face. And in every society, far too many children are growing up deprived of all they need to grow up healthy and strong.

“When we work in common cause to reach these children – to alleviate their suffering, to help them grow and learn – we are not only giving them a chance at having a future. We are giving them a chance at building a better future for themselves, their families and their societies. A generation of children not only able but willing to create stronger, more stable, peaceful societies. A generation healed, not hardened.

“Every child has the right to the quiet blessing of a normal childhood. UNICEF has worked every day since we were honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize, as we will continue working every day, to advance that right for every child, everywhere. For this is the surest path to a future where peace is possible.”

CBD Convention on Biological Diversity [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.cbd.int/press-releases/

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The first internationally recognized certificate of compliance is issued under the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing
Montreal, 7 October 2015 – The first internationally recognized certificate of compliance was issued on 1 October 2015, following a permit made available to the Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS) Clearing-House by India.

Under the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization, Parties are to issue a permit or its equivalent at the time of access as evidence that access to genetic resources was based on prior informed consent and that mutually agreed terms were established. Parties are required by the Nagoya Protocol to make information on the permit or its equivalent, available to the ABS Clearing-House for the constitution of the internationally recognized certificate of compliance.

The permit was issued by India’s National Biodiversity Authority, the competent national authority under the Nagoya Protocol. The certificate then constituted through the ABS Clearing-House serves as evidence of the decision by India to grant access to ethno-medicinal knowledge of the Siddi community from Gujarat to a researcher affiliated with the University of Kent in the United Kingdom. The researcher can now demonstrate that s/he has respected the ABS requirements of India when using this knowledge.

“Last week was an important week for the Nagoya Protocol,” said Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity. “In addition to having the first internationally recognized certificate of compliance published in the ABS Clearing-House, two additional countries joined the Protocol: the Philippines and Djibouti, which brings the total number of ratifications to 68.”…

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

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9 October 2015
SC/12072
Adopting Resolution 2240 (2015), Security Council Authorizes Member States to Intercept Vessels off Libyan Coast Suspected of Migrant Smuggling
The Security Council this morning decided to authorize Member States for a period of one year to inspect vessels on the high seas off the coast of Libya that they had reasonable grounds to suspect were being used for migrant smuggling or human trafficking from that country.

8 October 2015
SG/SM/17200-OBV/1531
Dignity Integral to Healthy, Fulfilling Lives for People with Mental Disabilities, Secretary-General Says in World Mental Health Day Message

8 October 2015
GA/11702-PAL/2197
Deputy Chief of Palestine Refugee Agency Paints Dire Picture of Financial Position as Member States Announce Donations at Pledging Conference
A total of 21 donors today announced contributions, or their intention to contribute, to the 2016 budget of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), as officials urged stable financing for the Agency against a backdrop of expanding crises in the Middle East.

3 October 2015
GA/11701
Concluding Debate, General Assembly Speakers Call on United Nations to Invoke Compassion, Dignity amid Waves of Refugees, War, Climate Threats
In addressing the world’s enormous challenges — serving waves of refugees in the Mediterranean, brokering necessary peace in the Middle East and managing the “existential” threat of climate change — speakers in the General Assembly today called on the United Nations to invoke the spirit that had underpinned its historic founding 70 years ago: one of compassion and dignity.

UN OHCHR Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/media.aspx?IsMediaPage=true
Selected Press Releases/Announcements

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Migrant crisis: “High time for Europe to reclaim a leading role in human rights” – UN experts
10/9/2015

Right to pain relief: 5.5 billion people have no access to treatment, warn UN experts
World Hospice and Palliative Care Day – Saturday 10 October 2015
10/9/2015

“Dignity must prevail” – An appeal to do away with non-consensual psychiatric treatment
World Mental Health Day – Saturday 10 October 2015
10/8/2015

Using the death penalty to fight drug crimes violates international law, UN rights experts warn World Day Against the Death Penalty – Saturday 10 October
10/8/2015

EU migration policy will fail unless comprehensive and grounded in human rights – Zeid
10/8/2015
…“A migration policy that seeks simply to exclude irregular migrants, without taking into account a holistic analysis as to why they are moving, is unlikely to result in better management of migration. Instead, it is very likely to come at an unacceptable cost to the rights of migrants, including more deaths, detention and abuse of innocent people,” Zeid said.

Committee on the Rights of the Child [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRC/Pages/CRCIndex.aspx

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UN Committee on the Rights of the Child publishes its concluding observations on UAE, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Poland, Brazil, Chile, Timor Leste, Madagascar, and Cuba
8 October 2015