PLOS Currents: Disasters
http://currents.plos.org/disasters/
[Accessed 19 March 2016]

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A Comparative Analysis of Disaster Risk, Vulnerability and Resilience Composite Indicators
March 14, 2016 · Research Article
Abstract
Introduction: In the past decade significant attention has been given to the development of tools that attempt to measure the vulnerability, risk or resilience of communities to disasters. Particular attention has been given to the development of composite indices to quantify these concepts mirroring their deployment in other fields such as sustainable development. Whilst some authors have published reviews of disaster vulnerability, risk and resilience composite indicator methodologies, these have been of a limited nature. This paper seeks to dramatically expand these efforts by analysing 106 composite indicator methodologies to understand the breadth and depth of practice.
Methods: An extensive search of the academic and grey literature was undertaken for composite indicator and scorecard methodologies that addressed multiple/all hazards; included social and economic aspects of risk, vulnerability or resilience; were sub-national in scope; explained the method and variables used; focussed on the present-day; and, had been tested or implemented. Information on the index construction, geographic areas of application, variables used and other relevant data was collected and analysed.
Results: Substantial variety in construction practices of composite indicators of risk, vulnerability and resilience were found. Five key approaches were identified in the literature, with the use of hierarchical or deductive indices being the most common. Typically variables were chosen by experts, came from existing statistical datasets and were combined by simple addition with equal weights. A minimum of 2 variables and a maximum of 235 were used, although approximately two thirds of methodologies used less than 40 variables. The 106 methodologies used 2298 unique variables, the most frequently used being common statistical variables such as population density and unemployment rate. Classification of variables found that on average 34% of the variables used in each methodology related to the social environment, 25% to the disaster environment, 20% to the economic environment, 13% to the built environment, 6% to the natural environment and 3% were other indices. However variables specifically measuring action to mitigate or prepare for disasters only comprised 12%, on average, of the total number of variables in each index. Only 19% of methodologies employed any sensitivity or uncertainty analysis and in only a single case was this comprehensive.
Discussion: A number of potential limitations of the present state of practice and how these might impact on decision makers are discussed. In particular the limited deployment of sensitivity and uncertainty analysis and the low use of direct measures of disaster risk, vulnerability and resilience could significantly limit the quality and reliability of existing methodologies. Recommendations for improvements to indicator development and use are made, as well as suggested future research directions to enhance the theoretical and empirical knowledge base for composite indicator development.

PLoS Currents: Outbreaks
http://currents.plos.org/outbreaks/
(Accessed 19 March 2016)

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On the Seasonal Occurrence and Abundance of the Zika Virus Vector Mosquito Aedes Aegypti in the Contiguous United States
March 16, 2016 · Research Article
Abstract
Introduction: An ongoing Zika virus pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean has raised concerns that travel-related introduction of Zika virus could initiate local transmission in the United States (U.S.) by its primary vector, the mosquito Aedes aegypti.
Methods: We employed meteorologically driven models for 2006-2015 to simulate the potential seasonal abundance of adult Aedes aegypti for fifty cities within or near the margins of its known U.S. range. Mosquito abundance results were analyzed alongside travel and socioeconomic factors that are proxies of viral introduction and vulnerability to human-vector contact.
Results: Meteorological conditions are largely unsuitable for Aedes aegypti over the U.S. during winter months (December-March), except in southern Florida and south Texas where comparatively warm conditions can sustain low-to-moderate potential mosquito abundance. Meteorological conditions are suitable for Aedes aegypti across all fifty cities during peak summer months (July-September), though the mosquito has not been documented in all cities. Simulations indicate the highest mosquito abundance occurs in the Southeast and south Texas where locally acquired cases of Aedes-transmitted viruses have been reported previously. Cities in southern Florida and south Texas are at the nexus of high seasonal suitability for Aedes aegypti and strong potential for travel-related virus introduction. Higher poverty rates in cities along the U.S.-Mexico border may correlate with factors that increase human exposure to Aedes aegypti.
Discussion: Our results can inform baseline risk for local Zika virus transmission in the U.S. and the optimal timing of vector control activities, and underscore the need for enhanced surveillance for Aedes mosquitoes and Aedes-transmitted viruses.

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Unintended Pregnancies in Brazil – A Challenge for the Recommendation to Delay Pregnancy Due to Zika
March 16, 2016 · Discussion
Abstract
Because of the potential link between the ongoing Zika virus outbreak and a surge in the number of cases of congenital microcephaly, officials in Latin America have recommended that women postpone pregnancy until this association is firmly established or the outbreak subsides. However, in all these countries a large proportion of babies are still born out of unplanned pregnancies. Teenage girls are particularly at high risk, as they often lack access to preventive contraception methods, or the knowledge to use them appropriately. To gauge the magnitude of the barriers preventing the implementation of such a recommendation in Brazil, the country so far most affected by the Zika epidemic, we evaluated pregnancy rates in teenage girls, and their spatial heterogeneity in the country, in recent years (2012-2014). Nearly 20% of children born in Brazil today (~560,000 live births) are by teenage mothers. Birth incidence is far higher in the tropical and poorer northern states. However, in absolute terms most births occur in the populous southeastern states, matching to a large extent the geographic distribution of dengue (an indicator of suitable climatic and sociodemographic conditions for the circulation of Aedes mosquitoes). These findings indicate that recommendation to delay pregnancy will leave over half a million pregnant adolescents in Brazil vulnerable to infection every year if not accompanied by effective education and real access to prevention.

PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
http://www.plosntds.org/
(Accessed 19 March 2016)

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Editorial
The Zika Pandemic – A Perfect Storm?
Philip K. Russell
| published 18 Mar 2016 | PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
10.1371/journal.pntd.0004589

Research Article
Is Dengue Vector Control Deficient in Effectiveness or Evidence?: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Leigh R. Bowman, Sarah Donegan, Philip J. McCall
| published 17 Mar 2016 | PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
10.1371/journal.pntd.0004551

PNAS – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/
(Accessed 19 March 2016)

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High-seas fish wars generate marine reserves
Guillermo E. Herreraa, Holly V. Moellerb, and Michael G. Neubertb,1
Author Affiliations
Edited by Alan Hastings, University of California, Davis, CA, and approved January 29, 2016 (received for review September 17, 2015)
Significance
Marine reserves—areas where fishing is prohibited—have been implemented to conserve fish stocks and their habitats. They have been established in near-shore fisheries, where a single state (or “sole owner”) regulates the distribution of fishing effort. Modeling has shown that, under some conditions, the sole owner may also use closed areas to maximize sustainable profit. Here, we show that reserves may also play a role in fisheries management on the high seas, where a limited number of states compete in a noncooperative fishing game. Our theoretical analysis complements recent empirical studies of high-seas protected areas and is relevant in other management contexts characterized by a limited number of harvesters.

Abstract
The effective management of marine fisheries is an ongoing challenge at the intersection of biology, economics, and policy. One way in which fish stocks—and their habitats—can be protected is through the establishment of marine reserves, areas that are closed to fishing. Although the potential economic benefits of such reserves have been shown for single-owner fisheries, their implementation quickly becomes complicated when more than one noncooperating harvester is involved in fishery management, which is the case on the high seas. How do multiple self-interested actors distribute their fishing effort to maximize their individual economic gains in the presence of others? Here, we use a game theoretic model to compare the effort distributions of multiple noncooperating harvesters with the effort distributions in the benchmark sole owner and open access cases. In addition to comparing aggregate rent, stock size, and fishing effort, we focus on the occurrence, size, and location of marine reserves. We show that marine reserves are a component of many noncooperative Cournot–Nash equilibria. Furthermore, as the number of harvesters increases, (i) both total unfished area and the size of binding reserves (those that actually constrain behavior) may increase, although the latter eventually asymptotically decreases; (ii) total rents and stock size both decline; and (iii) aggregate effort used (i.e., employment) can either increase or decrease, perhaps nonmonotonically.

Prehospital & Disaster Medicine
Volume 31 – Issue 02 – April 2016
https://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?jid=PDM&tab=currentissue

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Editorial
Zika Virus Association with Microcephaly: The Power for Population Statistics to Identify Public Health Emergencies
Samuel J. Stratton
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1049023X16000170
Published online: 04 March 2016
[No abstract]

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Original Research
An Assessment of Collaboration and Disasters: A Hospital Perspective
Sabrina A. Adelainea1 c1, Kimberly Shoafa2 and Caitlin Harveya1
a1 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, California USA
a2 University of Utah, Division of Public Health, Salt Lake City, Utah USA
Abstract
Introduction There is no standard guidance for strategies for hospitals to use to coordinate with other agencies during a disaster.
Hypothesis/Problem This study analyzes successful strategies and barriers encountered by hospitals across the nation in coordinating and collaborating with other response agencies.
Methods Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from a web-based study from 577 acute care hospitals sampled from the 2013 American Hospital Association (AHA) database. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics.
Results The most common barriers to collaboration are related to finances, ability to communicate, and personnel.

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Vaccination Against Seasonal or Pandemic Influenza in Emergency Medical Services
Alexandre Moser, Cédric Mabire, Olivier Hugli, Victor Dorribo, Giorgio Zanetti, Catherine Lazor-Blanchet and Pierre-Nicolas Carron
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1049023X16000121
Published online: 09 February 2016
Abstract
Introduction Influenza is a major concern for Emergency Medical Services (EMS); EMS workers’ (EMS-Ws) vaccination rates remain low despite promotion. Determinants of vaccination for seasonal influenza (SI) or pandemic influenza (PI) are unknown in this setting.
Hypothesis The influence of the H1N1 pandemic on EMS-W vaccination rates, differences between SI and PI vaccination rates, and the vaccination determinants were investigated.
Methods A survey was conducted in 2011 involving 65 Swiss EMS-Ws. Socio-professional data, self-declared SI/PI vaccination status, and motives for vaccine refusal or acceptation were collected.
Results Response rate was 95%. The EMS-Ws were predominantly male (n=45; 73%), in good health (87%), with a mean age of 36 (SD=7.7) years. Seventy-four percent had more than six years of work experience. Self-declared vaccination rates were 40% for both SI and PI (PI+/SI+), 19% for PI only (PI+/SI-), 1.6% for SI only (PI-/SI+), and 39% were not vaccinated against either (PI-/SI-). Women’s vaccination rates specifically were lower in all categories but the difference was not statistically significant. During the previous three years, 92% of PI+/SI+ EMS-Ws received at least one SI vaccination; it was 8.3% in the case of PI-/SI- (P=.001) and 25% for PI+/SI- (P=.001). During the pandemic, SI vaccination rate increased from 26% during the preceding year to 42% (P=.001). Thirty percent of the PI+/SI+ EMS-Ws declared that they would not get vaccination next year, while this proportion was null for the PI-/SI- and PI+/SI- groups. Altruism and discomfort induced by the surgical mask required were the main motivations to get vaccinated against PI. Factors limiting PI or SI vaccination included the option to wear a mask, avoidance of medication, fear of adverse effects, and concerns about safety and effectiveness.
Conclusion Average vaccination rate in this study’s EMS-Ws was below recommended values, particularly for women. Previous vaccination status was a significant determinant of PI and future vaccinations. The new mask policy seemed to play a dual role, and its net impact is probably limited. This population could be divided in three groups: favorable to all vaccinations; against all, even in a pandemic context; and ambivalent with a “pandemic effect.” These results suggest a consistent vaccination pattern, only altered by exceptional circumstances.

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International Consensus on Key Concepts and Data Definitions for Mass-gathering Health: Process and Progress
Sheila A. Turris, Malinda Steenkamp, Adam Lund, Alison Hutton, Jamie Ranse, Ron Bowles, Katherine Arbuthnott, Olga Anikeeva and Paul Arbon
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1049023X1600011X
Published online: 04 February 2016
Abstract
Mass gatherings (MGs) occur worldwide on any given day, yet mass-gathering health (MGH) is a relatively new field of scientific inquiry. As the science underpinning the study of MGH continues to develop, there will be increasing opportunities to improve health and safety of those attending events. The emerging body of MG literature demonstrates considerable variation in the collection and reporting of data. This complicates comparison across settings and limits the value and utility of these reported data. Standardization of data points and/or reporting in relation to events would aid in creating a robust evidence base from which governments, researchers, clinicians, and event planners could benefit. Moving towards international consensus on any topic is a complex undertaking. This report describes a collaborative initiative to develop consensus on key concepts and data definitions for a MGH “Minimum Data Set.” This report makes transparent the process undertaken, demonstrates a pragmatic way of managing international collaboration, and proposes a number of steps for progressing international consensus. The process included correspondence through a journal, face-to-face meetings at a conference, then a four-day working meeting; virtual meetings over a two-year period supported by online project management tools; consultation with an international group of MGH researchers via an online Delphi process; and a workshop delivered at the 19thWorld Congress on Disaster and Emergency Medicine held in Cape Town, South Africa in April 2015. This resulted in an agreement by workshop participants that there is a need for international consensus on key concepts and data definitions.

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Special Reports
Research and Evaluations of the Health Aspects of Disasters, Part VI: Interventional Research and the Disaster Logic Model
Marvin L. Birnbaum, Elaine K. Daily, Ann P. O’Rourke and Jennifer Kushner
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1049023X16000017

Research and Evaluations of the Health Aspects of Disasters, Part VII: The Relief/Recovery Framework
Marvin L. Birnbaum, Elaine K. Daily and Ann P. O’Rourke
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1049023X16000029

Public Health Reports
Volume 131 , Issue Number 2 March/April 2016
http://www.publichealthreports.org/issuecontents.cfm?Volume=131&Issue=2

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Articles
Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in the United States: Updated Estimates of Women and Girls at Risk, 2012
Howard Goldberg, PhD / Paul Stupp, PhD / Ekwutosi Okoroh, MD / Ghenet Besera, MPH / David Goodman, PhD, MS / Isabella Danel, MD
ABSTRACT
Objectives. In 1996, the U.S. Congress passed legislation making female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) illegal in the United States. CDC published the first estimates of the number of women and girls at risk for FGM/C in 1997. Since 2012, various constituencies have again raised concerns about the practice in the United States. We updated an earlier estimate of the number of women and girls in the United States who were at risk for FGM/C or its consequences.
Methods. We estimated the number of women and girls who were at risk for undergoing FGM/C or its consequences in 2012 by applying country-specific prevalence of FGM/C to the estimated number of women and girls living in the United States who were born in that country or who lived with a parent born in that country.
Results. Approximately 513,000 women and girls in the United States were at risk for FGM/C or its consequences in 2012, which was more than three times higher than the earlier estimate, based on 1990 data. The increase in the number of women and girls younger than 18 years of age at risk for FGM/C was more than four times that of previous estimates.
Conclusion. The estimated increase was wholly a result of rapid growth in the number of immigrants from FGM/C-practicing countries living in the United States and not from increases in FGM/C prevalence in those countries. Scien¬tifically valid information regarding whether women or their daughters have actually undergone FGM/C and related information that can contribute to efforts to prevent the practice in the United States and provide needed health services to women who have undergone FGM/C are needed.

Qualitative Health Research
April 2016; 26 (5)
http://qhr.sagepub.com/content/current
Special Issue: Qualitative Contributions to Quantitative Inquiry

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Commentary
Adding Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research to Health Intervention Studies: Interacting With Differences
R. Burke Johnson and Judith Schoonenboom
Qual Health Res April 2016 26: 587-602, first published on December 9, 2015 doi:10.1177/1049732315617479
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to explain how to improve intervention designs, such as randomized controlled trials (RCTs), in health science research using a process philosophy and theory known as dialectical pluralism (DP). DP views reality as plural and uses dialectical, dialogical, and hermeneutical approaches to knowledge construction. Using DP and its “both/and” logic, and its attempt to produce new creative syntheses, researchers on heterogeneous teams can better dialogue with qualitative and mixed methods approaches, concepts, paradigms, methodologies, and methods to improve their intervention research studies. The concept of reflexivity is utilized but is expanded when it is a component of DP. Examples of strategies for identifying, inviting, and creating divergence and integrative strategies for producing strong mixed methods intervention studies are provided and illustrated using real-life examples.

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Essential Qualitative Inquiry in the Development of a Cancer Literacy Measure for Immigrant Women
Lydia P. Buki, Barbara W. K. Yee, Kari A. Weiterschan, and Emaan N. Lehardy
Qual Health Res April 2016 26: 640-648, first published on December 1, 2015 doi:10.1177/1049732315616621
Abstract
In this article, we describe the development of a comprehensive measure of breast and cervical cancer literacy for immigrant populations. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt to use a health literacy framework in this endeavor. Using qualitative strategies, we (a) developed an understanding of the experiences of Mexican and Filipina immigrant women with low health literacy through individual interviews, (b) conducted focus groups to obtain feedback from experts and participants to determine the adequacy of items included in the measure, and (c) refined the set of items to create an empirically based measure. The final measure included 129 items that assess beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, emotions, and contextual factors related to breast and cervical cancer. Processes for adapting the measure for use with other immigrant groups are discussed.

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General Articles
Subjective Experience and Resources for Coping With Stigma in People With a Diagnosis of Schizophrenia: An Intersectional Approach
Jazmín Mora-Rios, Miriam Ortega-Ortega, and Guillermina Natera
Qual Health Res April 2016 26: 697-711, first published on February 10, 2015 doi:10.1177/1049732315570118
Abstract
In this study, we investigate the subjective experience of a group of individuals, diagnosed with schizophrenia, undergoing outpatient treatment in four psychiatric clinics in Mexico City. Our objective is to use the paradigm of intersectionality to explore the most common forms of stigma and discrimination faced by people with this illness, as well as the coping resources they employ. The major contribution of this study is its use of in-depth interviews and thematic analysis of the information obtained to identify the importance of sociocultural aspects of participants’ experience of their illness. Schizophrenia, for them, was a problem of “nerves,” whose origins were linked to magical or religious elements they attributed to their illness and which influenced their response to it. This resignification was useful to participants as a coping resource; it helped them find meaning and significance in their experience of the illness.

Reproductive Health
http://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/content
[Accessed 19 March 2016]

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Research
Engaging with community-based public and private mid-level providers for promoting the use of modern contraceptive methods in rural Pakistan: results from two innovative birth spacing interventions
Syed Khurram Azmat, Waqas Hameed, Hasan Bin Hamza, Ghulam Mustafa, Muhammad Ishaque, Ghazunfer Abbas, Omar Farooq Khan, Jamshaid Asghar, Erik Munroe, Safdar Ali, Wajahat Hussain, Sajid Ali, Aftab Ahmed, Moazzam Ali and Marleen Temmerman
Published on: 17 March 2016

Social Science & Medicine
Volume 152, Pages 1-192 (March 2016)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/02779536/152

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Review Article
Violence against children in humanitarian settings: A literature review of population-based approaches
Pages 125-137
Lindsay Stark, Debbie Landis
Abstract
Children in humanitarian settings are thought to experience increased exposure to violence, which can impair their physical, emotional, and social development. Violence against children has important economic and social consequences for nations as a whole. The purpose of this review is to examine population-based approaches measuring violence against children in humanitarian settings. The authors reviewed prevalence studies of violence against children in humanitarian contexts appearing in peer-reviewed journals within the past twenty years. A Boolean search procedure was conducted in October 2014 of the electronic databases PubMed/Medline and PsychInfo. If abstracts contained evidence of the study’s four primary themes – violence, children, humanitarian contexts and population-based measurement – a full document review was undertaken to confirm relevance. Out of 2634 identified articles, 22 met the final inclusion criteria. Across studies, there was varying quality and no standardization in measurement approach. Nine out of 22 studies demonstrated a relationship between conflict exposure and adverse health or mental health outcomes. Among studies that compared rates of violence between boys and girls, boys reported higher rates of physical violence, while girls reported higher rates of sexual violence. Children in infancy and early childhood were found to be among the most under-researched. Ultimately, the body of evidence in this review offers an incomplete picture regarding the prevalence, nature and impact of violence against children in emergencies, demonstrating a weak evidence base for some of the basic assumptions underpinning humanitarian practice. The development of standardized approaches to more rigorously measure violence against children is urgently needed in order to understand trends of violence against children in humanitarian contexts, and to promote children’s healthy development and well-being.

Stability: International Journal of Security & Development
http://www.stabilityjournal.org/articles
[accessed 19 March 2016]

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Research Article
DDR and the Internal Organization of Non-State Armed Groups
Brian McQuinn
Abstract
This paper argues that demobilization, disarmament and reintegration (DDR) trajectories of non-state armed groups are shaped by a group’s internal organization. Extensive research by political scientists has demonstrated a correlation between internal features of armed groups and their behaviour (e.g. extent of violence used against local communities). I extend this analysis to DDR outcomes by illustrating how two features of an armed group’s internal organization – command profile and financing architecture – influence post-conflict DDR trajectories. To substantiate the theory, four case studies from Colombia, Nepal and Libya are reviewed. The article concludes with the limitations and opportunities of this approach, including the potential of predicting DDR challenges.

The Sentinel

Human Rights Action :: Humanitarian Response :: Health ::
Holistic Development :: Sustainable Resilience
__________________________________________________
Week ending 12 March 2016

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 12 March 2016

blog edition: comprised of the 35+ entries  posted below.

South Sudan

Ivan Simonovic (Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights) and David Marshall (OHCHR) on the situation in South Sudan- Press Conference
[Video:: 41:07]
11 Mar 2016 – Briefing from Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan Simonovic, and David Marshall from the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights on the situation in South Sudan.

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South Sudan: UN report contains “searing” account of killings, rapes and destruction
GENEVA (11 March 2016) – A new report on South Sudan published Friday by the UN Human Rights Office describes “in searing detail” a multitude of horrendous human rights violations, including a Government-operated “scorched earth policy,” and deliberate targeting of civilians for killing, rape and pillage.

Although all parties to the conflict have committed patterns of serious and systematic violence against civilians since fighting broke out in December 2013, the report says state actors bore the greatest responsibility during 2015, given the weakening of opposition forces.

The scale of sexual violence is particularly shocking: in five months last year, from April to September 2015, the UN recorded more than 1,300 reports of rape in just one of South Sudan’s ten states, oil-rich Unity. Credible sources indicate groups allied to the Government are being allowed to rape women in lieu of wages but opposition groups and criminal gangs have also been preying on women and girls.

“The scale and types of sexual violence – primarily by Government SPLA forces and affiliated militia – are described in searing, devastating detail, as is the almost casual, yet calculated, attitude of those slaughtering civilians and destroying property and livelihoods,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra`ad Al Hussein. “However, the quantity of rapes and gang-rapes described in the report must only be a snapshot of the real total. This is one of the most horrendous human rights situations in the world, with massive use of rape as an instrument of terror and weapon of war — yet it has been more or less off the international radar.”

The new report is the work of an assessment team sent by the High Commissioner to South Sudan from October 2015 to January 2016, in accordance with a resolution by the Human Rights Council in July 2015. It focuses primarily on the worst affected Unity and Upper Nile States, as well as Western and Central Equatoria, where the conflict has spread. While building on earlier reports of the African Union Commission of Inquiry and the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), the new reports places special emphasis on violations that took place during 2015…

Joint United Nations statement on Syria
Press Releases, 12 March 2016
After five years of a brutal and senseless conflict over a quarter of a million Syrians have been killed and over half the population forced from their homes out of fear and want. Some 4.6 million people are barely existing in places that few can leave and aid cannot reach. A further 4.8 million people have fled the country. Syria today is a very different place – almost unrecognizable in parts – that will take generations to rebuild.

In the past few weeks however, we are seeing signs of momentum, fragile glimmers of hope. Fewer bombs are falling; humanitarian access has opened up in some places; negotiators from all sides are preparing to come together and talk. As humanitarians we welcome progress where it means real change.

The United Nations, NGOs and partners have seized new opportunities to reach people who have had nothing for a very long time. Despite danger and uncertainty we are trying new delivery methods, constantly trying to negotiate ways to reach people. Through regular aid and the recent deliveries to besieged towns we have managed to reach over six million people since the beginning of 2016.

However, until all parties to this conflict stop attacking civilians, schools, markets and hospitals, we will continue to press them on their obligations and hold them to account. Medical supplies and equipment are still being removed at checkpoints: this is unacceptable.
Until parties to the conflict fully open up safe, unimpeded access to everyone we will keep trying to reach civilians by all and any means possible, however challenging. We are able to reach more people now in besieged areas: but we are yet to reach one in every five besieged Syrians who urgently need help and protection.

While we are starting to get basic supplies to communities who have been cut off for months or more, it is just not enough. For example, we are extremely concerned about the situation in northern rural Homs and in Aleppo, where around 500,000 people are caught behind active frontlines. Two million people are in areas controlled by ISIL.

We and our partners remain ready to deliver assistance. The United Nations continues to work to negotiate access with all parties and to deliver aid to people across the hard-to-reach areas, including the besieged locations we have not yet been able to reach.

No one wants to see a sixth year of conflict start on 15 March. Young people across Syria need to hope and believe that their future lies in their homeland. That they will have education, healthcare, homes and jobs. That life holds more than fear, violence and hunger.

We use our collective voice to call on all parties, local and international, for this anniversary to be the last one and for the political talks to bring real peace and an end to the suffering in Syria.

New York/Geneva/Rome/Amman, 11 March 2016
Signees:
:: Stephen O’Brien, Emergency Relief Coordinator, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs
:: Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director, World Food Programme
:: Anthony Lake, Executive Director, UN Children’s Fund
:: Filippo Grandi, High Commissioner for Refugees
:: Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General, World Health Organization
:: William Lacy Swing, Director General, International Organization for Migration
:: Pierre Krähenbühl, Commissioner-General, UN Relief & Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
:: Helen Clark, Administrator, UN Development Programme
:: Samuel Worthington, Chief Executive Officer, InterAction
:: Leila Zerrougui, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict
:: Zainab Hawa Bangura, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict

FUELLING THE FIRE: HOW THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL’S PERMANENT MEMBERS ARE UNDERMINING THEIR OWN COMMITMENTS ON SYRIA
Joint Report by Aid Agencies listed below
March 2016 :: 36 pages
Overview
March 2016 marks five years of upheaval and conflict in Syria – conflict that has reduced lives to shadows and cities to rubble. The Syrian government and its allies, as well as armed opposition and extremist groups, bear the primary and direct responsibility for the horrific reality that Syria’s civilians face on this grim anniversary. They have targeted civilians, laid siege to cities and towns and denied access to life-saving assistance.

This paper examines what the UNSC demands happen in Syria, the situation since March 2015, and significant actions by the Permanent Members of the UN Security Council. In the first months of 2016 and at time of drafting this paper, some progress has been made in securing greater humanitarian access to those in besieged areas and a cessation of hostilities in parts of the country which has resulted in a significant decrease in civilian casualties. These are important steps that should be recognised and built on, but they remain fragile and limited in the context of the overall deterioration experienced by civilians inside Syria over the last horrendous year of violence.

CONCLUSION
In its resolutions and statements, the UNSC has provided a framework for easing humanitarian suffering and issued repeated demands for their implementation. The parties to the conflict hold the responsibility to implement this framework. However, as new rounds of negotiations are meant to begin, accompanied by calls for improved humanitarian access and the cessation of sieges, it is clear the very governments that agreed to the resolutions have been fuelling the fire of conflict.

The parties to the Syria conflict bear direct responsibility for the horrific consequences it has unleashed. The failure to end five years of violence, however, also rests with the governments that sit on the UNSC and the ISSG.

Given the increasingly international nature of Syria’s war, the members of the Security Council and the ISSG with direct influence over the combatants on the battlefield must stand up for Syria’s people and the stability and prosperity of the wider region. Security Council and ISSG members and their allies exert real political, diplomatic and military influence.

The ability to ensure an end to the violence and suffering, and facilitate a sustainable and just peace is now imperative for the protection of civilians in Syria, the region, and beyond. [Recommendations follow]

Norwegian Refugee Council
No Peace Without Justice
Alkawakibi Organisation for Human Rights
Syria Relief Network
BINAA
Human Appeal
Syria Relief
People in Need
Big Heart Foundation
Syrian NGO Alliance
SEMA
SAWA for Development Aid
Oxfam International
Syrian American Medical Society
Syria Relief and Development
ActionAid
CARE International
Save the Children
Emessa
Baytna Syria
Bihar Relief Organisation
UOSSM
IHSAN Relief and Development
Ghiras Alnahda
Physicians Across Continents
Sham Humanitarian
Mercy Corps
Social Development International
Dawlaty
Khayr/Watan

Global Fund [to 12 March 2016]
http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/news/

News
Removing Human Rights Barriers to End the HIV Epidemic
11 March 2016
GENEVA – The Global Fund made a strong appeal to address human rights issues as a key component of efforts to end epidemics such as AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

“To end HIV, we must overcome discrimination in laws and policies, in practice and in our hearts,” Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global Fund, said at a session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. “We must grasp the historic opportunity to become better people and societies built on the firm foundation of an inclusive human family.”

Despite extraordinary progress against HIV in the last decade, human rights barriers are preventing millions of people from being able to access prevention, treatment and care, Dr. Dybul said. In order to maximize health investments and achieve greater impact, the global community needs to do more to overcome these barriers, including by increasing investment in programs to fight stigma and discrimination, reduce violence against women, provide access to justice, and sensitize law-makers and law enforcement officials, Dr. Dybul said.

“We need to do better on removing human rights barriers, because it is the right thing to do, and because it is essential to our efforts to invest more strategically to end HIV,” he added.

Dr. Dybul spoke at a panel discussion on progress and challenges of addressing human rights issues in the context of efforts to end the HIV epidemic, as part of a current session of the Human Rights Council that is underway in Geneva this month.

Dr. Dybul pointed out that in many settings, the impact of investments in health is greatly reduced because of human rights-related barriers to services. In many countries, women and girls often do not access testing and treatment, or are not retained in treatment, because of stigma and discrimination and gender-based violence. Men who have sex with men, people who use drugs, sex workers, transgender people, migrants, and prisoners also often cannot access prevention and treatment because of the discrimination they experience in health-care settings, or the violence perpetrated by police.

The Global Fund partnership was founded with a strong commitment to advancing human rights. Dr. Dybul said the Global Fund had learned from the work done in recent years, and that it was intensifying efforts. The Global Fund’s new investment strategy, for 2017-2022, lists as one of its main objectives to “introduce and scale up programs that remove human rights barriers to accessing services”.

In this sense, Dr. Dybul said the Global Fund will concentrate efforts on 15 to 20 countries with particular needs and opportunities.

The target in these countries will be to implement comprehensive programs to address human rights-related barriers. This will result in increased uptake of and retention in services, thanks to decreased stigma and discrimination, particularly in health-care settings; increased access to justice; reduction of violence and discrimination against women and girls; greater support among law enforcement officials for prevention and treatment services; a more conducive policy environment; and strengthened participation of affected persons in programs linked to these interventions.

New Multi-country Initiative will Protect Millions of Girls from Child Marriage – UNICEF/UNFPA
Joint Press Release
8 March 2016
NEW YORK — A new multi-country initiative to accelerate action to end child marriage will help protect the rights of millions of the world’s most vulnerable girls, UNICEF and UNFPA said on International Women’s Day.

The UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage announced today will involve families, communities, governments and young people. This is part of a global effort to prevent girls from marrying too young and to support those already married as girls in 12 countries across Africa, Asia and the Middle East where child marriage rates are high.

“Choosing when and whom to marry is one of life’s most important decisions. Child marriage denies millions of girls this choice each year,” said Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. “As part of this global programme, we will work with governments of countries with a high prevalence of child marriage to uphold the rights of adolescent girls, so that girls can reach their potential and countries can attain their social and economic development goals.”

The new global programme will focus on proven strategies, including increasing girls’ access to education and health care services, educating parents and communities on the dangers of child marriage, increasing economic support to families, and strengthening and enforcing laws that establish 18 as the minimum age of marriage. The programme will also emphasize the importance of using robust data to inform policies related to adolescent girls.

“The world has awakened to the damage child marriage causes to individual girls, to their future children, and to their societies,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. “This new global programme will help drive action to reach the girls at greatest risk – and help more girls and young women realize their right to dictate their own destinies. This is critical now because if current trends continue, the number of girls and women married as children will reach nearly 1 billion by 2030 – 1 billion childhoods lost, 1 billion futures blighted.”

Child marriage is a violation of the rights of girls and women. Girls who are married as children are more likely to be out of school, suffer domestic violence, contract HIV/AIDS and die due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Child marriage also hurts economies and leads to intergenerational cycles of poverty.

The global community demonstrated strong commitment to end child marriage by including a target on eliminating it and other harmful practices in the Sustainable Development Goals. UNICEF and UNFPA call on governments and partner organizations to support the new Global Programme to help eliminate child marriage by 2030.

The UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage is being supported by Canada, the European Union, Italy, Netherlands, and the UK.

Bangkok Principles for the implementation of the health aspects of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030
11 March 2016 “” 3 pages
The International Conference on the Implementation of the Health Aspect of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, held on 10-11 March 2016, in Bangkok, Thailand, adopted the “Bangkok Principles” which articulates measures that could assist countries in implementing the health aspects of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

The Bangkok Principles are organized under seven recommendation themes:
1. Promote systematic integration of health into national and sub-national disaster risk reduction policies and plans and the inclusion of emergency and disaster risk management programmes in national and sub-national health strategies.

2. Enhance cooperation between health authorities and other relevant stakeholders to strengthen country capacity for disaster risk management for health, the implementation of the International Health Regulations (2005) and building of resilient health systems.

3. Stimulate people-centered public and private investment in emergency and disaster risk reduction, including in health facilities and infrastructure.

4. Integrate disaster risk reduction into health education and training and strengthen capacity building of health workers in disaster risk reduction.

5. Incorporate disaster-related mortality, morbidity and disability data into multi-hazards early warning system, health core indicators and national risk assessments

6. Advocate for, and support cross-sectoral, transboundary collaboration including information sharing, and science and technology for all hazards, including biological hazards.

7. Promote coherence and further development of local and national policies and strategies, legal frameworks, regulations, and institutional arrangements.

Full text: http://www.preventionweb.net/files/47606_bangkokprinciples.pdf

Editor’s Note:
We are reflect on the milestone represented below through a UN Women “partnership” facilitating integration a national identity card program with a branded “electronic payments functionality.”

MasterCard and UN Women join to advance empowerment of women
Partnership designed to drive financial inclusion of women, beginning with Nigerian pilot

Purchase, N.Y., 8 March – Around the world, nearly 2.4 billion people live without any form of official personal identification, and the majority of them are women. As part of broader International Women’s Day activities, MasterCard and UN Women signed a Memorandum of Understanding to address this imbalance and advance gender equality and women’s economic empowerment.

The first initiative in this relationship is the launch of a pilot programme in Nigeria, which aims to provide half a million Nigerian women with ID cards enabled with electronic payments functionality.

“Research has shown that as soon as a person has a formal identity and access to electronic payments, they can prosper in ways they haven’t imagined before,” said Martina Hund-Mejean, Chief Financial Officer of MasterCard. “Our relationship with UN Women will help make a real difference in these women’s lives as they are more fully empowered to achieve their true potential.”…

… “One of UN Women’s main objectives is to increase women’s economic empowerment. The partnership with MasterCard will help pave the way to economic freedom and financial inclusion for women, initially in Nigeria,” says Lakshmi Puri, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women. “We look forward to working together and see the potential of expanding the model to benefit women also in other countries. It is also encouraging that we will collaborate on knowledge generation, advocacy and resource mobilization for greater investment in gender equality and women’s empowerment—reflecting MasterCard and its CEO’s deep commitment to a Planet 50/50 and to supporting UN Women’s efforts,” she added.

Under the programme, MasterCard and UN Women will further explore how and when Nigerians have signed up for the country’s national identity card programme. Based on these insights, a targeted programme will be launched to educate women on the benefits of the programme and enrol them for the identity card.

“This campaign will help at least half a million women in Nigeria gain access to financial services, many for the first time, and the support they need to enter the country’s formal economy,” says Omokehinde Ojomuyide, Vice-President and business lead for West Africa at MasterCard.

Do environmental policies affect global value chains?
A new perspective on the pollution haven hypothesis
OECD 10 Mar 2016
Tomasz Koźluk 1, Christina Timiliotis
1: OECD, France
No. 1282 64 pages:
DOI: 10.1787/5jm2hh7nf3wd-en
Abstract
Increasing international fragmentation of production has reinforced fears that industrial activity may flee to countries with laxer environmental policies – in line with the so-called Pollution Haven Hypothesis (PHH). If PHH effects are strong, domestic responses to environmental challenges may prove ineffective or meet strong resistance. Using a gravity model of bilateral trade in manufacturing industries for selected OECD and BRIICS countries over 1990s-2000s, this paper studies how exports are related to national environmental policies. Environmental policies are not found to be a major driver of international trade patterns, but have some significant effects on specialisation. More stringent domestic policies have no significant effect on overall trade in manufactured goods, but are linked to a comparative disadvantage in “dirty” industries, and a corresponding advantage in “cleaner” industries. The effects are stronger for the domestic component of exports than for gross exports, yet notably smaller than the effects of e.g. trade liberalisation.

Press Release
Tougher environmental laws do not hurt export competitiveness – OECD study
10/3/16 – Countries that implement stringent environmental policies do not lose export competitiveness when compared against countries with more moderate regulations, according to a new OECD study that examines trade in manufactured goods between advanced and emerging economies.

The findings suggest that emerging economies with strong manufacturing sectors like China could strengthen environmental laws without denting their overall share in export markets. High-pollution or energy-intensive industries like chemicals, plastics and steel making, whether in the BRIICS or in Europe or North America, would suffer a small disadvantage from a further tightening of regulations, but this would be compensated by growth in exports from less-polluting activities.

Do Environmental Policies Affect Global Value Chains? challenges the conventional wisdom that regulations to curb pollution and energy use hurt businesses by creating new costs. The so-called Pollution Haven Hypothesis suggests that tightening environmental laws often prompts manufacturers to simply relocate some production stages to countries with laxer regulations.

“Environmental policies are simply not the major driver of international trade patterns,” said OECD Chief Economist Catherine L. Mann, presenting the study at the London School of Economics. “We find no evidence that a large gap between the environmental policies of two given countries significantly affects their overall trade in manufactured goods. Governments should stop working on the assumption that tighter regulations will hurt their export share and focus on the edge they can get from innovation.”…

United Nations – Secretary General, Security Council, General Assembly  [to 12 March 2016]
http://www.un.org/en/unpress/
Selected Press Releases/Meetings Coverage

11 March 2016
SC/12277
Security Council Asks Secretary-General to Replace Contingents from Countries Failing to Hold Sexual Predators Accountable
7643rd Meeting (PM)
Members Adopt Resolution 2272 (2016) while Rejecting Proposed Amendment
The Security Council, expressing its deep concern over allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by United Nations peacekeepers, today asked the Secretary-General to replace all military or police units from any contributing country that had failed to hold perpetrators accountable.

Adopting resolution 2272 (2016) by 14 votes in favour to none against, with 1 abstention (Egypt), the Council requested that the Secretary-General ensure that the replacement of personnel from troop- or police-contributing countries upheld standards of conduct and discipline, and appropriately addressed allegations or confirmed acts of sexual exploitation and abuse by their personnel…
[Full text of resolution available from title link above]

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UN Peacekeeping operations and sexual exploitation and abuse – Security Council, 7642nd meeting
10 Mar 2016 – United Nations peacekeeping operations.
Sexual exploitation and abuse
[Video:: 2:40:49]
Security Council: United Nations peacekeeping operations – Sexual exploitation and abuse (7643rd meeting)
Resolution Adopted [Video not yet posted]

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10 March 2016
SC/12274
Repatriation of Commanders, Units among Steps to Tackle Sexual Exploitation, Abuse by Peacekeepers, Secretary-General Tells Security Council
Briefing the Security Council today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon laid out a number of steps to address “the shameful issue” of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers, amid disagreement over a draft resolution aimed at addressing the matter.