Humanitarian Exchange Magazine
Number 66 A pril 2016
http://odihpn.org/magazine/humanitarian-innovation/

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Special Focus: Humanitarian Innovation
by Humanitarian Practice Network and Kim Scriven April 2016
This edition of Humanitarian Exchange, co-edited with ELRHA Humanitarian Innovation Fund (HIF) manager Kim Scriven, focuses on innovation in the humanitarian sector.
:: Kim Scriven provides an overview of the rising interest in and funding for innovation, while highlighting what more needs to be done to improve the evidence base, relocate capacity and develop guidance.
:: In her article, Alice Obrecht proposes three success criteria for innovation based on case studies of HIF-funded innovation projects.
:: Nathaniel A. Raymond and Casey S. Harrity argue for clear ethnical and technical doctrine to guide the use of technology innovation.
:: Rahel Dette and Julia Steets explore the role of technology in monitoring aid in insecure environments.
:: Monica Zikusooka and colleagues report on using technology to conduct simulated field visits in Somalia.
:: Karen Kisakeni Sørensen highlights the challenges of innovating in the midst of armed conflict in her article on the use of technology in mine action in Ukraine.
:: Andrew Schroeder and Patrick Meier explore the opportunities and challenges posed by robotics.
:: Josiah Kaplan and Evan Easton-Calabria look at the opportunities and hazards of military innovation for the humanitarian sector.
:: Ben Ramalingam shares lessons on innovation in the Nepal earthquake response.
:: Elizabeth Gilmour discusses crowd-sourced mapping during the Nepal earthquake response.
:: Ronak Patel and Mihir Bhatt discuss a small-business micro-insurance programme in India.
:: Robert Hakiza and Evan Easton-Calabria elaborate on their research into urban micro-finance programmes run by refugees in Uganda.
:: Caetano Dorea describes the development of a new water filtration product.
:: Eric James and Laura James explore the potential of 3D printing of humanitarian supplies in the field.
:: Paul Currion offers personal reflection on the rise and decline of Humanitarian Information Centres (HICs).

Infectious Diseases of Poverty

[Accessed 23 April 2016]

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Opinion
The global spread of Zika virus: is public and media concern justified in regions currently unaffected?
Narayan Gyawali, Richard S. Bradbury and Andrew W. Taylor-Robinson
Published on: 19 April 2016

International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction
Volume 16, In Progress (June 2016)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/22124209/16

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Original Research Article
Responsibility and liability in emergency management to natural disasters: A Canadian example
Pages 12-18
Jonathan Raikes, Gordon McBean
Abstract
Most provincial emergency management legislation (Quebec excepted) fails to include regulatory guidelines as to how local authorities reduce community vulnerability. This exposes individual(s) and groups to greater vulnerability to disasters if the local authority decides not to act or provide inadequate management. In addition, access to financial resources to assist or compensate local governments and/or private landowners for damages endured often come with attachments or do not exist. When damages result from a government’s action or inaction in the event of an emergency, provisions in provincial legislation and court findings have reduced government exposure to civil liability at common law further exposing private landowners to financial risk.
This paper argues that a lack of standards in emergency management legislation, restrictive access to financial assistance and/or compensation and reduced government exposure to civil liability at common law expose private landowners to greater vulnerability to disasters and the liability attached. It is essential that those responsible for proactive/preventative planning for disasters work from a standard playbook, one which sets minimum safeguards for the public. Absent of clear and fulsome compensation guidelines, private landowners will bear an unfair and disproportionate financial risk.

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Event monitoring in emergency scenarios using energy efficient wireless sensor nodes for the disaster information management
Original Research Article
Pages 33-42
Metin Erd, Frank Schaeffer, Milos Kostic, Leonhard M. Reindl
Abstract
Information gathering in tunnels, buildings, bridges, etc. during disasters is of vital importance in speeding up rescue efforts and for protecting the fire fighters. The collected data can be used by the emergency services in the planning of rescue operations and allocation of human resources at a local level. In this article we present design and implementation of a wireless sensor network, which consists of energy-efficient wireless sensor nodes with an integrated ultrasonic sensor, which establish a collision free data transmission in an emergency scenario. The developed network was tested in a field experiment in an explosion within a building to confirm its functionality and reliability. The wireless sensor network was able to pass critical data to the emergency units to initiate the rescue procedures during this disaster scenario.

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Social determinants of mid- to long-term disaster impacts on health: A systematic review
Original Research Article
Pages 53-67
Shuhei Nomura, Alexander J.Q. Parsons, Mayo Hirabayashi, Ryo Kinoshita, Yi Liao, Susan Hodgson
Abstract
Disasters cause a wide range of health impacts. Although there remains a need to understand and improve acute disaster management, a stronger understanding of how health is affected in the medium and longer term is also required to inform the design and delivery of measures to manage post-disaster health risks, and to guide actions taken before and during events which will also lead to reduction in health impact. Social determinants exert a powerful influence on different elements of risk, principally vulnerability, exposure and capacity, and thus, on people’s health. As disaster health data and research has tended to focus on the short-term health impacts, no systematic assessment of the social determinants of the mid- to long-term health impacts of disasters has been identified. We assessed the chronic health impacts of disasters and explored the potential socioeconomic determinants of health impact through a systematic review. Our findings, based on 28 studies, highlighted that regardless of health outcomes and event types, the influence of disasters on chronic heath persists beyond the initial disaster period, affecting people’s health for months to years. Using the World Health Organization’s conceptual framework for the social determinants of health, we identified a total of 35 themes across the three conceptual domains (determinants related to the socioeconomic and political context, structural determinants, and intermediate determinants) as potentially influencing disaster impact. Investment to tackle modifiable underlying determinants could aid disaster risk management, improve medium and long-term health outcomes from disasters, and build community resilience.

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Emergent system behaviour as a tool for understanding disaster resilience: The case of Southern African subsistence agriculture
Original Research Article
Pages 115-122
Christo Coetzee, Dewald Van Niekerk, Emmanuel Raju
Abstract
Prominent international policy documents such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 and contemporary academic discourses on disasters reiterate the importance of understanding and prioritising building societal resilience. However, despite its prominent position in current and future disaster risk management, much confusion still exists on what exactly resilience entails and how it can be enhanced. This paper attempts to provide a perspective on this problem from the point of view of Complex Adaptive Systems Theory, with specific focus on the notion of emergence within adaptive systems. The paper explores the presence of emergent behaviour that could generates disaster resilience by reviewing statistical correlations between four agricultural interventions (small-scale irrigation system, farmers’ associative mechanisms, appropriate crop varieties, and cropping techniques) and prominent indicators of disaster resilience (coping strategies and hazard adaptation/avoidance behaviour) in subsistence agricultural activities in Mozambique, Malawi and Madagascar. The results from the analysis illustrates that emergent behaviour in the form of various coping strategies and hazard avoidance behaviour is indeed observable in agricultural communities that use all or a combination of agricultural interventions such as small-scale irrigation systems, farmers’ associative mechanisms, appropriate crop varieties, and cropping techniques. These resilience abilities are newly formed macro-level behaviours that emerge due to the interactions of agricultural interventions at a micro-level.

JAMA
April 19, 2016, Vol 315, No. 15
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/issue.aspx

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Preliminary Communication
Safety and Immunogenicity of Novel Adenovirus Type 26– and Modified Vaccinia Ankara–Vectored Ebola Vaccines: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Iain D. Milligan, MRCP; Malick M. Gibani, MRCP; Richard Sewell, BA; Elizabeth A. Clutterbuck, PhD; Danielle Campbell, BScN; Emma Plested; Elizabeth Nuthall, BSc; Merryn Voysey, MBiostat; Laura Silva-Reyes, MSc; M. Juliana McElrath, MD, PhD; Stephen C. De Rosa, MD; Nicole Frahm, PhD; Kristen W. Cohen, PhD; Georgi Shukarev, MD; Nicola Orzabal, BSc; Wilbert van Duijnhoven, MSc; Carla Truyers, PhD; Nora Bachmayer, PhD; Daniel Splinter, PhD; Nathaly Samy, MD; Maria Grazia Pau, PhD; Hanneke Schuitemaker, PhD; Kerstin Luhn, PhD; Benoit Callendret, PhD; Johan Van Hoof, MD; Macaya Douoguih, MD, MPH; Katie Ewer, PhD; Brian Angus, MD; Andrew J. Pollard, FRCPCH, PhD; Matthew D. Snape, FRCPCH, MD
Author Affiliations
1Oxford Vaccine Group, Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
2Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
3Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington
4Janssen, Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, Leiden, the Netherlands
5Bavarian Nordic, Martinsried, Germany
6Jenner Institute, Centre for Clinical Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
7National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford, United Kingdom
8Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
Includes: Supplemental Content
JAMA. 2016;315(15):1610-1623. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.4218.

Abstract
Importance
Developing effective vaccines against Ebola virus is a global priority.
Objective
To evaluate an adenovirus type 26 vector vaccine encoding Ebola glycoprotein (Ad26.ZEBOV) and a modified vaccinia Ankara vector vaccine, encoding glycoproteins from Ebola virus, Sudan virus, Marburg virus, and Tai Forest virus nucleoprotein (MVA-BN-Filo).
Design, Setting, and Participants
Single-center, randomized, placebo-controlled, observer-blind, phase 1 trial performed in Oxford, United Kingdom, enrolling healthy 18- to 50-year-olds from December 2014; 8-month follow-up was completed October 2015.
Interventions
Participants were randomized into 4 groups, within which they were simultaneously randomized 5:1 to receive study vaccines or placebo. Those receiving active vaccines were primed with Ad26.ZEBOV (5 × 1010 viral particles) or MVA-BN-Filo (1 × 108 median tissue culture infective dose) and boosted with the alternative vaccine 28 or 56 days later. A fifth, open-label group received Ad26.ZEBOV boosted by MVA-BN-Filo 14 days later.
Main Outcomes and Measures
The primary outcomes were safety and tolerability. All adverse events were recorded until 21 days after each immunization; serious adverse events were recorded throughout the trial. Secondary outcomes were humoral and cellular immune responses to immunization, as assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and enzyme-linked immunospot performed at baseline and from 7 days after each immunization until 8 months after priming immunizations.
Results
Among 87 study participants (median age, 38.5 years; 66.7% female), 72 were randomized into 4 groups of 18, and 15 were included in the open-label group. Four participants did not receive a booster dose; 67 of 75 study vaccine recipients were followed up at 8 months. No vaccine-related serious adverse events occurred. No participant became febrile after MVA-BN-Filo, compared with 3 of 60 participants (5%; 95% CI, 1%-14%) receiving Ad26.ZEBOV in the randomized groups. In the open-label group, 4 of 15 Ad26.ZEBOV recipients (27%; 95% CI, 8%-55%) experienced fever. In the randomized groups, 28 of 29 Ad26.ZEBOV recipients (97%; 95% CI, 82%- 99.9%) and 7 of 30 MVA-BN-Filo recipients (23%; 95% CI, 10%-42%) had detectable Ebola glycoprotein-specific IgG 28 days after primary immunization. All vaccine recipients had specific IgG detectable 21 days postboost and at 8-month follow-up. Within randomized groups, at 7 days postboost, at least 86% of vaccine recipients showed Ebola-specific T-cell responses.
Conclusions and Relevance
In this phase 1 study of healthy volunteers, immunization with Ad26.ZEBOV or MVA-BN-Filo did not result in any vaccine-related serious adverse events. An immune response was observed after primary immunization with Ad26.ZEBOV; boosting by MVA-BN-Filo resulted in sustained elevation of specific immunity. These vaccines are being further assessed in phase 2 and 3 studies.
Trial Registration
clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02313077

The Lancet
Apr 23, 2016 Volume 387 Number 10029 p1693-1788
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current

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Review
The path to eradication: a progress report on the malaria-eliminating countries
Gretchen Newby, Adam Bennett, Erika Larson, Chris Cotter, Rima Shretta, Allison A Phillips, Richard G A Feachem
Summary
In the past several years, as worldwide morbidity and mortality due to malaria have continued to decrease, the global malaria community has grown increasingly supportive of the idea of malaria eradication. In 2015, three noteworthy global documents were released—the WHO’s Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016–2030, the Roll Back Malaria Partnership’s Action and Investment to defeat Malaria 2016–2030, and From Aspiration to Action: What Will It Take to End Malaria?—that collectively advocate for malaria elimination and eradication and outline key operational, technical, and financial strategies to achieve progress toward malaria eradication. In light of this remarkable change in global attitudes toward malaria elimination and eradication, and as the malaria community debates how and when to embark on this ambitious goal, it is important to assess current progress along the path to eradication. Although low-income, high-burden countries are often the focus when discussing the substantial challenges of eradication, the progress toward elimination in middle-income, low-burden countries is a major driver of global progress and deserves better recognition. Additionally, although global support and guidance is essential for success, malaria elimination and eradication efforts will ultimately be driven at the country level and achieved in a collaborative manner, region by region. In this Review, we examine the present status of the 35 malaria-eliminating countries, summarise existing national and regional elimination goals and the regional frameworks that support them, and identify the most crucial enabling factors and potential barriers to achieving eradication by a theoretical end date of 2040.

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Public Health
Averting a malaria disaster: will insecticide resistance derail malaria control?
Janet Hemingway, Hilary Ranson, Alan Magill, Jan Kolaczinski, Christen Fornadel, John Gimnig, Maureen Coetzee, Frederic Simard, Dabiré K Roch, Clément Kerah Hinzoumbe, John Pickett, David Schellenberg, Peter Gething, Mark Hoppé, Nicholas Hamon
Summary
World Malaria Day 2015 highlighted the progress made in the development of new methods of prevention (vaccines and insecticides) and treatment (single dose drugs) of the disease. However, increasing drug and insecticide resistance threatens the successes made with existing methods. Insecticide resistance has decreased the efficacy of the most commonly used insecticide class of pyrethroids. This decreased efficacy has increased mosquito survival, which is a prelude to rising incidence of malaria and fatalities. Despite intensive research efforts, new insecticides will not reach the market for at least 5 years. Elimination of malaria is not possible without effective mosquito control. Therefore, to combat the threat of resistance, key stakeholders need to rapidly embrace a multifaceted approach including a reduction in the cost of bringing new resistance management methods to market and the streamlining of associated development, policy, and implementation pathways to counter this looming public health catastrophe.

Nature
Volume 532 Number 7599 pp282-408 21 April 2016
http://www.nature.com/nature/current_issue.html

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Editorials
Monkeying around
China, with its freedom from the ethical pressures experienced by researchers elsewhere, is poised to become the go-to country for work on non-human primates.

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World View
The Paris Agreement has solved a troubling problem
By endorsing a limit of 1.5 °C, the climate negotiations have effectively defined what society considers dangerous, says Simon L. Lewis.

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Comment
Track climate pledges of cities and companies
Data transparency is key to accounting for how local governments and the private sector are contributing to global emissions reduction, say Angel Hsu and colleagues.

New England Journal of Medicine
April 21, 2016 Vol. 374 No. 16
http://www.nejm.org/toc/nejm/medical-journal

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Perspective
Partnerships, Not Parachutists, for Zika Research
David L. Heymann, M.D., Joanne Liu, M.D., and Louis Lillywhite, M.B., B.Ch.
[Free full-text]
N Engl J Med 2016; 374:1504-1505 April 21, 2016 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1602278
Initial text
When the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the recently reported clusters of microcephaly and other neurologic disorders represent a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), she called for increased research into their cause, including the question of whether the Zika virus is the source of the problem.1 The declaration provides an opportunity to step up the pace of research in order to find the answer to some important questions more quickly. It could not only facilitate the accumulation of knowledge about the relationship between the Zika virus and microcephaly, but also accelerate the study of newer technologies for mosquito control, which could have far-reaching effects on global health security beyond controlling Zika infections.
But to answer these research questions effectively and maximize their contribution to enhancing health security, we believe it is critical that research be conducted collaboratively. Building and strengthening public health capacities (in part through collaborative research) are central to the International Health Regulations, an international agreement of all WHO member countries designed to strengthen health security…

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Perspective
Zika Virus as a Cause of Neurologic Disorders
Nathalie Broutet, M.D., Ph.D., Fabienne Krauer, M.Sc., Maurane Riesen, M.Sc., Asheena Khalakdina, Ph.D., Maria Almiron, M.Sc., Sylvain Aldighieri, M.D., Marcos Espinal, M.D., Nicola Low, M.D., and Christopher Dye, D.Phil.
N Engl J Med 2016; 374:1506-1509 April 21, 2016 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1602708
Final text
… Even with limited evidence linking Zika virus to neurologic disorders, the severe potential risks demand decisive, immediate action to protect public health. The WHO recommends applying key interventions such as intensive mosquito control; personal protection against mosquito bites; provision of appropriate clinical care for all patients with Guillain–Barré syndrome and for women before, during, and after pregnancy; and prevention of Zika virus transmission through sexual contact or blood transfusion.4 Most of these are not new interventions, but they do need strengthening. Populations must be informed of the potential current and future risks of neurologic disorders, wherever the virus is being or could be locally transmitted and in other regions inhabited by the mosquito vectors. As the putative link between Zika virus and neurologic disorders is reinforced, refined, or even refuted, public health measures will be adjusted accordingly.

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Review Article
Zika Virus
Lindsey R. Baden, M.D., editor; Lyle R. Petersen, M.D., M.P.H., Denise J. Jamieson, M.D., M.P.H., Ann M. Powers, Ph.D., and Margaret A. Honein, Ph.D., M.P.H.
N Engl J Med 2016; 374:1552-1563 April 21, 2016 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMra1602113

PLOS Currents: Disasters
http://currents.plos.org/disasters/
[Accessed 23 April 2016]

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Effectiveness of Interventions, Programs and Strategies for Gender-based Violence Prevention in Refugee Populations: An Integrative Review
April 19, 2016 · Brief Report
Background: Gender based violence (GBV) remains one of the most serious threats to the health and safety of women and girls worldwide. The problem is even more pronounced in refugee populations where women and girls are at increased risk of violence. In 2015, UNHCR reported the highest number of forcibly displaced people in recorded history. Despite growing need, there have been few rigorous evaluations of interventions aimed at primary GBV prevention and no systematic reviews of GBV prevention efforts specifically focused on refugee populations; reviews to date have primarily examined prevention of conflict related sexual violence, with very limited focus on other forms of GBV such as intimate partner violence
Methods: This study reviewed the scientific literature addressing strategies for primary prevention of GBV and their effectiveness among refugee populations over the past ten years (2006 to 2015). Narrative content analysis methods were used to extract findings related to prevention activities/programs recommended by the global humanitarian community, such as sociocultural norms change, rebuilding family and community support structures, improving accountability systems, designing effective services and facilities, working with formal and traditional legal systems, monitoring and documenting GBV, and/or engaging men and boys in GBV prevention and response.
Results: Study findings indicate that a range of GBV prevention activities recommended by the global humanitarian community are currently being applied in a variety of settings. However, there remains a limited body of evidence on the effectiveness of GBV prevention programs, interventions, and strategies, especially among refugee populations.
Conclusion: Commonly agreed upon standards or guidelines for evaluation of GBV prevention programming, and publication of evaluations conducted using these guidelines, could assist humanitarian stakeholders to build and disseminate an evidence base of effective GBV prevention interventions, programs and strategies. Evaluation of GBV prevention efforts, especially among refugee populations, must be given higher priority to justify continuation or revision of recommended GBV activities/programs being implemented in diverse humanitarian settings.

PLoS One
http://www.plosone.org/
[Accessed 23 April 2016]

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Research Article
Explaining Disparities in Use of Skilled Birth Attendants in Developing Countries: A Conceptual Framework
Patience A. Afulani, Cheryl Moyer
Research Article | published 22 Apr 2016 | PLOS ONE
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0154110

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Effect of Village Health Team Home Visits and Mobile Phone Consultations on Maternal and Newborn Care Practices in Masindi and Kiryandongo, Uganda: A Community-Intervention Trial
Richard Mangwi Ayiasi, Patrick Kolsteren, Vincent Batwala, Bart Criel, Christopher Garimoi Orach
Research Article | published 21 Apr 2016 | PLOS ONE

PNAS – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/
(Accessed 23 April 2016)

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Commentary: Averting a global fisheries disaster
Boris Worm
PNAS 2016 ; published ahead of print April 19, 2016, doi:10.1073/pnas.1604008113
Oceans cover 71% of Earth’s surface and support an estimated 3 billion people with food and vital micronutrients (1). Consequently, the fate of the ocean and its living resources is a first-order question in ecology and environmental science (2). In this context, a 2006 panel of ecologists and fisheries scientists empirically charted the consequences of an ongoing depletion of marine biodiversity, such as declining fisheries, reduced water quality, loss of habitat, and less resilient ecosystems (3). The paper became widely known, however, for a scenario of global fisheries collapse derived from extrapolating catch trends to the year 2048. This projection served as a flash point in the ongoing discussion about the sustainability of global fisheries, or lack thereof (4). A polarized debate ensued, which was productively addressed by a subsequent panel that highlighted solutions for rebuilding depleted fisheries, where appropriate governance structures exist (5). That work, however, along with several follow-up papers (6⇓–8), did not revisit the original projections. A new paper in PNAS (9) now uses updated methodology and an innovative combination of available data on catch trends, life history, and stock assessments to revisit the prospect of a global fisheries disaster, and what may be required to avert it.

The analysis of Costello et al. (9) confirms that the average state of global fish stocks is poor and declining. Of 4,714 fisheries assessed in the year 2012, only 32% remained at or above the biomass target that supports maximum sustainable yield (BMSY), whereas 68% have slipped below that critical threshold. This compares to 63% of assessed stocks tracking below BMSY in 2006 (5). Even more concerning is the finding that only 35% of stocks are currently fished at …

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Biological Sciences – Ecology:
Predicting the spread of marine species introduced by global shipping
Hanno Seebens, Nicole Schwartz, Peter J. Schupp, and Bernd Blasius
PNAS 2016 ; published ahead of print April 18, 2016, doi:10.1073/pnas.152442711
Significance
Predicting the arrival of alien species remains a big challenge, which is assumed to be a consequence of the complexity of the invasion process. Here, we demonstrate that spreading of alien marine species can be predicted by a simple model using only global shipping intensities, environmental variables, and species occurrence data. We provide species lists of the next potentially invading species in a local habitat or species causing harmful algal blooms with their associated probability of invasion. This will help to improve mitigation strategies to reduce the further introduction of alien species. Although this study focuses on marine algae, the model approach can be easily adopted to other taxonomic groups and their respective drivers of invasion.
Abstract
The human-mediated translocation of species poses a distinct threat to nature, human health, and economy. Although existing models calculate the invasion probability of any species, frameworks for species-specific forecasts are still missing. Here, we developed a model approach using global ship movements and environmental conditions to simulate the successive global spread of marine alien species that allows predicting the identity of those species likely to arrive next in a given habitat. In a first step, we simulated the historical stepping-stone spreading dynamics of 40 marine alien species and compared predicted and observed alien species ranges. With an accuracy of 77%, the model correctly predicted the presence/absence of an alien species in an ecoregion. Spreading dynamics followed a common pattern with an initial invasion of most suitable habitats worldwide and a subsequent spread into neighboring habitats. In a second step, we used the reported distribution of 97 marine algal species with a known invasion history, and six species causing harmful algal blooms, to determine the ecoregions most likely to be invaded next under climate warming. Cluster analysis revealed that species can be classified according to three characteristic spreading profiles: emerging species, high-risk species, and widespread species. For the North Sea, the model predictions could be confirmed because two of the predicted high-risk species have

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Knowledge Systems for Sustainable Development Special Feature Sackler Colloquium –
Perspective: Crafting usable knowledge for sustainable development
William C. Clark, Lorrae van Kerkhoff, Louis Lebel, and Gilberto C. Gallopin
PNAS 2016 ; published ahead of print April 18, 2016, doi:10.1073/pnas.1601266113
Abstract
This paper distills core lessons about how researchers (scientists, engineers, planners, etc.) interested in promoting sustainable development can increase the likelihood of producing usable knowledge. We draw the lessons from both practical experience in diverse contexts around the world and from scholarly advances in understanding the relationships between science and society. Many of these lessons will be familiar to those with experience in crafting knowledge to support action for sustainable development. However, few are included in the formal training of researchers. As a result, when scientists and engineers first venture out of the laboratory or library with the goal of linking their knowledge with action, the outcome has often been ineffectiveness and disillusionment. We therefore articulate here a core set of lessons that we believe should become part of the basic training for researchers interested in crafting usable knowledge for sustainable development. These lessons entail at least four things researchers should know, and four things they should do. The knowing lessons involve understanding the coproduction relationships through which knowledge making and decision making shape one another in social–environmental systems. We highlight the lessons that emerge from examining those coproduction relationships through the ICAP lens, viewing them from the perspectives of Innovation systems, Complex systems, Adaptive systems, and Political systems. The doing lessons involve improving the capacity of the research community to put its understanding of coproduction into practice. We highlight steps through which researchers can help build capacities for stakeholder collaboration, social learning, knowledge governance, and researcher training.

Reproductive Health
http://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/content
[Accessed 23 April 2016]

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Research
Maternal death and obstetric care audits in Nigeria: a systematic review of barriers and enabling factors in the provision of emergency care
Maternal death reviews and obstetric audits identify causes and circumstances related to occurrence of a maternal death or serious complication and inform improvements in quality of care.
Julia Hussein, Atsumi Hirose, Oluwatoyin Owolabi, Mari Imamura, Lovney Kanguru and Friday Okonofua
Reproductive Health 2016 13:47
Published on: 22 April 2016

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Study protocol
Taking stock: protocol for evaluating a family planning supply chain intervention in Senegal
In Senegal, only 12 % of women of reproductive age in union (WRAU) were using contraceptives and another 29 % had an unmet need for contraceptives in 2010–11. One potential barrier to accessing contraceptives …
Francesca L. Cavallaro, Diane Duclos, Rebecca F. Baggaley, Loveday Penn-Kekana, Catherine Goodman, Alice Vahanian, Andreia C. Santos, John Bradley, Lucy Paintain, Jérémie Gallien, Antonio Gasparrini, Leah Hasselback and Caroline A. Lynch
Reproductive Health 2016 13:45
Published on: 21 April 2016

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Editorial
We need to stop female genital mutilation!
José M. Belizán, Suellen Miller and Natasha Salaria
Reproductive Health 2016 13:43
Published on: 18 April 2016

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Commentary
The ongoing violence against women: Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting
Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) comprises different practices involving cutting, pricking, removing and sometimes sewing up external female genitalia for non-medical reasons.
Jacinta K. Muteshi, Suellen Miller and José M. Belizán
Reproductive Health 2016 13:44
Published on: 18 April 2016

Science
22 April 2016 Vol 352, Issue 6284
http://www.sciencemag.org/current.dtl

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In Depth
Refugee crisis brings new health challenges
By Kai Kupferschmidt
Science22 Apr 2016 : 391-392
Imported pathogens are a much bigger threat to migrants than they are to Europeans.
Summary
More than a million refugees and migrants entered Europe last year, mostly from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. This exodus is creating new challenges for European public health officials. Many of the migrants come from countries where public health systems are in disarray, and some are infected with pathogens that are rare, or even unheard of, in Europe. Germany saw a 30% increase in the number of tuberculosis cases in 2015; doctors also need to be prepared for diseases they have never seen before. Still, scientists say that the influx of unusual infections is far less a threat to native-born Europeans than to the health of the refugees themselves.

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Policy Forum
Filling in biodiversity threat gaps
By L. N. Joppa, B. O’Connor, P. Visconti, C. Smith, J. Geldmann, M. Hoffmann, J. E. M. Watson, S. H. M. Butchart, M. Virah-Sawmy, B. S. Halpern, S. E. Ahmed, A. Balmford, W. J. Sutherland, M. Harfoot, C. Hilton-Taylor, W. Foden, E. Di Minin, S. Pagad, P. Genovesi, J. Hutton, N. D. Burgess
Science22 Apr 2016 : 416-418
Only 5% of global threat data sets meet a “gold standard”
Summary
The diversity of life on Earth—which provides vital services to humanity (1)—stems from the difference between rates of evolutionary diversification and extinction. Human activities have shifted the balance (2): Species extinction rates are an estimated 1000 times the “background” rate (3) and could increase to 10,000 times the background rate should species threatened with extinction succumb to pressures they face (4). Reversing these trends is a focus of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s 2020 Strategic Plan for Biodiversity and its 20 Aichi Targets and is explicitly incorporated into the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We identify major gaps in data available for assessing global biodiversity threats and suggest mechanisms for closing them.

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Perspectives
Waste not, want not, emit less
By Jessica Aschemann-Witzel
Science22 Apr 2016 : 408-409
Reducing food waste in the supply chain and at home can help to reduce carbon emissions
Summary
Ensuring a sufficient supply of quality food for a growing human population is a major challenge, aggravated by climate change and already-strained natural resources. Food security requires production of some food surpluses to safeguard against unpredictable fluctuations (1). However, when food is wasted, not only has carbon been emitted to no avail, but disposal and decomposition in landfills create additional environmental impacts. Decreasing the current high scale of food waste is thus crucial for achieving resource-efficient, sustainable food systems (2). But, although avoiding food waste seems an obvious step toward sustainability, especially given that most people perceive wasting food as grossly unethical (3), food waste is a challenge that is not easily solved.

Sustainability
Volume 8, Issue 3 (March 2016)
http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/2

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Editorial:
Introduction to the Special Issue on the Sustainable Asia Conference 2015
by Yongrok Choi, Malin Song and Seunghwan Myeong
Sustainability 2016, 8(3), 266; doi:10.3390/su8030266
Abstract:
Of late, Asian countries have been experiencing serious environmental disasters, such as the particulate matter (PM) smog in China, a yellow sand storm in Korea, and the Fukuyama nuclear power station shutdown in Japan. Since its inauguration in 2009, the Sustainable Asia Conference (SAC) has evolved into one of the leading international conferences for coping with these environmental challenges and presenting novel and fundamental advances in sustainable development for Asia. This editorial for SAC 2015 will highlight the contents and new methodologies put forth by selected papers, presenting diverse implications in sustainable policies and business strategies.

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Article:
New Key Performance Indicators for a Smart Sustainable City
Sustainability 2016, 8(3), 206; doi:10.3390/su8030206
by Minako Hara, Tomomi Nagao, Shinsuke Hannoe and Jiro Nakamura
Received: 30 September 2015 / Revised: 5 February 2016 / Accepted: 18 February 2016 / Published: 3 March 2016
Abstract:
We propose key performance indicators (KPIs) based on the Gross Social Feel-Good Index to evaluate a smart sustainable city and report the results of a field trial in a city located almost at the center of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. We developed KPIs based on the following concepts: (1). The triple bottom line is the basic evaluation criteria; (2). The same unit is used for every evaluation criterion; (3). The KPIs can be used to assess a diverse range of smart sustainable cities with different goals. With the proposed KPIs of smart sustainable cities, indicators are divided into four layers for simplicity: the triple bottom line and “satisfaction” lie in the first layer. Since the notion of “society” is broad, it is further split into “safety”, “health”, and “comfort”, which are positioned in the second layer. The third layer includes indicators such as “information security” and “ubiquitous society” from the perspective of information communication technology (ICT). We conducted a trial evaluation by applying the proposed KPIs to individual ICT solutions of “Internet Protocol announcements”, “Wi-Fi around the station” and “information transmission and control” which have already been installed in a smart sustainable city.

The Sentinel

Human Rights Action :: Humanitarian Response :: Health ::
Holistic Development :: Sustainable Resilience
__________________________________________________
Week ending 16 April 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:

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Editor &
Founding Managing Director
GE2P2 – Center for Governance, Evidence, Ethics, Policy, Practice
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pdf version: The Sentinel_ week ending 16 April 2016

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

Editor’s Note:
As we approach the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul on 23-24 May 2016, we are encountering analyses on the state of humanitarian response and humanitarianism overall. Below are summaries of new reports by ODI and ActionAid International on behalf of the Transforming Surge Capacity Project.

World Humanitarian Summit: https://consultations.worldhumanitariansummit.org/whs_about

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Time to let go: remaking humanitarian action for the modern era
ODI – Humanitarian Policy Group
Research reports and studies – April 2016 :: 84 pages
Team leader and main author: Christina Bennett; Editor and co-author: Matthew Foley
Pdf: http://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/resource-documents/time_to_let_go_report.pdf

Foreword
This report reflects a growing sense, both from our own research on the ‘changing humanitarian landscape’ and in conversations with colleagues, that the ‘traditional’ humanitarian sector is on the cusp of a decisive moment in its history.

For three-quarters of a century, the stalwarts of humanitarian assistance and emergency relief – Western donors and non-governmental organisations, the Red Cross Movement and UN agencies – have seen themselves as the essential heart of humanitarian action: indispensable players, both as implementing agencies and as the arbiters of the norms and standards governing the conduct of relief.

What became increasingly plain as our research progressed was that this centrality and indispensability was, if not an illusion, then at least a very partial picture of the reality of global humanitarian assistance. Northern NGOs, the UN system and the Red Cross are by no means redundant – the billions of dollars still being channelled through them is testament to that – but they are just one part of a much broader universe of assistance made up of a myriad of other actors, with their own distinctive traditions and cultures of care.

Drawing on recent HPG research, this report – a collective effort by the HPG team, as well as the fruit of insights from thinkers and doers in humanitarianism from around the world – reflects on this complexity, and sketches out some of its implications, both for the practical business of emergency assistance and for the principles, ethos and culture that underpin it.

If humanitarianism really is the broad church we believe it to be, what does the concept of ‘humanitarian’ even mean? How should we respond to these challenges, and is change desirable or even possible? These are very large questions, and this report cannot provide complete answers. Hopefully, though, it will contribute to a fuller and more constructive debate on the future direction of humanitarian policy and practice.
Sara Pantuliano
Director, Humanitarian Policy Group
April 2016

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Press Release
Time to let go: remaking humanitarian action for the modern era
As the international humanitarian system faces a crisis of legitimacy, the Humanitarian Policy Group’s landmark report proposes a new model of humanitarian action.

…The humanitarian sector is suffering a crisis of legitimacy.

Despite a decade of system-wide reforms, the sector is failing to adapt to meet the needs of people in crises. As humanitarian emergencies become more frequent, more complex and last longer, the need for radical change is ever growing.

Drawing on four years of research, this report argues that the humanitarian system needs to let go of some fundamental – but outdated – assumptions, structures and behaviours to respond effectively to modern day crises. It argues for a new model of humanitarian action, one that requires letting go of the current paradigm.

First, the UN and large international NGOs need to let go of power and control, to enable national and local aid organisations to lead crisis response.

Second, the humanitarian system needs to let go of the incentives that place organisational drives for greater resources and visibility above the needs of crisis-affected people.

Third, the humanitarian system needs to let go of its own exceptionalism and accept that different forms of relief – from development organisations, religious organisations and private sector companies – can co-exist and can be equally legitimate…

State of Surge Capacity in the Humanitarian Sector
ActionAid International on behalf of the Transforming Surge Capacity Project
April 2016 :: 56 pages
REPORT AUTHORS: LOIS AUSTIN AND GLENN O’NEIL
Pdf: http://www.chsalliance.org/files/files/Resources/Articles-and-Research/Surge-Humanitarian-Report-Final.pdf

Executive Summary [excerpts]
RESEARCH BACKGROUND
This research report is one part of the Transforming Surge Capacity Project of the Start Network. The project aims to improve the capacity of humanitarian organisations to scale up resources for emergency response, and to pilot and build evidence of ways of working that are collaborative and locally focused and which engage with a range of different stakeholders involved in humanitarian response. Led by ActionAid, the project brings together eleven agencies – Action Against Hunger, CAFOD, CARE, Christian Aid, International Medical Corps, Islamic Relief, Muslim Aid, Plan, Save the Children and Tearfund. CHS Alliance is a technical partner for the project and is responsible for this research. The Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities (CDAC) Network is also a technical partner.

The report presents an analysis of the current state of surge across the humanitarian sector, drawing from aid agency views on working collectively on surge and providing an assessment of changes in surge practice since 2007. The research aims to provide an update of a 2007 review of surge capacity and surge capacity mechanisms within international NGOs, which was commissioned by the Emergency Capacity Building Project and was carried out by People In Aid. The 2007 research highlighted the need for global aid organisations to be able to scale up human, financial and material resources in order to effectively fulfil their humanitarian mandates and recommended increased collaboration across the sector in order to improve surge capacity. Another core recommendation was the need to develop surge capacity at country and regional levels as well as at global headquarters…

…CONCLUSIONS
The key conclusions meaning from this research on the current state of surge within the humanitarian sector are as follows:
Conclusion 1
Demand and response: The last decade has seen a rising demand for surge responses, due to the rise in the number of natural disasters, the number of people affected by conflict and their cross-border and regional implications. As a result, humanitarian agencies have to increasingly deploy for surge across multiple crises, simultaneously stretching resources and capacity.

Conclusion 2
Local capacity: There is a need for increased funding and capacity building of local actors. Capacity needs to focus on the ability of aid agencies to maintain sufficient skilled staff, to have flexible internal systems and to support the capacity of partners. Maintaining a pool of qualified staff for surge is a critical issue, particularly at the national level. At the same time, many agencies relying on local partners for surge delivery are concerned with their capacity and are looking for more sustainable ways to support them. This is additionally challenging due to the sporadic and often unpredictable nature of surge.

Conclusion 3
New and emerging surge response models: A number of new models for implementing effective surge responses have been developed in the last decade. These include the creation of specialist support and service providers such as the Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS), MapAction and the Joint IDP Profiling Service (JIPS) – organisations that are able to provide rapid, specialised and detailed services to support the surge responses of operational humanitarian organisations.

In addition, the growth of specialised technical and sector rosters focusing on humanitarian communication – also known as communicating with communities such as CDAC-N,1 gender, protection and cash transfer programming for example have facilitated the humanitarian sector (and in particular the UN system) in ensuring that specific HR surge needs are met.

Conclusion 4
Improved coordination: There has been an improvement with regard to internal coordination within a number of humanitarian networks and organisations such as the UN and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. However, there remain ongoing challenges relating to coordination with national governments and new actors. There is a need for the humanitarian sector to address this challenge which goes beyond surge and impacts on humanitarian work in general.

Conclusion 5
Internal organisational coordination: Having organisation-wide and cross-organisation clarity relating to management structures during a response is considered to be beneficial for response operations. A number of humanitarian organisations have developed organisation-wide approaches to surge in the last decade including the implementation of surge policies and plans; accelerated decision-making procedures; and rapid access to financing. There remains room to further advance internal coordination, particularly in relation to coordination with HR, logistics and administration in order to support effective surge responses.

Conclusion 6
Surge staffing and management: The majority of aid agencies have appointed teams or individuals responsible for surge at their global HQs. Many larger agencies have reinforced their international emergency response teams and internal rosters with an increased reliance on expensive yet effective permanent stand-by surge personnel. Ensuring and maintaining consistent surge set-up at national level remains a challenge where agencies are still testing different approaches.

Conclusion 7
Collaboration: There are examples of positive surge collaboration, particularly with federated networks, partnering on rosters and those organisations that operate through local partners, and to a lesser extent with the private sector. However, there are few examples of inter-organisational collaboration (particularly at the global level), resulting in continued uncoordinated and duplicative surge responses. The advantages of increased collaboration – such as cost effectiveness, increased coverage of humanitarian needs, and capacity building in new areas – highlight a clear link to more effective addressing of humanitarian needs. However, humanitarian organisations stress that there are complications and disadvantages to collaboration. These disadvantages are primarily organisational as opposed to needs-related, and include differences in policy and mandate, diverse operational working modalities and competition for resources and staff. There is increased collaboration at the national as opposed to global level, with HQ focusing on finding, organising and mobilising staff and resources and national surge focusing on getting those resources to people in need. This is an area where humanitarian organisations could further learn from national public sector bodies that have developed coordinated collaboration practices.

Conclusion 8
Surge learning: There is a large appetite within the humanitarian aid sector to share learning, knowledge and ideas on surge responses. There is currently no forum or community of practice for this sharing. A major step towards collaboration and reducing duplication would be to develop such a forum or a community for surge practitioners and interested organisations.

Development aid rises again in 2015, spending on refugees doubles – OECD
13/04/2016 – Development aid totalled USD 131.6 billion in 2015, representing a rise of 6.9% from 2014 in real terms as aid spent on refugees in host countries more than doubled in real terms to USD 12 billion. Stripping out funds spent on refugees, aid was still up 1.7% in real terms, according to official data collected by the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC).

Official development assistance (ODA) from the 28 countries in the DAC averaged 0.30% of gross national income, the same level as in 2014. Measured in real terms – correcting for inflation and for a sharp depreciation in many DAC country currencies against the dollar last year – ODA is up 83% since 2000, when the Millennium Development Goals were agreed.

The 2015 data show that bilateral aid to the poorest countries rose by 4% in real terms, in line with commitments by DAC donors to reverse recent declines. Bilateral aid, making up around two-thirds of ODA, is aid provided by one country to another country. A survey of donor spending plans through 2019 suggests flows to the poorest countries will keep rising.

Funds spent on hosting or processing refugees in donor countries accounted for 9.1% of ODA in 2015, up from 4.8% in 2014, when in-donor refugee costs totalled USD 6.6 billion. The rise in refugee costs did not significantly eat into development programmes, with around half of donor countries using money from outside their aid budgets to cover refugee costs.

“Countries have had to find large sums to cover the costs of an historic refugee crisis in Europe, and most have so far avoided diverting money from development programmes. These efforts must continue. We also welcome that more aid is being provided to the poorest countries,” said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría. “Governments must ensure that development aid keeps rising. They also need to develop long-term options for meeting future refugee costs and the integration of refugees in our societies, while ensuring at the same time that ODA reaches those countries and people that need it the most.”

An unprecedented 1.5 million refugees claimed asylum in OECD countries in 2015, more than a million in Europe. DAC rules allow member countries to count certain refugee-related expenses as ODA for the first year after their arrival. Three countries – Australia, Korea and Luxembourg – do not count refugee costs as ODA. Others – Austria, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden – saw refugee costs account for more than 20% of their ODA in 2015.

Humanitarian aid also rose by 11% in real terms in 2015 to USD 13.6 billion.

The 2015 data shows ODA rose in 22 countries, with the biggest increases in Greece, Sweden and Germany. Six countries reported lower ODA, with the steepest declines in Portugal and Australia. Of the several non-DAC members who report their aid flows to the OECD body, the United Arab Emirates posted the highest ODA/GNI ratio in 2015 at 1.09%

Only six of the 28 DAC countries – Denmark, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom – met a United Nations target to keep ODA at or above 0.7% of GNI.

ODA makes up more than two thirds of external finance for least-developed countries and the DAC is pushing for it to be used more as a lever to generate private investment and domestic tax revenues in poor countries. The DAC is also looking at clarifying the rules for which refugee costs can be counted as ODA.

“We need to remember that the best way to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and avoid future refugee crises is to continue the current momentum of aid flows, particularly to the neediest and most fragile countries,” said DAC Chair Erik Solheim. “I am glad that we have reversed the recent declines in aid to the poorest countries and that most countries aren’t spending large amounts of their ODA on hosting refugees.”

UNHCR statement on violence on the Greece-FYROM border on 10 April
11 April 2016
(This statement is attributable to UNHCR Spokesperson Adrian Edwards)
Yesterday’s violence at the Greece-Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia border near Eidomeni and the extensive scenes we have all seen of teargas in use are a matter of great worry to UNHCR. It should be too for all who are concerned with Europe’s response to the situation of refugees and migrants.

Time and again in recent months we have seen tension unfolding at various European borders, between security forces on the one hand and people fleeing war and in need of help on the other. People get hurt and property is damaged. Harm is done to perceptions of refugees and to Europe’s image alike. Everyone loses.

In recent days media and public attention has focused on how the EU-Turkey agreement is being implemented in the Aegean islands and in Turkey. We should not forget the many other refugees and migrants who continue to be affected by the situation, especially the nearly 46,000 on the Greek mainland who arrived before the agreement took effect. At Eidomeni, about 11,000 have been sleeping for many weeks now in the open in dismal conditions, fuelling hopelessness and despair.

UNHCR is ready to support the voluntary transfer of people to sites to be put in place by the Greek Government, including with the necessary services while registration and processing is taking place. This is urgent. In the meantime, in Eidomeni, UNHCR together with the Greek Government, Greek NGOs and other partners are providing food, medical support, help for persons with specific needs, and prevention and response to sexual and gender based violence.

A wider solution – namely to relocate those who may qualify for international protection to other European States – has been agreed for many months. It needs action.

Violence is wrong whatever the circumstances. UNCHR hopes Europe will take the necessary steps now, and we stand ready to help governments further in fulfilling their obligations to refugees.

Relocation and Resettlement: EU Member States urgently need to deliver
European Commission – Press release
Strasbourg, 12 April 2016
Relocation and Resettlement: EU Member States urgently need to deliver
Today, the Commission gives an update on the progress made up until 11 April 2016 and assesses the actions undertaken by Member States to implement the emergency relocation and European resettlement schemes. Overall, progress since the Commission’s first report has been unsatisfactory: on relocation, little progress has been made since mid-March, while we see good progress on resettlement. Good progress on resettlement is also the result of the EU-Turkey agreement which has shifted greater focus onto resettlement efforts. Greater efforts on relocation, however, are increasingly urgent in view of the humanitarian situation in Greece.

Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos said: “EU Member States need to urgently deliver on their political and legal commitment to relocate persons in need of international protection from Greece and Italy. We cannot be satisfied with the results achieved so far. Relocation efforts have to be increased dramatically to reply to the urgent humanitarian situation in Greece and to prevent any deterioration of the situation in Italy. Member States also need to speed up and increase their resettlement efforts. To effectively close the backdoor to irregular and dangerous migration routes, we have to open safe and legal routes to Europe for people in need of international protection. With the EU-Turkey agreement and the 1:1 mechanism in force, it has become even more urgent for Member States to deliver swiftly on their resettlement commitments.”…

International Community Endorses New Initiative to Support Refugees, Host Communities, Recovery and Reconstruction in the Middle East and North Africa
WASHINGTON, April 15, 2016 – Eight nations and the European Commission today pledged a package of more than US$1 billion — US$141 million in grants, US$1 billion in soft loans, US$500 million in guarantees – to a World Bank-led financing initiative in support of Syrian refugees and host communities in Jordan and Lebanon, as well as recovery and reconstruction across the region. The package means that the new facility will be able to generate up to US$800 million in concessional loans in the next year.

Japan, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway and the European Commission each pledged their initial financial contributions to the New Financing Initiative to Support the Middle East and North Africa Region. The pledging occurred at a ministerial conference co-chaired by the President of the World Bank Group, the Secretary General of the United Nations and the President of the Islamic Development Bank Group. The conference brought together ministers from G7, Gulf Cooperation Council, European and MENA countries, as well as the heads of various multilateral development banks and international organizations.

“Today’s strong show of support for the people of the Middle East and North Africa is an example of how the international community can come together to address major challenges,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. “These grants mean we can now begin expanding programs to help Jordan and Lebanon cope with the impact of the Syrian refugee crisis, while guarantees will allow multi-lateral development banks to increase their financing in support of countries across the region confronting the multiple consequences of instability. I am confident of mobilizing additional support for recovery and reconstruction, and reaching our goal of raising US$1 billion in grants over the next five years, which we will leverage to create US$3 to 4 billion in much needed concessional financing.”

The new financing initiative was launched jointly by the World Bank Group, the United Nations and the Islamic Development Bank Group in October of last year. The goal of the initiative is to rally the international community and improve coordination among international organizations, to meet the scale of both the MENA region’s humanitarian and development needs. The three organizations formed a working group which over the last six months, together with representatives of 26 supporting and benefitting countries, as well as nine regional and international organizations, has focused on developing the structure of the initiative and a roadmap for its implementation.