United Nations – Selected Press Releases [to 3 January 2014]
Secretary General, Security Council, General Assembly
http://www.un.org/en/unpress/

30 December 2014
SC/11722
Resolution in Security Council to Impose 12-Month Deadline on Negotiated Solution to Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Unable to Secure Nine Votes Needed for Adoption
The Security Council today failed to adopt a draft resolution calling for Israel, within three years, to withdraw from Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 and, within one year, for the parties to reach a negotiated solution to the conflict.

23 December 2014
GA/11606
General Assembly Adopts Resolution to Reinforce United Nations Emergency Humanitarian Response, Decisions on International Criminal Tribunals
The General Assembly today, nearing completion of its work for the main part of the session, adopted three draft texts on international tribunals and on bolstering emergency humanitarian response.
The General Assembly today, nearing completion of its work for the main part of the session, adopted three draft texts on international tribunals and on bolstering emergency humanitarian response.
Resuming its consideration of its agenda item on strengthening the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations, the Assembly adopted, without a vote, a draft resolution on international cooperation on humanitarian assistance in the field of natural disasters, from relief to development.
The representative of Bolivia, speaking for the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, introduced the text, saying that it recognized the clear relationship between emergency response, rehabilitation and development, and reaffirmed that, in order to ensure a smooth transition, emergency assistance must be provided in ways that would be supportive of short-term and medium-term recovery leading to long-term development.
The draft resolution also emphasized the fundamentally civilian character of humanitarian assistance, he said, noting that it urged Member States, the United Nations and development organizations to prioritize risk management and to work towards a common understanding of risks and responsibilities.

22 December 2014
SC/11720
Security Council, in Divided Vote, Puts Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s Situation on Agenda following Findings of Unspeakable Human Rights Abuses
Concerted action by the international community was needed following a Human Rights Council report on appalling, systematic abuses in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, high United Nations officials told the Security Council today, following a procedural vote of 11 in favour to 2 against (China, Russian Federation), with 2 abstentions (Chad, Nigeria) that put the situation on the body’s agenda.

23 December 2014
SG/SM/16436-DC/3537-L/T/4440
Secretary-General Says Arms Trade Treaty’s Entry into Force Is Testimony of International Commitment to Stop Irresponsible Arms Transfers
Secretary-General
Press Release
The following statement by UN Secretary General Ban Ki moon was issued today:
Tomorrow, 24 December 2014, the Arms Trade Treaty will enter into force.
This marks the opening of a new chapter in our collective efforts to bring responsibility, accountability and transparency to the global arms trade. From now on, the States parties to this important Treaty will have a legal obligation to apply the highest common standards to their international transfers of weapons and ammunition.

UNICEF [to 3 January 2014]
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_71508.html

Media Releases [selected]
UNICEF Ebola response: 400+ survivors receive psycho-social support and kits to restart their lives
KENEMA, Sierra Leone, 24 December 2014 – More than 400 Ebola survivors have taken part in four separate survivor conferences over the past few days in the districts of Kailahun, Kenema and Bo, where they learned more about protecting their communities, were informed as to how their bodies defeated the disease, and received psycho-social support.

UNICEF – Tsunami 10 years on
NEW YORK, 23 December 2014 – “The Indian Ocean tsunami changed lives around the world forever. Entire communities were obliterated in moments. Families were robbed of children, sisters, brothers and parents. In an unprecedented expression of international grief and solidarity, millions of people across the globe mobilised in support of one of the largest relief efforts in history.

UNHCR [to 3 January 2014]
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/hom

Statement by Vincent Cochetel, UNHCR Europe Bureau Director, on new boat arrival in Italy
2 Jan 2015
“The use of larger cargo ships is a new trend, but it is part of an ongoing and worrying situation that can no longer be ignored by European governments. We need urgent European concerted action in the Mediterranean Sea, increasing efforts to rescue people at sea and stepping up efforts to provide legal alternatives to dangerous voyages. Without safer ways for refugees to find safety in Europe, we won’t be able to reduce the multiple risks and dangers posed by these movements at sea.
UNHCR thanks the Italian authorities for their response to these latest incidents, despite the phasing down of the Mare Nostrum operation. We have expressed concerns over the ending of this operation without a similar European search-and-rescue operation to replace it. This will undoubtedly increase the risk for those trying to find safety in Europe.”

WHO & Regionals [to 3 January 2014]

WHO: 2014 in review: key health issues
Health headlines have recently been dominated by the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and humanitarian emergencies in many other countries. 2014 also saw major public health successes, and a clearer understanding of a number of public health threats. WHO produced reports on a range of critical health issues and provided new advice to help countries improve their people’s health. Here are a few highlights:
:: January – April
:: May – August
:: September – December

:: Global Alert and Response (GAR): Disease Outbreak News (DONs)
– Ebola virus disease – United Kingdom 30 December 2014
On 29 December 2014, WHO was notified by the National IHR Focal Point for the United Kingdom of a laboratory-confirmed case of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). This is the first EVD case to be detected on UK soil.
– Human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus – China 30 December 2014
– Human infection with avian influenza A(H5N6) virus – China 28 December 2014
– Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) – Saudi Arabia 26 December 2014
– Human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus – China 24 December 2014

:: The Weekly Epidemiological Record (WER) 19 December 2014, vol. 89, 51/52 (pp. 577–588) includes:
– Index of countries/areas
– Index, Volume 89, 2014, Nos. 1–52
– Revised guidance on meningitis outbreak response in sub-Saharan Africa
– Monthly report on dracunculiasis cases, January– October 2014
WHO Regional Offices
WHO African Region AFRO
Press Releases
:: National health systems – Africa’s big public health challenge 22 December 2014
Feature Stories
:: Cured of Ebola, Rebecca returns to cure others – 24 December 2014
:: Liberia: Local students become active Ebola case finders – 22 December 2014

WHO Region of the Americas PAHO
:: PAHO year in review: 2014 public health highlights in the Americas
Washington, D.C., 24 December 2014 (PAHO/WHO) – The year 2014 was marked by progress as well as significant challenges for public health in the Americas. The region’s countries advanced toward goals including universal health coverage, expanded access to vaccination, and ensuring that fewer babies are born with HIV. They also confronted major new challenges, including the arrival and spread of the chikungunya virus and the need to prepare for the possible imported cases of Ebola…

WHO South-East Asia Region SEARO
:: Strengthening emergency preparedness, response capacities can save lives in mega disasters like tsunami 24 December 2014

WHO European Region EURO
:: First Ebola case detected on UK soil 02-01-2015
:: Avian influenza A(H5N8) continues to spread in poultry 23-12-2014

WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region EMRO
No new digest content identified.

WHO Western Pacific Region
:: 2014: Pacific year in review
2 January 2015 – The Pacific responded to a number of challenges in 2014, from outbreaks of vector-borne diseases to strengthening capacity to respond to public health threats such as Ebola. At the same time, work to combat the NCD crisis accelerated, through, for example, the launch of the Tobacco Free Pacific initiative and salt reduction activities. The Pacific voice was heard on the global stage at the World Health Assembly and the 3rd International Conference on Small Islands Developing States…

UNFPA United Nations Population Fund [to 3 January 2014]
http://www.unfpa.org/public/

UN calls for intensified efforts to end fistula
23 December 2014
UNITED NATIONS, New York – The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a resolution calling for increased actions to end obstetric fistula. The largely preventable condition is estimated to afflict some 2 million women around the world – most of them marginalized, impoverished and without access to essential maternal health services…

The UNFPA-backed resolution, adopted on 18 December, calls on the international community to intensify technical and financial support to maternal health efforts, including action to eliminate fistula, before the end of 2015. The end of next year is the deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, including Goal 5, which calls for improving maternal health.

“The resolution is important for millions of women suffering the pain and shame of fistula,” said Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of UNFPA…

UN Women [to 3 January 2014]
http://www.unwomen.org/

Timeline: Gender equality, 2014 year in review
Date : December 23, 2014
From the passing of one of the Arab region’s most progressive Constitutions enshrining women’s rights to changes in legislation to provide long overdue redress to wartime survivors of sexual violence, this timeline is a selection of some of the gender equality achievements, milestones and noteworthy moments from around the world this year.

UNDP United Nations Development Programme [to 3 January 2014]
http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/presscenter.html

30 Dec 2014
UNDP to help cut cross border Ebola infections in West Africa
UNDP is set to help the Liberian government build new border posts to cut cross-border Ebola infections from Sierra Leone. Infections in Liberia’s Eastern border region have spiked recently as tight nit cross-border communities spread the disease across the two countries often porous border. 49 new cases have been recorded in the border county of Grand Cape Mount in December, including 12 in the past four days.

29 Dec 2014
UNDP makes emergency payments to Ebola health workers in Guinea
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has made additional incentive payments to 758 health personnel working in four Ebola treatment units in Guinea, ensuring their life-saving work can continue without any interruption.

24 Dec 2014
UNDP and partners put on a christmas party for Liberian Ebola orphans
Christmas came early to Westpoint, Liberia today where hundreds of children were thrown a big party courtesy of staff from UNDP, UN agencies and NGOs in Liberia and around the world.

23 Dec 2014
UNDP helps pay 16,000 workers fighting Ebola in Sierra Leone by mobile phone
With support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 16,000 nurses on the frontline in the fight against Ebola are receiving hazard pay through their mobile phones. Workers receive text messages with security codes and information on nearby kiosks to pick up the extra pay they receive for risks associated with fighting Ebola.

22 Dec 2014
Norad-Report Highlights UNDP-Results in Democracy, Human Rights
Norad’s annual results report launched earlier this month, showcases 25 examples of assistance in the areas of democracy and human rights. The case studies demonstrate that institutions which promote democracy and respect for human rights are able to carry out their work more effectively as a direct result of this assistance.

FAO Food & Agriculture Organization [to 3 January 2014]
http://www.fao.org/news/archive/news-by-date/2014/en/

Growing concern for South Sudan’s herders as conflict displaces millions of cattle
Unusual herding and migration routes stir tensions and pose risk of spreading diseases
31-12-2014

Brazil offers an extra US $ 17 million to FAO projects as new government takes helm
Brazil has added US $ 17 million in funding to projects undertaken in its ongoing partnership with FAO, highlighting the Latin American country’s role as a key regional and global contributor to the fight against hunger.
31-12-2014

2014 in review
Food security and questions of how to feed a growing world remained high on the agenda in 2014. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the top FAO stories of the last twelve months.
29-12-2014

FAO and partners call for a global response to deadly banana disease
FAO and international experts say that a global effort is needed to prevent the rapid spread of the deadly Fusarium wilt disease in bananas, which poses a severe threat to economic welfare and food security in developing countries.
23-12-2014

USAID [to 3 January 2014]
http://www.usaid.gov/

USAID Awards $71 million to Support Primary Education in Ghana
December 29, 2014
Today, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced the award of Partnership for Education: Learning, USAID’s flagship education project in Ghana, to FHI 360, an international human development NGO. Through the Learning project, the American people are investing $71 million to support Ghana’s educational institutions over five years to improve, expand, and sustain learning outcomes for at least 2.8 million primary students nationwide, with an emphasis on children in kindergarten through grade three.

USAID Announces Awards to Support Schools and Hospitals Abroad
December 22, 2014
The U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) announced today 34 new grants to U.S. organizations to support construction projects and the purchase of equipment for overseas institutions. The projects, spanning 24 countries, are funded through a competitive annual grant and directly support schools, libraries and medical centers outside the United States that share universal values, such as empowering women and inclusive societies, as well as promoting innovation and entrepreneurship, while advancing best practices in healthcare and education. Throughout its history ASHA’s impact has covered the globe, working in nearly 80 countries with more than 270 institutions.

ECHO [to 3 January 2014]
http://ec.europa.eu/echo/en/news

Austria contributes additional €1 million to Ebola prevention
23/12/2014
Austria will contribute €1 million to the EU’s Ebola prevention and preparedness programme in West Africa, in addition to more than €1.7 million the country has already dedicated to the Ebola response. The funding will go to a treatment centre for…

EU increases humanitarian aid for South Sudan
23/12/2014
The European Commission is increasing its life-saving assistance to South Sudan by over €7 million, bringing its 2014 relief aid for one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises to more than €116 million. The new funds will provide shelter, water,…

EU provides humanitarian assistance to Libya
22/12/2014
The European Commission is providing €2 million in additional humanitarian assistance to Libyans who have been forced to flee their homes amid the increasing instability and violence, which has plagues the country over recent months…

World Bank [to 3 January 2014]
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/all

Humanitarian-Development Nexus: World Bank Group stepping up its support to crisis and disaster risk management
December 30, 2014
Minimizing increasing disaster and crisis impacts is a joint humanitarian and development responsibility and more needs to be done to improve coordination among actors. We need to change the way we work together. In this context, Cyril Muller, World Bank Group’s Vice President for External and Corporate Relations, participated in the Principals’ Meeting of the Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC), held in Geneva on December 9, 2014, and underscored the Bank Group’s commitment to partnership with humanitarian community. It is clear that response, recovery and development tend to happen in parallel, such that coordination, discipline and flexibility are more important than ever. The WBG has been stepping up its engagement in crises and disasters, contributing to humanitarian actions through financing, partnerships and innovation. In fact, we know firsthand that crises and disasters undermine sustainable development, and while the WBG does not deliver humanitarian aid, we support nation…

MSF/Médecins Sans Frontières [to 3 January 2014]

Selected Press Releases/Field News
A Mixed Welcome for Homecoming Ebola Survivors
December 31, 2014
Moses’s family has been hard hit by Ebola. Four of them were infected with the virus—his father and brother died, but Moses and his sister both survived. Moses was recently discharged from the Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Ebola management center in Bo, Sierra Leone, and made the journey back to his home village, accompanied by MSF health promoter Esmee de Jong.

Clinical Trial for Potential Ebola Treatment Starts in MSF Clinic in Guinea
December 29, 2014
A clinical trial for a possible treatment for Ebola started in Guinea on December 17. The trial is led by the French medical research institute INSERM and is taking place at the Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Ebola treatment center in Guéckédou, in the east of the country. Although every experimental treatment for Ebola patients offers hope, MSF remains prudent. There’s no guarantee that the drug will be effective and safe, and, even if it is, it will not mean the end of the epidemic which continues to spread in the three most affected countries of West Africa…

Plan International [to 3 January 2014]
http://plan-international.org/about-plan/resources/media-centre

Children’s futures impacted due to Ebola school closures
29 December 2014:
Children in Ebola-stricken Liberia are playing, working or begging to fill their time while schools are closed, according to Plan International.

The virus has kept schools shut for more than five months, in a country which already suffered from limited learning facilities and trained teachers, as well as a high illiteracy rate.
New research from Plan shows that a cohort of children and youth will lose half a year or more of education, which is expected to affect their prospects in life, as well as dent their confidence and self-esteem.

The report, entitled Young Lives on Lockdown: The impact of Ebola on children and communities in Liberia, says that while teachers and older children are continuing to teach their children and sibling at home, the majority of parents are themselves uneducated and thus cannot give their children home schooling.

“Most parents cannot read or write so they cannot help their children at home, and at the same time they don’t let other people come to their houses to conduct lessons for them or let their children out for even 30 minutes,” said one community leader interviewed for the research.

Once schools do re-open, parents worry they will not have the money to pay their children’s fees. “Schools will reopen but there’s no money to put kids in school,” said another community leader, speaking to researchers…

Save The Children [to 3 January 2014]
http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6150563/k.D0E9/Newsroom.htm

Number of Children Trying to Flee Central America More Than Doubled in 2014
December 30, 2014

Save the Children’s Sierra Leone Ebola Center Discharges its 60th Survivor
December 24, 2014

Tostan [to 3 January 2014]
January 2, 2015

December 23, 2014
121 Communities in Velingara-Ferlo Publicly Declare Abandonment of FGC and Child/forced Marriage
On a sunny Sunday afternoon in the remote village of Velingara Ferlo, 121 communities from the department of Ranerou in Northern Senegal publicly declared to abandon female genital cutting (FGC) and child/forced marriage…

Disasters Emergency Committee [to 3 January 2014]
http://www.dec.org.uk/
[Action Aid, Age International, British Red Cross, CAFOD, Care International, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Islamic Relief, Oxfam, Plan UK, Save the Children, Tearfund and World Vision]

DEC publishes review of member agency assurance mechanisms
27/11/2014
The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has published today an independent report which shows how its member agencies provide assurance that they are following agreed ways of working when they respond to emergencies.
The report “DEC Accountability Self-Assessment Validation 2013-14” was prepared for the DEC by consultants from One World Trust who validated members’ self-assessed performance against 21 ‘Ways of Working’ [PDF] which DEC members are committed to following.
The report shows that DEC member agencies continue to report performance improvements and that the large majority of these self-assessments were likely to be accurate. Importantly however it also drew the attention of a minority of members to areas where their self-assessments were insufficiently supported by evidence…

ODI [to 3 January 2014]
http://www.odi.org/media

Aid and the Islamic State
HPG Crisis Briefs, December 2014
Eva Svoboda and Louise Redvers
In this IRIN/HPG Crisis Brief we examine the flows of international aid into parts of Iraq controlled by militants from the so-called Islamic State (IS).

Development entrepreneurship: how donors and leaders can foster institutional change
Research reports and studies, December 2014
Jaime Faustino and David Booth
Various communities of practice have been established recently to advance the general idea of thinking and working politically in development agencies. This paper makes a contribution by describing the practice of what has been called development entrepreneurship and explaining some of the ideas from outside the field of development that have inspired it.

American Journal of Preventive Medicine
January 2015 Volume 48, Issue 1, p1-120
http://www.ajpmonline.org/current

Lifecourse Epidemiology and Molecular Pathological Epidemiology
Akihiro Nishi, MD, DrPH, Ichiro Kawachi, MD, PhD, Karestan C. Koenen, PhD, Kana Wu, MD, PhD, Reiko Nishihara, PhD, Shuji Ogino, MD, PhD
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2014.09.031
Abstract
Lifecourse epidemiology studies long-term effects of social and environmental exposures on health and disease.1,2 A key challenge to the three models of lifecourse epidemiology is translating its empirical evidence into intervention planning, especially among populations where the critical social and environmental exposures happened in the past or when they represent difficult groups with which to intervene. In this article, molecular pathological epidemiology (MPE), which was first described in 2010, is reviewed.

BMC Infectious Diseases
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcinfectdis/content
(Accessed 3 January 2014)

Research article
Mitigation of infectious disease at school: targeted class closure vs school closure
Valerio Gemmetto, Alain Barrat and Ciro Cattuto
BMC Infectious Diseases 2014, 14:3841 doi:10.1186/s12879-014-0695-9
Published: 31 December 2014
Abstract (provisional)
Background
School environments are thought to play an important role in the community spread of infectious diseases such as influenza because of the high mixing rates of school children. The closure of schools has therefore been proposed as an efficient mitigation strategy. Such measures come however with high associated social and economic costs, making alternative, less disruptive interventions highly desirable. The recent availability of high-resolution contact network data from school environments provides an opportunity to design models of micro-interventions and compare the outcomes of alternative mitigation measures.
Methods and results
We model mitigation measures that involve the targeted closure of school classes or grades based on readily available information such as the number of symptomatic infectious children in a class. We focus on the specific case of a primary school for which we have high-resolution data on the close-range interactions of children and teachers. We simulate the spread of an influenza-like illness in this population by using an SEIR model with asymptomatics, and compare the outcomes of different mitigation strategies. We find that targeted class closure affords strong mitigation effects: closing a class for a fixed period of time ? equal to the sum of the average infectious and latent durations ? whenever two infectious individuals are detected in that class decreases the attack rate by almost 70% and significantly decreases the probability of a severe outbreak. The closure of all classes of the same grade mitigates the spread almost as much as closing the whole school.
Conclusions
Our model of targeted class closure strategies based on readily available information on symptomatic subjects and on limited information on mixing patterns, such as the grade structure of the school, show that these strategies might be almost as effective as whole-school closure, at a much lower cost. This may inform public health policies for the management and mitigation of influenza-like outbreaks in the community.

BMC Public Health
(Accessed 3 January 2014)
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcpublichealth/content

Research article
Pilot study of home-based delivery of HIV testing and counseling and contraceptive services to couples in Malawi
Stan Becker, Frank O Taulo, Michelle J Hindin, Effie K Chipeta, Dana Loll and Amy Tsui
BMC Public Health 2014, 14:1309 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-1309
Published: 20 December 2014
Abstract (provisional)
Background
HIV counseling and testing for couples is an important component of HIV prevention strategies, particularly in Sub Saharan Africa. The purpose of this pilot study is to estimate the uptake of couple HIV counseling and testing (CHCT) and couple family planning (CFP) services in a single home visit in peri-urban Malawi and to assess related factors.
Methods
This study involved offering CHCT and CFP services to couples in their homes; 180 couples were sampled from households in a peri-urban area of Blantyre. Baseline data were collected from both partners and follow-up data were collected one week later. A pair of male and female counselors approached each partner separately about HIV testing and counseling and contraceptive services and then, if both consented, CHCT and CFP services (pills, condoms and referrals for other methods) were given. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were done to examine the relationship between individual partner characteristics and acceptance of the services. Selected behaviors reported pre- and post-intervention, particularly couple reports on contraceptive use and condom use at last sex, were also tested for differences.
Results
89% of couples accepted at least one of the services (58% CHCT-only, 29% CHCT + CFP, 2% CFP-only). Among women, prior testing experience (p < 0.05), parity (p < 0.01), and emotional closeness to partner (p < 0.01) had significant bivariate associations with acceptance of at least one service. Reported condom use at last sex increased from 6% to 25% among couples receiving any intervention. First-ever HIV testing was delivered to 25 women and 69 men, resulting, respectively, in 4 and 11 newly detected infections.
Conclusions
Home-based CHCT and CFP were very successful in this pilot study with high proportions of previously untested husbands and wives accepting CHCT and there were virtually no negative outcomes within one week. This study supports the need for further research and testing of home- and couple-based approaches to expand access to HCT and contraceptive services to prevent the undesired consequences of sexually transmitted infection and unintended pregnancy via unprotected sex.