Children – Armed Conflict

Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict: 20 Years After the Adoption of OPAC
Monday, 25 May 2020
Joint Statement by the African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security, the European Parliament Intergroup on Children’s Rights and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on the involvement of children in armed conflict (OPAC). In this juncture, the African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security, H.E. Smaїl Chergui and the Co-Chair of the European Parliament Intergroup on Children’s Rights, Mr. David Lega join their voices with the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Ms. Virginia Gamba to urge all outstanding Member States to sign and ratify the OPAC and fulfill the promise made to children two decades ago that they would not be involved in armed conflict. The adoption of OPAC was a milestone and within the past 20 years has contributed to releasing more than 145,000 boys and girls from armed forces and armed groups and preventing the recruitment and use of more millions of children.

Since its adoption, the Optional Protocol has become a lighthouse to guide the efforts of States in ending and preventing the involvement of children in armed conflict and to counter the long-lasting effects conflict has on children. “As we mark this anniversary, we must pause and remember what the world was like before OPAC’s adoption,” said the three officials. “We must also take time to note its remarkable achievements and enormous potential for the next decade. Indeed, the Decade of Action calls to accelerate sustainable solutions to the world’s biggest challenges; eradicating the recruitment and use of children allows countries to focus on the actual needs of children such as education, healthcare and future livelihood opportunities.”

While OPAC paved the way for countries to ensure that children were not taking part in hostilities, its relevance and implementation in today’s world continue to be critical, especially as countries are seeking to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The protection of conflict-affected children should be an active part of the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus to ensure that the vulnerability of children is addressed before, during and after conflicts. Ending and preventing the recruitment and use of children is only the first step: supporting the sustainable reintegration of released boys and girls into their communities is essential for their future, but also for the future of the entire society.

“As we mark OPAC’s 20th anniversary, we urge Member States that are not yet parties to OPAC to become one, and to do so on behalf of their children and countries future,” said the three officials. “We also urge State Parties that have ratified OPAC to implement the obligations contained in this treaty and ensure that they do not remain dead letters. By ratifying the OPAC, Member States commits to align their legal frameworks with international standards, pursue accountability for violations of children’s fundamental rights and prevent the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict. With only 17 Member States that are yet to become a party to this important treaty, it is evident that universal ratification is more achievable than before,” they said.

“The next twenty years must reflect the translation of OPAC’s commitments into tangible actions. We must ensure that children are not only freed from the threat of recruitment and use but are also provided with options to enjoy a better future and not left without support or subsistence; conflict-affected children need our support in every aspect of their growth. The Optional Protocol should thus remain our beacon and serves to remind us that if children are not allowed to be children and forced into taking part in hostilities, we have not only failed them but have betrayed our own hopes for a brighter future.”

Governance :: Precision Medicine

Precision Medicine Vision Statement :: A Product of the World Economic Forum Global Precision Medicine Council
World Economic Forum
May 2020 :: 46 pages
PDF: http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Global_Precision_Medicine_Council_Vision_Statement_2020.pdf
Executive Summary
The benefits of precision medicine in terms of superior health and healthcare outcomes are increasingly clear, but there are challenges to the equitable and widespread dissemination of precision medicine tools, technologies and solutions.

The World Economic Forum convened more than 40 leaders from the public and private sectors, civil society and academia in a Global Precision Medicine Council (the Council) in 2019 to help shape the governance of precision medicine in the public interest. This document is the Council’s synthesis of the key policy and governance gaps, and its vision for the solutions to overcome them. It should serve as a reference for the greater healthcare community with an interest in helping deliver these benefits on a global basis.

These five governance gaps are:
1) data sharing and interoperability;
2) ethical use of technology;
3) patient and public engagement and trust;
4) access, delivery, value, pricing and reimbursement;
5) responsive regulatory systems.

Using illustrative examples of solutions or analytical frameworks to overcome these five gaps, the Council provides areas of opportunity to accelerate precision medicine approaches globally. The main considerations and recommendations include:
– Increasing awareness of the benefits of data standardization and interoperability and fostering trusted mechanisms of collaboration involving patients to unlock the vast amounts of data needed
– Learning lessons from research efforts that were discriminatory or hurtful and focusing new efforts on inclusivity and representativeness to support ethical technology development
– Building public and patient trust and engagement by encouraging deliberation and mechanisms on if/how genetic and other sensitive health data are accessed or used by commercial companies and law enforcement
– Innovating intellectual property protection regimes for biomarkers and algorithms as part of the process of incentivizing investment in foundational new diagnostics
– Funding and publicly reporting post-market clinical trials and studies for fast-track therapeutics that allow healthcare providers to clearly understand the value of precision medicine treatments and receive payments based on performance
– Designing and implementing consistent and appropriate regulatory frameworks that protect the health information generated from direct-to-consumer genetic services in a way that support the values of patients and participants

Unfortunately, more than half of the world’s population still has no access to precision medicine and is unable to reap the benefits. We must be ever vigilant about increasing the capabilities of many countries and populations to join this global movement towards more personalized and targeted ways of screening, preventing, diagnosing, treating and curing patients with disease. The importance of worldwide access and of addressing these inequities is urgent. With this in mind, the Council aims to contribute positively to the global debate and activity by framing solutions that may be scalable and useful in many settings, as well as by identifying ongoing challenges that remain resistant to solutions in order to focus new creativity on finding appropriate paths forward.

Technology/Human Rights: Blockchain

Blockchain Principles Launched to Preserve and Protect User Rights – The Presidio Principles
World Economic Forum News 22 May 2020
– 16 user rights make up the newly launched Presidio Principles: the foundational values for a decentralized future
– This ‘Blockchain Bill of Rights’ establishes a global baseline for building blockchain applications that respect participant rights, safeguard data and protect users
– It was developed for over a year by the World Economic Forum Global Blockchain Council, which brings together individuals with varying interests and perspectives on the current state and future of blockchain; it was workshopped globally with technologists and civil society
– Early adopters include public and private sector companies, international organizations, NGOs and civil society and global call issued.

The Presidio Principles
Applications built on top of blockchain-based systems should preserve the following participant rights.

A participant should have access to information that would enable them to:
 Understand how a service is operated, including potential risks of the service, availability of source code, and the rules and standards upon which it is based.
 Understand the potential risks and benefits of a service’s use of blockchain technology.
 Understand system performance expectations and where the responsibility for service delivery lies.
 Understand the rights and obligations of different participants in the system.

A participant should be able to:
 Create, manage, and independently store cryptographic keys.
 Manage consent of data stored in third-party systems.
 Port data between interoperable systems or parts of a system.
 Revoke consent for future data collection.
 Have access to information sufficient to facilitate system interoperability.
 Assess if their data is at risk through appropriate disclosure procedures, which may include, but are not limited to, an examination of audit results, certifications, or source code.
 Have their data protected in accordance with internationally recognized technical security standards.
 Limit data collection to that which is necessary and data use to the purpose for which it was provided.
 Verify – through third-party or self-created tools – that operations have been completed and confirmed in accordance with the system’s rules.
 Access information needed to: (a) understand the system’s governance and rules and (b) pursue effective recourse mechanisms.
 Opt-out of using applications that don’t treat data in accordance with internationally recognized governance and data protection standards.
 Rectify demonstrably false, inaccurate, or incomplete data when necessary.

The Principles include a menu of options for how organizations or individuals can take action. A list of signatories is available to view and self-regulate/hold others accountable.

Heritage Stewardship

UNESCO Report :: Museums Around the World in the Face of COVID-19
May 2020 :: 31 pages
SUMMARY
In recent months, the COVID-19 crisis has profoundly affected societies around the world, plunging the global economy into a deep recession.

With the majority of cultural institutions forced to close their doors, the cultural sector has been one of the most affected. Tourism has largely ceased, impacting surrounding communities both socially and economically, and plunging artists and cultural professionals into a state of extreme economic and social fragility. Confined populations, unable to share and celebrate their heritage – notably their intangible cultural heritage – have suffered the loss of fundamental and structuring cultural elements of their daily social and individual lives.

Despite the challenges posed by this unprecedented crisis, many cultural institutions and professionals
have continued to serve as a source of resilience and support to communities, devising new ways to provide access to culture and education in the context of containment measures. However, it should be noted that these innovations have not addressed the severe economic shortfalls experienced by cultural professionals. Moreover, almost half of the world’s population currently has no access to the Internet, resulting in unequal access to cultural resources.

Museums have been particularly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with nearly 90% of them, or more than 85,000 institutions worldwide, having closed their doors during the crisis. The impact of these closures is not only economic, but also social. Museums play a vital role in our societies. They not only preserve our common heritage, but also provide spaces that promote education, inspiration and dialogue. Based on values of respect and cultural diversity, museums strengthen social cohesion, foster creativity and are conveyors of collective memory. Moreover, their role in the promotion of tourism is a key driver of sustainable economic development, both locally and nationally, which will be essential to overcoming the crisis in the coming months and years.

Faced with this situation, UNESCO launched a study to assess, on the basis of contributions from states and museum professionals, the impact of COVID-19 on museums and museum institutions. This initiative also seeks to understand how the sector has adapted to the constraints imposed by the pandemic and to explore ways of supporting affected institutions in the aftermath of the crisis. This report presents a first assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on the museum sector.

.

Media Release
Launch of UNESCO Report on museums around the world in the face of COVID-19
27/05/2020
UNESCO launched a new Report on Museums Around the World in the Face of COVID-19, fruit of an international survey targeting museums, culture professionals and Member States.

This Report, presenting a first evaluation of the impact of COVID-19 across the museum sector, sheds new light on the key trends of the world’s museums, their reaction in the face of the crisis, their capacity for resilience, and the challenges of accessing culture.

The study reveals that the number of museums is estimated at around 95,000 in 2020, which represents a 60% increase compared to 2012. They are, however, very unevenly distributed across the globe. Museums have been particularly affected by the pandemic, as 90% of them closed their doors during the crisis and, according to the International Council of Museums (ICOM), more than 10% may never reopen. Facing the crisis, museums acted quickly to develop their presence on the Internet. However the digital divide is more evident than ever: only 5% of museums in Africa and the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) were able to propose online content.

“This report not only provides a better understanding of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on museum institutions and the challenges they will face following the health crisis, but also explores the ways to support museums in the aftermath of the crisis,” declared Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO. “There is an urgent need to strengthen policies that support this sector, which plays an essential role in our societies for the dissemination of culture, education, social cohesion and support to the creative economy.”

With a view to gather information on how the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak affects the culture sector, the International Council of Museums (ICOM) launched a global survey to analyze the impact of the quarantine measures. The ICOM report provides information on the situation of museums and their staff, the predicted economic impact, digitization and communication, museum security and the conservation of collections, and the situation of independent museum professionals.
This common reflection and inter-institutional cooperation provides updated data on museums and museum institutions, that are all the more important in this period of global challenge brought about by COVID-19.

COVID-19 :: Recovery

The world needs a #HealthyRecovery
On May 26, 2020, over 350 organisations representing over 40 million health professionals and over 4,500 individual health professionals from 90 different countries*, wrote to the G20 leaders calling for a #HealthyRecovery
The letter is supported and promoted by the Global Climate and Health Alliance, Every Breath Matters, and the World Health Organization in service of the global medical and health community.

May 26, 2020
In support of a #HealthyRecovery

Dear President Alberto Fernández, Prime Minister Scott Morrison, President Jair Bolsonaro, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, President Xi Jinping, President Emmanuel Macron, Chancellor Angela Merkel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Joko Widodo, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, President Vladimir Putin, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, President Cyril Ramaphosa, President Jae-in Moon, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, President Donald Trump, President Charles Michel and President Ursula von der Leyen,
(cc: G20 chief scientific / medical / health advisors)

Health professionals stand united in support of a pragmatic, science-based approach to managing the COVID-19 pandemic. In that same spirit, we also stand united in support of a #HealthyRecovery from this crisis.
We have witnessed first-hand how fragile communities can be when their health, food security and freedom to work are interrupted by a common threat. The layers of this ongoing tragedy are many, and magnified by inequality and underinvestment in public health systems. We have witnessed death, disease and mental distress at levels not seen for decades.

These effects could have been partially mitigated, or possibly even prevented by adequate investments in pandemic preparedness, public health and environmental stewardship. We must learn from these mistakes and come back stronger, healthier and more resilient.

Before COVID-19, air pollution – primarily from traffic, inefficient residential energy use for cooking and heating, coal-fired power plants, the burning of solid waste, and agriculture practices – was already weakening our bodies. It increases the risk of developing, and the severity of: pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, heart disease and strokes, leading to seven million premature deaths each year. Air pollution also causes adverse pregnancy outcomes like low birth weight and asthma, putting further strain on our health care systems.

A truly healthy recovery will not allow pollution to continue to cloud the air we breathe and the water we drink. It will not permit unabated climate change and deforestation, potentially unleashing new health threats upon vulnerable populations.
In a healthy economy and civil society the most vulnerable among us are looked after. Workers have access to well-paying jobs that do not exacerbate pollution or nature degradation; cities prioritise pedestrians, cyclists and public transport, and our rivers and skies are protected and clean. Nature is thriving, our bodies are more resilient to infectious diseases, and nobody is pushed into poverty because of healthcare costs.

To achieve that healthy economy, we must use smarter incentives and disincentives in the service of a healthier, more resilient society. If governments were to make major reforms to current fossil fuel subsidies, shifting the majority towards the production of clean renewable energy, our air would be cleaner and climate emissions massively reduced, powering an economic recovery that would spur global GDP gains of almost 100 trillion US dollars between now and 2050.
As you direct your attention to the post-COVID response, we ask that your chief medical officer and chief scientific advisor are directly involved in the production of all economic stimulus packages, report on the short- and long-term public health repercussions that these may have, and give their stamp of approval.

The enormous investments your governments will make over the coming months in key sectors like health care, transport, energy and agriculture must have health protection and promotion embedded at their core.
What the world needs now is a #HealthyRecovery. Your stimulus plans must be a prescription for just that.

Yours sincerely, the full list of signatories is available HERE.

COVID-19 :: R&D Collaboration

International community rallies to support open research and science to fight COVID-19
29 May 2020 News release
Geneva
WHO and Costa Rica launch landmark COVID-19 Technology Access Pool
Thirty countries and multiple international partners and institutions have signed up to support the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) an initiative aimed at making vaccines, tests, treatments and other health technologies to fight COVID-19 accessible to all.

The Pool was first proposed in March by President Carlos Alvarado of Costa Rica, who joined WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus today at the official launch of the initiative.

“The COVID-19 Technology Access Pool will ensure the latest and best science benefits all of humanity,” said President Alvarado of Costa Rica. “Vaccines, tests, diagnostics, treatments and other key tools in the coronavirus response must be made universally available as global public goods”. 

“Global solidarity and collaboration are essential to overcoming COVID-19,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Based on strong science and open collaboration, this information-sharing platform will help provide equitable access to life-saving technologies around the world.”

The COVID-19 (Technology) Access Pool will be voluntary and based on social solidarity. It will provide a one-stop shop for scientific knowledge, data and intellectual property to be shared equitably by the global community.

The aim is to accelerate the discovery of vaccines, medicines and other technologies through open-science research, and to fast-track product development by mobilizing additional manufacturing capacity. This will help ensure faster and more equitable access to existing and new COVID-19 health products.

There are five key elements to the initiative:
:: Public disclosure of gene sequences and data;
:: Transparency around the publication of all clinical trial results;
:: Governments and other funders are encouraged to include clauses in funding agreements with pharmaceutical companies and other innovators about equitable distribution, affordability and the publication of trial data;
:: Licensing any potential treatment, diagnostic, vaccine or other health technology to the Medicines Patent Pool – a United Nations-backed public health body that works to increase access to, and facilitate the development of, life-saving medicines for low- and middle-income countries.
:: Promotion of open innovation models and technology transfer that increase local manufacturing and supply capacity, including through joining the Open Covid Pledge and the Technology Access Partnership (TAP).

With supportive countries across the globe, C-TAP will serve as a sister initiative to the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator and other initiatives to support efforts to fight COVID-19 worldwide.

WHO, Costa Rica and all the co-sponsor countries have also issued a “Solidarity Call to Action” asking relevant stakeholders to join and support the initiative, with recommended actions for key groups, such as governments, research and development funders, researchers, industry and civil society…

To date, the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool is now supported by the following countries: Argentina, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bhutan, Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Honduras, Indonesia, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Mozambique, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, South Africa, Sri Lanka,Sudan, The Netherlands, Timor-Leste, Uruguay, Zimbabwe,

Other international organizations, partners and experts have also expressed support to the initiative and others can join them using the website.

EMERGENCIES

Coronavirus [COVID-19]
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)

:: WHO COVID-19 Webpage: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
:: Daily WHO situation reports here: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports
:: WHO Coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) daily press briefings here: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/media-resources/press-briefings

::::::
::::::

Emergencies

Ebola – DRC+
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)

Ebola Outbreak in DRC 94: 26 May 2020
[Excerpts]
Situation Update WHO Health Emergencies Programme Page 2
From 18 to 24 May 2020, no new confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) have been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The definitive source of infection of the cluster reported in April 2020 remains unidentified. In the last seven days, two historic probable cases were validated, from people who had onset of symptoms in March 2019 and July 2019.…

Conclusion
Investigations into the origin of the last cluster of cases in Beni Health Zone are ongoing. The Ministry of Health began the 42-day countdown to the declaration of the end of the EVD outbreak on 14 May 2020. Given the long duration and large magnitude of the Ebola outbreak in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri Provinces, as well as the fact that the virus is present in animal reservoirs in the region, there is a risk of re-emergence of the virus in the period leading up to, and beyond, the declaration of the end of the outbreak. In the coming weeks it is crucial to maintain a strong and robust surveillance system in order to detect, isolate, test and treat new suspected cases as early as possible, to improve outcome of potential cases, and to break new chains of transmission. Continued coordination, communication among partners, authorities and affected communities along with EVD survivor advocacy remain essential in this outbreak response.

::::::
::::::

Emergencies

POLIO
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)

Polio this week as of 26 May 2020
Summary of new viruses this week (AFP cases and ES positives):
:: Afghanistan: three WPV1 positive environmental samples and five cVDPV2 positive environmental samples
:: Pakistan: two WPV1 cases and four WPV1 positive environmental samples
:: Niger: three cVDPV2 cases
:: Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo): one cVDPV2 case
:: Ethiopia: four cVDPV2 cases
:: Ghana: three cVDPV2 cases
:: Togo: one cVDPV2 case
:: Côte d’Ivoire: four cVDPV2 positive environmental samples

::::::
::::::

WHO Grade 3 Emergencies [to 30 May 2020]

Democratic Republic of the Congo
:: Ebola Outbreak in DRC 94: 26 May 2020
[See Ebola above for detail]

Somalia
:: WHO intensifies support to improve case management in Somalia as COVID-19 cases soar
20 May 2020

Yemen
:: Health care workers, a fragile health system and the looming spectre of COVID-19 in Yemen
27 May 2020

Nigeria – No new digest announcements identified
South Sudan – No new digest announcements identified
Syrian Arab Republic – No new digest announcements identified

::::::

WHO Grade 2 Emergencies [to 30 May 2020]
Sudan
:: Training health workers to fight COVID-19 in Sudan 28 May 2020

Angola – No new digest announcements identified
Afghanistan – No new digest announcements identified
Burkina Faso [in French] – No new digest announcements identified
Burundi – No new digest announcements identified
Cameroon – No new digest announcements identified
Central African Republic – No new digest announcements identified
Ethiopia – No new digest announcements identified
Iran – No new digest announcements identified
Iraq – No new digest announcements identified
Libya – No new digest announcements identified
Malawi – No new digest announcements identified
Measles in Europe – No new digest announcements identified
MERS-CoV – No new digest announcements identified
Myanmar – No new digest announcements identified
Niger – No new digest announcements identified
occupied Palestinian territory – No new digest announcements identified
Ukraine – No new digest announcements identified
Zimbabwe – No new digest announcements identified

::::::

WHO Grade 1 Emergencies [to 30 May 2020]

Chad – No new digest announcements identified
Djibouti – No new digest announcements identified
Kenya – No new digest announcements identified
Mali – No new digest announcements identified
Namibia – viral hepatitis – No new digest announcements identified
Tanzania – No new digest announcements identified

::::::
::::::

UN OCHA – L3 Emergencies
The UN and its humanitarian partners are currently responding to three ‘L3’ emergencies. This is the global humanitarian system’s classification for the response to the most severe, large-scale humanitarian crises. 
Syrian Arab Republic
:: Humanitarian Update Syrian Arab Republic – Issue 11 | 30 May 2020
:: Recent Developments in Northwest Syria – Flash Update – As of 29 May 2020

Yemen – No new digest announcements identified

::::::

UN OCHA – Corporate Emergencies
When the USG/ERC declares a Corporate Emergency Response, all OCHA offices, branches and sections provide their full support to response activities both at HQ and in the field.
CYCLONE IDAI and Kenneth
:: 29 May 2020 Ethiopia: Floods impact thousands of people

:: EBOLA OUTBREAK IN THE DRC – No new digest announcements identified

::::::
::::::

The Sentinel

Human Rights Action :: Humanitarian Response :: Health :: Education :: Heritage Stewardship ::
Sustainable Development
__________________________________________________
Week ending 23 May 2020 :: Number 317

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
GE2P2 Global Foundation – Governance, Evidence, Ethics, Policy, Practice
david.r.curry@ge2p2center.net

PDF:The Sentinel_ period ending 23 May 2020

Contents
:: Week in Review  [See selected posts just below]
:: Key Agency/IGO/Governments Watch – Selected Updates from 30+ entities   [see PDF]
:: INGO/Consortia/Joint Initiatives Watch – Media Releases, Major Initiatives, Research:: Foundation/Major Donor Watch -Selected Updates
:: Journal Watch – Key articles

Statelessness

GUIDELINES ON STATELESSNESS NO.5: Loss and Deprivation of Nationality under Articles 5-9 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness
UNHCR
Distr. GENERAL HCR/GS/20/05 May 2020 Original: English 38 pages

.

Media Release
UNHCR releases new guidelines on loss and deprivation of nationality
21 May 2020
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has today issued new guidelines on the loss and deprivation of nationality. The guidance is intended to assist governments and policy makers in interpreting relevant international law.

“Decisions to deprive people of nationality have grave and far-reaching consequences not just for the individuals themselves but also for the broader community. It is by no means ideal nor in anyone or any State’s interest for people to be left stateless and on the margins of society,” said UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Gillian Triggs.

“While this is a practice that is increasingly being resorted to in most cases as a punitive measure, we hope this guidance will promote a principled and consistent approach to decision making, mitigating the risk of statelessness arising, in accordance with the law.”

The guidelines contain interpretive guidance on the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, one of two key statelessness treaties which together with the 1954 Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons, provide the legal framework to prevent statelessness from occurring and to protect people who are already stateless. They also contain guidance on complementary international human rights law relevant to deprivation of nationality.

The loss of nationality refers to circumstances where an individual’s nationality may be automatically withdrawn by the operation of the law, for example where national law provides that nationality will be lost in situations of prolonged residence abroad. Deprivation refers to situations where a State actively takes nationality away from its citizens.

With the right to a nationality widely recognized as a fundamental human right, international law prohibits the arbitrary deprivation of nationality, including on racial, ethnic, religious or political grounds.

As a general rule, the 1961 Convention also prohibits the deprivation of nationality where it would leave a person stateless. There are very limited exceptions to this rule, including where nationality has been acquired though misrepresentation or fraud.

In specific circumstances, where countries expressly retained their right to do so when joining the Convention and provisions already exist in national law, behavior inconsistent with the duty of loyalty to the State may also be grounds for exception to the prohibition where, for example, it is seriously prejudicial to a State’s vital interests.

However, governments would still have a duty to determine whether decisions to deprive an individual of nationality would result in statelessness, as well as to ensure that procedural safeguards, such as the right to a fair hearing, are met.

In accordance with its mandate on statelessness, UNHCR provides guidance on relevant international law. The Guidelines on Loss and Deprivation of Nationality are the fifth in a series of guidelines on statelessness issued by the agency.

Locusts

World Bank Announces $500 Million to Fight Locusts, Preserve Food Security and Protect Livelihoods
Emergency Financing for Locust Affected Countries will help people recover from losses
WASHINGTON, May 21, 2020 — The World Bank Group approved today a US$500 million program to help countries in Africa and the Middle East fight the locust swarms that are threatening the food security and livelihoods of millions of people.

The Emergency Locust Response Program (ELRP), approved today by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors, will focus on providing immediate assistance to help poor and vulnerable farmers, herders, and rural households overcome one of the worst locust upsurges in decades. ELRP will provide immediate support to affected households through targeted social safety nets like cash transfers, while investing in the medium-term recovery of agriculture and livestock production systems and rural livelihoods in affected countries.

The first countries to be financed under the initial phase of the program are Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda, with a total financing package of US$160 million.

“Locust swarms present a double crisis for countries that are also battling the COVID-19 pandemic,” said World Bank Group President David Malpass. “Together, this food supply emergency combined with the pandemic and economic shutdown in advanced economies places some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people at even greater risk.”

East Africa already has 22.5 million severely food insecure people and 10.8 million forcibly displaced people, according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The World Bank has estimated that, without broad-scale, coordinated control measures to reduce locust populations and prevent their spread to new areas, potential damages and losses to crop and livestock production and related assets in the greater Horn of Africa, including Yemen, could reach as high as US$8.5 billion by the end of this year. By helping to mobilize a rapid response and more effective locust control measures, anticipated damages and losses will still be an estimated US$2.5 billion. This is why the ELRP will fund measures to protect livelihoods of the poor and vulnerable impacted by the locust crisis.

In addition to protecting livelihoods, physical assets and human capital of affected households, the program will deliver seed packages and other inputs to affected households to help restore farm production and livelihoods as quickly as possible. It will also finance investments to strengthen surveillance and early warning systems so that countries are better prepared to combat future outbreaks.

As of early May 2020, locust swarms have infested 23 countries across East Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. This upsurge is the biggest outbreak faced by some countries in 70 years. Favorable breeding conditions through May will likely result in a new round of swarms in late June and July, coinciding with the start of the harvest season.

The program’s design builds on the strong technical foundation of desert locust management created by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which is already working with affected countries to ensure locust control operations are done safely and effectively. The World Bank and the FAO will enhance their ongoing collaboration through the program…

Stewardship

The State of the World’s Forests – 2020 :: Forests, Biodiversity and People
FAO, UNEP
Rome, 2020 :: 214 pages
Excerpt
WHAT IS FOREST BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY?
Forest biological diversity is a broad term that refers to all life forms found within forested areas and the ecological roles they perform. As such, forest biological diversity encompasses not just trees, but the multitude of plants, animals and microorganisms that inhabit forest areas and their associated genetic diversity.

Forest biological diversity can be considered at different levels, including ecosystem, landscape, species, population and genetic. Complex interactions can occur within and between these levels. In
biologically diverse forests, this complexity allows organisms to adapt to continually changing
environmental conditions and to maintain ecosystem functions.

In the annex to Decision II/9 (CBD, n.d.a), the Conference of the Parties to the CBD recognized that:
“Forest biological diversity results from evolutionary processes over thousands and even millions of years which, in themselves, are driven by ecological forces such as climate, fire, competition and disturbance. Furthermore, the diversity of forest ecosystems (in both physical and biological features) results in high levels of adaptation, a feature of forest ecosystems which is an integral component of their biological diversity. Within specific forest ecosystems, the maintenance of ecological processes is dependent upon the maintenance of their biological diversity.”

.

Media Release
UN report: As the world’s forests continue to shrink, urgent action is needed to safeguard their biodiversity
22 May 2020, Rome/Nairobi – Urgent action is needed to safeguard the biodiversity of the world’s forests amid alarming rates of deforestation and degradation, according to the latest edition of The State of the World’s Forests released today.

Published on the International Day for Biological Diversity (22 May), the report shows that the conservation of the world’s biodiversity is utterly dependent on the way in which we interact with and use the world’s forests.

The report was produced by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership, for the first time, with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and technical input from the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC).
It highlights that some 420 million hectares of forest have been lost through conversion to other land uses since 1990, although the rate of deforestation has decreased over the past three decades.

The COVID-19 crisis has thrown into sharp focus the importance of conserving and sustainably using nature, recognizing that people’s health is linked to ecosystem health.

Protecting forests is key to this, as they harbour most of the Earth’s terrestrial biodiversity. This report shows that forests contain 60,000 different tree species, 80 percent of amphibian species, 75 percent of bird species, and 68 percent of the Earth’s mammal species.

FAO’s Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020, noted in the report, found that despite a slowing of the rate of deforestation in the last decade, some 10 million hectares are still being lost each year through conversion to agriculture and other land uses.

“Deforestation and forest degradation continue to take place at alarming rates, which contributes significantly to the ongoing loss of biodiversity,” FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, and the Executive Director of UNEP, Inger Andersen, said in the foreword.

The report presents a comprehensive overview of forest biodiversity, including world maps revealing where forests still hold rich communities of fauna and flora, such as the northern Andes and parts of the Congo Basin, and where they have been lost.

Conservation and sustainable use:
In this report, a special study from the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission and the US Forest Service found 34.8 million patches of forests in the world, ranging in size from 1 hectare to 680 million hectares. Greater restoration efforts to reconnect forest fragments are urgently needed.

As FAO and UNEP prepare to lead the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration from 2021 and as countries consider a Global Biodiversity Framework for the future, Qu and Andersen both expressed their commitment for increased global cooperation to restore degraded and damaged ecosystems, combat climate change and safeguard biodiversity.

“To turn the tide on deforestation and the loss of biodiversity, we need transformational change in the way in which we produce and consume food,” said QU and Andersen. “We also need to conserve and manage forests and trees within an integrated landscape approach and we need to repair the damage done through forest restoration efforts.”…

Featured Journal Content

BMJ Global Health
May 2020 – Volume 5 – 5
https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/5
Original research
Arts-based approaches to promoting health in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review (21 May, 2020)
Christopher Bunn, Chisomo Kalinga, Otiyela Mtema, Sharifa Abdulla, Angel Dillip, John Lwanda, Sally M Mtenga, Jo Sharp, Zoë Strachan, Cindy M Gray
Abstract
Introduction
Arts-based approaches to health promotion have been used widely across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), particularly in public health responses to HIV/AIDS. Such approaches draw on deep-rooted historical traditions of indigenous groups in combination with imported traditions which emerged from colonial engagement. To date, no review has sought to map the locations, health issues, art forms and methods documented by researchers using arts-based approaches in SSA.
Methods
Using scoping review methodology, 11 databases spanning biomedicine, arts and humanities and social sciences were searched. Researchers screened search results for papers using predefined criteria. Papers included in the review were read and summarised using a standardised proforma. Descriptive statistics were produced to characterise the location of the studies, art forms used or discussed, and the health issues addressed, and to determine how best to summarise the literature identified.
Results
Searches identified a total of 59 794 records, which reduced to 119 after screening. We identified literature representing 30 (62.5%) of the 48 countries in the SSA region. The papers covered 16 health issues. The majority (84.9%) focused on HIV/AIDS-related work, with Ebola (5.0%) and malaria (3.3%) also receiving attention. Most studies used a single art form (79.0%), but a significant number deployed multiple forms (21.0%). Theatre-based approaches were most common (43.7%), followed by music and song (22.6%), visual arts (other) (9.2%), storytelling (7.6%) and film (5.0%).
Conclusions
Arts-based approaches have been widely deployed in health promotion in SSA, particularly in response to HIV/AIDS. Historically and as evidenced by this review, arts-based approaches have provided a platform to facilitate enquiry, achieved significant reach and in some instances supported demonstrable health-related change. Challenges relating to content, power relations and evaluation have been reported. Future research should focus on broadening application to other conditions, such as non-communicable diseases, and on addressing challenges raised in research to date.

Key questions
What is already known?
:: Arts-based approaches to health improvement have been used across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with some studies reporting positive outcomes.
:: No comprehensive scoping review of this work has been produced.
:: A rich array of approaches to using arts in support of health have been pursued in the global north, but the decolonising methodology movement suggests we should be careful not to import these into global south contexts.

What are the new findings?
:: Our review suggests that an overwhelming majority of studies have focused on HIV/AIDS, and that theatre-based approaches were the most common, but music and song, visual arts, storytelling and film have received sustained attention in the research literature.
:: Arts-based approaches have facilitated research enquiry, reach large numbers with health-promoting messages and initiatives, and in some instances supported demonstrable health-related change.
:: Challenges relating to the generation and suitability of content, power relations between researchers and target community and appropriate forms of evaluation have been reported.

What do the new findings imply?
:: In SSA, arts-based approaches to health promotion have yet to be widely applied by researchers outside of HIV/AIDS, suggesting that future research could develop approaches to non-communicable diseases, neglected tropical diseases and communicable diseases other than HIV/AIDS.
:: There is great scope to develop theories of and methodologies for arts-based approaches to health in SSA that dialogue with, but do not mimic, those developed in the global north.

COVID-19 :: World Health Assembly Action

Editor’s Note:
We present below key text from the COVID-19 Response resolution adopted at World Health Assembly [WHA73] with Editor’s text bolding.

.

SEVENTY-THIRD WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
COVID-19 response
A73/CONF./1 Rev.1 18 May 2020

… OP1 Calls for, in the spirit of unity and solidarity, intensification of cooperation and collaboration at all levels to contain, control and mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic;

OP2 Acknowledges the key leadership role of WHO and the fundamental role of the United Nations system in catalysing and coordinating the comprehensive global response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the central efforts of Member States therein;

OP3 Expresses its highest appreciation of and support to the dedication, efforts and sacrifices, above and beyond the call of duty of health professionals, health workers and other relevant frontline workers, as well as the WHO Secretariat, in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic;

OP4 Calls for the universal, timely and equitable access to and fair distribution of all quality, safe, efficacious and affordable essential health technologies and products including their components and precursors required in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic as a global priority, and the urgent removal of unjustified obstacles thereto; consistent with the provisions of relevant international treaties including the provisions of the TRIPS agreement and the flexibilities as confirmed by the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health;

OP5 Reiterates the importance of urgently meeting the needs of low- and middle-income countries in order to fill the gaps to overcome the pandemic through timely and adequate development and humanitarian assistance;

OP6 Recognizes the role of extensive immunization against COVID-19 as a global public good for health in preventing, containing and stopping transmission in order to bring the pandemic to an end, once safe, quality, efficacious, effective, accessible and affordable vaccines are available;…

OP8 CALLS on international organizations and other relevant stakeholders to:
…OP8.2 Work collaboratively at all levels to develop, test, and scale-up production of safe, effective, quality, affordable diagnostics, therapeutics, medicines and vaccines for the COVID-19 response, including, existing mechanisms for voluntary pooling and licensing of patents to facilitate timely, equitable and affordable access to them, consistent with the provisions of relevant international treaties including the provisions of the TRIPS agreement and the flexibilities as confirmed by the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health;

OP9 REQUESTS the Director-General to:
OP9.1 Continue to work with the United Nations Secretary-General and relevant multilateral organizations, including the signatory agencies of the Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-Being, on a comprehensive and coordinated response across the United Nations system to support Member States in their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in full cooperation with governments, as appropriate, demonstrating leadership on health in the United Nations system, and continue to act as the health cluster lead in the United Nations humanitarian response;

OP9.2 Continue to build and strengthen the capacities of WHO at all levels to fully and effectively perform the functions entrusted to it under the IHR;

OP9.3 Assist and continue to call upon all States’ Parties to take the actions according to the provisions of the IHR, including by providing all necessary support to countries for building, strengthening and maintaining their capacities to fully comply with the IHR;

OP9.5 Assist countries upon request in developing, implementing and adapting relevant national response plans to COVID-19, by developing, disseminating and updating normative products and technical guidance, learning tools, data and scientific evidence for COVID-19 responses, including to counter misinformation and disinformation, as well as malicious cyber activities, and continue to work against substandard and falsified medicines and medical products;

OP9.6 Continue to work closely with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and countries, as part of the One-Health Approach to identify the zoonotic source of the virus and the route of introduction to the human population, including the possible role of intermediate hosts, including through efforts such as scientific and collaborative field missions, which will enable targeted interventions and a research agenda to reduce the risk of similar events as well as to provide guidance on how to prevent SARS-COV2 infection in animals and humans and prevent the establishment of new zoonotic reservoirs, as well as to reduce further risks of emergence and transmission of zoonotic diseases;…

OP9.8 Rapidly, and noting OP2 of RES/74/274 and in consultation with Member States,1 and with inputs from relevant international organizations civil society, and the private sector, as
appropriate, identify and provide options that respect the provisions of relevant international treaties, including the provisions of the TRIPS agreement and the flexibilities as confirmed by the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health to be used in scaling up development, manufacturing and distribution capacities needed for transparent equitable and timely access to quality, safe, affordable and efficacious diagnostics, therapeutics, medicines, and vaccines for the COVID-19 response taking into account existing mechanisms, tools, and initiatives, such as the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) accelerator, and relevant pledging appeals, such as “The Coronavirus Global Response” pledging campaign, for the consideration of the Governing Bodies;…

OP9.10 Initiate, at the earliest appropriate moment, and in consultation with Member States,1 a stepwise process of impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation, including using existing mechanisms,2 as appropriate, to review experience gained and lessons learned from the WHO-coordinated international health response to COVID-19, including (i) the effectiveness of the mechanisms at WHO’s disposal; (ii) the functioning of the IHR and the status of implementation of the relevant recommendations of the previous IHR Review Committees; (iii) WHO’s contribution to United Nations-wide efforts; and (iv) the actions of WHO and their timelines pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic, and make recommendations to improve global pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response capacity, including through strengthening, as appropriate, WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme…

COVID-19: Impacts

At least 80 million children under one at risk of diseases such as diphtheria, measles and polio as COVID-19 disrupts routine vaccination efforts, warn Gavi, WHO and UNICEF
Agencies call for joint effort to safely deliver routine immunization and proceed with vaccination campaigns against deadly vaccine-preventable diseases.
GENEVA/NEW YORK, 22 May 2020 – COVID 19 is disrupting life-saving immunization services around the world, putting millions of children – in rich and poor countries alike – at risk of diseases like diphtheria, measles and polio. This stark warning comes from the World Health Organization, UNICEF and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance ahead of the Global Vaccine Summit on 4 June, at which world leaders will come together to help maintain immunization programmes and mitigate the impact of the pandemic in lower-income countries.

According to data collected by the World Health Organization, UNICEF, Gavi and the Sabin Vaccine Institute, provision of routine immunization services is substantially hindered in at least 68 countries and is likely to affect approximately 80 million children under the age of 1 living in these countries…

MASS IMMUNIZATION CAMPAIGNS TEMPORARILY DISRUPTED
Many countries have temporarily and justifiably suspended preventive mass vaccination campaigns against diseases like cholera, measles, meningitis, polio, tetanus, typhoid and yellow fever, due to risk of transmission and the need to maintain physical distancing during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Measles and polio vaccination campaigns, in particular, have been badly hit, with measles campaigns suspended in 27 countries and polio campaigns put on hold in 38 countries. At least 24 million people in 21 Gavi-supported lower-income countries are at risk of missing out on vaccines against polio, measles, typhoid, yellow fever, cholera, rotavirus, HPV, meningitis A and rubella due to postponed campaigns and introductions of new vaccines…

::::::

PUBLIC HEALTH AND SOCIAL MEASURES FOR COVID-19 PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE IN LOW CAPACITY AND HUMANITARIAN SETTINGS
Interim Guidance Version 1
Inter-Agency Standing Committee :: Developed by ICRC, IFRC, IOM, NRC, UNICEF, UN-HABITAT, UNHCR, WHO in consultation with IASC members
May 2020 :: 29 pages
OBJECTIVES AND TARGET AUDIENCE
This Interim Guidance outlines how key public health and social measures needed to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spread and the impact of the disease can be adapted for use in low capacity and humanitarian settings. The recommendations outlined here need to be adjusted to the scale of transmission1, context and resources, in order to achieve the objective of managing COVID-19, namely to reduce transmission and facilitate the detection and management of infected and exposed individuals within the population. The Guidance is intended for humanitarian and development actors of all operational levels working with communities, as well as local authorities involved in COVID-19 preparedness and response operations in these settings, in support of national and local governments and plans. Additional considerations for support to residents of urban informal settlements and slums are available in Annex 1.

EMERGENCIES

Coronavirus [COVID-19]
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)

Editor’s Note:
We certainly recognize the velocity of global developments in the COVID-19 pandemic. While we have selected some key announcements and reports here and above, COVID-19 announcements, analysis and commentary will be found throughout this issue, in all sections. Beyond the considerable continuing coverage in the global general media, the WHO’s authoritative guidance is available here:
:: Daily WHO situation reports here: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports
:: WHO Coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) daily press briefings here: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/media-resources/press-briefings

Situation report – 124 [WHO]

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)
23 May 2020
[Excerpts]
Situation in numbers (by WHO Region)
Total (new cases in last 24 hours)
Globally 5 103 006 cases (109 536) 333 401 deaths (5 663)
Africa 74 256 cases (2 504) 2 040 deaths (59)
Americas 2 282 488 cases (62 221) 135 184 deaths (3 579)
Eastern Mediterranean 402 919 cases (13 331) 10 806 deaths (158)
Europe 1 987 657 cases (21 413) 172 958 deaths (1 631)
South-East Asia 182 278 cases (9 119) 5 556 deaths (209)
Western Pacific 172 696 cases (948) 6 844 deaths (27)

HIGHLIGHTS
:: WHO has published a COVID-19 Monitoring and Evaluation Framework listing the key public health and essential health services and systems indicators to monitor preparedness, response, and situations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
:: WHO has updated a document on Operational Planning Guidelines to Support Country Preparedness and Response. The document provides a practical guide that can be used by national authorities to develop and update their COVID-19 national plans across the major pillars of COVID-19 preparedness and response.
:: WHO published an interim guidance on Framework for decision-making: implementation of mass vaccination campaigns in the context of COVID-19. The document describes the principles to consider when deliberating the implementation of mass vaccination campaigns for prevention of vaccine-preventable diseases and high impact diseases (VPD/HID), and when assessing risks and benefits of conducting outbreak-response vaccination campaigns to respond to VPD/HID outbreaks.
:: WHO has published an interim guidance on Controlling the spread of COVID-19 at ground crossings advising countries to reduce the spread of COVID-19 resulting from travel, transportation, and trade on and around ground crossings

::::::
::::::

Emergencies

Ebola – DRC+
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)

Ebola Outbreak in DRC 93: 19 May 2020
[Excerpts]
Situation Update WHO Health Emergencies Programme Page 2
From 11 to 17 May 2020, there have been no new confirmed cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) reported in Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since the resurgence of the outbreak on 10 April 2020, seven confirmed cases have been reported from Kasanga, Malepe and Kanzulinzuli Health Areas in Beni Health Zone. So far, no definitive source of infection has been identified…

Conclusion
Despite the launch of the 42-day countdown, efforts to retrieve the missing confirmed case and investigations into the origin of the latest cluster are still ongoing. Given the long duration and large magnitude of the Ebola outbreak in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri Provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there is a risk of re-emergence of the virus during the lead up to the declaration of the end of the outbreak, and for several months following that declaration. In the coming weeks and months, it is crucial to maintain a strong and robust surveillance system in order to detect, isolate, test and treat new suspected cases as early as possible, to improve outcome of potential cases, and to break new chains of transmission. Maintaining strong communication and coordination among partners, authorities and affected communities, as well as continuing support for and engagement with EVD survivors are essential in this outbreak response.

::::::
::::::

Emergencies

POLIO
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)

Polio this week as of 19 May 2020
:: The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) of the GPEI has announced the appointment of new members of a reconstituted polio Transition Independent Monitoring Board (TIMB). Read more [see below] …
:: This month, world leaders have joined together to make several important commitments to strengthening public health infrastructure during the COVID-19 response – investments that will go a long way in protecting the most vulnerable communities, including those affected by polio. Read more…

Summary of new viruses this week (AFP cases and ES positives):
:: Afghanistan: one WPV1 positive environmental sample and five cVDPV2 cases
:: Pakistan: nine WPV1 positive environmental samples and one cVDPV2 case

::::::

TIMB Members [Transition Independent Monitoring Board]
The previous TIMB monitored the situation over a period of three years (November 2016 – December 2019), in the light of progress towards polio eradication. Its role was to independently assess the GPEI’s policy and plans to transition and sustain those polio assets and resources that have played a major dual role in underpinning wider immunisation and other essential health programmes. The TIMB members played an invaluable part in meetings and in the production of three major reports that helped to shape the polio transition process.

TIMB Reports – GPEI
With the adoption by the 71st World Health Assembly of a 5-year strategic plan for polio transition, responsibility for leading planning and implementation passed to the World Health Organization. Necessary organisational changes followed and included a new TIMB to be smaller and more closely aligned with the IMB.

Strategic Action Plan on Polio Transition – WHA 71
On the basis of the new arrangements three TIMB members have been appointed to serve under the chairmanship of Sir Liam Donaldson who will also continue to chair the IMB.
THE MEMBERS
Sheila Leatherman, CBE, Hon RCP is a Professor of Global Health Policy at the Gillings School of Public Health of the University of North Carolina. Her professional experience stretches across the breadth of health care management, public health and health policy with expertise in quality of care, performance improvement in the health sector, and health systems reforms. She has worked with over 50 countries globally across North America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. Most of her research and policy analysis has been on developing methods to assess health system performance and advising on how to improve quality of care in countries throughout the world.
She was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2002 as a member of the Institute of Medicine. In 2007 she was awarded the honour of Commander of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth for her work in the National Health Service for over a decade and was appointed an Honorary fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in The UK in 2008. In 2019, she received the Presidential Distinction Award of the International Society for Quality in recognition of her work in low- and medium-income countries.
Currently, as a Lead advisor to the World Health Organization she develops the academic and technical foundations for WHO support of Member States in the development of national health care quality agendas to improve health care services and outcomes globally. Her current research focuses on improving care in fragile states, humanitarian crises and conflict zones.
She serves on the Board of Advisors for Doctors Without Borders (MSF- USA) and is a Board member and health advisor to Questscope NGO working in Jordan and Syria with refugees and displaced persons.

Lola Dare is a community physician, epidemiologist, global health practitioner, development consultant, social entrepreneur and health advocate of over 30 years. She has championed the application of evidence and data for policy, evaluation and accountability by a broad range of non-state actors including civil society and community-based organisations, private sector and the media. Lola Dare has been in the forefront of advocacy for resilient, accountable rights-based health care services and systems strengthening, and has engaged with high level policy makers, parliamentarians, large donor funded programmes, national governments, intergovernmental organisations and agencies. She is the President of CHESTRAD Global, an African-led social enterprise with offices in Africa, Europe and North America. CHESTRAD Global hosts its programme headquarters in Nigeria. She has served in many roles in governance mechanisms of international agencies including the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the US National Academies for Sciences, Global Fund for Malaria, Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, GAVI, Partnership for Maternal and Child Health (PMNCH), WHO technical teams and agencies of the United Nations, African Union and other African continental organisations.

Senjuti Saha is a Bangladeshi-Canadian microbiologist working at the intersection of Clinical Microbiology and Global Health as a Scientist at the Child Health Research Foundation in Bangladesh. Her work is grounded in advancing the cause of health and research equity, based on her vision that everyone across the world should have equal access to the practice and benefits of science. The focus of her work is on paediatric preventable infectious diseases, with the goals of: (1) using state-of-the-art technology like on-site metagenomics to identify aetiologies that elude standard laboratory testing in low- and middle-income countries and (2) understanding the indirect impacts of interventions like vaccines on the overall health system. She advocates for equal access to scholarly literature and science education. The team’s mission at the Child Health Research Foundation in Bangladesh is to break free of the vicious cycle of limited resources that lead to lack of data required for evidence-based policy decisions. This in turn leads back to limited resources; instead, the commitment is to build virtuous cycles of data-generation, that are sustainable and cost-effective.

::::::

WHO Grade 3 Emergencies [to 23 May 2020]

Democratic Republic of the Congo
:: Ebola Outbreak in DRC 93: 19 May 2020
[See Ebola above for detail]

Nigeria – No new digest announcements identified
Somalia – No new digest announcements identified
South Sudan – No new digest announcements identified
Syrian Arab Republic – No new digest announcements identified
Yemen – No new digest announcements identified

::::::

WHO Grade 2 Emergencies [to 23 May 2020]
Burkina Faso [in French]
:: Riposte contre le COVID-19 au Burkina Faso : L’OMS offre au ministère de la santé un…
22 mai 2020

Myanmar
:: Weekly Situation Report 6 – 19 May 2020 pdf, 335kb
HIGHLIGHTS
:: A total of 191 COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in Cox’s Bazar district (including Rohingya camps) as of 17 May 2020 as per Civil Surgeon Office, Cox’s Bazar. From the laboratory confirmed cases, the average age is 33.9 years (median 31, range 2-90) and around 75% of them are male
:: Five confirmed cases have been reported in Rohingya camps as of 17 May 2020. A total of 80 individuals are in institutional quarantine in the camps
:: Partners who are managing health facilities were briefed on “Home-based care for mild and moderate COVID-19 symptoms and isolation support” initiative on 11 May 2020. Partners expressed their willingness to support the activity in the event of widespread community transmission in the camps

Angola – No new digest announcements identified
Afghanistan – No new digest announcements identified
Burundi – No new digest announcements identified
Cameroon – No new digest announcements identified
Central African Republic – No new digest announcements identified
Ethiopia – No new digest announcements identified
Iran – No new digest announcements identified
Iraq – No new digest announcements identified
Libya – No new digest announcements identified
Malawi – No new digest announcements identified
Measles in Europe – No new digest announcements identified
MERS-CoV – No new digest announcements identified
Niger – No new digest announcements identified
occupied Palestinian territory – No new digest announcements identified
Sudan – No new digest announcements identified
Ukraine – No new digest announcements identified
Zimbabwe – No new digest announcements identified

::::::

WHO Grade 1 Emergencies [to 23 May 2020]

Chad – No new digest announcements identified
Djibouti – No new digest announcements identified
Kenya – No new digest announcements identified
Mali – No new digest announcements identified
Namibia – viral hepatitis – No new digest announcements identified
Tanzania – No new digest announcements identified

::::::
::::::

UN OCHA – L3 Emergencies
The UN and its humanitarian partners are currently responding to three ‘L3’ emergencies. This is the global humanitarian system’s classification for the response to the most severe, large-scale humanitarian crises. 
Syrian Arab Republic
:: Syrian Arab Republic: COVID-19 Response Update No. 04 – 18 May 2020
:: Syrian Arab Republic: COVID-19 Update No. 10 – 16 May 2020

Yemen – No new digest announcements identified

:::::

UN OCHA – Corporate Emergencies
When the USG/ERC declares a Corporate Emergency Response, all OCHA offices, branches and sections provide their full support to response activities both at HQ and in the field.
CYCLONE IDAI and Kenneth
:: 20 May 2019 Mozambique: Cyclone Idai & Floods Situation Report No. 22 (As of 20 May 2019)
:: 21 May 2020 Zimbabwe Situation Report, 21 May 2020

:: EBOLA OUTBREAK IN THE DRC – No new digest announcements identified

::::::
::::::

The Sentinel

Human Rights Action :: Humanitarian Response :: Health :: Education :: Heritage Stewardship ::
Sustainable Development
__________________________________________________
Week ending 16 May 2020 :: Number 316

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
GE2P2 Global Foundation – Governance, Evidence, Ethics, Policy, Practice
david.r.curry@ge2p2center.net

PDF:The Sentinel_ period ending 16 May 2020

Contents
:: Week in Review  [See selected posts just below]
:: Key Agency/IGO/Governments Watch – Selected Updates from 30+ entities   [see PDF]
:: INGO/Consortia/Joint Initiatives Watch – Media Releases, Major Initiatives, Research:: Foundation/Major Donor Watch -Selected Updates
:: Journal Watch – Key articles