Globalization and Health
[Accessed 5 April 2014]
http://www.globalizationandhealth.com/
Review
Noncommunicable diseases among urban refugees and asylum-seekers in developing countries: a neglected health care need
Ahmed Hassan Amara and Syed Mohamed Aljunid
Author Affiliations
Globalization and Health 2014, 10:24 doi:10.1186/1744-8603-10-24
Published: 3 April 2014
Abstract (provisional)
With the increasing trend in refugee urbanisation, growing numbers of refugees are diagnosed with chronic noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). However, with few exceptions, the local and international communities prioritise communicable diseases. The aim of this study is to review the literature to determine the prevalence and distribution of chronic NCDs among urban refugees living in developing countries, to report refugee access to health care for NCDs and to compare the prevalence of NCDs among urban refugees with the prevalence in their home countries. Major search engines and refugee agency websites were systematically searched between June and July 2012 for articles and reports on NCD prevalence among urban refugees. Most studies were conducted in the Middle East and indicated a high prevalence of NCDs among urban refugees in this region, but in general, the prevalence varied by refugees’ region or country of origin. Hypertension, musculoskeletal disease, diabetes and chronic respiratory disease were the major diseases observed. In general, most urban refugees in developing countries have adequate access to primary health care services. Further investigations are needed to document the burden of NCDs among urban refugees and to identify their need for health care in developing countries.

Journal of International Development
April 2014 Volume 26, Issue 3 Pages 303–408
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jid.v26.3/issuetoc
Special Issue: Rethinking Gender Mainstreaming
EXPLORING THE TRANSFORMATIVE POTENTIAL OF GENDER MAINSTREAMING IN INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTIONS
Jane L. Parpart*
Article first published online: 14 OCT 2013
DOI: 10.1002/jid.2948
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jid.2948/abstract
Abstract
Gender mainstreaming, with its promise of gender transformation, equality and empowerment, has become a central pillar of development discourse, policy and practice. Yet, the implementation of these promises has largely been disappointing. Proposed ‘solutions’ have brought little new to the table. This article suggests that we need to rethink the link between policy and implementation, recognising that both are political processes and that while policies set agendas, both policies and their implementation are deeply influenced by societal factors. Drawing on critical development analysis and feminist writings, the article explores the transformative potential of gender mainstreaming in international development organisations in an increasingly complex, unequal and gendered world.

The Lancet
Apr 05, 2014 Volume 383 Number 9924 p1183 – 1268
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current
Editorial
Mental health and wellbeing in children and adolescents
The Lancet
Preview | Full Text | PDF
On March 25, an important milestone was reached in making children’s and adolescents’ mental health, wellbeing, and development everyone’s business. A UK consortium, including the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Royal College of General Practitioners, and others, launched a new website, MindEd, funded by the Department of Health and aimed at any adult who is working with children, young people, and families. It consists of free online information and education modules that support anyone interested in recognising what healthy behaviour and development is, how wellbeing can be supported, and which signs and symptoms need closer attention.
Long-term outcomes of patients with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis in South Africa: a cohort study
Elize Pietersen, Elisa Ignatius, Elizabeth M Streicher, Barbara Mastrapa, Xavier Padanilam, Anil Pooran, Motasim Badri, Maia Lesosky, Paul van Helden, Frederick A Sirgel, Robin Warren, Keertan Dheda
Preview | Summary | Full Text | PDF
In South Africa, long-term outcomes in patients with XDR tuberculosis are poor, irrespective of HIV status. Because appropriate long-stay or palliative care facilities are scarce, substantial numbers of patients with XDR tuberculosis who have failed treatment and have positive sputum cultures are being discharged from hospital and are likely to transmit disease into the wider community. Testing of new combined regimens is needed urgently and policy makers should implement interventions to minimise disease spread by patients who fail treatment.
Viewpoint
Scaling up of family planning in low-income countries: lessons from Ethiopia
Daniel T Halperin
Preview | Full Text | PDF
Previous analyses have emphasised the crucial importance of family planning to achieve a range of health and other development objectives in developing countries. This Viewpoint focuses on the successful implementation of services in Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country. Ethiopia’s encouraging experience could challenge the widely held assumption that a decline in fertility must be preceded by sweeping economic and educational advancement, and offers other useful policy and programmatic lessons for other low-income countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.

Pediatrics
April 2014, VOLUME 133 / ISSUE 4
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/current.shtml
Article
Prenatal Nutrient Supplementation and Postnatal Growth in a Developing Nation: An RCT
Hermann Lanou, MD, MSca,c, Lieven Huybregts, PhDb, Dominique Roberfroid, MD, PhDc, Laetitia Nikièma, MD, MSca, Séni Kouanda, MD, PhDa, John Van Camp, PhDb, and Patrick Kolsteren, MD, PhDb,c
Author Affiliations
aInstitut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé, Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso;
bDepartment of Food Safety and Food Quality, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; and
cChild Health and Nutrition Unit, Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Prenatal lipid-based nutrient supplements (LNS) have been shown to improve birth anthropometry. However, little is known about the effects of such supplements on infant health. We hypothesized that prenatal LNS compared with multiple micronutrient supplement for pregnant and lactating women would improve survival, growth, and morbidity during infancy.
METHODS: Infants’ weight, length, head, chest, and mid-upper arm circumferences were measured during monthly home visits from birth to 12 months of age in the Micronutriments et Santé de la Mère et de l’Enfant—2 trial. Differences in stunting and wasting episodes between study arms were assessed by Cox regression for recurrent event models. Morbidity signs during the 2 weeks before the visits and death cases were also assessed by multilevel analysis accounting for repeated individual measurements.
RESULTS: Infant length-for-age growth (–0.033 z score/month; 95% confidence interval: –0.601 to –0.006; P = .018) for the LNS group was inferior to that of the control group. We did not find evidence of significant difference in mortality or morbidity between groups.
CONCLUSIONS: The previously reported positive effect of prenatal LNS on birth length was not sustained during the postnatal phase. Prenatal LNS does not appear to make a long-lasting difference in child linear growth.

PLOS Currents: Disasters
http://currents.plos.org/disasters/
[Accessed 5 April 2014]
Health Sector Initiatives for Disaster Risk Management in Ethiopia: A Narrative Review
Luche Tadesse, Ali Ardalan
April 1, 2014 • Research article
Background: Natural and man-made disasters are prevailing in Ethiopia mainly due to drought, floods, landslides, earthquake, volcanic eruptions, and disease epidemics. Few studies so far have critically reviewed about medical responses to disasters and little information exists pertaining to the initiatives being undertaken by health sector from the perspective of basic disaster management cycle. This article aimed to review emergency health responses to disasters and other related interventions which have been undertaken in the health sector.
Methods: Relevant documents were identified by searches in the websites of different sectors in Ethiopian and international non-governmental organizations and United Nations agencies. Using selected keywords, articles were also searched in the data bases of Medline, CINAHL, Scopus, and Google Scholar. In addition, pertinent articles from non-indexed journals were referred to.
Results: Disaster management system in Ethiopia focused on response, recovery, and rehabilitation from 1974 to 1988; while the period between 1988 and 1993 marked the transition phase towards a more comprehensive approach. Theoretically, from 1993 onwards, the disaster management system has fully integrated the mitigation, prevention, and preparedness phases into already existing response and recovery approach, particularly for drought. This policy has changed the emergency response practices and the health sector has taken some initiatives in the area of emergency health care. Hence, drought early warning system, therapeutic feeding program in hospitals, health centers and posts in drought prone areas to manage promptly acute malnutrition cases have all been put in place. In addition, public health disease emergencies have been responded to at all levels of health care system.
Conclusions: Emergency health responses to drought and its ramifications such as acute malnutrition and epidemics have become more comprehensive in the context of basic disaster management phases; and impacts of drought and epidemics seem to be declining. However, the remaining challenge is to address disasters arising from other hazards such as flooding in terms ofmitigation, prevention, preparedness and integrating them in the health care system

Qualitative Health Research
April 2014; 24 (4)
http://qhr.sagepub.com/content/current
Special Issue: Women’s Health
Physical Intimate Partner Violence in Northern India
Maya I. Ragavan1, Kirti Iyengar2, Rebecca M. Wurtz3
1Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA
2Action Research and Training for Health, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India
3Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Maya I. Ragavan, Stanford University, Department of Pediatrics, 725 Welch Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA.
http://qhr.sagepub.com/content/24/4/457.abstract
Abstract
In this article, we examine perceptions about the definition of physical intimate partner violence (IPV) in northern India utilizing feminist perspectives as a framework. We interviewed 56 women and 52 men affiliated with a health services nongovernmental organization in the Udaipur district of Rajasthan. We transcribed, coded, and analyzed the interviews utilizing grounded theory. We found that perceptions regarding physical IPV were associated with both structural and ideological patriarchal beliefs and microlevel constructs such as alcohol use. We discovered multiple types of physical IPV in the study region, including rationalized violence (socially condoned violence perpetrated by a husband against his wife), unjustified violence (socially prohibited violence perpetrated by a husband against his wife), and majboori violence (violence perpetrated by a wife against her husband). Our results add to the breadth of research available about IPV in India and create a framework for future research and IPV prevention initiatives.

TORTURE Journal
Latest issue: Volume 24, Supplementum 1, 2014
http://www.irct.org/torture-journal
Issue Theme: Of death and rebirth: Life histories of Rwandan female genocide survivors
Introduction
Annemiek Richters
Excerpt
It is generally known that during the 100 days of genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda in 1994, sexual violence was committed on an unprecedented scale. Many women were first raped and then killed. With a certain degree of probability, the majority of Tutsi women who survived had been raped. Limited information is available regarding the experiences of these women. However, there is enough empirical evidence provided in human rights accounts and research
reports substantiating that these women were exposed to unimaginable horror, which for the majority of them had a range of devastating short and long term effects.1-4 What is hard to find are voices of female survivors who succeeded in taking steps towards healing of at least some of these lingering effects. The stories collected in this Supplementum stand out in this respect. The authors describe the genocide as a period that turned them into living dead persons while they end their stories with the rebirth they experienced through participation in
sociotherapy….

Vaccine
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0264410X/32
Volume 32, Issue 20, Pages 2261-2388 (25 April 2014)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0264410X/32/20
Cost and sustainability of a successful package of interventions to improve vaccination coverage for children in urban slums of Bangladesh
Original Research Article
Pages 2294-2299
K. Hayford, M.J. Uddin, T.P. Koehlmoos, D.M. Bishai
Abstract
Objective
To estimate the incremental economic costs and explore satisfaction with a highly effective intervention for improving immunization coverage among slum populations in Dhaka, Bangladesh. A package of interventions based on extended clinic hours, vaccinator training, active surveillance, and community participation was piloted in two slum areas of Dhaka, and resulted in an increase in valid fully immunized children (FIC) from 43% pre-intervention to 99% post-intervention.
Methods
Cost data and stakeholder perspectives were collected January–February 2010 via document review and 10 key stakeholders interviews to estimate the financial and opportunity costs of the intervention, including uncompensated time, training and supervision costs.
Results
The total economic cost of the 1-year intervention was $18,300, comprised of external management and supervision (73%), training (11%), coordination costs (1%), uncompensated staff time and clinic costs (2%), and communications, supplies and other costs (13%). An estimated 874 additional children were correctly and fully immunized due to the intervention, at an average cost of $20.95 per valid FIC. Key stakeholders ranked extended clinic hours and vaccinator training as the most important components of the intervention. External supervision was viewed as the most important factor for the intervention’s success but also the costliest. All stakeholders would like to reinstate the intervention because it was effective, but additional funding would be needed to make the intervention sustainable.
Conclusion
Targeting slum populations with an intensive immunization intervention was highly effective but would nearly triple the amount spent on immunization per FIC in slum areas. Those committed to increasing vaccination coverage for hard-to-reach children need to be prepared for substantially higher costs to achieve results.

Vaccine
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0264410X/32
Volume 32, Issue 20, Pages 2261-2388 (25 April 2014)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0264410X/32/20

Vaccine preventable diseases: Time to re-examine global surveillance data?
Original Research Article
Pages 2315-2320
Adam MacNeil, Vance Dietz, Thomas Cherian
Abstract
While data driven estimates of the global burden of disease for some vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs) are limited, aggregate case numbers of VPDs are reported annually by country in the Joint Reporting Form (JRF). We examined pertussis surveillance data in the JRF, and vaccine coverage estimates, in comparison to measles, which is a priority disease for elimination and eradication efforts and is supported by the WHO Global Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network. In 2012, highest pertussis case numbers and incidence were reported from high income countries with high vaccine coverage, discordant with countries that had low vaccine coverage. Use of laboratory diagnostics for pertussis cases varied among countries. In contrast, highest reported numbers of measles cases and incidences tended to occur in low income countries. These observations imply poor quality global surveillance data for some VPDs, limiting capacity for monitoring global epidemiology or making vaccination policy decisions. Efforts are needed to improve the availability of quality surveillance data for all VPDs.

From Google Scholar+ [to 5 April 2014]
Selected content from beyond the journals and sources covered above, aggregated from a range of Google Scholar monitoring algorithms and other monitoring strategies.

[HTML] Climate and Disaster Resilience: The Role for Community-Driven Development
“Arnold, Margaret; Mearns, Robin; Oshima, Kaori; Prasad, Vivek. 2014. Climate and Disaster Resilience : The Role for Community-Driven Development. World Bank, Washington, DC. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/17553
Pdf: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/17553/850070WP0CDD0C0Box382145B000PUBLIC0.pdf?sequence=1
This paper is part of a larger effort to document, assess, and promote scalable models and approaches to empower poor communities to manage a climate and disaster risk agenda in support of their development goals and to identify practical ways of getting climate and disaster risk financing directly to the ground level where impacts are felt. Social funds, social protection systems and safety nets, community-driven development (CDD) projects, livelihoods-support and related operational platforms can serve as useful vehicles for promoting community-level resilience to disaster and climate risk. This paper examines the World Bank’s Community-Driven Development (CDD) portfolio to assess experience to date and to explore the potential for building the resilience of vulnerable communities to climate and disaster risk through CDD programs. It aims to be useful to both the Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management practitioner as well as the CDD practitioner. The paper assesses the scale of climate and disaster resilience support provided through CDD projects from 2001-11 and characterizes the forms of support provided. For the climate change adaption and disaster risk management (DRM) practitioner, it discusses the characteristics of a CDD approach and how they lend themselves to building local-level climate resilience. For the CDD practitioner, the paper describes the types of activities that support resilience building and explores future directions for CDD to become a more effective vehicle for reducing climate and disaster risk.

[PDF] Knowledge management in the humanitarian sector: Challenges in improving decision-making
Maereg Tafere
12 March 2014 – Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection www.phap.org
Excerpt
When I contemplated writing on knowledge management (KM), an article by Alan Fowler from 1997 came to mind:
An almost universal weakness of NGOs is found within their often limited capacity to learn, adapt and continuously improve the quality of what they do. This is a serious concern because the future usefulness of NGOs for the world’s poor will depend on their ability to overcome their learning disabilities. Crudely put, if NGOs do not learn from their experience, they are destined for insignificance and will atrophy as agents of social change. NGOs urgently need to put in place systems which ensure that they know and learn from what they are achieving — as opposed to what they are doing — and then apply what they learn.1…

Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/18770428
Satellite Remote Sensing as a Tool in Disaster Management and Sustainable Development: Towards a Synergistic Approach
Olalekan Mumin Belloa, Yusuf Adedoyin Ainab
Volume 120, 19 March 2014, Pages 365–373
3rd International Geography Symposium, GEOMED2013, 10-13 June 2013, Antalya, Turkey
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.02.114
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042814016449
Abstract
Disasters have become an issue of growing concern throughout the world, whether it is natural hazards or through human factors. The frequency, as well as magnitude, of disasters threatening large population living in diverse environments is increasing in recent years across the world. These disasters also have far-reaching implications on sustainable development through social, economic and environmental impacts. It is highly imperative to develop effective tools for disaster management. Remote sensing systems have been playing a great role in disaster management in such areas as flooding, cyclones, drought, earthquake and tsunami. Satellite remote sensing is largely adopted due to its cost effectiveness, short temporal orbiting and large area of coverage. Remote sensing technologies have been used in disaster management especially during the preparedness/warning and response/monitoring stages. Despite the capabilities of remote sensing technologies in natural and human disaster management, there are still some limitations in its deployment due to the divide between developed and developing countries, data accessibility (especially high resolution imagery) and technological limitations. This paper examines the recent developments in the application of remote sensing in disaster management such as the proliferation of data through unprecedented sources (Google Earth, crowdsourcing, Global Land Cover) and improvement in data resolutions and integration of technologies. It examines how recent developments can help in overcoming the limitations of using remotely sensed data in disaster management. There is a need for more collaborative and interdisciplinary frameworks to fully utilize the capabilities of remote sensing in hazard and disaster management.

Early Child Development and Care
Volume 184, Issue 6, 2014
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/gecd20/current#.U0GwNVcWNdc
Vulnerability of internally displaced children in disaster relief camps of Pakistan: issues, challenges, and way forward
Shela Akbar Ali Hirania*
DOI: 10.1080/03004430.2014.901012
Published online: 31 Mar 2014
Abstract
Pakistan is a developing country with the second highest infant and child mortality rates in South Asia. During the past years this region has undergone several humanitarian emergencies that have negatively affected all the aspects of health and development of young children. During these emergencies relief camps are set up by governmental and non-governmental agencies with the aim of meeting the physical needs of the targeted community by providing basic health care (first aid), food, water, and shelter. As these services do not adequately address children’s rights, all aspects of their health (physical, mental, social, and spiritual) and development, therefore, internally displaced children in the disaster relief camps of Pakistan are highly vulnerable to having a negative impact on all aspects of their health, brain development, learning, coping, and competence. Hence, to enable these children to develop their maximum potentials, cope positively, and become resilient, a well-thought child-care programme is recommended in the disaster relief camps of Pakistan.

Lincoln Planning Review
5(1-2) (2013) 60-61
http://journals.lincoln.ac.nz/index.php/LPR/issue/view/68/showToc
Indigenous Disaster Planning–reflections on recent conferences
Simon LAMBERT
Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Environment, Society and Design, Lincoln University, Christchurch, New Zealand
Excerpt
Reduction in Geneva continues worldwide efforts to adopt the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015 (HFA) and its strategy of ‘Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters’. This year’s conference included a side event called ‘Engaging Indigenous People in Disaster Risk Reduction’. Organised by John Scott of the Centre for Public Service Communications, I was privileged to be invited onto the panel to discuss how Indigenous communities might contribute to local, national, and global disaster risk reduction practices. We stressed the necessity for Indigenous Peoples to have a voice in order to reduce disaster risk and vulnerability: imposing centralised solutions to local problems (many of which have successful solutions originating from Traditional Ecological Knowledge) threaten a community’s capacity to initiate risk reduction and save lives. Risks may include some that are unique to Indigenous communities – exacerbated by our histories of colonisation and ongoing marginalisation – but also include those we have in common with other communities worldwide.
I spoke on our research about the Māori response to the earthquakes of 2010-11, emphasising our traditional cultural institutions such as marae and their role in civil defence for all community members, our comfort in clustering as whānau and the continued relevance of cultural practices of manaakitanga (the obligations of hospitality) and whānaungatanga (acknowledging bonds of kinship)…

Remarks: New Approaches to Poverty Eradication among Women with Disabilities
Posted on March 25, 2014
New York, 19 March 2014. Remarks by UN Women Deputy Executive Director Lakshmi Puri
CSW58 side event on New Approaches to Poverty Eradication among Women with Disabilities,

Good afternoon, excellencies, distinguished delegates and guests,
I would like to thank the Permanent Mission of Germany and UN DESA for co-organizing this event that addresses an issue that does not receive the attention it critically needs – women and girls with disabilities.

Evidence has shown us that persons with disabilities experience disproportionately high rates of poverty and exclusion, and they lack equitable access to resources such as education, employment, health, as well as legal and support systems. Women and girls with disabilities are disproportionately affected in all these areas.
In the case of employment, although all persons with disabilities face barriers to employment, men with disabilities have been found to be almost twice as likely to be employed as women with disabilities.

Because many women with disabilities experience severely limited access to employment, they often turn to self-employment. They then face additional challenges due to the lack of capital and access to financial services and products.

Despite these challenges, we know that solutions exist. We have seen great initiatives to enhance access of women with disabilities to productive resources, including financial services and products.

For example, I could highlight “The Fund for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities” in Thailand. The Fund provides opportunities for women with disabilities to access loans. We also know of the “Financial Inclusion Support Framework” of the World Bank, that supports policy, regulatory and institutional reforms to catalyze and expand financial services to women, including women with disabilities. The organization “ProMujer” in Nicaragua supports a village bank created by, a women with disabilities organization and provides financial services to women with disabilities without special conditions, as well as business training.

There are also a number of initiatives that have worked to expand access to employment opportunities and economic decision-making among women with disabilities. In South Korea, the government put in place an initiative to provide larger amounts of financial assistance to business owners who hire women with disabilities. In Germany, the government’s national network entitled “Political Representation of the Interests of Women with Disabilities” focuses on initiating schemes to realize the participation of women with disabilities, in particular in the fields of participation in working life, protection against violence, healthcare and parenthood. Our very own “Global Knowledge Gateway for Women’s Economic Empowerment”, recently launched by UN Women, is an online platform, which enables women with disabilities to get access to up-to-date information, technical resources and contacts on economic empowerment.

But the key to the economic empowerment of women with disabilities is with Member States. There are two international conventions and agreements that address women and girls with disabilities and offer guidance, including CEDAW and CRPD, the Convention on the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities. Member States need to take full advantage of the reporting process to these conventions to put in place and expand national initiatives to support the financial inclusion of women with disabilities. Today, there is still too little information in CEDAW reporting with regard to the rights of women and girls with disabilities.

The intersection of gender and disability needs to be better addressed by leveraging CRPD and CEDAW Conventions together, strengthening country reports, supporting governments and NGOs to provide better information, and closely working with committee members.

UN Women has begun to mainstream disability into our work and has already achieved some results. We have engaged with Member States to secure references to women with disabilities in the Agreed Conclusions of the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, and we are doing the same this year. We have also worked to integrate gender components into the outcome document of the High Level Meeting on Disability and Development. UN Women has also placed women and girls with disabilities as a group deserving special attention in our new strategic plan covering the period 2014-2017.

Although some progress has been made, there is more work ahead. We need to step up systematic efforts to mainstream a gender and disability perspective into all the work of international organizations, such as the Global Partnership for Disability and Development and the UN Partnership to promote the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Multi-Donor Trust Fund.
We need to develop best practices based on what has already been done to protect and promote the rights of women and girls with disabilities and the Beijing+20 review and appraisal process offers a crucial and important opportunity for the international community to review, further develop, and scale up best practices.

We need to develop a global partnership for the rights of women and girls with disabilities, and we must recognize and support collective action of women with disabilities. They have played a critical role in advancing women’s rights, holding decision-makers accountable and putting emerging issues on the agenda and they deserve our attention and commitment.

This organized voice needs to be nurtured and represented in the disability and gender work. Let us take every opportunity to explore synergy and identify existing networks of organizations of women and persons with disabilities for our partners to build on this important issue.
Thank you.

Report: World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development
UNESCO
March 2014, 104 pages
Executive Summary (Excerpt)
Freedom of expression in general, and media development in particular, are core to UNESCO’s constitutional mandate to advance ‘the mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples, through all means of mass communication’ and promoting ‘the free flow of ideas by word and image.’ For UNESCO, press freedom is a corollary of the general right to freedom of expression. Since 1991, the year of the seminal Windhoek Declaration, which was endorsed by our Member States, UNESCO has understood press freedom as designating the conditions of media freedom, pluralism and independence, as well as the safety of journalists. It is within this framework that this report examines progress as regards press freedom, including in regard to gender equality, and makes sense of the evolution of media actors, news media institutions and journalistic roles over time.

This report has been prepared as the basis of a summary report on the global state of press freedom and the safety of journalists, presented to the General Conference of UNESCO Member States in November 2013, on the mandate of the decision by Member States taken at the 36th session of the General Conference of the Organization.1

The overarching global trend with respect to media freedom, pluralism, independence and the safety of journalists over the past several years is that of disruption and change brought on by technology, and to a lesser extent, the global financial crisis. These trends have impacted traditional economic and organizational structures in the news media, legal and regulatory frameworks, journalism practices, and media consumption and production habits. Technological convergence has expanded the number of and access to media platforms as well as the potential for expression. It has enabled the emergence of citizen journalism and spaces for independent media, while at the same time fundamentally reconfiguring journalistic practices and the business of news.

The broad global patterns identified in this report are accompanied by extensive unevenness within the whole. The trends summarized above, therefore, go hand in hand with substantial variations between and within regions as well as countries.

DEVEX
https://www.devex.com/en/
The benefits of PPPs in global health
Seth Berkley, GAVI CEO
25 March 2014
Excerpt
If countries are healthier and more prosperous, then we all benefit. After all, global health means economic health.

This is one reason why many governments in wealthier countries have helped fund disease prevention in developing countries, far outside their borders. It’s the right thing to do, but it’s also smart policy. Global health is a fundamental cornerstone of a vibrant global economy.

In particular, children’s health — starting with immunization — has the power to fundamentally change the economic progress of developing countries beyond the basic benefit of saving lives and improving health. Vaccines are a far better value than treating disease. By keeping people healthy, vaccines also help break the cycle of poverty, enabling children to be better nourished and go to school; parents to work more productively; and countries thereby to attract foreign investment that brings trade, infrastructure and technology.

Healthy kids mean healthy families, communities and societies. This makes the economic, education and labor impact of vaccines immense. It is truly a proven, sustainable approach to development. But with government budgets squeezed and many on-the-ground challenges outside of their expertise, governments cannot do this alone. How do we get to the next level? Businesses have the ability to rally the public by providing solutions and applying know-how to problems of any size. One example of this public-private partnership model is my organization, the GAVI Alliance, whose mission is to save children’s lives and protect people’s health by increasing access to immunization in developing countries. Since 2000, GAVI has helped immunize more than 440 million children and prevent 6 million deaths in the process.

The private sector has become an important partner in this cause. There is a growing corporate awareness that the world’s biggest health challenges — including how to reach the 22 million children who go un-vaccinated each year — also have profound economic implications. Vaccine-preventable diseases, such as pneumonia, measles and deadly diarrhea, take an enormous toll on people in developing countries. Companies recognize that their competitiveness and the health of communities where they do business are mutually dependent. We all are stakeholders.
It is imperative that both the public and private sectors work together. Businesses have invested in GAVI because they know that one of the strongest ways to promote global health is through immunization. And quite simply, vaccines provide a strong return on investment…

Displacement, violence likely cause of Iraq’s first polio case in 14 years
IRIN – UNOCHA
Excerpt
DUBAI, 24 March 2014 (IRIN) – Health officials in Iraq are stepping up polio immunization and surveillance following the first confirmed case of the virus in the country in more than a decade. “It is a huge blow because for 14 years Iraq has been polio free,” Syed Jaffar Hussain, head of mission for the World Health Organization (WHO) in Iraq, told IRIN. WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region poliovirus laboratory in Egypt and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the USA both confirmed the outbreak, detected after a six-month-old baby living on the outskirts of Baghdad became paralysed. The strain’s genetic sequence matches the one found last September in Syria – wild polio virus type 1 (WPV1) – but it is not yet clear how the virus made it to the Iraqi capital or how the boy became infected. His family has no links with Syria or record of recent travel there…

WHO: Burden of disease from Household Air Pollution for 2012
Released March 2014
Summary of results
Globally, 4.3 million deaths were attributable to household air pollution (HAP) in 2012, almost all in low and middle income (LMI) countries. The South East Asian and Western Pacific regions bear most of the burden with 1.69 and 1.62 million deaths, respectively. Almost 600’000 deaths occur in Africa, 200’000 in the Eastern Mediterranean region, 99’000 in Europe and 81’000 in the Americas. The remaining 19’000 deaths occur in high income countries.
The large increase in burden compared with the previous estimate of 2 million deaths from HAP from 20041 is mainly due to 1) additional health outcomes such as cerebrovascular diseases and ischaemic heart disease included in the analysis2; 2) additional evidence that has become available on the relationship between exposure and health outcomes and the use of integrated exposure-response functions3; and 3) an increase in non-communicable diseases.
Although women experience higher personal exposure levels than men2,4 and therefore higher relative risk to develop adverse health outcomes due to their greater involvement in daily cooking activities, the absolute burden is larger in men due to larger underlying disease rates in men.

AMREF [to 29 March 2014]

Nursing students register exemplary results
Students from the AMREF Virtual Training School (AVTS) are celebrating their success and have every reason to be proud.
In the just released results by the Nursing Council of Kenya (NCK) for the January 2014 National Licensure exams, AVTS posted a pass rate of 88 per cent against a national pass rate of 68 per cent. The AMREF Virtual Training School further posted seven credits. This is the highest number of credits registered from any one school nationally. The 44 students were among the over 1,798 students from 48 schools who registered for the National Licensure exams.
AMREF congratulates all the students on their exemplary performance and commends all partners, tutors and supporters for making the AMREF virtual training a model for nursing and midwifery training.

AMREF calls for greater synergy and investment to find ‘missed’ TB cases
Despite major progress made towards the global Millennium Development Goals in recent years the Tuberculosis burden remains enormous. In 2012, an estimated 8.6 million cases of TB infection were recorded and 1.3 million people died from the disease. At the same time, however, three million TB cases are missed by national notification systems every year, accelerating the spread of the disease. Many of these three million people live in the world’s poorest, most vulnerable communities, including in Africa, underlining the need for innovative action both at health system and community levels to identify all cases of TB infection, illness and ensure that they get the right treatment and care.
As Africa’s leading health development organisation working with vulnerable and underserved communities, AMREF joins the global TB Partnership in calling for increased efforts to reach the three million missed cases.

AMREF ‏@AMREF_Worldwide Mar 25
There are 109 community health workers enrolled by the HELP project so far through partnership with GoK, @SafaricomLtd @Accenture #mLearning

Aravind Eye Care System [to 29 March 2014]
AravindEyeFdtn ‏@AravindEye Mar 26
Today, #Aravind opened its 46th vision center to address needless #blindness in Kadayam. Sponsored by Anne and Julie Kelly

BRAC [to 29 March 2014]

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed named one of the world’s 50 greatest leaders by Fortune magazine
The US-based Fortune magazine has named BRAC founder and chairperson Sir Fazle Hasan Abed in its list of the world’s 50 greatest leaders. The list, which features leaders from politics and religion to corporate CEOs and heads of civil society organizations, features the BRAC founder at number 32. The top five positions on the list are held by Pope Francis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally, US investor Warren Buffet and former US President Bill Clinton. Other no……Read More

Perspectives on Women’s Rights: Feminist Voices from Bangladesh
29 March 2014, Dhaka. Programme on Women’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (PWESCR) in partnership with South Asian Feminist Alliance (SAFA) and BRAC hosted a public event, Feminist Voices from Bangladesh on Saturday, 29 March, 2014, from 4 to 6 p.m at the BRAC Centre Inn Auditorium, 75 Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Eminent feminists Rokeya Kabir, Salma Khan, Khushi Kabir, Sara Hossain, Farida Akhter, Shireen Huq, Anna Minj and Moni Rani Das shared their perspectives on feminism, their pers……Read More

BRAC USA announces renewed push for Bangladesh garment workers
$5 million raised for newly launched Bangladesh Humanitarian Fund for rehabilitation of garment workers, victim support, and awareness of workplace safety
NEW YORK, NY – As the one-year anniversary of the Bangladesh Rana Plaza building collapse approaches, BRAC USA, the North American affiliate of BRAC, announced today a multi-year fundraising initiative to ensure that progress continues on humanitarian aid and support for workers in Bangladesh’s ready-made garment industry. An antipoverty org……Read More

BRAC gives media awards to 24 journalists and three media houses
24 March 2014, Dhaka. In recognition of mass media’s valuable contribution to raising awareness about tuberculosis and its treatment, BRAC held the Media Award on Tuberculosis 2014 on Monday, 24 March, which is also International Tuberculosis Day. Twenty-four journalists from national and local newspapers and three media houses received this award for their outstanding efforts in covering the issue at the event held at BRAC Centre, Dhaka.] Joint editor of the Daily Samakal Rashid-un-nabi Babu, ……Read More

Community girls’ schools launched in Sierra Leone
23 March 2014, Dhaka. On 17 March 2014, BRAC formally launched community girls’ schools all over Sierra Leone. Currently, one school has been opened in each of the 12 out of 14 districts that BRAC is currently working in, with the aim to open in the other two districts by 25 March 2014. The initiative is a major component of the Girls Education Challenge project, funded by DFID. BRAC is providing education to over 7,500 girls who are marginalised and have dropped out of the formal education sy……Read More

BRAC @BRACworld 5h
Sir Abed to audience- come up with lot more innovation, scale things up to help as many ppl as you can & above all be ambitious!#scalefrugal

BRAC @BRACworld 6h
Sir Abed: Whatever BRAC did so far, it did it for pushing poor people out of poverty. Hence the #propoor model. #scalefrugal

BRAC @BRACworld 10h
BRAC leveraged @ushahidi to inform senior leadership decision-making with the voices of BRAC beneficiaries #scalefrugal-via @faizalkarmali

BRAC @BRACworld Mar 28
Moments away from kicking off the 2nd #BRAC Frugal #Innovation Forum! Follow tweets to stay updated. #scalefrugal pic.twitter.com/qqHgHj284v

BRAC @BRACworld Mar 26
The @GESForum 2014 Meet the Mentor session: Sir Fazle Hasan Abed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqzXm5ZVYWU …

Retweeted by BRAC
Susan Davis @SusanDavisBRAC Mar 26
Exciting announcement! More support for garment workers in Bangladesh: http://brac.net/content/brac-usa-announces-renewed-push-bangladesh-garment-workers#.UzLRNc4vy2p … #RanaPlaza http://www.ranaplaza-arrangement.org/fund/donors/donors … @BRACworld

BRAC ‏@BRACworld Mar 24
Join us for the tweet chat on #mobilemoney on the 28th at the #frugal #innovation Forum – http://bit.ly/1hfc3iq #data #ict4d #globaldev

Casa Alianza [to 29 March 2014]
Covenant House [to 29 March 2014]

Casa Alianza UK @CasaAlianzaUK Mar 27
Brand new on our blog – the calm before the kick-off: https://casaalianzauk.wordpress.com/2014/03/27/arriving-in-rio-the-calm-before-the-kick-off/ … … @SCWC2014 #streetchildren #sport http://twitter.com/CasaAlianzaUK/status/449283787646451713/photo/1pic.twitter.com/SmPF0mPsaX

Unique New Documentary Tells The Story of One of Our Kids
This Friday at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, there will be a screening of a documentary that tells the story of Jerome, a Covenant House youth whose volunteer work with homeless dogs changed his life.

Covenant House @CovenantHouse Mar 29
Registration deadline 4 UN conference on fight against #HumanTrafficking is fast approaching. Act now http://bit.ly/1gj7Y0w Pls RT

Covenant House ‏@CovenantHouse Mar 28
Please remember to follow us on #Instagram (@Covenant_House) for exclusive content from our events! http://instagram.com/covenant_house

ECPAT [to 29 March 2014]
Today we celebrate the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade!
Posted on 03/25/2014, 11:42
The transatlantic slave trade was one of the most brutal slavery systems in history with over 15 million victims. On March 25, the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, we commemorate those people and their struggles. However, racism, prejudice and human trafficking have not ended. Today, we at ECPAT want to draw attention to the men, women and especially the child victims who continue to suffer from modern day slavery, through sex trafficking and other forms of commercial sexual exploitation.
Find out more about the work we do: http://www.ecpat.net/what-we-do