Clubhouse International [to 6 February 2016]
http://www.clubhouse-intl.org/news.html

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[undated]
Phoenix Clubhouse in Hong Kong becomes 11th Clubhouse International Training Base!
Clubhouse International is pleased to announce that we have added Phoenix Clubhouse in Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China, as the 11th International Training Base in our worldwide network of Training Bases!

Phoenix Clubhouse is a longstanding Accredited Clubhouse, and for the last decade has served as a designated Orientation Site for new groups seeking to start Clubhouses in Hong Kong and mainland China. Phoenix Clubhouse is a high quality Clubhouse under the direction of Anita Chan. Anita has many years experience working in Clubhouses. The auspice organization, Queen Mary Hospital, has provided excellent leadership from Dr. Michael Wong, Mary Chu, Dr. Eileena Chui, and June Chao. The Friends of Phoenix Clubhouse Advisory Committee and founding Director, Eva Yau (now a Clubhouse International Consultant in China) are very supportive of this new initiative. We are thrilled to now have this new potential to bring Accredited Clubhouses to more Chinese-speaking communities, with Phoenix Clubhouse serving as our newest International Training Base. Visit their website at www.phoenixclubhouse.org

Danish Refugee Council [to 6 February 2016]
https://www.drc.dk/news

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04.02.16
Going to Europe: A Syrian Perspective
The Danish Refugee Council in the Middle East have conducted several informal discussion groups with Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey to canvass refugees’ perceptions and attitudes about going to Europe. Read about the findings and the full report here – and a link to how DRC think, the international community should address this.

Key findings from the report:
:: The preferred durable solution amongst Syrian refugees is safe and dignified return to a Syria that is free of conflict, though many are realizing that this option may not be possible for some time

:: Conditions in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey are the main driver for Syrians to consider onward movement, compounded by a prevailing sense of the protracted nature of the conflict in Syria. The pursuit of viable livelihoods (accompanied by the legal right to work), education, medical care, and increased aid are all motivations for the journey to Europe.

:: Syrian refugees have varied and sometimes idealized expectations of life in Europe. Information is passed primarily by word-of-mouth through community connections and is not always reliable.

:: The risks and challenges of the journey to Europe are known to Syrian refugees, though for many these risks are considered to be “worth it.”

:: For some Syrians, concerns about cultural differences in Europe and the distance from Syria make the trip an undesirable option.

:: Syrian refugees are spending considerable sums of money, including going into debt, to take boat journeys to Europe

The information compiled in this report draws on over 50 focus group discussions and 444 household interviews with men and women in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan conducted in late 2015. Syrian refugees are the focus of this research.
To read the full report click here

ECPAT [to 6 February 2016]
http://www.ecpat.net/news

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Posted on 02/02/2016, 12:16
Interagency Working Group adopts global terminology guidelines for the sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children
An Interagency Working Group composed of the UN Special Representative to the Secretary General on Violence against Children, the UN Special Rapporteur on Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, ECPAT International and 13 other international organisations and agencies active in the field of children’s rights, took an important step to strengthen collaboration and address sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children by adopting new global terminology guidelines.

HelpAge International [to 6 February 2016]
http://www.helpage.org/newsroom/press-room/press-releases/

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Posted: 01 February 2016
Long term funding needed for Syria, including older people, says HelpAge International
Heads of state arriving in London this week for a high-level donor conference on Syria need to commit to long-term humanitarian funding for vulnerable people in Syria, including older people, says HelpAge International.

IRC International Rescue Committee [to 6 February 2016]
http://www.rescue.org/press-release-index

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04 Feb 2016
“Credit where it’s due, now let’s turn pledges into action” says David Miliband on conclusion of Syria Conference

01 Feb 2016
A million jobs needed for Syrian refugees to make ‘life worth living’ in the region, says humanitarian agency

ICRC [to 6 February 2016]
https://www.icrc.org/en/whats-new

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05-02-2016 | Article
Lebanon: ICRC and Rafik Hariri University Hospital in partnership to improve access to health care
Beirut (ICRC) –- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut and the Lebanese Ministry of Health today signed a memorandum of understanding that will set up a new hospital ward for reconstructive surgery…

Syria: How much longer will the fighting rage?
Before the war broke out, Syria was a middle-income country. But now, its development has been thrown back perhaps a generation, if not more.
04-02-2016 | Article

Syria Pledging Conference: ICRC President’s call to the international community
Speech given by Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, at the Syria Donors Conference 2016 in London.
04-02-2016 | Article

Syria: Food and medicine reach besieged town of Moadamiyeh
Joint teams of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) have managed to deliver food and hygiene items for more than twelve thousand people in the besieged town of Moadamiyeh near Damascus.
04-02-2016 | Article

The ICRC in Africa – key operations
Dropping food to hungry people in remote areas of South Sudan. Treating the injured in Mali. Supporting hospitals in Libya. All over Africa, the ICRC is helping people affected by war and other violence.
04-02-2016 | Article

Nigeria: ICRC helps families recover as they return from displacement
Thousands fled fighting in late 2014 between the Nigerian army and the armed opposition in Adamawa State, north-east Nigeria. Many homes were burned to the ground.
03-02-2016 | Video

Lebanon: Red Cross rescues snowbound Syrian families in mountains
During the harsh winter months, the treacherous journey on foot from Syria into Lebanon is fraught with even more danger than usual, as snow and ice leave people stranded with no food or shelter. Alaa Al Nabaa is head of the Lebanese Red Cross
01-02-2016 | Video

Myanmar: Helping people affected by floods – six months on
Monsoon rains, coupled with high winds and heavy rain from Cyclone Komen, caused devastating floods and landslides in several parts of Myanmar in July 2015. Together with the Myanmar Red Cross (MRCS), we focused our relief efforts on helping people
01-02-2016 | Article

Syria: Desperate population needs regular unimpeded aid, whatever talks outcome
Geneva/Damascus (ICRC) – The parties battling each other in Syria’s nearly 5-year-old conflict must allow a regular flow of aid to reach all those civilians suffering amid the fighting, whatever the outcome of peace talks getting under way in Geneva,
30-01-2016 | News release

Islamic Relief [to 6 February 2016]
http://www.islamic-relief.org/category/news/

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February 4, 2016
World leaders must deliver for Syrian refugees and host countries
Pressure has been placed on world leaders to support Syrian refugees and the countries hosting them at a high-level conference held in London.

A global coalition of more than 90 humanitarian and human rights groups, including Islamic Relief, say world leaders must commit to an ambitious and transformational new multi-billion-dollar deal for both the refugees and host countries…

MSF/Médecins Sans Frontières [to 6 February 2016]
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news-stories/press/press-releases

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Press Releases
MSF Study in Niger Shows No Significant Benefit from Routine Use of Antibiotics to Treat Malnutrition
February 03, 2016
The routine use of antibiotics in the treatment of severe acute malnutrition has minimal impact on the likelihood of recovery, according to a major study of more than 2,000 children by the medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and its research arm Epicentre, published today in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Press releases
There’s Still Time to Stop the TPP from Cutting Off the Critical Lifeline of Affordable Generic Medicines
February 03, 2016
New York—As representatives from the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries gather in New Zealand Thursday to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, the fight to protect access to medicines in TPP countries is intensifying at the national level, with legislative processes starting that will determine if the deal is finally ratified and implemented.

Mercy Corps [to 6 February 2016]
http://www.mercycorps.org/press-room/releases

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Press releases
Syria: Syria’s Aleppo City on the Verge of Siege
February 4, 2016 Portland, Ore.— Intensified fighting and air strikes in and around Aleppo City in Syria have cut off the main – and most direct – humanitarian route into that city, according to the global organization Mercy Corps. Since yesterday (Wednesday), the organization’s operations in northern Syria have effectively been sliced in half. “We are cut off from Aleppo City,” says David Evans, Mercy Corps’ regional program director for the Middle East. “It feels like a siege of Aleppo is about to begin.”

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Press releases
Mercy Corps Pilots Refugee Cash Assistance Program in Serbia
February 3, 2016 Presevo, Serbia – The global organization Mercy Corps has launched a new pilot program to distribute MasterCard prepaid debit cards to an estimated 5,600 eligible refugees traveling through Serbia, in partnership with the Serbian Ministry of Labor. Families will receive cards of 210 Euros, and individuals will receive cards of 70 Euros, which can be used to purchase what they need most. It is the first such program in the region to use an international payment mechanism to help the tens of thousands of refugees and migrants seeking haven in Europe.

OXFAM [to 6 February 2016]
http://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases

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5 February 2016
Civil society verdict on London Conference on Syria: ‘Now turn pledges into action’
Oxfam and more than 30 non-governmental organizations have welcomed the ambition demonstrated at the ‘Supporting Syria And the Region’ donor conference in London to increase the scale and scope of the humanitarian response to the Syria crisis, but said that overall pledges for 2016 fell more than $3 billion short of what was urgently needed.

Norwegian Refugee Council [to 6 February 2016]
http://www.nrc.no/

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London conference
What’s driving Syrian refugees to despair?
(01.02.2016)
As world leaders and international donors meet in London this week to pledge money for the Syria crisis, millions of refugees across the Middle East are being driven into further despair.

The Norwegian Refugee Council is publishing new data showing the protection failures with regard to Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan.

Among the figures showing the growing desperate situation for refugees we find that:
:: In Lebanon, an estimated 70 per cent of the refugee population, that is more than 700,000 people, has lost its legal stay
:: In Jordan, some 250,000 Syrian refugees in host communities are still estimated to be without an updated government registration
:: 30 per cent of Syrian refugee children in Jordan do not have birth certificates
:: More than 1 million people – or 7 out of 10 refugees from Syria – now live in poverty across Jordan and Lebanon
:: In Jordan, 50 per cent of Syrian refugees surveyed by NRC at the end of 2015 said that they were intending to leave Jordan because they saw no future…

Pact [to 6 February 2016]
http://www.pactworld.org/news

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February 4, 2016
Pact Institute appoints new executive director
Pact is pleased to announce that it has appointed Natasha Sakolsky to the role of executive director of Pact Institute, a Pact subsidiary that serves poor and marginalized communities across the world.

Sakolsky brings more than two decades of experience in international development and public health, with expertise in strategic planning, organizational design, operations and change management, resource mobilization and partnership development. She has worked extensively abroad, especially in Africa, in areas including HIV/AIDS, reproductive health and youth programming…

Pact Institute was established in 1998 to pursue strategic objectives that benefit Pact and the people it serves, namely through innovation, the exploration of new approaches and partnerships, and funding diversification. Like Pact, Pact Institute implements development programs around the world that are improving people’s lives in meaningful, lasting ways…

Partners In Health [to 6 February 2016]
http://www.pih.org/blog

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Feb 05, 2016
Faster, Better Care for Breast Cancer in Rwanda
Butaro Cancer Center of Excellence pilots an early detection program

Feb 04, 2016
The Path of a Breast Cancer Patient in Haiti
Women diagnosed with breast cancer feel the news like a heavy blow, yet they can take comfort in knowing they will receive the best cancer care in the country at University Hospital in Mirebalais.

Feb 04, 2016
How to Stop Epidemics: Spend Billions to Save Trillions
Without proper investment in health systems, global health experts forecast future pandemics.

Tostan [to 6 February 2016]
http://www.tostan.org/latest-news

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February 3, 2016
Press Release by Senegal’s National Committee for the Abandonment of Female Genital Cutting: Announcing February 6th Event
DAKAR — Senegal, like many other countries around the world, will be celebrating the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation on Saturday, February 6. In partnership with the department of the Minister of Women, Family and Children; the National Committee for the Abandonment of Female Genital Cutting (FGC); the joint UNFPA-UNICEF and Tostan program has organized a social mobilization event in Keur Simbara, in the region of Thiès. Participation at the event will include members of Bambara, Mandinka, Pulaar, Soninké, and Diola communities.
The community of Keur Simbara is a pioneer in the movement to abandon FGC in Senegal. Well known for the work of the community’s Imam, Demba Diarwa, who traveled to 347 villages to raise awareness about the issue…

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February 2, 2016
Rose Diop Recounts Her Journey from Unlikely Beginnings to Tostan Senegal’s FIRST Female National Coordinator
Rose Diop, the newly selected National Coordinator of Tostan Senegal, is a walking example of Tostan’s most fundamental principles—respect, collectivity, and creating a vision for a better future. She will go down in history as the first woman to serve as Regional Coordinator, and now the first female National Coordinator, as Rose continues to add to her robust legacy at Tostan…

The Elders [to 6 February 2016]
http://theelders.org/news-media

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Press release 4 February 2016
The Elders urge a renewed commitment to the peace process in Syria
While The Elders welcome the outcome of the Syria Donor Conference in London, a determined and sustained effort to attain peace is the only way to protect the Syrian people.

END Fund [to 6 February 2016]
http://www.end.org/news

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Feb 02, 2015
Gates Annual Letter’s Big 2030 Health Goals: How Do We Get Them Done?
Ellen Agler, CEO, the END Fund and Jeffrey C. Walker, Vice Chairman, United Nation’s Secretary General’s Envoy for Health Finance and Malaria recently wrote a piece posted on the Huffington Post, reflecting on the 2015 Gates Annual Letter.

Global Fund [to 6 February 2016]
http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/news/

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News
Grant to Fight TB in Southern Africa’s Mining Sector
PRETORIA, February 5, 2016 – The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and a Regional Coordinating Mechanism (RCM) representing a group of 10 Southern African countries today signed a landmark grant to pioneer innovative models to reduce high rates of TB in the mining sector.

The Grant will support potentially-transformative interventions in Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The World Bank Group serves as the Secretariat for the RCM while the Wits Health Consortium acts as the Principal Recipient of the Grant.

“Gold miners in southern Africa have some of the highest rates of TB infection in the world, we are committed to investing vigorously to reduce rates as much as possible,” said Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global Fund. “To end TB as an epidemic, we have to be effective here.”…

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Global Fund Supports Health Investment in Botswana
03 February 2016
GABORONE, Botswana – Two new grants signed today between the Global Fund and Botswana mark a new phase of partnership, with a focus on preventing, treating and caring for people affected by HIV and tuberculosis.

The financial resources provided through the Global Fund come from many sources and partners, represented today at a signing event by the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, the European Union, Germany and France. The grants signed today total US$27 million.

“The overall goals of the grants are to achieve zero local malaria transmission or the elimination of malaria, to prevent new HIV infections, reduce morbidity and mortality as well as to enhance the psychosocial and economic impact associated with TB,” said Botswana’s Minister Of Health, Dorcas Makgato…

…Botswana faces high rates of HIV and TB. The HIV prevalence rate is 18.5 percent, one of the highest in the world. It also has one of the highest TB prevalence rates globally. The two diseases are highly interlinked – 60 percent of people with TB in Botswana also have HIV…

Hilton Prize Coalition [to 6 February 2016]
http://prizecoalition.charity.org/
An Alliance of Hilton Prize Recipients

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Posted February 5, 2016
Hilton Prize Coalition Storytelling Program – Nepal
On April 25, 2015, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal. The earthquake killed over 8,000 people and injured more than 21,000. The member organizations of the Hilton Prize Coalition, an independent alliance of the 20 winners of the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, were among those who mobilized staff and resources in response to this devastating disaster.

Now, nine months later, six Coalition member organizations have come together through the Hilton Prize Coalition Storytelling Program to share their experiences both during and immediately following the earthquake. Over the course of this month, BRAC, Handicap International, Heifer International, HelpAge, Operation Smile and SOS Children’s Villages – through their staff and personnel, the individuals (and animals!) they serve, and most importantly, their communities as a whole – will be sharing their stories…

InterAction [to 6 February 2016]
http://www.interaction.org/media-center/press-releases

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Feb 01, 2016
Civilians Under Fire: Restore Respect for International Humanitarian Law
WASHINGTON — A policy brief released today by InterAction – the largest U.S. alliance of international NGOs – calls for a new White House-led initiative to restore global respect for civilians in armed conflict. With a special focus on violence in Syria and Yemen, the brief (“Civilians Under Fire: Restore Respect for International Humanitarian Law”) builds on previous reports and studies documenting attacks on civilians and humanitarian workers. The brief was released in advance of the London donor conference on Syria (Feb 3-4) and upcoming UN-sponsored World Humanitarian Summit in Turkey in May…

Specifically, the policy brief outlines several policy initiatives for the Obama Administration to help restore respect for the basic rules which protect people during armed conflict, including:
1:: Issue a presidential statement affirming respect for the protections to which civilians and civilian objects are entitled, including humanitarian and medical facilities and personnel;

2:: Adopt and implement, including through training, a standing operational policy on civilian protection and harm mitigation applicable to all branches of the armed services;

3:: Condition U.S. support for and cooperation with foreign forces (both state and non-state) on compliance with international humanitarian law; and

4:: Set clear benchmarks for enhanced measures by all parties to mitigate civilian harm in Syria and Yemen.
Read the full report: http://bit.ly/Civilians-Under-Fire-Rpt

Muslim Charities Forum [to 6 February 2016]
https://www.muslimcharitiesforum.org.uk/media/news
An umbrella organisation for Muslim-led international NGOs based in the UK. It was set up in 2007 and works to support its members through advocacy, training and research, by bringing charities together. Our members have a collective income of £150,000,000 and work in 71 countries.

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Former Cabinet Ministers demand protection for refugees
Press Release: Sunday 31st January 2016
Clare Short and Andrew Mitchell, Former British Labour and Conservative International Development Cabinet Ministers return from Syria – Turkey border to demand protection for refugees, an end to grotesque abuses of human rights and international law, sanctuary in safe havens, an end to the bombing of civilians and unfettered access for humanitarian relief.

The two former Cabinet Ministers say:
During our visit, organised by the Muslim Charities Forum, we were inspired by the work being undertaken by British Muslim Charities often in very dangerous circumstances . We witnessed an entirely British funded convoy of 90 trucks organised by the Human Appeal International moving across the border into Syria with flour for 200 bakeries throughout Idlib Province.

But an already hideous catastrophe grows daily worse as 3 million refugees inside Syria in 14 besieged areas face starvation and air bombardment. Half the remaining civilian population has no clean water access and 5,000 schools have been destroyed.

The major powers must ensure progress now takes place in the Geneva Talks. The London pledging conference this week under British, Kuwaiti and Norwegian Leadership must ensure that the refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan are fully funded and Turkey urgently receives promised EU financial support. The World Food Programme whose funding reductions mean rations in some locations run at 50 per cent of need must receive a full replenishment for the duration of this crisis.

Immediate and unfettered humanitarian access throughout all Syrian Provinces must be guaranteed. All attacks on civilians must cease with a complete end to air attack on civilian targets…