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…

The Sphere Project [to 6 February 2016]
http://www.sphereproject.org/news/
03 February 2016 | Sphere Project
New training module on the Core Humanitarian Standard and the Sphere Handbook
A new training module on the Core Humanitarian Standard and its usage in conjunction with the Sphere Handbook is now available in Arabic, English, French and Spanish.
The Sphere Project office has developed a new training module to introduce the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) on Quality and Accountability and its guidance notes and indicators. The module can be used in a two-hour interactive training session…

Center for Global Development [to 6 February 2016]
http://www.cgdev.org/page/press-center
Selected Press Releases, Blog Posts, Publications

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2/3/16
Alternatives to HIPC for African Debt-Distressed Countries: Lessons from Myanmar, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe
Tendai Biti, Ben Leo, Scott Morris, and Todd Moss
Despite the success of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) in reducing the debt burdens of low-income countries, at least eleven Sub-Saharan African countries are currently in, or face a high risk of, debt distress. A few of those currently at risk include countries that have been excluded from traditional debt relief frameworks. For countries outside the HIPC process, this paper lays out the (formidable) steps for retroactive HIPC inclusion, concluding with lessons for countries seeking exceptional debt relief treatment.

ODI [to 6 February 2016]
http://www.odi.org/media

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Research Reports
Women and power: what can the numbers tell us about women’s voice, leadership and decision-making?
Research reports and studies | February 2016 | Joseph Wales
This briefing provides an overview of existing global indicators for measuring women’s voice and leadership.

Costing the impacts of gender-based violence (GBV) to business: a practical tool
Toolkits | February 2016 | David Walker, Neta Duvvury
This toolkit outlines a step-by-step guide for ascertaining the cost of gender-based violence (GBV) to business and also has a broader purpose of providing a discrete measure of GBV impacts.

Enhancing aid architecture in the regional response to the Syria crisis
Research reports and studies | February 2016 | Victoria Metcalfe, Marcus Manuel and Alastair McKechnie
This Policy Note outlines a strategic approach to addressing the Syrian refugee crisis by enhancing the aid architecture in the Middle East.

How to design a monitoring and evaluation framework for a policy research project
Working and discussion papers | February 2016 | Tiina Pasanen and Louise Shaxson
This guidance note aims to support the first steps in designing and structuring the monitoring and evaluation framework for a policy research project.

How do healthy rivers benefit society?
Working and discussion papers | February 2016 | Helen Parker and Naomi Oates
Rivers are essential to human well-being, yet many rivers around the world are at risk. This paper provides a synthesis of the evidence regarding the relationship between river health and benefits for society.

World Economic Forum [to 6 February 2016]
https://agenda.weforum.org/news/

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News 5 Feb 2016
Cheryl Martin to Join World Economic Forum as Head of Centre for Global Industries
Geneva, Switzerland – Dr Cheryl Martin, a globally recognized expert in energy technology and innovation, will join the World Economic Forum as Head of the Centre for Global Industries, the foremost global multistakeholder platform shaping global and regional industry agendas. The Centre for Global Industries comprises over 20 industry sectors and employs around 200 strategic specialists in offices in Geneva, New York, Beijing and Tokyo…

Aga Khan Foundation [to 6 February 2016]
http://www.akdn.org/pr.asp

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04 February 2016
The Aga Khan deplores devastation in Syria, Calls for Islands of Stability
His Highness the Aga Khan today called for the establishment of ‘islands of stability’ in war-ravaged Syria that could provide areas of relative safety in the midst of conflict.

Clinton Foundation [to 6 February 2016]
https://www.clintonfoundation.org/press-releases-and-statements

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Press Release
2016 Class of Presidential Leadership Scholars Announced
February 2, 2016
The Presidential Leadership Scholars program, a unique leadership development initiative that draws upon the resources of the presidential centers of Lyndon B. Johnson, George H.W. Bush,William J. Clinton, and George W. Bush, today announced the 61 scholars invited to participate in the program’s second class.

These diverse leaders were chosen because of their desire and capacity to take their leadership strengths to a higher level in order to help their communities and our country. The 6-month executive-style program begins this week at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home…