PharmacoEconomics
Volume 33, Issue 12, December 2015
http://link.springer.com/journal/40273/33/12/page/1

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Dealing with Time in Health Economic Evaluation: Methodological Issues and Recommendations for Practice
James F. O’Mahony, Anthony T. Newall, Joost van Rosmalen
Abstract
Time is an important aspect of health economic evaluation, as the timing and duration of clinical events, healthcare interventions and their consequences all affect estimated costs and effects. These issues should be reflected in the design of health economic models. This article considers three important aspects of time in modelling: (1) which cohorts to simulate and how far into the future to extend the analysis; (2) the simulation of time, including the difference between discrete-time and continuous-time models, cycle lengths, and converting rates and probabilities; and (3) discounting future costs and effects to their present values. We provide a methodological overview of these issues and make recommendations to help inform both the conduct of cost-effectiveness analyses and the interpretation of their results. For choosing which cohorts to simulate and how many, we suggest analysts carefully assess potential reasons for variation in cost effectiveness between cohorts and the feasibility of subgroup-specific recommendations. For the simulation of time, we recommend using short cycles or continuous-time models to avoid biases and the need for half-cycle corrections, and provide advice on the correct conversion of transition probabilities in state transition models. Finally, for discounting, analysts should not only follow current guidance and report how discounting was conducted, especially in the case of differential discounting, but also seek to develop an understanding of its rationale. Our overall recommendations are that analysts explicitly state and justify their modelling choices regarding time and consider how alternative choices may impact on results.

PLoS Medicine
http://www.plosmedicine.org/
(Accessed 5 December 2015)

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The Ebola Vaccine, Iatrogenic Injuries, and Legal Liability
Amir Attaran, Kumanan Wilson
Policy Forum | published 01 Dec 2015 | PLOS Medicine
10.1371/journal.pmed.1001911
Summary Points
:: The development and eventual deployment of an Ebola vaccine was delayed for various technical and financial reasons, but with the apparent success of a vaccine candidate in a recently reported clinical trial, an urgent problem is the lack of any system to protect vaccine firms from the risks of legal liability caused by vaccine-related injuries.
:: Without indemnity or security against the legal risks, vaccine firms are less likely to engage in research and development of vaccines, particularly for rare diseases of poor countries such as Ebola.
:: WHO’s traditional method of mitigating the legal risks through indemnification agreements with countries appears too slow to implement in urgent pandemic situations. Also, the enforceability of any WHO-backed legal agreement is placed in doubt because the United Nations has the option to claim immunity from lawsuits.
:: Creating a compensation system for vaccine injuries, based on no-fault principles and, most likely, overseen by the World Bank, could address the liability concerns and facilitate getting novel vaccines into clinical trials and to the market. This system would also ensure that recipients of these vaccines are fairly compensated in the rare instances that they are harmed.

PLoS One
http://www.plosone.org/
[Accessed 5 December 2015]

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Cost-Effectiveness of Peer Counselling for the Promotion of Exclusive Breastfeeding in Uganda
Lumbwe Chola, Lars T. Fadnes, Ingunn M. S. Engebretsen, Lungiswa Nkonki, Victoria Nankabirwa, Halvor Sommerfelt, James K. Tumwine, Thorkild Tylleskar, Bjarne Robberstad, PROMISE-EBF Study Group
Research Article | published 30 Nov 2015 | PLOS ONE
10.1371/journal.pone.0142718

Prehospital & Disaster Medicine
Volume 30 – Issue 06 – December 2015
https://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?jid=PDM&tab=currentissue
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Frameworks for Disaster Research and Evaluation
Samuel J. Stratton
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1049023X15005397 (About DOI), Published online: 11 November 2015

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Special Reports
Research and Evaluations of the Health Aspects of Disasters, Part III: Framework for the Temporal Phases of Disasters
Marvin L. Birnbaum, Elaine K. Daily and Ann P. O’Rourke

Research and Evaluations of the Health Aspects of Disasters, Part IV: Framework for Societal Structures: the Societal Systems
Marvin L. Birnbaum, Elaine K. Daily and Ann P. O’Rourke

Research and Evaluations of the Health Aspects of Disasters, Part V: Epidemiological Disaster Research
Marvin L. Birnbaum, Elaine K. Daily and Ann P. O’Rourke

Reproductive Health
http://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/content
[Accessed 5 December 2015]

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Research
Perceptions and experiences of adolescents, parents and school administrators regarding adolescent-parent communication on sexual and reproductive health issues in urban and rural Uganda
Wilson Muhwezi, Anne Katahoire, Cecily Banura, Herbert Mugooda, Doris Kwesiga, Sheri Bastien, Knut-Inge Klepp Reproductive Health 2015, 12:110 (30 November 2015)

Science
4 December 2015 vol 350, issue 6265, pages 1125-1288
http://www.sciencemag.org/current.dtl

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Introduction to Special Issue – Toward Healthy Aging
Putting Off the Inevitable
Stella Hurtley, Leslie Roberts, L. Bryan Ray, Beverly A. Purnell, Caroline Ash
The dream of cheating death has evolved into a scientific quest to extend healthy life span. Scientists and doctors are looking for ways to maximize the number of years that we live free of chronic diseases, cancer, and cognitive decline. But before we can intervene, we have to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms that drive aging and senescence. Some clues reside in our telomeres, the tips of our chromosomes that shrink with age. Others lie in our stem cells, which can only go on for so long repairing our tissues. Our mitochondria, too, the so-called powerhouses of the cell, may hold some answers to prolonging youthfulness. Other research points to changes in the gut microbiota associated with frailty in the aged. At a mechanistic level, the modulation of coenzyme NAD+ usage or production can prolong both health span and life span. Current geroscience initiatives aim to harness basic insights in aging research to promote general advances in healthy aging.

Questions remain throughout the aging field. By tweaking everything from genes to diets to environmental temperature and mating, scientists have created Methuselah flies and other remarkably long-lived animals while garnering fundamental insights into the biology of aging. Still, researchers puzzle over the most basic questions, such as what determines the life spans of animals. Meanwhile, a handful of molecular biologists are searching for ways to measure a person’s biological, as opposed to chronological, age, but that quest, too, has proved elusive.

An ever-growing literature addresses both theoretical and pragmatic approaches to the challenge of aging. In this special issue, we have focused mainly on the cellular aspects of mammalian aging, with the goal of spurring future developments in promoting health span, if not life span.

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Policy Forum
Climate Policy
Can Paris pledges avert severe climate change?
Allen A. Fawcett, Gokul C. Iyer, Leon E. Clarke, James A. Edmonds, Nathan E. Hultman, Haewon C. McJeon, Joeri Rogelj, Reed Schuler, Jameel Alsalam, Ghassem R. Asrar, Jared Creason, Minji Jeong, James McFarland, Anupriya Mundra, and Wenjing Shi
Science 4 December 2015: 1168-1169.
Published online 26 November 2015 [DOI:10.1126/science.aad5761]
Reducing risks of severe outcomes and improving chances of limiting warming to 2°C
Current international climate negotiations seek to catalyze global emissions reductions through a system of nationally determined country-level emissions reduction targets that would be regularly updated. These “Intended Nationally Determined Contributions” (INDCs) would constitute the core of mitigation commitments under any agreement struck at the upcoming Paris Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (1). With INDCs now reported from more than 150 countries and covering around 90% of global emissions, we can begin to assess the role of this round of INDCs in facilitating or frustrating achievement of longer-term climate goals. In this context, it is important to understand what these INDCs collectively deliver in terms of two objectives. First, how much do they reduce the probability of the highest levels of global mean surface temperature change? Second, how much do they improve the odds of achieving the international goal of limiting temperature change to under 2°C relative to preindustrial levels (2)? Although much discussion has focused on the latter objective (3–5), the former is equally important when viewing climate mitigation from a risk-management perspective.

Social Science & Medicine
Volume 145, Pages 1-248 (November 2015)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/02779536/145

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Special issue section Health Systems in Asia 2013; Edited by Kai Hong Phua, Shenglan Tang and Kabir Sheikh
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Editorial – Health Systems of Asia: Equity, Governance and Social Impact
Pages 141-144
Kai Hong Phua, Kabir Sheikh, Sheng-Lan Tang, Vivian Lin
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District-level variations in childhood immunizations in India: The role of socio-economic factors and health infrastructure
Original Research Article
Pages 163-172
Anu Rammohan, Niyi Awofeso
Abstract
Routine childhood immunizations against measles and DPT are part of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) set up in 1974, with the aim of reducing childhood morbidity and mortality. Despite this, immunization rates are sub-optimal in developing countries such as India, with wide heterogeneity observed across districts and socio-economic characteristics. The aim of this paper is to examine district-level variations in the propensity to vaccinate a child in India for measles and DPT3, and analyse the extent to which these immunizations are given age-inappropriately, either prematurely or delayed. The present study uses data from the Indian District Level Household Survey (DLHS-3) collected in 2008, and the final sample contains detailed information on 42157 children aged between 12 and 60 months, across 549 Indian districts for whom we have complete information on immunization history. Our empirical study analyses: (i) the district-level average immunization rates for measles and DPT3, and (ii) the extent to which these immunizations have been given age-appropriately. A key contribution of this paper is that we link the household-level data at the district level to data on availability and proximity to health infrastructure and district-level socio-economic factors. Our results show that after controlling for an array of socio-economic characteristics, across all our models, the district’s income per capita is a strong predictor of better immunization outcomes for children. Mother’s education level at the district-level has a statistically significant and positive influence on immunization outcomes across all our models.
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Emerging challenges in implementing universal health coverage in Asia
Original Research Article
Pages 243-248
Caryn Bredenkamp, Timothy Evans, Leizel Lagrada, John Langenbrunner, Stefan Nachuk, Toomas Palu
Abstract
As countries in Asia converge on the goal of universal health coverage (UHC), some common challenges are emerging. One is how to ensure coverage of the informal sector so as to make UHC truly universal; a second is how to design a benefit package that is responsive and appropriate to current health challenges, yet fiscally sustainable; and a third is how to ensure “supply-side readiness”, i.e. the availability and quality of services, which is a necessary condition for translating coverage into improvements in health outcomes. Using examples from the Asia region, this paper discusses these three challenges and how they are being addressed.
On the first challenge, two promising approaches emerge: using general revenues to fully cover the informal sector, or employing a combination of tax subsidies, non-financial incentives and contributory requirements. The former can produce fast results, but places pressure on government budgets and may induce informality, while the latter will require a strong administrative mandate and systems to track the ability-to-pay. With respect to benefit packages, we find considerable variation in the nature and rigor of processes underlying the selection and updating of the services included. Also, in general, packages do not yet focus sufficiently on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and related preventive outpatient care. Finally, there are large variations and inequities in the supply-side readiness, in terms of availability of infrastructure, equipment, essential drugs and staffing, to deliver on the promises of UHC. Health worker competencies are also a constraint.
While the UHC challenges are common, experience in overcoming these challenges is varied and many of the successes appear to be highly context-specific. This implies that researchers and policymakers need to rigorously, and regularly, assess different approaches, and share these findings across countries in Asia – and across the world.

Stanford Social Innovation Review
http://ssir.org/

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Measurement & Evaluation
Imagine a World of Good Data
By Peter L. Levin & Hallie Schneir 1
Unless we prioritize government collection, analysis, and distribution of data, public officials will continue to make decisions with limited facts, and citizens will get poorer services from the government than from the private sector.

Sustainability
Volume 7, Issue 11 (November 2015), Pages 14427-15784
http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/9

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Editorial: Planning, Development and Management of Sustainable Cities: A Commentary from the Guest Editors
by Tan Yigitcanlar and Md. Kamruzzaman
Sustainability 2015, 7(11), 14677-14688; doi:10.3390/su71114677
Received: 27 October 2015 / Revised: 27 October 2015 / Accepted: 27 October 2015 / Published: 3 November 2015
Abstract:
Cities are the most dramatic manifestations of human activities on the surface of the earth. These human-dominated organisms—i.e., cities—degrade natural habitats, simplify species composition, disrupt hydrological systems, and modify energy flow and nutrient cycling. Today, these consequential impacts of human activities, originated from population increase, rapid urbanization, high private motor vehicle dependency, deregulated industrialization and mass livestock production, are increasing exponentially and causing great deal of environmental, social, and economic challenges both at global and local scales. In such a situation, establishment of sustainable cities, through sustainable urban development practices, is seen as a potential panacea to combat these challenges responsibly, effectively, and efficiently. This paper offers a critical review of the key literature on the issues relating to planning, development and management of sustainable cities, introduces the contributions from the Special Issue, and speculates on the prospective research directions to place necessary mechanisms to secure a sustainable urban future for all.

TORTURE Journal
Volume 25, Nr. 2, 2015
http://www.irct.org/torture-journal

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Effect of counseling by paraprofessionals on depression, anxiety, somatization, and functioning in Indonesian torture survivors
Deborah Larson-Stoa, Gerard A. Jacobs, Abraham Jonathan, Bhava Poudyal

Geographical distribution of torture: An epidemiological study of torture reported by asylum applicants examined at the Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Copenhagen
J. Busch, S.H. Hansen, H.P. Hougen

Testimonial Therapy: Impact on social participation and emotional wellbeing among Indian survivors of torture and organized violence
Mia Myhre Jørgensen, Jens Modvig, Inger Agger, Lenin Raghuvanshi, Shirin Shabana Khan, Peter Polatin

Descriptive, inferential, functional outcome data on 9,025 torture survivors in the United States
Member Centers of the National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs (NCTTP)

Elusive retributive justice in post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia: Challenges of using ECCC Victim Information Forms as a victim participatory rights mechanism
Leakhena Nou

Tropical Medicine & International Health
December 2015 Volume 20, Issue 12 Pages 1591–1854
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/tmi.2015.20.issue-12/issuetoc

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Systematic Reviews
Acute respiratory infection case definitions for young children: a systematic review of community-based epidemiologic studies in South Asia (pages 1607–1620)
Daniel E. Roth, Michelle F. Gaffey, Evelyn Smith-Romero, Tiffany Fitzpatrick and Shaun K. Morris
Article first published online: 20 SEP 2015 | DOI: 10.1111/tmi.12592

Systematic Reviews
Who, What, Where: an analysis of private sector family planning provision in 57 low- and middle-income countries (pages 1639–1656)
Oona M. R. Campbell, Lenka Benova, David Macleod, Catherine Goodman, Katharine Footman, Audrey L. Pereira and Caroline A. Lynch
Article first published online: 28 SEP 2015 | DOI: 10.1111/tmi.12597

Role of the private sector in childbirth care: cross-sectional survey evidence from 57 low- and middle-income countries using Demographic and Health Surveys (pages 1657–1673)
Lenka Benova, David Macleod, Katharine Footman, Francesca Cavallaro, Caroline A. Lynch and Oona M. R. Campbell
Article first published online: 28 SEP 2015 | DOI: 10.1111/tmi.12598

Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies
An International Interdisciplinary Journal for Research, Policy and Care
Volume 10, Issue 4, 2015
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rvch20/current

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Mind the gap: a review of mental health service delivery for transition age youth
Javeed Sukhera, Sandra Fisman & Simon Davidson
pages 271-280
DOI:10.1080/17450128.2015.1080393
Abstract
This narrative review examines evidence on mental health services and transitions for mentally ill patients moving from adolescence to adulthood. Authors found that current mental health systems in several jurisdictions lack the capacity to effectively transition youth between the ages of 16 and 25 to adult systems of care. A review of the literature reveals that key elements of effective transition can be divided into systemic, organizational and program-based categories. Systems of care must be coordinated with optimal communication; organizations should align institutional and developmental transitions while emphasizing flexibility in services and across organizations. Programs should incorporate authentic youth and caregiver engagement, include skills training and emphasize a community-based approach. There is evidence of positive outcome data for effective transitions, notably in educational advancement and employment. Existing models vary from clearly organized interventions targeted toward youth with severe emotional and behavioural disturbance to specific individual components that can be integrated in existing organizations or built into novel systems of care. The authors suggest that meeting the mental health needs of transition age youth requires optimization at systemic, organizational and programmatic levels and an ideal model of care should incorporate evidence-based approaches that are adapted to unique youth and community needs.

The Sentinel

Human Rights Action :: Humanitarian Response :: Health ::
Holistic Development :: Sustainable Resilience
__________________________________________________
Week ending 28 November 2015

This weekly digest is intended to aggregate and distill key content from a broad spectrum of practice domains and organization types including key agencies/IGOs, NGOs, governments, academic and research institutions, consortia and collaborations, foundations, and commercial organizations. We also monitor a spectrum of peer-reviewed journals and general media channels. The Sentinel’s geographic scope is global/regional but selected country-level content is included. We recognize that this spectrum/scope yields an indicative and not an exhaustive product. Comments and suggestions should be directed to:

David R. Curry
Editor &
Founding Managing Director
GE2P2 – Center for Governance, Evidence, Ethics, Policy, Practice
david.r.curry@ge2p2center.net

pdf version: The Sentinel_ week ending 28 November 2015

blog edition: comprised of the 35+ entries  posted below on 29 November 2015

Unless we act now: The impact of climate change on children
UNICEF
November 2015 :: 81 pages ISBN: 978-92-806-4826-3
Pdf: http://www.unicef.org/publications/index_86337.html#
Overview
Today’s children, and their children, are the ones who will live with the consequences of climate change. This report looks at how children, and particularly the most vulnerable, are affected and what concrete steps need to be taken to protect them.

Key Messages [Excerpt]
…Now is the time for action
The world must embark on low carbon development to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and needs to adapt to the impacts of climate change that cannot be halted. We can take steps now to safeguard our children’s future, notably:
:: Cutting greenhouse gas emissions so that the average rise in the global temperature is limited to a maximum of 2º Celsius, and ideally to 1.5ºC.

:: Prioritizing the needs of the most vulnerable in climate change adaptation efforts, particularly children – who will bear the brunt of climate change far longer than adults.

:: Reducing inequities among children now to promote their future resilience to climate change and other disasters or crises.

:: Listening to and acting on children’s perspectives on climate change.

:: Providing children and youth with climate change education, awareness raising and training.

:: Aligning and coordinating work on climate change adaptation, preparedness and disaster risk reduction at national and sub-national levels.

:: Protecting children and their families who are forced to move as a result of climate change.

:: Investing in children as part of national climate plans on mitigation and adaptation.

:: Scale-up proven approaches to address the changing needs of children.

Children deserve to live in a world free from the life-threatening effects of climate change. Given the overwhelming scientific evidence on the dangers of climate change, and the clear opportunities we have for altering its course, there is no excuse for not acting ambitiously.

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Press Release
Children will bear the brunt of climate change: UNICEF
More than half a billion children live in areas with extremely high flood occurrence, 160 million live in high drought severity areas
NEW YORK/GENEVA, 24 November 2015 – More than half a billion children live in areas with extremely high flood occurrence and 160 million in high drought severity zones, leaving them highly exposed to the impacts of climate change, UNICEF said in a report released ahead of the 21st United Nations climate change conference, known as COP21.

Of the 530 million children in the flood-prone zones, some 300 million live in countries where more than half the population lives in poverty – on less than $3.10 a day. Of those living in high drought severity areas, 50 million are in countries where more than half the population lives in poverty.

“The sheer numbers underline the urgency of acting now,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. “Today’s children are the least responsible for climate change, but they, and their children, are the ones who will live with its consequences. And, as is so often the case, disadvantaged communities face the gravest threat.”

Climate change means more droughts, floods, heatwaves and other severe weather conditions. These events can cause death and devastation, and can also contribute to the increased spread of major killers of children, such as malnutrition, malaria and diarrhoea. This can create a vicious circle: A child deprived of adequate water and sanitation before a crisis will be more affected by a flood, drought, or severe storm, less likely to recover quickly, and at even greater risk when faced with a subsequent crisis.

The vast majority of the children living in areas at extremely high risk of floods are in Asia, and the majority of those in areas at risk of drought are in Africa…

Leaving no one behind: Our promise
DFID Policy Paper
Published 24 November 2015
Promise made by governments, civil society and businesses at the UK government’s Leave No One Behind event on 27 September 2015 at the United Nations General Assembly.

We commit to putting the last first.
The Global Goals for Sustainable Development offer a historic opportunity to eradicate extreme poverty and ensure no one is left behind. To realise this opportunity we will prioritise the interests of the world’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged people; the poorest of the poor and those people who are most excluded and at risk of violence and discrimination.

We believe that no one should face the indignity of extreme, absolute, chronic poverty, no one should be denied the opportunity to realise their full potential or to share in progress, no-one should be unfairly burdened by disaster or a changing climate, and no-one should have their interests systematically overlooked. We believe it is in all of our interest to leave no one behind and to ensure a fair opportunity for all, now and for the future.

We pledge to ensure that:
:: every person has a fair opportunity in life no matter who or where they are
:: people who are furthest behind, who have least opportunity and who are the most excluded will be prioritised
:: every person counts and will be counted.

As governments, citizens, civil society and businesses, we commit to work together to eradicate extreme poverty and leave no one behind by:
1.. listening and responding to the voices of those left furthest behind, such as people with disabilities, children, older people and those who face discrimination based on who they are or where they live. Every country, regardless of their stage of development, has a responsibility to empower and address the needs of its most vulnerable citizens.

2. holding ourselves and each other accountable for designing policies and building inclusive institutions that put the furthest behind first and sustainably address the root causes of poverty and exclusion.

3. taking steps to enable all people to reach their full potential, including by securing good nutrition, protection from disease, access to quality education, access to clean water and sanitation, and freedom to have a say in the decisions that affect their lives.

4. challenging the social barriers that deny people opportunity and limit their potential, including changing discrimination and exclusion based on gender, age, location, caste, religion, disability or sexual identity.
5. building inclusive and open economies and societies, where there is rule of law, inclusive political systems, action to address corruption and where all people are able to hold their governments to account.

6. working with young people to help break the cycle of discrimination, exclusion and poverty.

7. achieving gender equality, prioritise the empowerment of girls and women and end violence against girls and women, and stop modern slavery.

8. supporting a data revolution, to ensure timely, accurate and high quality data is used to achieve and measure sustainable development and to monitor progress and assess whether targets are being met by all peoples and all segments of society.

The Least Developed Countries Report 2015 – Transforming Rural Economies
UNCTAD
November 2015 :: 190 pages
UNCTAD/LDC/2015 ISBN 978-92-1-112893-2 eISBN 978-92-1-057413-6
Full Report pdf: http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/ldc2015_en.pdf
Overview
The headline of the newly adopted 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a global commitment to eradicate poverty by 2030. Nearly half the population of the 48 least developed countries (LDCs) – some 400 million people – remain in extreme poverty, compared with less than a quarter in any other developing country.

The LDCs are thus the battleground on which the 2030 Agenda will be won or lost. This is where shortfalls from the SDG targets are greatest, where improvement has been slowest, and where the barriers to further progress are highest.

Rural development will be central to the quantum leap in the rate of progress required for LDCs to achieve the SDGs. More than two thirds of people in LDCs live in rural areas, where poverty is also most widespread and deepest, and infrastructure and social provision most lacking. Rural development is essential, not only to poverty eradication, employment generation and economic development, but also to sustainable urbanization.

UNCTAD’s Least Developed Countries Report 2015 therefore focuses on the transformation of rural economies. Assessing LDCs’ progress in agricultural productivity, the extent and nature of their rural economic diversification, and gender issues in rural transformation, it shows that:
:: Agricultural productivity began to increase in LDCs in 2000, following decades of stagnation or decline, but has risen strongly only in Asian LDCs.
:: Rural economic diversification varies widely between LDCs, but only a few have passed beyond the stage in which non-farm activities are centred on agriculture and urban linkages are limited.
:: Women comprise half the rural workforce in LDCs, but face serious constraints on realizing their productive potential, slowing rural transformation.

The 2030 Agenda both highlights the need and provides the opportunity for a new approach to rural development centred on poverty-oriented structural transformation (POST), to generate higher incomes backed by higher productivity. In rural areas, this means upgrading agriculture, developing viable non-farm activities, and fully exploiting the synergies between the two, through appropriately designed and sequenced efforts to achieve the SDGs.

The Report argues that:
:: Differentiation is needed between peri-urban, intermediate, remote and isolated rural areas.
:: A key priority is to overcome the contradiction between need and opportunity, by which more remote areas and poorer households have the greatest need but also the most limited opportunities for income diversification.
:: A POST process can be promoted by labour-based methods and local procurement in infrastructure investment to stimulate demand, coupled with parallel measures to strengthen local supply response.
:: Supply response can be improved by appropriate sequencing of infrastructure investment and interventions, and provision of information about prospective changes in demand and market conditions.
:: Gender-specific measures are needed to overcome disadvantages arising directly from gender norms, and more inclusive gender-sensitive approaches to address their poverty-related consequences.
:: Access to appropriate technologies, inputs, skills and affordable finance needs to be fostered.
:: Effective policy coordination is required nationally, while producers’ associations, cooperatives and women’s networks can play a key role locally.
:: Innovative approaches to trade and cross-border investment could make a substantial contribution.

Finally, the Report highlights the importance of adequate support from the international community to achieve structural transformation and fulfil the SDGs, based on the principle that “to will the end is to will the means”.

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What are “Least Developed Countries”?
UNCTAD/PRESS/IN/2015/014
Geneva, Switzerland, (25 November 2015)
From UNCTAD The Least Developed Countries Report 20151

Forty-eight countries are currently designated by the United Nations as “least developed countries” (LDCs), entitling them to aid, preferential market access and special technical assistance, among other concessions. LDCs are distributed among the following regions:

Africa (34): Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, the Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, the Sudan, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zambia.

Asia (9): Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Nepal, Timor-Leste, and Yemen.

Caribbean (1): Haiti.

Pacific (4): Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

The list of LDCs is reviewed every three years by the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC), based on recommendations by the Committee for Development Policy (CDP). In March 2015, the CDP recommended the graduation of Angola, by virtue of the “income-only” graduation rule (see below). Equatorial Guinea and Vanuatu are scheduled to be taken off of the list in June 2017 and December 2017 respectively.

Since the category was defined forty years ago, four countries have graduated from LDC status: Botswana in December 1994; Cabo Verde in December 2007; Maldives in January 2011; and Samoa in January 2014. In March 2012, the CDP recommended Tuvalu’s graduation from LDC status but in the absence of an endorsement by ECOSOC, this recommendation has not come into effect.

IRCT calls on States to reject move at UN General Assembly to restrict protection of human rights defenders
25-11-2015
The IRCT joins NGOs from all over the world in calling for States to actively oppose an initiative at the UN General Assembly to delegitimise the work of human rights defenders and remove essential obligations to protect and enable their important work to promote implementation of human rights obligations.

The initiative, which is led by the African Group, China and Iran, is proposing a series of amendments to a UN General Assembly resolution on protection of human rights defenders, which would result in a significant weakening of the existing global standards for protections of human rights defenders, including torture rehabilitation centres, that provide much needed support to victims of human rights violations worldwide.

“At the IRCT, we are well aware of the importance of protecting those who support others as many of our members and partners operate in an environment where threats, harassment and direct attacks against their organisations, their staff and the many torture victims benefitting from their services is a permanent concern,” says Jamal Hammoud, responsible for the development of the IRCT’s protection programme.

In the absence of international treaties protecting this important undertaking, the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders has provided the guiding principles for States to uphold. It is these principles that have once again come under threat.

The IRCT urges all our colleagues to raise the issue with their respective governments and share with their networks to generate further global action to preserve the resolution in its original language. Voting is expected to take place in New York on 25 or 26 November 2015.

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SUPPORT THE DRAFT RESOLUTION ON RECOGNIZING THE ROLE OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS AND THE NEED FOR THEIR PROTECTION
To: All Member States of the United Nations General Assembly
24 November 2015
Excellencies,
We write to you as a group of human rights defenders and civil society organizations located across the world working at national, regional and international levels. We write in regard to the draft resolution entitled ”Recognizing the role of human rights defenders and the need for their protection“ currently being advanced in the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee, and due to be adopted on Wednesday 25 November 2015.

We urge your government to support the above mentioned resolution and to reject amendments, tabled by the African Group, China and Iran, designed to weaken the text.1

Among other things, the proposed amendments remove references to the legitimacy of the work of human rights defenders, delete or weaken language regarding the need for their protection, and delete whole paragraphs related to the need to combat impunity for violations and abuses against defenders and the need to ensure adequate procedural safeguards in judicial proceedings. A call for the release of defenders detained or imprisoned in violation of international human rights law, for exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms, is also proposed for deletion. In addition, the amendments introduce notions that States should only support and enable their work ‘as appropriate’, rather than in accordance with the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and other obligations arising under international human rights law .

Human rights defenders make a vital contribution to the promotion and respect for human rights, democratic processes, securing and maintaining peace and security, and advancing development in our countries. However, in doing this work, defenders often face a range of violations and abuses at the hands of State and non-State actors. States must acknowledge the role of defenders and the specific risks they face, and commit to ensuring their protection.

Fifteen years ago, all States agreed to the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, including State obligations to protect all human rights defenders working on all human rights. This commitment has been reiterated and built upon in subsequent General Assembly and Human Rights Council resolutions. We are therefore extremely concerned to hear that the above mentioned delegations have objected to several core elements of the draft resolution.

Based on consultations with over 500 defenders from 111 States, the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders found that in the vast majority of States the situation for human rights defenders is deteriorating in law and in practice. He concluded that a lack of awareness regarding their vital and legitimate work, combined with a lack of political commitment and weak institutional arrangements for their protection, is placing them, their organisations and families at elevated risk.2

The resolution as drafted reflects a number of these findings and makes a series of recommendations for States and other actors. Importantly, this year’s text includes a key focus on the implementation of the resolution itself. This will hopefully prompt States and other actors to move beyond rhetoric in addressing the challenges faced by human rights defenders and take action to ensure the implementation of the calls in the resolution.

We urge all States to live up to their human rights commitments by supporting this resolution, by rejecting amendments designed to weaken it, and by taking concrete steps to protect human rights defenders.

1 The amendments are contained in UN documents A/C.3/70/L.69 – L.107, available here.
2 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders to the General Assembly, available here.

Landmine Monitor 2015
International Committee to Ban Landmines
Published: 26 November 2015 :: 68 pages
Pdf: http://www.the-monitor.org/media/2152583/Landmine-Monitor-2015_finalpdf.pdf
Overview
This is the 17th annual Landmine Monitor report. It is the sister publication to the Cluster Munition Monitor report, first published in November 2010. Landmine Monitor 2014 provides a global overview of the landmine situation. Chapters on developments in specific countries and other areas are available in online Country Profiles, found here.
Landmine Monitor covers mine ban policy, use, production, trade, and stockpiling in every country in the world, and also includes information on contamination, clearance, casualties, victim assistance, and support for mine action. The report focuses on calendar year 2014, with information included up to November 2015 when possible.

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Press Release
Landmine Monitor 2015: Mine-free world in a decade? States must keep their promise
Posted on November 26, 2015 4:00 AM
Silver Spring, MD—Handicap International is urging countries contaminated by landmines, and those home to victims of these barbaric weapons, to redouble their efforts to protect civilians. Landmine casualties rose 12% in 2014, according to the Landmine Monitor 2015[1] , an annual report that measures how States are meeting their obligations under the Ottawa Convention[2]. The report was released today in Geneva.

The 17th annual Landmine Monitor, coordinated in part by Handicap International, finds that demining operations are moving at a slow pace in several countries. Indeed, 27 of the 33 States Parties contaminated by mines have been granted extensions on their clearance deadlines. This throws into doubt the political will of certain States to meet their obligations.

“In 2014, States Parties to the Ottawa treaty committed themselves to ridding the world of mines by 2025,” explains Anne Héry, Advocacy director at Handicap International. “They have ten years to complete their demining programs, destroy existing stockpiles and provide victims with assistance. We are calling on States Parties whose territories are contaminated to be particularly unstinting in their efforts. We’re also asking funding bodies to stay fully engaged, and to reverse the loss of impetus in terms of funding for anti-mines action.”

More than 3,600 casualties in 2014
According to the Landmine Monitor 2015, mines or explosive remnants of war killed or injured 3,678 people in 2014, up 12% compared with 2013. The report also underlines a steady rise in the use of improvised explosive devices by non-State armed groups….

World Bank Group unveils $16 Billion Africa Climate Business Plan to Tackle Urgent Climate Challenges
One third of funds expected to come from Bank’s fund for the poorest countries
WASHINGTON, November 24, 2015—The World Bank Group today unveiled a new plan that calls for $16 billion in funding to help African people and countries adapt to climate change and build up the continent’s resilience to climate shocks.

Titled Accelerating Climate-Resilient and Low-Carbon Development, the Africa Climate Business Plan will be presented at COP21, the global climate talks in Paris, on November 30. It lays out measures to boost the resilience of the continent’s assets – its people, land, water, and cities – as well as other moves including boosting renewable energy and strengthening early warning systems.

“Sub-Saharan Africa is highly vulnerable to climate shocks, and our research shows that could have far-ranging impact — on everything from child stunting and malaria to food price increases and droughts,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. “This plan identifies concrete steps that African governments can take to ensure that their countries will not lose hard-won gains in economic growth and poverty reduction, and they can offer some protection from climate change.”

Per current estimates, the plan says that the region requires $5-10 billion per year to adapt to global warming of 2°C.

The World Bank and the United Nations Environment Programme estimate that the cost of managing climate resilience will continue to rise to $20-50 billion by mid-century, and closer to $100 billion in the event of a 4°C warming.

Of the $16.1 billion that the ambitious plan proposes for fast-tracking climate adaptation, some $5.7 billion is expected from the International Development Association (IDA), the arm of the World Bank Group that supports the poorest countries. About $2.2 billion is expected from various climate finance instruments, $2.0 billion from others in the development community, $3.5 billion from the private sector, and $0.7 billion from domestic sources, with an additional $2.0 billion needed to deliver on the plan.

“The Africa Climate Business Plan spells out a clear path to invest in the continent’s urgent climate needs and to fast-track the required climate finance to ensure millions of people are protected from sliding into extreme poverty,” explains Makhtar Diop, World Bank Group Vice President for Africa. “While adapting to climate change and mobilizing the necessary resources remain an enormous challenge, the plan represents a critical opportunity to support a priority set of climate-resilient initiatives in Africa.”

The plan will boost the region’s ability to adapt to a changing climate while reducing greenhouse emissions, focusing on a number of concrete actions. It identifies a dozen priority areas for action that will enhance Africa’s capacity to adapt to the adverse consequences of climate variation and change.

The first area for action aims to boost the resilience of the continent’s assets. These comprise natural capital (landscapes, forests, agricultural land, inland water bodies, oceans); physical capital (cities, transport infrastructure, physical assets in coastal areas); and human and social capital (where efforts should include improving social protection for the people most vulnerable to climate shocks, and addressing climate-related drivers of migration)…

Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Integration of Genetic Diversity into National Climate Change Adaptation Planning
COMMISSION ON GENETIC RESOURCES FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
FAO – FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Rome, 2015 :: 50 pages
Pdf: http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4940e.pdf
Abstract:
The guidelines take account of the characteristics of different genetic resources for food and agriculture which face different challenges and opportunities in respect to climate change. The objectives of the guidelines are to promote the use of genetic resources for food and agriculture in climate change adaptation and support their integration into national climate change adaptation planning; to support the genetic resources experts and those involved in climate change adaptation to identify and address the challenges and opportunities of genetic resources for food and agriculture in adaptation; and to promote the involvement of genetic resources stakeholders in the national climate change adaptation planning process. The guidelines follow the structure and approach of the technical guidelines for the National Adaptation Plan process prepared by the Least Developed Countries Expert Group of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The process involves four main elements in each of which a number of steps are proposed.

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Press Release
Making genetic diversity part of climate change adaptation
FAO issues guidelines on conservation and use of world’s genetic resources for food and agriculture
24 November 2015, Rome – In the run-up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, FAO has released new guidelines to assist countries in better conserving and sustainably using genetic resources in times of climate change.

The Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Integration of Genetic Diversity into National Climate Change Adaptation Planning aim at ensuring that genetic resources for food and agriculture are part of national plans addressing measures for adaptation to climate change.

Genetic resources for food and agriculture encompass the diversity of plants, animals, forests, aquatic resources, micro-organisms and invertebrates that play a role in food and agricultural production.

While these life forms are themselves threatened by climate change, their genetic makeup makes them key players in addressing the challenges such changes present.

If properly conserved and used, for example, plant genetic resources may provide seeds that can tolerate or thrive amid greater aridity, frost, flooding or soil salinity. Livestock breeds raised in harsh production environments over a long period of time tend to acquire characteristics that enable them to cope with these conditions.

Policies that anticipate future needs and plan the management of genetic resources as a pivotal reservoir and tool can help build more resilient agricultural and food production systems.

To promote more informed decision-making, FAO is, for example, developing an instrument that can be used to predict the impact of climate change on the distribution of livestock breeds.

“Genetic resources for food and agriculture will have to contribute greatly to our efforts to cope with climate change,” says Maria Helena Semedo, FAO Deputy Director-General for Natural Resources. “We need to act now to reduce the risk that the scale and speed of climate change will surpass our ability to identify, select, reproduce and – eventually – use these resources in the field.” she added.

If current trends prevail, yields of some staple crops may in 2050 be 25 percent lower than today, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Such projections make plans to organize and deploy genetic resources all the more urgent, especially as just five cereal crops – rice, wheat, maize, millet and sorghum- provide about 60 percent of all human dietary energy.

Guidelines fill a gap
Currently, there is no commonly adopted approach to integrating agricultural biodiversity into strategic planning for climate change adaptation. The Guidelines aim to address this gap. They will assist countries in addressing genetic resources dimensions when developing or updating their National Adaptation Plans (NAPs).

“We need to secure and mobilize genetic resources now to have options for the future – we need to have effective conservation, improved information and improved utilization pathways – and we need to plan. Funding is required to support countries in this process,” says Irene Hoffmann, Secretary of FAO’s intergovernmental Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, under whose aegis the guidelines were developed.

FAO together with the United Nations Development Programme currently assists eight developing countries in the development of their NAPs.

Greater efforts need to be made to conserve and support the sustainable use of plant varieties and livestock breeds and to collect and conserve the wild relatives of important food crops. Promoting the maintenance of on-site farm diversity allows for evolution in step with environmental changes. Regional and global gene banks provide for the maintenance of backup collections of genetic material that can be drawn upon to support climate change adaptation measures.

Given that all countries depend on genetic diversity from other countries and regions, international cooperation and exchange of such material is crucial. In this regard, the Commission negotiated the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which allows researchers and breeders to access genetic resources from other countries.