Norwegian Refugee Council [to 28 November 2015]
http://www.nrc.no/

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Mediterranean
More deaths at sea likely as winter looms
Tiril Skarstein (27.11.2015)
Friday six children drowned off the Turkish coast. The Norwegian Refugee Council fears that more children will die in the Mediterranean in the coming months as the sea gets rougher and refugees and migrants continue to come.

“The EU and its Member States must prioritise the saving of lives at sea as the weather gets worse and people continue to cross the sea from Turkey to Greece,” said Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council Jan Egeland. “Today’s tragic accidents outside Turkey’s coast highlight the need for more and better rescue capacity between Turkey and Greece, and for alternative safe and legal routes to Europe”.

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News
Verdict in court case against NRC
Tuva Raanes Bogsnes (25.11.2015)
NRC has received the verdict in the court case related to the attack and kidnapping in Dadaab, Kenya in June 2012.
Oslo District Court has awarded Steve Dennis compensation for financial and non-financial loss of NOK 4.4 million. The court found that NRC was grossly negligent in regards to the safe-guarding of staff during the visit of the Secretary General in Dadaab in 2012.

“We will now need time to evaluate all the aspects of the verdict before we decide whether to appeal the ruling,” said NRC Deputy Secretary General, Geir Olav Lisle.

On 29 June 2012, a group of armed men opened fire on an NRC convoy in the IFO II Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya. Several people suffered gunshot wounds and one driver was fatally injured. Four NRC staff were abducted and taken across the border into Somalia. NRC’s then Secretary General, the Regional Director for the Horn of Africa and the Area Manager for Dadaab managed to escape the scene unharmed. The abducted staff were rescued and returned to Kenya four days later.

Steve Dennis was one of the NRC staff abducted in Dadaab. He filed a claim against NRC seeking financial and non-financial damages on the basis that the kidnapping and subsequent loss of work ability was directly caused by negligence and gross negligence on NRC’s part in Dadaab in 2012.The court case took place in Oslo in late October this year.

“It is important to underline that the Dadaab attack profoundly impacted the entire organisation and that NRC deeply regrets the loss and the traumatic experience suffered by all NRC staff in Dadaab in June 2012. It has been important for us to learn from the incident and we will continue to learn from this in the time to come, Lisle said…

Plan International [to 28 November 2015]
http://plan-international.org/about-plan/resources/media-centre
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Publications & Research
Young, Woman and Unemployed: The Triple Challenge – Youth Economic Empowerment in developing and emerging countries
26 November 2015
Young women are the first victims of economic instability throughout the world. They represent the majority of the 628 million young people aged 15-24 who have neither a job nor an education.
This report highlights situations experienced by the most vulnerable young women in terms of accessing decent employment or self-employment in developing countries. Working from a grid analysis and field experiences, it also shows how to mainstream gender at all stages of youth economic empowerment programmes…

Save The Children [to 28 November 2015]
http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6150563/k.D0E9/Newsroom.htm

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Overstretched and Underfunded Refugee Camps Put over 110,000 Burundians in Tanzania at Risk, as Potential Influx and Heavy Rains Loom Large, Warn Aid Agencies
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (Nov. 23, 2015) — Health and shelter for Burundian refugees in Tanzania are poised to get worse in already overstretched camps, if there is an increased influx of refugees across the border, the aid agencies Oxfam, HelpAge International, Plan International, Save the Children, International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) warned today. Reports of escalating political instability inside Burundi have prompted fears of a new exodus of refugees into neighboring countries, which would push the current limits of the camps in western Tanzania to breaking point. Nyarugusu, where Burundians began arriving in April this year, is now the world’s third largest refugee camp…

Tostan [to 28 November 2015]
http://www.tostan.org/latest-news

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November 24, 2015
Communities in Senegal Embrace Positive Parental Practices
…The RPP program—implemented in communities that have already taken part in Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program (CEP)—equips parents with the knowledge and tools to improve the quality of their interactions with children, stimulating brain development and preparing them for school. Since the pilot phase in 2012, the program has been implemented in 342 communities, and has reached many more as a result of communities spreading their new knowledge within their social networks. The program includes class sessions tailored to the local context and delivered in three national languages—Wolof, Pulaar and Mandinka—by a trained facilitator who lives in the community throughout the one-year program. Parents are also given a set of illustrated storybooks written in national languages to encourage reading with children…

CONCORD [to 28 November 2015]
http://www.concordeurope.org/news-room
European NGO confederation for relief and development
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EU misses its own target for development aid: A false start for the EU Agenda 2030 ambitions
(Brussels 24/11/2015) Action remains well short of ambition in the European Union, a new report by CONCORD, the European NGO confederation for relief and development shows.
Despite repeated promises, the EU as a whole did not deliver on its commitment to spend 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) as aid by 2015. More worryingly, there is an emerging trend in EU countries to divert aid budgets from sustainable development to domestic costs associated with hosting refugees and asylum seekers.

The Elders [to 28 November 2015]
http://theelders.org/news-media

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Guest blog Mai Abu Moghli 26 November 2015
Palestine Refugees in Syria: A Recurring Tragedy
Refugees for over six decades, Palestinians in Syria face a precarious legal status given the civil war and renewed displacement. Mai Abu Moghli – a PhD candidate at the Institute of Education, University of London explains how some are falling through the cracks of the international protection regime and calls for a solution based on human rights and international law.

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Guest blog Arifa Nasim 23 November 2015
How young people can combat violence against women
Violence against women is sometimes justified by abusers and perpetrators as a matter of ‘honour’. In this guest blog to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, 18 year-old youth activist Arifa Nasim from London explains how she uses education to challenge prejudice within communities and encourages women of all ages and backgrounds to empower themselves.

Gavi [to 28 November 2015]
http://www.gavialliance.org/library/news/press-releases/

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Organisation of Islamic Cooperation approves Gavi membership to key health committee
Vaccine Alliance support already helping to immunise millions of children in OIC member states.
Geneva, 26 November 2015 – Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance has been officially invited to become a member of the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Steering Committee on Health.

The invitation, which recognises Gavi’s support for childhood immunisation in OIC member states, meant the Vaccine Alliance was able to participate in the 10th Steering Committee on Health (SCH) in Istanbul last week. The SCH, set up at the first Islamic Conference of Health Ministers (ICHM) in 2007, tracks implementation of a framework for action through progress and evaluation reports.

From 2000 to 30 September 2015, Gavi provided more than US$ 4 billion to support immunisation in 33 OIC member states – equivalent to 49% of Gavi disbursements. This has helped developing countries immunise more than 210 million children, saving over four million lives.

Ambassador Mohammed Naeem Khan, Assistant Secretary-General of Science and Technology at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), said: “We welcome Gavi as a member of SCH and highly appreciate its active support to OIC member states and look forward to further strengthening of the partnership between OIC and Gavi.”…

Global Fund [to 28 November 2015]
http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/news/

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The Link Between HIV and Violence Against Women
in Voices on 24 November 2015

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Accelerating the Elimination of Malaria in Southern Africa
By Dr. Richard Kamwi, Elimination 8 Ambassador and former Minister of Health of Namibia, and Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global Fund
in Voices on 23 November 2015

Start Network [to 28 November 2015]
http://www.start-network.org/news-blog/#.U9U_O7FR98E
[Consortium of British Humanitarian Agencies]

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Spotlight on the Start Fund: Peer field review of the Malawi & Mozambique flood response
November 23, 2015
Posted by Helen James in Blog.
In January 2015, the Start Fund responded to flooding in Malawi and Mozambique. The floods had caused mass displacement and destroyed the vast majority of agricultural livelihoods, affecting more than 1 million people.

The Learning and Evaluation Committee conducted its normal peer-review of the response, and a number of key questions arose. With their approval, the Monitoring and Evaluation team at Action Against Hunger decided to launch a learning exercise from July 11-18 using the 1% learning budget.

A bespoke methodology was developed for the Start Fund’s first ever peer field review. The pilot was successful and led to a number of key findings, detailed in this case study…

CHS International Alliance [to 28 November 2015]
http://chsalliance.org/news-events/news

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25/11/2015
The CHS is now available in Urdu
The Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) is now available in Urdu. The Standard was translated into Urdu by Community World Service Asia (CWSA).

Global Humanitarian Assistance (GHA) [to 28 November 2015]
http://www.globalhumanitarianassistance.org/

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Ebola virus disease in Liberia
Report Synopsis
Date: 2015/11/23
On 20 November 2015 we responded to a funding alert for a new case of the Ebola virus disease in Liberia. The day before, less than three months after Liberia was last declared free of Ebola, it was confirmed that a 10-year-old boy had tested positive for the virus.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)’s Financial Tracking Service (FTS), donors have committed/contributed US$236.9 million of humanitarian assistance to Liberia since the start of 2015. At least US$227.7 million of this is for the Ebola response. However, there are currently no financial contributions or pledges in response to this new outbreak of the disease.

Read our full analysis of the current funding situation.

The Sphere Project [to 28 November 2015]
http://www.sphereproject.org/news/

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Launching the global survey “Growing the Sphere network”
26 November 2015 | Sphere Project
The purpose of this survey is to help Sphere become a stronger, more robust and inclusive network whose mission it is to convene and support individuals, communities, organisations and like-minded standards-setting bodies who apply, promote and encourage voluntary adherence to humanitarian standards and principles….
The survey is available in English, Arabic, French and Spanish. You can take this survey online until 11 December 2015…

Center for Global Development [to 28 November 2015]
http://www.cgdev.org/page/press-center

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Changes in Funding Patterns by Latin American Banking Systems: How Large? How Risky? – Working Paper 420
11/20/15
Liliana Rojas-Suarez and José María Serena
This paper investigates the shifts in Latin American banks’ funding patterns in the post-global financial crisis period. To this end, we introduce a new measure of exposure of local banking systems to international debt markets that we term: International Debt Issuances by Locally Supervised Institutions. In contrast to well-known BIS measures, our new metric includes all entities that fall under the supervisory purview of the local authority.

ODI [to 28 November 2015]
http://www.odi.org/media

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Financing climate technology transfer
Briefing papers | November 2015 | Sam Barnard and Smita Nakhooda
We discuss the opportunities to encourage and finance technology transfer in developing countries, informed by the experience of the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

World Economic Forum  [to 28 November 2015]
https://agenda.weforum.org/news/

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City Planning Needed as 6 out of 10 Global Consumers Expect Driverless Revolution
Report News 24 Nov 2015
:: Nearly 60% of consumers in cities around the world are willing to travel in self-driving vehicles, according to a new World Economic Forum survey; acceptance highest in emerging markets such as China, India and UAE; around 50% in US and UK; lowest in Japan and Germany
:: City planners and governments need to prepare for introduction of self-driving cars; smart mobility cities such as Gothenburg and Singapore are already doing so
:: Find the full results of the survey here
New York, USA 24 November 2015 – The age of autonomous vehicles is fast approaching, and city leaders need to take steps to prepare as the disruptive technology becomes a reality, according to new survey results by the World Economic Forum released today…

Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation [to 28 November 2015]
https://www.moore.org/newsroom/press-releases

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Janet Corrigan, Ph.D., M.B.A., joins Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
November 23, 2015
Palo Alto, Calif. – Today, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation announced the appointment of Janet Corrigan, Ph.D., M.B.A., as the new chief program officer for patient care. Dr. Corrigan will lead the team responsible for distributing more than $40 million a year to improve the experience and outcomes of patient care…

American Journal of Preventive Medicine
December 2015 Volume 49, Issue 6, p811-988, e89-e134
http://www.ajpmonline.org/current

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A Systematic Review of the Impact of Juvenile Curfew Laws on Public Health and Justice Outcomes
Elyse R. Grossman, Nancy A. Miller
p945–951
Published online: October 8 2015
Preview
Automobile crashes cause more than 800,000 youth injuries and deaths each year. Other youth suffer the consequences from being either a perpetrator or victim of a crime. One type of law that has an effect on youth behavior is juvenile curfew laws. These laws restrict the times that youth may occupy public places or streets. We systematically reviewed studies evaluating the effectiveness of these laws to address the question: Can juvenile curfew laws be used to improve youth public health and juvenile justice outcomes?

BMC Health Services Research
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmchealthservres/content
(Accessed 28 November 2015)

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Research article
Population level usage of health services, and HIV testing and care, prior to decentralization of antiretroviral therapy in Agago District in rural Northern Uganda
G. Abongomera, S. Kiwuwa-Muyingo, P. Revill, L. Chiwaula, T. Mabugu, A. Phillips, E. Katabira, V. Musiime, C. Gilks, A. Chan, J. Hakim, R. Colebunders, C. Kityo, D. Gibb, J. Seeley, D. Ford, for the Lablite Project Team
BMC Health Services Research 2015, 15:527 (28 November 2015)

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Research article
Survey of patient perceptions towards short-term mobile medical aid for those living in a medically underserved area of Swaziland
Yi-Hao Weng, Hung-Yi Chiou, Chi-Cheng Tu, Say-Tsung Liao, Patience Bhembe, Chun-Yuh Yang, Ya-Wen Chiu
BMC Health Services Research 2015, 15:524 (27 November 2015)

BMC Infectious Diseases
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcinfectdis/content
(Accessed 28 November 2015)

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Research article
Health care workers in Pearl River Delta Area of China are not vaccinated adequately against hepatitis B: a retrospective cohort study
Yu-Bao Zheng, Yu-Rong Gu, Min Zhang, Ke Wang, Zhan-lian Huang, Chao-Shuang Lin, Zhi-Liang Gao BMC Infectious Diseases 2015, 15:542 (22 November 2015)
Abstract
Backgrounds
Health-care workers’ (HCWs) exposure to bodily fluids puts them at risk of hepatitis B virus HBV infection. This study investigated HBV vaccination practices and outcomes in HCWs and assessed postvaccination seroprotection across HCWs in different departments.
Methods
A survey of HCWs in a Chinese public general hospital was carried out with a retrospective cohort of 1420 hospital HCWs (458 males and 962 females). HBV vaccination status (10-μg/dose used) was investigated in the cohort from vaccination records from the period of 1988 to 2008. Blood samples were collected and tested for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and HBV antibodies (anti-HBs).
Results
The overall vaccination (complete course) and HBsAg carrier rates among HCWs were 40.42 % (574/1420) and 6.13 % (87/1420), respectively. Vaccination rates differed by department, with HCWs in internal medicine (39.5 %) and emergency (42.0 %) departments having particularly low rates. The natural infection rate was 7.53 % (107/1420) among HCWs. HCWs in the department of infectious diseases (vaccination rate, 57.8 %) had the highest rate of antibody produced by natural infection (88.2 %).
Conclusion
The vaccination rate was a disappointingly low among HCWs in Pearl River Delta Area of China. HCWs working in infectious diseases departments and technicians were at particularly likely to have been infected with HBV. A concerted effort is needed to bring vaccination rates up among Chinese HCWs in Pearl River Delta Area of southern China.

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcpregnancychildbirth/content
(Accessed 28 November 2015)

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Research article
Direct observation of respectful maternity care in five countries: a cross-sectional study of health facilities in East and Southern Africa
Heather Rosen, Pamela Lynam, Catherine Carr, Veronica Reis, Jim Ricca, Eva Bazant, Linda Bartlett, on behalf of the Quality of Maternal and Newborn Care Study Group of the Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 2015, 15:306 (23 November 2015)
Abstract
Background
Poor quality of care at health facilities is a barrier to pregnant women and their families accessing skilled care. Increasing evidence from low resource countries suggests care women receive during labor and childbirth is sometimes rude, disrespectful, abusive, and not responsive to their needs. However, little is known about how frequently women experience these behaviors. This study is one of the first to report prevalence of respectful maternity care and disrespectful and abusive behavior at facilities in multiple low resource countries.
Methods
Structured, standardized clinical observation checklists were used to directly observe quality of care at facilities in five countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, and the United Republic of Tanzania. Respectful care was represented by 10 items describing actions the provider should take to ensure the client was informed and able to make choices about her care, and that her dignity and privacy were respected. For each country, percentage of women receiving these practices and delivery room privacy conditions were calculated. Clinical observers’ open-ended comments were also analyzed to identify examples of disrespect and abuse.
Results
A total of 2164 labor and delivery observations were conducted at hospitals and health centers. Encouragingly, women overall were treated with dignity and in a supportive manner by providers, but many women experienced poor interactions with providers and were not well-informed about their care. Both physical and verbal abuse of women were observed during the study. The most frequently mentioned form of disrespect and abuse in the open-ended comments was abandonment and neglect.
Conclusions
Efforts to increase use of facility-based maternity care in low income countries are unlikely to achieve desired gains if there is no improvement in quality of care provided, especially elements of respectful care. This analysis identified insufficient communication and information sharing by providers as well as delays in care and abandonment of laboring women as deficiencies in respectful care. Failure to adopt a patient-centered approach and a lack of health system resources are contributing structural factors. Further research is needed to understand these barriers and develop effective interventions to promote respectful care in this context.