Emergencies
 
POLIO
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)
Polio this week as of 17 January 2018 [GPEI]
:: Summary of newly-reported viruses this week:
…Afghanistan:  One new case of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) reported in Kandahar province. Five new WPV1 positive environmental samples have been reported, three collected from Nangarhar province, one from Hilmand province, and one from Kunar province.
… Pakistan: Pakistan: Three new WPV1 positive environmental samples have been reported, two collected from Balochistan province, and one from Punjab province.
…Democratic Republic of the Congo: Five new cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) have been reported in Tanganyika province.

::::::
 
Syria cVDPV2 outbreak situation report 30, 16 January 2018
Situation update 16 January 2018
:: No new cases of cVDPV2 were reported this week. The total number of cVDPV2 cases remains 74.
:: The most recent case (by date of onset of paralysis) is 21 September 2017 from Boukamal district, Deir Ez-Zor governorate.
:: The first round of the second phase of the outbreak response started in Deir Ez-Zor city and in Hasakah and Homs governorates on 14 January. The round will commence in other parts of Deir Ez-Zor and in Raqqa in the coming days.

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::::::

WHO Grade 3 Emergencies  [to 20 January 2018]
The Syrian Arab Republic
:: Syria cVDPV2 outbreak situation report 30, 16 January 2018
[See Polio above for detail]

Yemen
:: Weekly epidemiology bulletin, 8–14 January 2018
Cumulative figures
– The cumulative total from 27 April 2017 to 14 Jan 2018 is 1,035,676 suspected cholera cases and 2,244 associated deaths,
(CFR 0.22%), 1100 have been confirmed by culture.

::::::
 
WHO Grade 2 Emergencies  [to 20 January 2018]
Myanmar 
:: Nearly half a million children being vaccinated against diphtheria in Cox’s Bazar
SEAR/PR/1676
14 January 2018, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh – As part of an intensified response to the current diphtheria outbreak, WHO, UNICEF and health sector partners are working with the Bangladesh Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to vaccinate more than 475,000 children in Rohingya refugee camps, temporary settlements and surrounding areas.
“All efforts are being made to stop further spread of diphtheria. The vaccination of children in the Rohingya camps and nearby areas demonstrates the health sector’s commitment to protecting people, particularly children, against deadly diseases,” said Dr Bardan Jung Rana, ai WHO Representative to Bangladesh.
Nearly 150,000 children aged six weeks to seven years received pentavalent vaccine (that protects against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, haemophilus influenza type b and hepatitis B), and nearly 166,000 children aged 7 to 17 years were given tetanus and diphtheria (Td) vaccine, during a three-week vaccination campaign that ended on 31 December. Two more rounds of vaccination with a diphtheria-containing vaccine, at intervals of one month, are planned to fully protect the children in camps and surrounding areas.
“Children are particularly vulnerable to diphtheria. Volunteers are making door-to-door visits in the Rohingya settlements to ensure all children receive vaccination. The massive influx within a very short time has heavily affected basic services in the settlement areas. They have no choice but to live in a very congested environment, which is impacting their health and quality of life. We are making continued efforts to improve conditions of the camps. At the same time, diphtheria vaccination is vital to reducing the risk of further outbreak,” said the UNICEF Country Representative Mr. Edouard Beigbeder.
To limit the spread of diphtheria to communities living near the Rohingya camps and settlements, nearly 160,000 children in 499 schools of Teknaf and Ukhiya sub-districts are also being vaccinated. This initiative began on 1 January. Vaccination was initiated on a day when children attend school in large numbers to avail themselves of free books provided by the government at the start of the academic year.
WHO, UNICEF and other health partners are working with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to establish fixed locations for immunization in the Rohingya camps to continue to provide life-saving vaccines to children, in line with Bangladesh’s childhood immunization programme.

Democratic Republic of the Congo
15 January 2018
Cholera in Kinshasa – WHO is redeploying experts to control the epidemic
Kinshasa — On a 24-hour working visit to the Democrati Republic of Congo’s capital, heavily affected by the cholera epidemic, Dr Matshidiso MOETI, WHO Regional Director for Africa, told the Minister of Health, Public Health, Dr Oly ILUNGA Monday, of a reinforced emergency support mechanism putting all the experts from the Country Office and those deployed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (epidemiologists, logisticians, data managers, specialists in communication on risks, social mobilization and community engagement etc.) available to the DPS to strengthen the response against cholera.

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::::::
 
UN OCHA – L3 Emergencies
The UN and its humanitarian partners are currently responding to three ‘L3’ emergencies. This is the global humanitarian system’s classification for the response to the most severe, large-scale humanitarian crises. 
Syrian Arab Republic
:: 18 Jan 2018   Syria cVDPV2 Outbreak Situation Report #30 – 16 January 2018
:: Statement by the UN in Syria on civilians impacted by increase in hostilities [EN/AR]  17 January 2018
 
::::::

UN OCHA – Corporate Emergencies
When the USG/ERC declares a Corporate Emergency Response, all OCHA offices, branches and sections provide their full support to response activities both at HQ and in the field.
ROHINGYA CRISIS
:: ISCG Situation Report: Rohingya Refugee Crisis, Cox’s Bazar | 14 January 2018

Somalia
:: 17 Jan 2018  Somalia: US$1.6 billion urgently needed to save and protect 5.4 million lives from unprecedented drought
 
::::::
::::::
 
Editor’s Note:
We will cluster these recent emergencies as below and continue to monitor the WHO webpages for updates and key developments.
 
Yellow Fever  [to 20 January 2018]
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/yellowfev/en/
16 January 2018
Updates on yellow fever vaccination recommendations for international travelers related to the current situation in Brazil
Information for international travellers
…Considering the increased level of yellow fever virus activity observed across the state of São Paulo, the WHO Secretariat has determined that, in addition to the areas listed in previous updates, the entire state of São Paulo should also be considered at risk for yellow fever transmission.
Consequently, vaccination against yellow fever is recommended for international travellers visiting any area in the state of São Paulo.
The determination of new areas considered to be at risk for the yellow fever transmission is an ongoing process and updates will be provided regularly…
 
 

The Sentinel

Human Rights Action :: Humanitarian Response :: Health :: Education :: Heritage Stewardship ::
Sustainable Development
__________________________________________________
Week ending 13 January 2018

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
GE2P2 Global Foundation – Governance, Evidence, Ethics, Policy, Practice
david.r.curry@ge2p2center.net

pdf version:The Sentinel_ period ending 13 January 2018

Contents
:: Week in Review  [See selected posts just below]
:: Key Agency/IGO/Governments Watch – Selected Updates from 30+ entities
:: INGO/Consortia/Joint Initiatives Watch – Media Releases, Major Initiatives, Research
:: Foundation/Major Donor Watch -Selected Updates
:: Journal Watch – Key articles and abstracts from 100+ peer-reviewed journals

Editor’s Note:
As we reach the eighth anniversary of the Haiti earthquake, we note the release of the revised Haiti Humanitarian Response Plan and its scale.

.
Haiti: US$252.2M needed to reach 2.2 million people with life-saving aid in 2018
On 11 January, the Humanitarian Country Team in collaboration with the Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation launched the revised Multi-Year Humanitarian Response Plan (2017-2018). In support of the Government response, the plan requires $252 million to provide critical life-saving, protection and livelihoods assistance to 2.2 million Haitians out of an estimated 2.8 million people in need.

One year after the passage of Hurricane Matthew, nearly 1 million people are still in need of some form of humanitarian assistance. The humanitarian situation in Haiti, however, notably evolved in 2017: 1.32 million people were estimated to be living in severe food insecurity compared to the 1.5 million in the previous year, there was a 67% decrease in the total number of suspected cases of cholera in comparison with 2016 and the cumulative number of migrants deported or who spontaneously returned from Dominican Republic since July 2015 increased from 158,800 in December 2016 to 230,300 in October 2017. The combined effects of these recurrent needs prevent the country’s full recovery and continue to weaken its resilience against future shocks and stresses.

In 2018, the humanitarian community in Haiti will primarily focus on food insecurity, cholera epidemic, binational migration situation, IDPs still living in camps, unmet needs of people affected by recent disasters and preparedness for possible natural disasters in 2018. The response strategy for 2018 will be anchored on the initial strategy for 2017- 2018 which was developed based on the results of the analysis of humanitarian needs in the country. The strategy considered the diverse humanitarian needs in different parts of the country, the possible evolution of the needs and potential emergence of new needs…

Migration

.
Making Migration Work for All
Report of the Secretary-General
A/72/643
12 December 2017 :: 20 pages
Summary
…The report focuses on making migration work for all, emphasizing its links to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The report highlights: (a) options for Member States to help migrants fulfil their economic and social potential; (b) steps to promote regular migration; and (c) policies to meet the legitimate security considerations of Member States concerning irregular migration. It also explores the specific challenges arising from large mixed movements of migrants and refugees.

The report offers suggestions for Member States to frame an action-oriented global compact, addressing aspects of migration from the subnational to the global level and a specific strategy for responding to large movements of migrants. The Secretary-General also sets out plans to conduct intensive consultations within the United Nations system to address how the Organization can adapt to provide better support for the global compact and sets out proposals for follow-up to the compact by Member States.

.

Press Release
UN Migration Agency Welcomes UN Secretary General’s Report – Making Migration Work for All
01/12/18
New York – IOM, the UN Migration Agency, welcomed Thursday (11/01) the release of the UN Secretary General’s report, Making Migration Work for All. The Report comes at a crucial time in the process to develop a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration, and will serve as an important contribution to global discourse on international migration…

The Report makes note of the fact that most of the world’s 258 million international migrants already move through safe, orderly and regular means, and that they bring significant benefits to their destination and origin countries.

The report notes, for example: migrants spend, on average, some 85 per cent of their earnings in their host countries, thereby not only addressing skills and labour shortages there, but also contributing directly to economic growth through consumption of goods and services locally. Moreover, migrants remit homeward 15 per cent of their earnings – in 2017 some USD 600 billion, per World Bank estimates – to the benefit of their families and communities in sender countries which, for many, is a lifeline.

Nonetheless, many countries today confront significant challenges surrounding migration governance.

With migration an expanding global reality, the Report brings a fresh coherence to the migration narrative. It challenges governments to put in place comprehensive national systems to manage migration, based on the rule of law. It places rightful emphasis on the need to maximize the benefits that migration offers.

IOM particularly commends the Report’s commitment to the notion that migration should be a matter of choice, not necessity, as well as the importance it attaches to protecting the rights of all migrants. IOM shares the UN Secretary General’s concern about migrants in vulnerable situations, including those in large and mixed flows and those affected by the growing effects of environmental degradation and climate change. The emphasis of the Report on addressing irregular migration is also particularly welcome.

“The best way to end the stigma of illegality and abuse around migrants is, in fact, for governments to put in place more legal pathways for migration,” said UN SG Antonio Guterres. “This will remove incentives for individuals to break the rules, while better meeting the needs of markets for foreign labour.”..

At the same time, Making Migration Work for All clearly recognizes that governments retain the authority to determine the conditions of entry and stay of migrants, consistent with international standards, and recognizes countries’ legitimate security concerns as well. The Report stresses that migration is not, per se, a threat and emphasizes the importance of ensuring cooperative approaches to human, state and public security, including on border management and returns.

Governance-Financing :: Multilateral Organizations

.
Who funds which multilateral organizations?
Brookings – Global Views, No.8, December 2017 :: 27 pages
John W. McArthur, Senior Fellow, Global Economy and Development, the Brookings Institution
Krista Rasmussen, Research Analyst, Global Economy and Development, the Brookings Institution
PDF: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/globalviews_who_funds_which_multilaterals.pdf

CONCLUSION [p.13]
This policy brief draws on official data sources to estimate how countries allocated more than $63 billion in average annual grant funding across 53 major multilateral organizations during the 2014 to 2016 period.

Some headline findings are as follows:
:: Funding sources are concentrated, with nearly half the sample total provided by four funders —the U.S., the U.K., Japan, and Germany—and 95 percent provided by 32 funders.

:: Among the same four largest funders, only the U.K. contributes more than its share of OECD donor country income to the multilateral organizations in the sample.

:: In per capita terms, the four largest funders are Norway, Luxembourg, Sweden, and Monaco. Each provides more than $185 per person per year to multilateral organizations. organizations. Denmark and Switzerland also provide more than $150 per person per year.

:: A majority of the sample’s total resources are targeted to a small number of organizations, with six entities receiving more than half of the overall funding.

:: Four of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council give their largest share of funding within the sample to U.N. peacekeeping operations: China, France, Russia, and the U.S. The U.K. gives its largest share to IDA, the World Bank’s concessional financing arm.

:: The U.S., U.K., and Japan played special funding roles across the multilateral system during the sample period. One of these three countries was the largest funder for each of 42 organizations in the sample, including all of the 17 largest organizations. Overall, the U.S. is the top funder for 24 organizations, the U.K. for nine organizations, and Japan for nine organizations.

:: Only a handful of other funders are the lead contributor to other organizations, including France (for 2 organizations), Sweden (2), Germany (1), the EU/EC (1), Switzerland (1), Brazil (1), BMGF (1), Argentina (1), and Panama (1). This suggests that even mid- and smaller-sized economies can choose to play special lead funding roles within specific organizations.

:: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provides more than $880 million per year to multilateral organizations and is the second-largest funder to CGIAR, Gavi, and WHO.

:: Estimating each funder’s relative importance to each organization—how big a relative fish it is in each pond—enables the opportunity to compare each country’s “fish factor” across organizations. This in turn offers the opportunity to assess countries’ revealed preferences among multilateral priorities. Fish factors can also be compared to objective benchmarks like share of world population, world income, or donor country income.

Altogether, the quantitative assessment in this brief offers a starting point for evaluating each country’s recent multilateral priorities and the relative importance of those priorities to each multilateral organization. Future research could usefully unpack underlying streams of finance to each entity and investigate how funding flows have changed over time, potentially reflecting shifts in priorities. In the meantime, the analysis presented here can help inform debates about where forthcoming investments in multilateral cooperation are most needed.

The Rockefeller Foundation Announces Inaugural Cohort of Fellows
The Rockefeller Foundation Fellows include senior-level experts across the fields of health, power, innovative finance, governance, economic opportunity, and the life sciences

January 8, 2018, NEW YORK— The Rockefeller Foundation is pleased to announce the inaugural class of a new Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship.

The Fellowship award includes support to work for up to two years on an independent project that will ultimately lead to meaningful results to improve people’s lives around the world and that is consistent with the Foundation’s mission, values, and strategic priorities. The inaugural cohort of Fellows will work on a range of projects across the fields of health, power, innovative finance, governance, economic opportunity, and the life sciences. In addition to advancing their independent projects, Fellows will share their expertise and perspective with the Foundation and its network of grantees, partners, and peer institutions working collectively to address the world’s most pressing challenges. As Fellows, they will also connect with one another through a program of activities designed to enable sharing of ideas and thoughtful dialogue and debate.

“With their notable accomplishments and commitment to improving the lives of poor and vulnerable around the world, The Rockefeller Foundation is proud to support this cohort of Rockefeller Foundation Fellows,” said Rajiv Shah, president of The Rockefeller Foundation. “We are incredibly inspired by this stellar group of Fellows, and look forward to the tremendous impact we will be able to have together as we collectively strive to promote the well-being of humanity in the 21st century.”

By supporting senior level experts and seasoned practitioners advancing work aligned with the Foundation’s overarching mission and goals, this Fellowship builds on the Foundation’s legacy of investing in people and supporting big, bold ideas. Since 1914, the Rockefeller Foundation has supported more than 14,000 individuals through over 40 different fellowships across the agricultural, medical, natural, and social sciences, as well as the arts, education, and humanities. These fellowships have supported training for agronomists in Mexico, historians in India, Latin American filmmakers, and nurses from around the world.

The Rockefeller Foundation Fellows were selected via a nomination and invitation to apply process based on their significant accomplishments within their field, proven expertise, and compelling individual work. The Foundation plans to select the next cohort of Fellows later in 2018.

The inaugural cohort of Rockefeller Foundation Fellows includes:
:: Catherine Bertini is an accomplished leader in international organization reform, and has served as United Nations Under Secretary-General for Management, UN Security Coordinator, and as Executive Director of the UN World Food Program (WFP), the world’s largest international humanitarian agency…
:: Karan J. Capoor has over 25 years of global experience at the interface of public policy and private sector transactions in energy, infrastructure and climate change. Most recently the World Bank’s energy program head for the Clean Technology Fund and the Green Climate Fund, he previously led innovative operations in Asia, Africa and Latin America and managed the design and launch for the Bank’s multi-billion dollar carbon finance business…
:: Agnes Dasewicz has over 20 years of experience in private equity and impact investment in emerging markets and most recently, she served as the Director of the Office of Private Capital and Microenterprise at the U.S. Agency of International Development where she led the Agency to design and implement several key initiatives at the nexus of commercial investment and development finance….
:: Trooper Sanders has worked across business, government, and philanthropy to advance solutions to critical social challenges in the United States and internationally. He served as a White House policy advisor during two administrations and worked on issues ranging from supporting military families…
:: Peter M. Small, MD is the Founding Director of the Global Health Institute at Stony Brook University which focuses on the use of innovation to reduce poverty, ecological devastation and disease in Madagascar and other poor countries.
:: Wendy Taylor is the former Director of the Center for Accelerating Innovation and Impact at the U.S. Agency for International Development, a center of excellence applying innovative, business-minded approaches to accelerate the development, introduction and scale-up of priority global health innovations…
:: Melanie Walker, MD is an endovascular neurosurgical Fellow at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and adviser to Bill Gates at bgC3 in Seattle on neurotechnology and brain science. Her career has focused on innovation at the intersection of life sciences, government and philanthropy…

Education – Sexuality

International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education – An evidence-informed approach
UNESCO, UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women, WHO
2018 : 139 pages
PDF: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0026/002607/260770e.pdf

[Excerpt, p.12-13]
The purpose of the International technical guidance on sexuality education and its intended audiences
The International technical guidance on sexuality education (the Guidance) was developed to assist education, health and other relevant authorities in the development and implementation of school-based and out-of-school comprehensive sexuality education programmes and materials. It is immediately relevant for government education ministers and their professional staff, including curriculum developers, school principals and teachers. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), youth workers and young people can also use the document as an advocacy or accountability tool, for example by sharing it with decision-makers as a guide to best practices and/or for its integration within broader agendas, such as the SDGs. The Guidance is also useful for anyone involved in the design, delivery and evaluation of sexuality education programmes both in and out of school, including stakeholders working on quality education, sexual and reproductive health (SRH), adolescent health and/or gender equality, among other issues.

The Guidance emphasizes the need for programmes that are informed by evidence, adapted to the local context, and logically designed to measure and address factors such as beliefs, values, attitudes and skills which, in turn, may affect health and well-being in relation to sexuality.

The quality and impact of school-based CSE [Comprehensive Sexuality Education] is dependent not only on the teaching process – including the capacity of teachers, the pedagogical approaches employed and the teaching and learning materials used – but also on the whole school environment. This is manifested through school rules and in-school practices, among other aspects. CSE is an essential component of a broader quality education and plays a critical role in determining the health and well-being
of all learners.

The Guidance is intended to:
:: provide a clear understanding of CSE and clarify the desired positive outcomes of CSE;
:: promote an understanding of the need for CSE programmes by raising awareness of relevant sexual and reproductive health (SRH) issues and concerns that impact children and young people;
:: share evidence and research-based guidance to assist policy-makers, educators and curriculum developers;
:: increase teachers’ and educators’ preparedness and enhance institutional capacity to provide high-quality CSE;
:: provide guidance to education authorities on how to build support for CSE at the community and school levels;
:: provide guidance on how to develop relevant, evidence-informed, age- and developmentally-appropriate CSE curricula, teaching and learning materials and programmes that are culturally responsive;
:: demonstrate how CSE can increase awareness about issues that may be considered sensitive in some cultural contexts, such as menstruation and gender equality. CSE can also raise awareness of harmful practices such as child early and forced marriage (CEFM) and female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C).

In addition to being informed by the latest evidence, the Guidance is firmly grounded in numerous international human rights conventions that stress the right of every individual to education and to the highest attainable standard of health and well-being. These human rights conventions include the Universal Declaration on Human Rights; the Convention on the Rights of the Child; the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities…

.

Press Release
UN urges Comprehensive Approach to Sexuality Education
10 January 2018
Close to 10 years after its first edition, a fully updated International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education published today by UNESCO advocates quality comprehensive sexuality education to promote health and well-being, respect for human rights and gender equality, and empowers children and young people to lead healthy, safe and productive lives.
“Based on the latest scientific evidence, the International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education reaffirms the position of sexuality education within a framework of human rights and gender equality,” says UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay. “It promotes structured learning about sexuality and relationships in a manner that is positive and centred on the best interest of the young person. By outlining the essential components of effective sexuality education programmes, the Guidance enables national authorities to design comprehensive curricula that will have a positive impact on young people’s health and well-being.”…

Health

Here’s why global health suffers in a fractured world
Seth Berkley CEO, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
10 Jan 2018 – World Economic Forum Annual Meeting
The world is today more fractured than at any time since the Cold War, with a new fortress narrative now emerging. But is it really possible for countries to reap the benefits of globalization and shun the responsibilities that come with a globalized economy, while avoiding the consequences of doing so?

Globalism may have fallen out of favour with some, but the forces driving it are not likely to be so easily swayed. Formidable trends will continue to drive both globalization and globalism, and in doing so will bring new challenges that will threaten us all by, among other things, making it harder to prevent the spread of deadly infectious disease. So, in the face of such growing threats to global health security, it should become increasingly clear that putting national interests first doesn’t always mean focusing all your attention at home.

The fact is that the same aspects of the modern world that have helped to make global trade and economic growth possible have also helped promote some of the biggest challenges we are likely to face in the 21st century. Climate change, population growth, human migration and urbanization are just some examples. All have an impact on global health security.
Just as it is possible to have dinner in Nairobi, breakfast in London and lunch in New York, you can now also order goods from halfway around the world and receive them within a timeframe shorter than the incubation period of many infectious diseases.

With more than a billion people travelling outside their country or region every year, it has never been easier for viruses to move around the world. We saw this recently, first with the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, which spread to 10 countries infecting nearly 29,000 people globally, killing 11,000 of them; and then with Zika, which affected more than 80 countries and territories, resulting in more than 220,000 confirmed cases.

If we want to keep the bugs at bay, border security and immigration control will only get us so far. Instead we need to look at how we can prevent outbreaks in the first place. That means embracing globalism by investing in global health to help to strengthen national health systems, disease surveillance and routine immunization in poor countries. By recognizing that infectious disease is not some far away exotic issue, but a global problem, and by sharing the responsibility for its prevention, diagnosis and control, the whole world will be a lot safer.

The problem is, thanks to the combined effects of population growth, climate change, migration and conflict, global health security is likely to become more challenging in the years to come. Land degradation, rising sea levels, famine and conflict will continue to drive people from their homes and towards cities, with megacities like Mexico City and Lagos becoming increasingly common in some of the poorest parts of the world. Without action, the effects of this on global health security could be profound, because as urban density increases, so too can the risk of urban epidemics.

More people living in less space can put greater strain on already limited sanitation resources, and this can create a fertile breeding ground for waterborne infectious disease and the insects spreading them. At the same time, the sheer scale of cities, and the number of vulnerable people living in them, has the potential to overstretch vaccine and antimicrobial supplies, limiting our ability to prevent or respond to outbreaks.

This is not just a hypothetical scenario. In 2016, we saw precisely this play out with the world’s largest yellow fever outbreak in three decades in Angola’s capital Luanda, which spread across Angola and to two other African countries, including threatening Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). During this outbreak, vaccine shortages made the situation so desperate that the World Health Organization and UNICEF had to resort to recommending fractional dosing in Kinshasa as part of its response, administering one-fifth of a normal dose to people.

We got lucky, and not just in averting major urban epidemics in two overcrowded capital cities, but also in preventing the spread of yellow fever to Asia. No one really knows why yellow fever has never taken hold in Asia, but with 1.8 billion unvaccinated people living in a region where the mosquito responsible for transmitting the disease – Aedes aegypti – is endemic, and with no cure for the disease, the potential of it doing so is a huge concern (particularly, when two other Aedes transmitted infections – dengue and chikungunya – are causing major epidemics).

With a large Chinese workforce in Angola, 11 yellow fever cases did manage to reach China, but were thankfully contained and the virus spread no further. And despite facing further vaccine shortages when another large outbreak occurred just a few months later in Brazil, the global health community rallied and was able to prevent this too from turning into an urban epidemic. But these were close calls.

As the global population continues to grow and become ever more urban, it is important that we are prepared for what it will bring. While it will almost certainly help boost globalization by opening up new markets, without a continued global effort to prevent outbreaks wherever they occur, through routine immunization and strengthened health systems, then such close calls could become full blown pandemics threatening us all with catastrophic human and economic consequences.

Emergencies

POLIO
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)
Polio this week as of 10 January 2018 [GPEI]
:: New on www.polioeradication.org: We join Dr Urs Herzog, polio eradicator, National PolioPlus Advocacy Advisor for Rotary Switzerland and polio survivor himself, as he explains the financial costs of the programme and why it is critical that we eradicate every last trace of the virus.

:: Summary of newly-reported viruses this week:
…Afghanistan:  Three new wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) positive environmental samples have been reported, one collected from Kandahar, one from Hilmand, and one from Nangarhar provinces.
… Pakistan: Four new WPV1 positive environmental samples have been reported, three collected from Sindh province, and one from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
…Democratic Republic of the Congo: Advance notifications have been received of five cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2). These will be confirmed in next week’s data reporting.

::::::
 
Syria cVDPV2 outbreak situation report 29, 9 January 2018
Situation update 9 January 2018
:: No new cases of cVDPV2 were reported this week. The total number of cVDPV2 cases remains 74.
:: The most recent case (by date of onset of paralysis) is 21 September 2017 from Boukamal district, Deir Ez-Zor governorate.
:: Preparations continue at national and governorate levels for the upcoming first round of the second phase of the outbreak response. mOPV2 and IPV will be used in two immunization rounds through house-to-house and fixed centre vaccination.
:: mOPV2 stocks have arrived in Beirut, Lebanon, for onward transportation to Damascus. The shipment process for IPV is underway.
 

WHO Grade 3 Emergencies  [to 13 January 2018]
The Syrian Arab Republic
:: Syria cVDPV2 outbreak situation report 29, 9 January 2018
[See Polio above for detail]

Yemen
:: Weekly epidemiology bulletin, 25–31 December 2017
Cumulative figures
-The cumulative total from 27 April 2017 to 31 December 2017 is 1,019,044 suspected cholera cases and 2,237 associated deaths,
(CFR 0.22%), 1094 have been confirmed by culture.
– 59.3 % of death were severe cases at admission
– The total proportion of severe cases among the suspected cases is 16.9%
– The national attack rate is 370 per 10,000. The five governorates with the highest cumulative attack rates per 10,000 remain  Amran (870), Al Mahwit (824), Al Dhale’e (644), Hajjah (498) and Abyan (494).
– Children under 5 years old represent 28.6% of total suspected cases.
– In total, 25,889 rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) have been performed which represents 24.3% coverage.
– 2,651 cultures have been performed which represents 25.4% coverage.
– The last positive culture was on 19 Dec 2017 in Al-Sabeen distric in Amanat Al-Asimah
– 70 districts did not report any suspected case the last three consecutive 3 weeks
Governorate and District level
– At governorate level, the trend from W50-W52 decrease or was stable in all governorates except (Sana’a governorate (+25%),
Hajjah governorate (+16%), Sada’a (+17%) .
Trends
– The weekly number of cases is decreasing for the 16 consecutive weeks.
– The weekly proportion of severe cases has significantly decreased representing now 10% of the admitted cases.
Week 52
– 9,169 suspected cases and 4 associated deaths were reported
– 11 % are severe cases
– 740 RDTs were performed, 136 were positive
– 0 Positive culture

::::::
 
WHO Grade 2 Emergencies  [to 13 January 2018]
Myanmar 
:: Weekly Situation Report # 9
Date of issue: 6 January 2018; Period covered: 31 December – 6 January
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
…As of 6 January 2018, a total of 3 523 cases clinically suspected with diphtheria and 58 laboratory confirmed cases (out of 185 cases tested) have been reported. 104 clinically suspected cases were admitted at diphtheria treatment facilities on 6 January 2018. A total of 30 deaths have been recorded so far. The last reported death was on 2 January.
…Preparations are underway for the second round of Penta/Td vaccination for Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMN), which will occur in January.
…A vaccination campaign targeting children in the host community was held on 02 January during free book distribution day across 104 schools in Ukhia. A total of 29 377 children were vaccinated – 6 514 children 6 weeks to under 7 were vaccinated with pentavalent vaccine and 22 823 children 7 to 15 years were vaccinated with Td.
…The upgraded EWARS system was launched on 1 January. Training is ongoing for DGHS representatives, agency focal

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::::::
 
UN OCHA – L3 Emergencies
The UN and its humanitarian partners are currently responding to three ‘L3’ emergencies. This is the global humanitarian system’s classification for the response to the most severe, large-scale humanitarian crises. 
Syrian Arab Republic
:: Syria: UN Humanitarian Chief sees first hand “colossal toll that the brutal and sustained hostilities have taken”  11 January, 2018
:: Health Cluster Weekly Situation Report: Whole of Syria, Week 2, 5-11 January 2018
:: Turkey | Syria: Recent Developments in Northwestern Syria (as of 10 January 2018)

Yemen 
:: Statement by the Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick,on the vital importance of keeping Yemen’s entry points open, 11 January 2018 [EN/AR]
 
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UN OCHA – Corporate Emergencies
When the USG/ERC declares a Corporate Emergency Response, all OCHA offices, branches and sections provide their full support to response activities both at HQ and in the field.
ROHINGYA CRISIS
:: WASH Sector Cox’s Bazar Situation Report, 13 January 2018

Ethiopia   
:: 11 Jan 2018 – Ethiopia Humanitarian Bulletin Issue 44 | 25 Dec. 2017 – 7 Jan. 2018

The Sentinel

Human Rights Action :: Humanitarian Response :: Health :: Education :: Heritage Stewardship ::
Sustainable Development
__________________________________________________
Week ending 6 January 2018

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
GE2P2 Global Foundation – Governance, Evidence, Ethics, Policy, Practice
david.r.curry@ge2p2center.net

pdf version:The Sentinel_ period ending 6 January 2018

Contents
:: Week in Review  [See selected posts just below]
:: Key Agency/IGO/Governments Watch – Selected Updates from 30+ entities
:: INGO/Consortia/Joint Initiatives Watch – Media Releases, Major Initiatives, Research
:: Foundation/Major Donor Watch -Selected Updates
:: Journal Watch – Key articles and abstracts from 100+ peer-reviewed journals

The Sentinel

Human Rights Action :: Humanitarian Response :: Health :: Education :: Heritage Stewardship ::
Sustainable Development
__________________________________________________
Week ending 16 December 2017

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
GE2P2 Global Foundation – Governance, Evidence, Ethics, Policy, Practice
david.r.curry@ge2p2center.net

pdf version:The Sentinel_ period ending 16 December 2017

Contents
:: Week in Review  [See selected posts just below]
:: Key Agency/IGO/Governments Watch – Selected Updates from 30+ entities
:: INGO/Consortia/Joint Initiatives Watch – Media Releases, Major Initiatives, Research
:: Foundation/Major Donor Watch -Selected Updates
:: Journal Watch – Key articles and abstracts from 100+ peer-reviewed journals

Editor’s Note:
Universal Health Coverage [UHC] has become the nexus for much global health strategy and  governance focus in the larger context of Sustainable Development Goals/Agenda 2030 context. We present the full text of a joint statement underscoring UHC’s integrating role and a supporting press release below.

Tokyo Declaration on Universal Health Coverage: All Together to Accelerate Progress towards UHC
Statement December 14, 2017 – World Bank, WHO, UNICEF, JICA, UHC2030
Universal Health Coverage Forum 2017
[full text; editor’s text bolding]
 
We, the Co-Organizers of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Forum, reaffirm our commitment to accelerating progress towards UHC, and to achieving health for all people, whoever they are, wherever they live, by 2030.

We recognise the integrated and indivisible nature of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which balance the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.

We reiterate the importance of target 3.8 of the SDGs, which seeks to provide all people with access to high-quality, integrated, “people-centred” health services. This must include promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative health services, as well as safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines. We want to ensure that people do not suffer financial hardship when accessing services. We emphasize the importance of protecting all people from health risks such as outbreaks, and responding rapidly to outbreaks and crises.

We acknowledge that health is a human right and that UHC is essential to health for all and to human security. We adhere to the principle of Leaving No One Behind, which requires special effort to design and deliver health services informed by the voices and needs of people. This prioritizes the most vulnerable members of the world’s population — children and women — those affected by emergencies, refugees and migrants, and marginalized, stigmatized and minority populations, so often living in extremely difficult circumstances.

We affirm that UHC is both technically and financially feasible. UHC produces high returns across the life course and drives employment and inclusive economic growth. UHC is one of the cornerstones of the Sustainable Development Agenda and contributes to progress towards all SDGs. Without UHC, billions of people are at risk of losing the opportunity to live full and productive lives, and hundreds of millions risk impoverishment in their pursuit of health care. Millions of people live in countries and states considered to be fragile. Attaining UHC in these settings requires strong intersectoral collaboration.

We reaffirm and build on the G7 Ise-Shima Vision for Global Health, the TICAD VI Nairobi Declaration, which acknowledges the “UHC in Africa: A Framework for Action.” We also build on the G20 Berlin Declaration, which acknowledges the UHC2030 “Healthy systems for universal health coverage – a joint vision for healthy lives,” as well as other regional and international declarations. All of these stress the need to build and strengthen resilient and sustainable health systems and prepare for public health emergencies in an integrated way. In this context, we note the progress that has been made to reinforce preparedness and responses to public health emergencies, including formalization of coordination mechanisms among the World Health Organization (WHO) and other relevant United Nations (UN) partners, and funding mechanisms for emergencies like the WHO’s Contingency Fund for Emergencies (CFE) and the World Bank’s Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF).

We welcome the release of the 2017 UHC Global Monitoring Report. According to this report, much remains to be done to achieve UHC:  
   :: At least half of the world’s population still does not have access to quality essential services to protect and promote health. 
   :: 800 million people are spending at least 10 percent of their household budget on out-of-pocket health care expenses, and nearly 100 million people are being pushed into extreme poverty each year due to health care costs.

Concerned that progress towards UHC is too slow, despite the efforts made in each country, we call for greater commitment to accelerate progress towards UHC.

Strengthening global momentum towards UHC
:: By 2023, the midpoint towards 2030, the world needs to extend essential health coverage to 1 billion additional people and halve to 50 million the number of people being pushed into extreme poverty by health expenses.

:: We commit to monitoring progress towards UHC as part of the UN SDG review process by issuing global monitoring reports regularly, and reviewing key findings at the subsequent UHC Forum. We welcome the use of a uniform measurement methodology for UHC indicators in the 2017 Global Monitoring Report. We also emphasize the importance of strengthening the breadth and depth of data at the national and subnational levels, including disaggregated data, to inform evidence-based policymaking and to assess progress, as well as strengthening the capacity of local stakeholders to analyse and use data.

:: In response to the recommendations of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth, and as articulated in the Dublin Declaration on Human Resources for Health, we call upon all relevant stakeholders to expand and transform investments in the health and social workforce for UHC, emphasizing the empowerment of women and youth employment.

:: To maintain a high level of political momentum on UHC, we welcome the 40th anniversary conference in 2018 of the Alma Ata Declaration, from the International Conference on Primary Health Care. We also welcome the decision to designate December 12 of each year as International UHC Day and support the UN high-level meeting on UHC in 2019. Furthermore, we will support stronger global leadership at high level of the UN system to promote UHC.

Accelerating country-led process towards UHC
:: We commit to jointly mobilizing political leadership around the world so that countries develop their own roadmaps towards UHC, with clearly indicated targets, indicators and specific plans. We support the increased alignment of efforts among all development partners through country-led, multi-stakeholder coordination platforms in line with the UHC2030 Global Compact principles. We also promote country-level engagement with diverse stakeholders from non-governmental and private sector partners to enhance shared ownership and accountability. We welcome the contribution of international initiatives such as the Tokyo Joint UHC Initiative, the UHC Partnership, Providing for Health Partnership, and the Global Financing Facility (GFF), which aim to strengthen country systems and platforms for UHC and preparedness in a collaborative manner.

   :: In pursuing UHC, we commit to targeted investments to prevent, detect and respond to disease outbreaks and other emergencies including surveillance systems in order to safeguard health security and international collaboration under the International Health Regulations (2005). In doing so, we will promote a focus on fragile and conflict-affected settings to ensure UHC financing in such settings. We also commit to investing in building a sound foundation for healthy societies with equitable access to social services such as water, sanitation, nutrition, housing, and education, and mainstreaming gender throughout policies and programmes.

: On financing for UHC, we support a strong dialogue between the Ministries of Health and Finance to mobilize and manage domestic resources to increase public funding and reduce out-of-pocket payments. It is also critical for countries to mobilise citizen and community platforms, strengthening their budgetary processes, tracking expenditures to achieve value and equity of health spending, and enhancing the efficiency of health expenditures.

: Effective and innovative financing tools offered by development partners, such as the GFF and World Bank’s IDA, also complement domestic resources. In this regard, we welcome IDA18’s strong policy commitment to the global health agenda, which was supported by Japan and other donors, and look forward to further mobilization of IDA funds to promote UHC. We also call for expanded financing and increased alignment to support UHC by all development partners, particularly multilateral development banks and Global Health Initiatives such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (The Global Fund) and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and foundations such as Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In order to further promote financing for UHC, we will explore holding a high-level dialogue with Health and Finance Ministries by 2019.

Innovation for UHC
:: We recognise that realising our ambition requires going beyond “business as usual,” and commit to developing and supporting strategies, policies and systems at the global and country level to harness and sustain the transformative potential of innovation. This commitment recognises the need for countries to articulate their local priorities for UHC and share best practices.

:: We also commit to improving access to medicines and vaccines through collaborative work and research and development, including during health emergencies building on platforms such as the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovations (CEPI) and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI). 

:: Accelerating progress towards UHC requires systematic learning from country experience through platforms such as UHC2030, increased focus on policy coherence, addressing implementation bottlenecks, and harnessing the potential of system innovations and effective and affordable technology in the health sector. We commit to stimulate learning on innovation for UHC by accelerating the generation and sharing of critical knowledge by building on and enhancing coordination of existing and future networks.

We look forward to future convenings and sharing the progress made towards UHC with the Global Community, in the context of the World Health Assembly, the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and the UN General Assembly, upcoming high-level UHC meetings such as the 2018 40th Anniversary of Alma Ata, and at the next UHC Forum. We extend our deep appreciation to the Government of Japan for its commitment to supporting the continuation of the UHC Fora in the future.

Children: Rights, Development, Digital Access
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The State of the World’s Children 2017: Children in a Digital World
UNICEF
December 2017 :: 211 pages
ISBN:978-92-806-4930-7
PDF: https://www.unicef.org/publications/index_101992.html#
Abstract
As the debate about whether the internet is safe for children rages, The State of the World’s Children 2017: Children in a Digital World discusses how digital access can be a game changer for children or yet another dividing line. The report represents the first comprehensive look from UNICEF at the different ways digital technology is affecting children, identifying dangers as well as opportunities. It makes a clear call to governments, the digital technology sector and telecom industries to level the digital playing field for children by creating policies, practices and products that can help children harness digital opportunities and protect them from harm.

Press Release
UNICEF: Make the digital world safer for children – while increasing online access to benefit the most disadvantaged
Flagship report highlights digital divides and explores current debates about the impact of the internet and social media on children’s safety and well-being
NEW YORK, 11 December 2017 – Despite children’s massive online presence – 1 in 3 internet users worldwide is a child – too little is done to protect them from the perils of the digital world and to increase their access to safe online content, UNICEF said in its annual flagship report released today.

The State of the World’s Children 2017: Children in a Digital World presents UNICEF’s first comprehensive look at the different ways digital technology is affecting children’s lives and life chances, identifying dangers as well as opportunities. It argues that governments and the private sector have not kept up with the pace of change, exposing children to new risks and harms and leaving millions of the most disadvantaged children behind.

“For better and for worse, digital technology is now an irreversible fact of our lives,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. “In a digital world, our dual challenge is how to mitigate the harms while maximizing the benefits of the internet for every child.”

The report explores the benefits digital technology can offer the most disadvantaged children, including those growing up in poverty or affected by humanitarian emergencies. These include increasing their access to information, building skills for the digital workplace, and giving them a platform to connect and communicate their views.

But the report shows that millions of children are missing out. Around one third of the world’s youth – 346 million – are not online, exacerbating inequities and reducing children’s ability to participate in an increasingly digital economy.

The report also examines how the internet increases children’s vulnerability to risks and harms, including misuse of their private information, access to harmful content, and cyberbullying. The ubiquitous presence of mobile devices, the report notes, has made online access for many children less supervised – and potentially more dangerous.

And digital networks like the Dark Web and cryptocurrencies are enabling the worst forms of exploitation and abuse, including trafficking and ‘made to order’ online child sexual abuse.

The report presents current data and analysis about children’s online usage and the impact of digital technology on children’s wellbeing, exploring growing debates about digital “addiction” and the possible effect of screen time on brain development.

Additional facts from the report include:
:: Young people are the most connected age group. Worldwide, 71 per cent are online compared with 48 per cent of the total population.
:: African youth are the least connected, with around 3 out of 5 youth offline, compared to just 1 in 25 in Europe.
:: Approximately 56 per cent of all websites are in English and many children cannot find content they understand or that is culturally relevant.
:: More than 9 in 10 child sexual abuse URLs identified globally are hosted in five countries – Canada, France, the Netherlands, the Russian Federation and the United States.

Only collective action – by governments, the private sector, children’s organizations, academia, families and children themselves – can help level the digital playing field and make the internet safer and more accessible for children, the report says.

Practical recommendations to help guide more effective policymaking and more responsible business practices to benefit children include:
:: Provide all children with affordable access to high-quality online resources.
:: Protect children from harm online – including abuse, exploitation, trafficking, cyberbullying and exposure to unsuitable materials.
:: Safeguard children’s privacy and identities online.
:: Teach digital literacy to keep children informed, engaged and safe online.
:: Leverage the power of the private sector to advance ethical standards and practices that protect and benefit children online.
:: Put children at the centre of digital policy.

“The internet was designed for adults, but it is increasingly used by children and young people – and digital technology increasingly affects their lives and futures. So digital policies, practices, and products should better reflect children’s needs, children’s perspectives and children’s voices,” said Lake.

Human Rights Action – Reparations to Conscripted Children
.
Editor’s Note:
We understand the action by the ICC below is the first example of war crimes reparations being awarded to children.
.

Lubanga case: Trial Chamber II issues additional decision on reparations
International Criminal Court (ICC)
On 15 December 2017, Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a decision setting the amount of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo’s liability for collective reparations at USD 10,000,000. The decision completes the Order for Reparations of 3 March 2015 in the case of The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, which awarded collective reparations to the victims of the war crimes committed by Mr Lubanga, namely: conscripting and enlisting children under the age of 15 into an armed group (Union des patriotes congolais/Forces patriotiques pour la libération du Congo) and using them to participate actively in hostilities.

The Chamber examined a sample of 473 applications representative of all of the victims potentially eligible for reparations and concluded that 425 of them were most likely direct or indirect victims of the crimes of which Mr Lubanga was convicted. The Chamber stated, however, that further evidence established the existence of hundreds or even thousands of additional victims affected by Mr Lubanga’s crimes. The Chamber also stated in this respect that some potential victims were no longer willing or able to take part in the reparations process for safety reasons.

The Chamber recalled that the scope of a convicted person’s liability is proportionate to the harm caused and, among other things, his or her participation in the commission of the crimes for which he or she has been found guilty, in the specific circumstances of the case. The Chamber further recalled that only collective reparations were awarded in this case. The Chamber assessed the harm suffered by the aforementioned 425 persons recognized as victims of Mr Lubanga at USD 3,400,000, and equitably assessed Mr Lubanga’s liability exclusive of the harm suffered by those persons at USD 6,600,000 – bringing the total amount of Mr Lubanga’s liability for collective reparations to USD 10,000,000.

In view of Mr Lubanga’s indigence, the Chamber invited the Board of Directors of the Trust Fund for Victims to examine the possibility of earmarking an additional amount for the implementation of collective reparations in this case and/or continuing its efforts to raise additional funds. The Chamber also instructed the Trust Fund to make contact with the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to explore how the Government might contribute to the reparations process…

Development – Governance for Culture – Human Rights
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Re|Shaping Cultural Policies: Advancing creativity for development
2005 Convention Global Report
UNESCO 2017 :: 252 pages ISBN 978-92-3-100256-4
PDF: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0026/002605/260592e.pdf
Executive summary [excerpts]
The 2018 Global Report analyses further progress achieved in implementing the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005) since the first such report was published in 2015. It is the work of ten independent experts, who have worked together with the Secretary of the Convention and her colleagues, as well as BOP Consulting and the Principal Editor.

Goal 1 – SUPPORT SUSTAINABLE SYSTEMS OF GOVERNANCE FOR CULTURE
Goal 2 – ACHIEVE A BALANCED FLOW OF CULTURAL GOODS AND SERVICES AND INCREASE THE MOBILITY OF ARTISTS AND CULTURAL PROFESSIONALS
Goal 3 – INTEGRATE CULTURE IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORKS
Goal 4 – PROMOTE HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS

The first and leading goal is to support sustainable systems of governance for culture that contribute to the implementation of SDGs 8, 16 and 17. This challenge is addressed in the four chapters that make up the first section of the Global Report….

The second section of the report relates to the goal of achieving a balanced flow of cultural goods and services and the mobility of artists and cultural professionals worldwide that contributes to the implementation of SDGs 8 and 10…

The third implementation goal of the Convention set out in 2015 was to advance the long-standing cause of integrating a cultural dimension in sustainable development frameworks that contributes to the implementation of SDGs 4, 8 and 17….

The final section of the report is devoted to a key principle of the Convention that has come to the fore in recent years, namely the promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms of expression, information and communication that contribute to the implementation of SDGs 5 and 16.

…The final chapter is devoted to artistic freedom, which is germane not only to the being and creative practice of artists themselves but also to the rights of all cultural producers and audiences. But today, this freedom is increasingly under attack by a range of factors and forces, both governmental and nongovernmental. The chapter reports that attacks on artistic freedom in 2016 perpetrated by both State and non-State actors, mostly against musicians, showed a significant rise compared with 2014 and 2015. Yet, progress has been made in understanding the importance of artistic freedom for the successful protection and promotion of artistic expression itself….

Heritage Stewardship – Climate Action – One Planet Summit
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Global Covenant of Mayors and World Bank Announce Partnership, Securing Billions in Technical and Financial Assistance for Cities Executing Aggressive Climate Action Programs
World Bank partners with the Global Covenant of Mayors and will lend $4.5 billion USD to ensure 150 cities have the funds to implement initiatives to increase sustainability and resilience and fight climate change

Paris, France, 12 December 2017 – Today, at the One Planet Summit in Paris, the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy and World Bank Group, the world’s largest multilateral development bank, announced a new partnership to provide technical and financial assistance to 150 cities across the world undertaking aggressive climate action programs.

The World Bank’s investment of $4.5 billion USD will ensure cities battling the increasing threats of climate change have the funding necessary to implement sustainable initiatives and climate resilience programs.

The partnership will help countries leverage the private sector by developing bankable business plans, structuring public-private partnerships to crowd in private sector investment, monetizing increases in land values, and designing and implementing credit enhancement mechanisms to allow commercial financing to cities.

The partnership brings together the largest global alliance of cities committed to tackling climate change with the world’s leading development institution to design and structure climate resilient investments and to catalyze new sources of capital to finance them in cities across the globe.

The lending will occur over the next three years under the umbrella of the World Bank’s City Resilience Program (CRP), and will draw on resources from IFC and MIGA to provide financial and technical assistance to 150 cities, including current and future Global Covenant cities, to drive climate ambitions forward and upwards and build greater resilience to climate and disaster risks.
The partnership will be inclusive and open to the full spectrum of investors, from multilateral development banks and international financial institutions, to institutional investors, private investors, and local commercial banks.

Ultimately, this collaboration between the Global Covenant of Mayors and the World Bank will help ensure cities realize the investment potential of their climate action commitments, and will have the ability to contribute to their government’s NDC investment plans in order to meet their Paris Agreement targets…

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World Bank Group Announcements at One Planet Summit
Paris, 12 December, 2017 – At the One Planet Summit convened by President Emmanuel Macron of France, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, the World Bank Group made a number of new announcements in line with its ongoing support to developing countries for the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement’s goals.
1. WBG and upstream oil and gas
As a global multilateral development institution, the World Bank Group is continuing to transform its own operations in recognition of a rapidly changing world. To align its support to countries to meet their Paris goals:
The World Bank Group will no longer finance upstream oil and gas, after 2019.
(In exceptional circumstances, consideration will be given to financing upstream gas in the poorest countries where there is a clear benefit in terms of energy access for the poor and the project fits within the countries’ Paris Agreement commitments…

.

Q&A: The World Bank Group and Upstream Oil and Gas
Date: December 12, 2017 Type: Brief
Q. How will this decision impact the World Bank Group’s portfolio in upstream oil and gas?
Current projects in our portfolio would continue as planned. However, no new investments in upstream oil and gas would be undertaken after 2019, unless under exceptional circumstances as noted in the decision.
This decision underlines our stated commitments to help countries accelerate the transition to sustainable energy and our support for the Paris Agreement goal of keeping global temperature rise to below 2C.

Q. How is “upstream” oil and gas defined?
Upstream is an industry term that refers to exploration of oil and natural gas fields, as well as drilling and operating wells to produce oil and natural gas.

Q. What about countries that have energy needs? How does this decision impact them?
Technological shifts and evolving markets mean that for many countries there are now a wider set of low-cost options for countries to tap to strengthen energy supply and extend access to energy. In the past decade, solar photovoltaic costs have fallen by 80% and wind power costs have fallen 60%. For those countries with oil and gas resources, commercial financing is often readily available for exploration and production. In exceptional circumstances in the poorest countries where there is a benefit to energy access, the World Bank Group will consider upstream natural gas projects.
The World Bank Group will continue to provide technical assistance that helps our client countries strengthen the transparency, governance, institutional capacity and regulatory environment of their energy sectors – including in oil and gas.
The World Bank Group is committed to helping countries extend access to reliable, affordable and sustainable energy for all their citizens. We have a long track record of supporting the expansion and improvement of energy access, both on and off-grid – through power generation, transmission and distribution, support to the private sector, and technical assistance and policy work. Tens of millions of people have gained access to energy as a direct result of World Bank Group support, and we will continue this work.

Q. How does this affect World Bank Group projects in poor countries?
As stated, in exceptional circumstances in the poorest countries where there is a clear benefit to energy access, and this is consistent with countries’ NDC commitments, we will finance upstream natural gas projects.

Q. Will you continue your support of ongoing natural gas projects and why?
The World Bank Group will continue to support and finance midstream and downstream natural gas investments for transport and distribution to consumers and for power generation. In some countries, natural gas still plays an important role during the energy transition. Gas has the lowest CO2 emissions of any fossil fuel. We support natural gas as a flexible energy source that can help countries make the transition more quickly to renewables, expand access to energy for the poor, and displace carbon-intensive coal.

Sustainable Development – Technology
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Blockchain –Unpacking the disruptive potential of blockchain technology for human development
WHITE PAPER
International Development Research Centre
Researcher and author: Raúl Zambrano
August 2017 :: 85 pages
PDF: https://idl-bnc-idrc.dspacedirect.org/bitstream/handle/10625/56662/IDL-56662.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y

Executive Summary
Technologies old and new are propelling the current wave of innovation around the world. Artificial intelligence, robotics and machine learning are all gaining new ground and being deployed in a wide variety of contexts globally. One of the more cryptic but oft-hyped technologies is blockchain, an emergent technology developed as part of Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency invented in 2008. Whereas Artificial Intelligence and robotics innovations
seem to have a dark side, many perceive blockchain technology as a platform for positive and even radical change.

Yet for developing countries, the high sophistication and complex infrastructure requirements (bandwidth, connectivity and high operating costs) of this technology might prove challenging if countries intend to be active players and not just end users or consumers. Exploring the relevance of new technologies to address existing socio-economic gaps and support internationally agreed development targets including the globally-recognized Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is critical for countries in the global South. The question for developing countries is not only how this could be workable but also who could be involved in harnessing blockchain technologies to close
development gaps, foster social inclusion and promote democratic governance.

This white paper explores the potential blockchain technology could have in fostering human development in developing countries. The first part (after the executive summary) provides a non-technical overview of blockchain. It then moves to illustrate the range of applications in development areas and sectors from a public/private goods perspective. The third section examines the actual relevance of blockchains in developing countries. The paper concludes with a series of recommendations for additional research and potential development programming using blockchain technologies. The annexes lay out the information and communications technology for development (ICTD) framework and a more technical presentation of blockchain technologies.

This paper centers on blockchain applications that go beyond cryptocurrencies. The core focus is thus on the use of blockchain technology as a generic application platform in developing countries….

Recommendations [p.55, text bolding from original]
RESEARCH
Undertake a series of selected case studies on ongoing blockchain technology initiatives that are taking place in developing countries. While some anecdotal information on such initiatives can be found, little in terms of academic or developmental research is currently available. Indeed, a large vacuum exists here that has helped spread blockchain hype even more.

Undertake further research and analysis on both blockchains for governance and the governance of blockchains vis-à-vis governments and the provision of public goods. In particular, the links between trust, consensus building and representation have not been explored in the existing literature.

Link current and future work on blockchain technology to Artificial Intelligence as the latter is being systematically introduced into the technology and related “decentralized applications” or Dapps. This points back to blockchain’s governance issue and the governance of algorithms in general which are not participatory, nor transparent. Is blockchain part of the solution?

Consider opening new and pioneering research on the governance of algorithms and the impact they can have in society, especially in developing countries. This theme is in turn linked to the notion that technologies are social products. In the end, society ends up shaping how technology is harnessed. However, the prevailing view today seems to be the opposite, blockchain technology included.

Explore innovative approaches and solutions to facilitate blockchain technology access to those sitting at the bottom of the pyramid, focusing on access and use of cryptographic tools. Here, distinguishing technology use and ownership from its benefits is crucial. Previous technology deployments have shown that poor communities can benefit from them without directly using or owning a particular technology. Community networks and shared mobile telephone use are well-known examples here.

PROGRAMMING
Explore the role of ongoing innovation initiatives and existing tech hubs in developing countries to support blockchain deployments. Africa and Asia, in particular, have a considerable number of technology hubs which can furnish adequate expertise to deploy blockchain technologies with local expertise and to target the provision of public goods.

Consider funding or supporting small blockchain pilots or prototypes focused on specific development themes, the SDGs or local priorities in developing countries. Funding need not be large but special attention should be placed on the human development impact. As mentioned above, identity and government services using blockchain technologies are the most relevant at this point and have already been implemented in other contexts.

Support or help create a network of blockchain technology innovators and entice them to support applications that foster public goods provision. Attracting local innovators in emerging and developing economies is of critical importance here.

NETWORKING AND PARTNERSHIPS
Support the creation of a blockchain for blockchain-related projects in developing countries, or consider the creation of a related sustainable knowledge base. Partnering with international experts and other innovators on a global scale should be part of such initiative.

There has been some action by multi-laterals and overseas development funding agencies on linking blockchain technologies to the implementation of the SDGs. Development agencies and development practitioners should join these efforts to track the latest developments and
eventually undertake further research on the topic.

Launch or help organize a ‘blockchain for development’ network, or a decentralized autonomous organization with key donor countries and organizations. The main goal of such a network could be to keep the development perspective atop, and above blockchain itself.

Heritage Stewardship: Climate
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Hewlett Foundation announces $600 million philanthropic commitment to climate change
December 11, 2017
Menlo Park, Calif.―The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation announced today that it will donate $600 million over a five-year period from 2018-2023 to nonprofits globally working on solving climate change…

“Huge numbers of people are already suffering from climate change from unprecedented flooding, superstorms, drought, famine, wildfires, and pest-borne disease – and this is just a fraction of what our children and grandchildren will suffer if we don’t get this under control,” said William and Flora Hewlett Foundation President Larry Kramer. “The world has made incredible progress in recent years, in ways that both mitigate warming and generate new economic opportunities. But we still have a long way to go. The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation is proud to increase its commitment to creating a clean energy system, and we urge all leaders – whether in philanthropy, business, or government – to step up to this challenge and increase their own commitments to solving climate change. Everyone must find their role in the solution—our future depends on it.”…

The Hewlett Foundation’s charitable donations will support nonpartisan, non-profit organizations working on transitioning energy systems from fossil fuels to clean energy, with the goal of limiting global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius by 2050 and avoiding unprecedented, widespread human suffering. The foundation’s donations will be focused in the biggest emitting countries and regions of the world: the United States, China, India, and Europe, supporting organizations that: conduct scientific research and policy analysis, offer policy makers much-needed technical expertise on energy systems and transitions, advocate on behalf of a wide range of communities and constituencies, promote private-public partnerships to achieve national and state clean energy goals, and convene leaders through best-practice and expertise-sharing networks in these geographies. The foundation will also look to support organizations that are integrating solutions across sectors to overcome our long-term energy challenges, as well as organizations fostering public-private partnerships to finance clean energy systems, and encouraging private investment for the commercial deployment of viable new technologies…

Featured Journal Content
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BMC Medicine
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcmed/content
(Accessed 16 December 2017)
Guideline
11 December 2017
Mapping the evidence on pharmacological interventions for non-affective psychosis in humanitarian non-specialised settings: a UNHCR clinical guidance
Authors: Giovanni Ostuzzi, Corrado Barbui, Charlotte Hanlon, Sudipto Chatterjee, Julian Eaton, Lynne Jones, Derrick Silove and Peter Ventevogel
Abstract
Background
Populations exposed to humanitarian emergencies are particularly vulnerable to mental health problems, including new onset, relapse and deterioration of psychotic disorders. Inadequate care for this group may lead to human rights abuses and even premature death. The WHO Mental Health Gap Action Programme Intervention Guide (mhGAP-IG), and its adaptation for humanitarian settings (mhGAP-HIG), provides guidance for management of mental health conditions by non-specialised healthcare professionals. However, the pharmacological treatment of people with non-affective psychosis who do not improve with mhGAP first-line antipsychotic treatments is not addressed. In order to fill this gap, UNHCR has formulated specific guidance on the second-line pharmacological treatment of non-affective psychosis in humanitarian, non-specialised settings.
Methods
Following the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology, a group of international experts performed an extensive search and retrieval of evidence on the basis of four scoping questions. Available data were critically appraised and summarised. Clinical guidance was produced by integrating this evidence base with context-related feasibility issues, preferences, values and resource-use considerations.
Results
When first-line treatments recommended by mhGAP (namely haloperidol and chlorpromazine) are not effective, no other first-generation antipsychotics are likely to provide clinically meaningful improvements. Risperidone or olanzapine may represent beneficial second-line options. However, if these second-line medications do not produce clinically significant beneficial effects, there are two possibilities. First, to switch to the alternative (olanzapine to risperidone or vice versa) or, second, to consider clozapine, provided that specialist supervision and regular laboratory monitoring are available in the long term. If clinically relevant depressive, cognitive or negative symptoms occur, the use of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor may be considered in addition or as an alternative to standard psychological interventions.
Conclusions
Adapting scientific evidence into practical guidance for non-specialised health workers in humanitarian settings was challenging due to the paucity of relevant evidence as well as the imprecision and inconsistency of results between studies. Pragmatic outcome evaluation studies from low-resource contexts are urgently needed. Nonetheless, the UNHCR clinical guidance is based on best available evidence and can help to address the compelling issue of undertreated, non-affective psychosis in humanitarian settings.

11 December 2017
Individual, collective, and transgenerational traumatization in the Yazidi
Authors: Jan Ilhan Kizilhan and Michael Noll-Hussong
Commentary
Abstract
In recent years, Islamic terrorism has manifested itself with an unexpectedly destructive force. Despite the fact that Islamic terrorism commences locally in most cases, it has spread its terror worldwide. In August 2014, when troops of the self-proclaimed ‘Islamic State’ conquered areas of northern Iraq, they turned on the long-established religious minorities in the area with tremendous brutality, especially towards the Yazidis. Vast numbers of men were executed, and women and children were abducted and willfully subjected to sexual violence. With the aim of systematic destruction of the Yazidi community, the religious minority was to be eliminated and the will of the victims broken. The medical and mental health issues arising from the combination of subjective, collective, and cultural traumatization, as well as the subsequent migrant and refugee crisis, are therefore extraordinary and require novel and wise concepts of integrated medical care.

11 December 2017
Humanitarian and primary healthcare needs of refugee women and children in Afghanistan
Authors: Ariel Higgins-Steele, David Lai, Paata Chikvaidze, Khaksar Yousufi, Zelaikha Anwari, Richard Peeperkorn and Karen Edmond
Abstract
This Commentary describes the situation and healthcare needs of Afghans returning to their country of origin. With more than 600,000 Afghans returned from Pakistan and approximately 450,000 Afghans returned from Iran in 2016, the movement of people, which has been continuing in 2017, presents additional burden on the weak health system and confounds new health vulnerabilities especially for women and children. Stewardship and response is required at all levels: the central Ministry of Public Health, Provincial Health Departments and community leaders all have important roles, while continued support from development partners and technical experts is needed to assist the health sector to address the emergency and primary healthcare needs of returnee and internally displaced women, children and families.

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Child Care, Health and Development
January 2018 Volume 44, Issue 1 Pages 1–171
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cch.v44.1/issuetoc
REVIEWS
ISSOP position statement on migrant child health (pages 161–170)
ISSOP Migration Working Group
Version of Record online: 23 JUL 2017 | DOI: 10.1111/cch.12485
ISSOP wishes to express our appreciation toward the countries, communities, organisations, and volunteers who provide humanitarian assistance to migrants. We find it disturbing that some countries refuse to protect the basic human rights of migrants. For the full text version of this position statement, please go to: http://www.issop.org/
Abstract
Greater numbers of children are on the move than ever before. In 2015, the number of forcibly displaced people across the globe reached 65.3 million. Of the more than 1 million migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees who arrived in Europe in 2015, nearly one third were children, and 90,000 of these children were unaccompanied.

Child migrants are among the most vulnerable, even after arriving at their destination. The health of migrant children is related to their health status before their journey, the conditions during their journey and at their destination, and the physical and mental health of their caregivers. These children may have experienced numerous forms of trauma including war, violence, separation from family, and exploitation. They may suffer from malnutrition and communicable diseases including vaccine-preventable diseases. Pregnant women, newborns, and unaccompanied minors are particularly vulnerable groups. Social isolation is a major risk factor for all migrant children that compound other health risks even after settlement in their new home. Lack of health information, language, and cultural differences serve as major barriers to adequate, timely, and appropriate healthcare. In spite the challenges they face, migrant children demonstrate remarkable resilience that can be nurtured to promote good mental and physical health.

Migrant children, irrespective of their legal status, are entitled to healthcare of the same standard provided to children in the resident population, as stated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is imperative that the health sector includes informed health workers who are able to identify the health risks and needs of these children and provide culturally competent care. In order to achieve this and promote the rights of migrant children to optimal health and well-being, ISSOP recommends that:
:: Programmes and activities designed to promote and protect migrant child health and well-being must be designed in collaboration with all sectors involved, including the education and social sectors, and should always include the voices of migrant children and their families.

:: Health services should be readily available and easily accessible for preventive, maintenance, and curative care regardless of the child’s legal status. Care should be of the same standard as care provided to the local population.
:: Health information should be provided that is culturally sensitive and readily available in a language that migrant children and families can understand.
:: Medical interpreters and cultural mediators should be available during healthcare encounters, and personnel working with migrants should receive training in cultural competence.
:: Health professionals should not participate in age determination until methods with acceptable scientific and ethical standards have been developed.
:: Professionals working with migrant children and families should have access to emotional support services.
:: Evidence-based best practices in the care of migrant children should be identified and made widely available to health workers.
:: An observatory should be established to study the factors leading to poor psychosocial and mental health in migrant children and youth.
:: Paediatricians and paediatric societies should work to improve the sensitivity of their respective populations towards migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees.