ReliefWeb Latest Reports for Country Office

Emergency water supplies are being rushed to southeastern Chad where about 50-thousand people have fled fighting in Sudan’s Darfur region. Several Arab tribes have been battling for control of mining operations there.

Listen to De Capua report on Darfur displaced

The refugees and migrants have been gathering around the village of Tissi since January. Felix Leger is the country director for the International Rescue Committee.

“The situation is still of concern, mainly from a humanitarian perspective because, as you know, the influx of displaced people continues. The last data we got from Tissi area shows that you have more than 27,000 refugees from Sudan, but you also have some Chadians that returned from Sudan. The number is a bit above 19,000. You also have some refugees from CAR,” he said.

Before the influx, Tissi was a village with a single borehole for water. Leger says it was barely enough for the residents and quickly became inadequate for the growing population. The International Rescue Committee is now bringing water supplies in by truck from nearby Lake Tissi.

Leger said, “Our intention is to pump the water from the lake – to treat it – and then to deliver through a water system in order to provide clean water to the refugees and the displaced.”

The refugees and migrants are already using the lake for drinking water. The problem is the lake is also being used for bathing and a watering hole for their animals. To make matters worse, the IRC says there are only 10 latrines in the area and people are defecating near the lake. Simply put, it’s not safe to drink without being treated first and there’s the potential for disease.

“Some now are queuing a long time, many hours, in front of the existing network in Tissi. Some have tried to find traditional wells quite far from their place of relocation. So, definitely one of the needs right now is to increase the capacity to provide potable water,” he said.

He said getting water to Tissi is a race against time because the rainy season is expected to begin in two weeks or less. When it does, the roads will become too muddy for the trucks. The IRC is bringing the necessary materials from other parts of Chad so a functioning clean water system can be in place when the rains come.

Doctors Without Borders, also known as MSF, has set-up medical facilities in Tissi. Last month, it reported an outbreak of measles in the nearby area of Saraf Bourgou. The disease has killed a number of young children.

The U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, is helping to provide shelter. Trees have provided minimal shelter for many families, leaving them exposed to the sun, wind and cold temperatures at night.

There's a received wisdom that tree stumps, shoots and bushes should be cleared from a field before planting crops. It seems logical, but the experience of farmers in southern Niger suggests otherwise. There, the practice of Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) has been found to significantly improve soil quality and crop yields, along with additional resources and income from tree products.

Read the full report

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK:

 Over 60,000 refugess received clothes vouchers, blankets, quilts, kitchen sets, matresses, recreation kits for children and other household items;

 Some 14,000 food vouchers were distributed;

 Over 8,000 refugees received hygiene kits and 3,000 received baby kits;

 More than 5,700 students were supported with educational, psychosocial and recreational activities in public schools or in community centers across Lebanon;

 Over 3,700 patients benefited from primary health care services;

 Over 500 patients were admitted to hospitals in the North, the Bekaa and the South this week;

 Over 135 women and girls benefited from psychosocial services in women and girls community centres.

Introduction

In a commendable effort to increase accountability, the international community set itself a target date of 2015 to achieve the key objectives of the historic United Nations Millennium Declaration, on which the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are based.

This widely recognised deadline has inevitably attracted considerable debate. As it approaches, there has been much research on whether the targets as set out in the MDGs will be met, along with a parallel discussion on what might succeed them.

International development efforts will not simply stop in 2015, as there is still much left to do. But do developing countries and the wider international community need a new global framework beyond the MDGs?

This European Report on Development aims to provide an independent contribution to the debate on a possible post-2015 development framework to succeed the MDGs and what elements it might usefully incorporate.

Focus of the Report The Report focuses on the potential value of a new global framework in generating a concerted movement to promote development and support the efforts of poor countries to this end. Have the MDGs helped or even hindered their development progress, or have they perhaps served mainly to mobilise donors? How might a new global agenda most usefully support national development efforts?

The Report sets out to identify ideas for a possible new framework and to provide evidence, analysis and research-based recommendations to support them. At the same time the aim is not to conduct an exhaustive analysis of possible ingredients for a post-2015 framework nor to design a complete new set of goals.

The Report also analyses the role of the European Union (EU) as a global actor in advancing international development, both through its development cooperation policies and through its other policies that also influence development outcomes. While developing countries have the prime responsibility for their own development and increasingly take the lead in setting the parameters of international cooperation, Europe can, and indeed should, continue to make an important contribution to the achievement of any successor to the MDGs.

Introduction

In a commendable effort to increase accountability, the international community set itself a target date of 2015 to achieve the key objectives of the historic United Nations Millennium Declaration, on which the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are based.

This widely recognised deadline has inevitably attracted considerable debate. As it approaches, there has been much research on whether the targets as set out in the MDGs will be met, along with a parallel discussion on what might succeed them.

International development efforts will not simply stop in 2015, as there is still much left to do. But do developing countries and the wider international community need a new global framework beyond the MDGs?

This European Report on Development aims to provide an independent contribution to the debate on a possible post-2015 development framework to succeed the MDGs and what elements it might usefully incorporate.

Focus of the Report The Report focuses on the potential value of a new global framework in generating a concerted movement to promote development and support the efforts of poor countries to this end. Have the MDGs helped or even hindered their development progress, or have they perhaps served mainly to mobilise donors? How might a new global agenda most usefully support national development efforts?

The Report sets out to identify ideas for a possible new framework and to provide evidence, analysis and research-based recommendations to support them. At the same time the aim is not to conduct an exhaustive analysis of possible ingredients for a post-2015 framework nor to design a complete new set of goals.

The Report also analyses the role of the European Union (EU) as a global actor in advancing international development, both through its development cooperation policies and through its other policies that also influence development outcomes. While developing countries have the prime responsibility for their own development and increasingly take the lead in setting the parameters of international cooperation, Europe can, and indeed should, continue to make an important contribution to the achievement of any successor to the MDGs.

Geneva/Niamey (ICRC) – Several hundred families fleeing violence in northern Nigeria and taking refuge in the Diffa area of south-eastern Niger are being provided with emergency supplies and food aid by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Red Cross Society of Niger.

Around 2,400 people in Bosso, Kablewa, Tchoukoujani and Diffa today began taking delivery of emergency aid consisting of 45 tonnes of rice, beans, cooking oil and salt, and of a stock of insecticide-treated mosquito nets, sleeping mats, blankets, buckets, cooking utensils and clothing, which will cover their most urgent needs for approximately one month.

"These people, most of whom are originally from Niger but settled in Nigeria some time back, in some cases decades ago, are completely destitute. They have been taken in by families that are sharing their meagre resources with them," said Jean-Nicolas Marti, head of the ICRC's regional delegation for Niger and Mali. "Their situation is very precarious, and they urgently need help."

The Diffa area, where the families have taken refuge, was the scene this year of severe flooding that resulted in a considerable shortfall in agricultural production. "If population displacement were to continue at the current pace, or to increase, there is a risk that the delicate economic and food balance in the area could be destroyed, with consequences for the resident population," said Mr Marti.

Since September of last year, the ICRC has been helping some 400 nomadic Fulani families who fled the violence and insecure environment of the Maiduguri area of Nigeria to settle at various sites in Diffa.

For further information, please contact:
Valery Mbaoh Nana, ICRC Bamako and Niamey, tel: +223 76 99 63 75 or +227 97 45 43 82
Wolde-Gabriel Saugeron, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 31 49 or +41 79 244 64 05

SUMMARY

In most of the years analysed, farmers received prices that were lower than what they would have obtained with better market access or more favourable domestic policies (Figure 1).

However, farm gate prices started increasing in 2005 and price incentives (relative to international prices) improved following the global food price spikes of 2008. Farmers thus increased production based on their perception of improving prices.

However, unfavourable government policies and inadequate market infrastructure are unlikely to foster a sustained increase in wheat production and yields.

Teams from TSF arrived in Burma on Friday last week in the aftermath of typhoon Mahasen at the request of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA); they will be deployed as of tomorrow morning in the State of Rakhine to assist the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination teams (UNDAC).

In the first days of the disaster response, TSF experts will assess damage to telecoms infrastructure and provide telecommunications support to the evaluation teams using the specialized equipment that the NGO brings with it.

The tropical cyclone, along with violent winds and heavy rain, hit Burma on Tuesday 14th May, causing landslides and widespread flooding, in which more than 78,000 people had to leave their homes.

LONDON, 21 May 2013 (IRIN) - Every year, hundreds of thousands of people are forced from their homes by violence or natural disasters. But the face of displacement is changing: While the popular view of displacement is one of sprawling rural camps, displaced people are now just as likely to be living in urban areas, often hidden from view.

The Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG), based at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), has explored this phenomenon in a series of studies called “Sanctuary in the City?”, which examines displacement conditions and policies in eight urban centres around the world.

HPG’s Simone Haysom told IRIN, “Urban displacement is the future of what displacement is going to look like. Many of the displaced come from cities and are not going to put up with camp conditions. Already more than half are in urban areas, and that percentage is only going to grow, except where governments enforce strict encampment policies. And humanitarians are not equipped with the right tools and resources to deal with urban displacement.”

Camps versus cities

Keeping displaced populations in refugee camps or internally displaced persons (IDP) camps simplifies administration for relief agencies. “Humanitarian operations in urban areas can be more costly and time-consuming,” according to the UN Refugee Agency’s 2012 State of the World’s Refugees report.

“In contrast to refugee camps, humanitarian actors in towns and cities often know little about the food security and nutritional status of urban refugees and IDPs,” the report states.

But as the world grows increasingly urbanized, displaced populations are increasingly gravitating to cities. “Unlike a closed camp, cities present obvious opportunities to stay anonymous, make money, and build a better future,” says UNHCR’s website.

Still, encampment policies are attractive to governments struggling to keep up with the service demands in urban areas, where the added presence of displaced populations could overextend resources and cause resentment among local residents.

Katy Long of the London School of Economics, who works on issues arising from protracted displacements, said, “Eighty percent of displaced people are hosted in developing countries, and they compete for resources. The politics of nationalism play into it too, and the encampment process and the aid which goes with it provide opportunities to pass the costs on [to aid agencies]. Camps may not address the root problems and may leave refugees and IDPs extremely vulnerable, but they make sense in terms of political economy.”

In denial

HPG’s research found that government officials often assert, against all evidence, that displacement is temporary problem.

This was the case in Syria, where the government seemed to be in denial about farmers and herders who had been driven into Damascus by drought and land loss. The HPG study (conducted in 2011, before current conflict reached the capital) found that the government consistently stressed the temporary nature of this displacement, and tried to limit assistance to the squalid displacement camps on the edge of Damascus “to avoid creating a culture of dependency.”

The study’s authors wrote, “Even if the government and the international community appear to portray the displacement… as temporary… the scale of losses in northeast Syria is huge, and return does not seem to be possible without… a long-term strategy aimed at restoring the viability of rural livelihood systems in these areas.”

Similarly, authorities in Afghanistan are reluctant to accept that new arrivals flocking into the capital, Kabul, are there to stay. The HPG Kabul study observed that, “The de facto policy of the government at all levels is that displacement is a temporary phenomenon, and that in time people will return to their rural areas of origin.”

Such assumptions can limit assistance. According to the study, “One senior… official… explained why he had refused an international agency… permission to build temporary toilets and wells in one settlement, on the grounds that ‘IDPs are here for a short time and they don’t need a bathroom and a well in this situation... When we provide them with these services they will never move back to their areas.’”

Long told IRIN that in reality more than two-thirds of the world’s IDPs have been displaced for more than five years, but authorities are often unwilling to face this fact, partly because it reflects badly on them.

“In Afghanistan, for instance, if they admit that they still have a displacement problem, they are admitting that the peace is still fragile and imperfect. But rather than only looking for permanent solutions, we have to learn to live with people being displaced at this moment and focus on making their displacement better, because policies often make displacement a far worse experience than it needs to be,” Long said.

Opportunities for settlement

The HPG researchers in Kabul found that an overwhelming majority of the displaced said they intended to settle permanently in the city. Evidence from elsewhere suggests that, if allowed to do so, they could eventually integrate and make new lives for themselves.

Even 60 years after their arrival, the Palestinians in Damascus are still officially considered refugees, but many have moved out of areas designated as refugee camps and into better housing. The “camps” are now home to a mixed population including migrant workers, IDPs and poor Syrians.

Integration may be easier now because many developing-world conurbations are cities of newcomers. One HPG study showed that virtually everyone living in Yei, a town in South Sudan, had come from somewhere else. New arrivals are also prevalent in more established urban areas like Nairobi, Kenya; one study estimates only 20 percent of those under 35 were born in the city.

In Yei, Nairobi and Kabul, HPG found that the displaced were in circumstances similar to other newcomers: they were relegated to informal settlements with few or no facilities, struggling to find decent housing and earn a living. Long, of the London School of Economics, says experts now wonder whether these situations should be tackled as a general development challenge, rather than differentiating between IDPs and other urban poor.

“There are some places where we need to focus,” she told IRIN, “such as the legal status of refugees, who often don’t have the correct paperwork to be in the city. But rather than pulling out displacement and putting it in a separate box, a lot of solutions work best if they are community-based, not least because then we are not privileging one group over another and building resentment against the displaced.”

eb/rz

LONDON, 21 May 2013 (IRIN) - Every year, hundreds of thousands of people are forced from their homes by violence or natural disasters. But the face of displacement is changing: While the popular view of displacement is one of sprawling rural camps, displaced people are now just as likely to be living in urban areas, often hidden from view.

The Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG), based at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), has explored this phenomenon in a series of studies called “Sanctuary in the City?”, which examines displacement conditions and policies in eight urban centres around the world.

HPG’s Simone Haysom told IRIN, “Urban displacement is the future of what displacement is going to look like. Many of the displaced come from cities and are not going to put up with camp conditions. Already more than half are in urban areas, and that percentage is only going to grow, except where governments enforce strict encampment policies. And humanitarians are not equipped with the right tools and resources to deal with urban displacement.”

Camps versus cities

Keeping displaced populations in refugee camps or internally displaced persons (IDP) camps simplifies administration for relief agencies. “Humanitarian operations in urban areas can be more costly and time-consuming,” according to the UN Refugee Agency’s 2012 State of the World’s Refugees report.

“In contrast to refugee camps, humanitarian actors in towns and cities often know little about the food security and nutritional status of urban refugees and IDPs,” the report states.

But as the world grows increasingly urbanized, displaced populations are increasingly gravitating to cities. “Unlike a closed camp, cities present obvious opportunities to stay anonymous, make money, and build a better future,” says UNHCR’s website.

Still, encampment policies are attractive to governments struggling to keep up with the service demands in urban areas, where the added presence of displaced populations could overextend resources and cause resentment among local residents.

Katy Long of the London School of Economics, who works on issues arising from protracted displacements, said, “Eighty percent of displaced people are hosted in developing countries, and they compete for resources. The politics of nationalism play into it too, and the encampment process and the aid which goes with it provide opportunities to pass the costs on [to aid agencies]. Camps may not address the root problems and may leave refugees and IDPs extremely vulnerable, but they make sense in terms of political economy.”

In denial

HPG’s research found that government officials often assert, against all evidence, that displacement is temporary problem.

This was the case in Syria, where the government seemed to be in denial about farmers and herders who had been driven into Damascus by drought and land loss. The HPG study (conducted in 2011, before current conflict reached the capital) found that the government consistently stressed the temporary nature of this displacement, and tried to limit assistance to the squalid displacement camps on the edge of Damascus “to avoid creating a culture of dependency.”

The study’s authors wrote, “Even if the government and the international community appear to portray the displacement… as temporary… the scale of losses in northeast Syria is huge, and return does not seem to be possible without… a long-term strategy aimed at restoring the viability of rural livelihood systems in these areas.”

Similarly, authorities in Afghanistan are reluctant to accept that new arrivals flocking into the capital, Kabul, are there to stay. The HPG Kabul study observed that, “The de facto policy of the government at all levels is that displacement is a temporary phenomenon, and that in time people will return to their rural areas of origin.”

Such assumptions can limit assistance. According to the study, “One senior… official… explained why he had refused an international agency… permission to build temporary toilets and wells in one settlement, on the grounds that ‘IDPs are here for a short time and they don’t need a bathroom and a well in this situation... When we provide them with these services they will never move back to their areas.’”

Long told IRIN that in reality more than two-thirds of the world’s IDPs have been displaced for more than five years, but authorities are often unwilling to face this fact, partly because it reflects badly on them.

“In Afghanistan, for instance, if they admit that they still have a displacement problem, they are admitting that the peace is still fragile and imperfect. But rather than only looking for permanent solutions, we have to learn to live with people being displaced at this moment and focus on making their displacement better, because policies often make displacement a far worse experience than it needs to be,” Long said.

Opportunities for settlement

The HPG researchers in Kabul found that an overwhelming majority of the displaced said they intended to settle permanently in the city. Evidence from elsewhere suggests that, if allowed to do so, they could eventually integrate and make new lives for themselves.

Even 60 years after their arrival, the Palestinians in Damascus are still officially considered refugees, but many have moved out of areas designated as refugee camps and into better housing. The “camps” are now home to a mixed population including migrant workers, IDPs and poor Syrians.

Integration may be easier now because many developing-world conurbations are cities of newcomers. One HPG study showed that virtually everyone living in Yei, a town in South Sudan, had come from somewhere else. New arrivals are also prevalent in more established urban areas like Nairobi, Kenya; one study estimates only 20 percent of those under 35 were born in the city.

In Yei, Nairobi and Kabul, HPG found that the displaced were in circumstances similar to other newcomers: they were relegated to informal settlements with few or no facilities, struggling to find decent housing and earn a living. Long, of the London School of Economics, says experts now wonder whether these situations should be tackled as a general development challenge, rather than differentiating between IDPs and other urban poor.

“There are some places where we need to focus,” she told IRIN, “such as the legal status of refugees, who often don’t have the correct paperwork to be in the city. But rather than pulling out displacement and putting it in a separate box, a lot of solutions work best if they are community-based, not least because then we are not privileging one group over another and building resentment against the displaced.”

eb/rz

I. Introduction

1. The present report is submitted pursuant to paragraph 17 of Security Council resolution 2075 (2012), in which the Council requested that I continue to inform it of progress in the implementation of the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), and to bring to its attention any serious violation of the 20 June 2011 Agreement between the Government of the Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement on Temporary Arrangements for the Administration and Security of the Abyei Area (S/2011/384, annex). The report provides an update on the situation in Abyei and on the deployment and operations of UNISFA since my previous report, of 28 March 2013 (S/2013/198). It also provides an update on progress made in the implementation of the additional tasks mandated to UNISFA under Security Council resolution 2024 (2011) related to the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism.

Summary: 21 May 2013, Brussels - The EU will provide some €37 million to strengthen the fight against piracy in several Eastern and Southern African countries through support for the Programme to promote Regional Maritime Security (MASE).

In the past decade, the level of maritime insecurity in the region's waters has become the highest in the world, undermining development and affecting the well being of millions of people.

The EU has been present in the region already since 2008 to address the deteriorating situation and to harden ships against attack. Thanks to these efforts piracy has decreased from 299 attacks in 2011 to 111 in 2012 (a reduction of over 62%), while the number of hijackings dropped from 25 to 12. So far, attacks remain at this low level in 2013. Yet the situation remains reversible.

"This new European support marks a step forward in the fight against piracy because it demonstrates the EU's on-going commitment to combatting this complex problem. Strengthening security in the maritime routes is crucial for us because it will help boosting trade and growth in the region, which would enormously improve people's lives." said Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs.

"This new funding is another sign of our commitment to stamping out piracy. It forms part of our comprehensive approach to assisting countries in the region, which means that we deal with the causes as well as the symptoms of piracy. We have made huge strides over last few years, and this money will help to build on the progress we have made by strengthening legal systems, improving financial controls and training young men to find alternatives to piracy." said High Representative Catherine Ashton.

The new programme will help to develop the legal and judicial system of countries in the region, so that they are better equipped for the arrest and transfer of pirates. Financial oversight systems will also be strengthened, by providing training for the authorities to prevent the movement of funds contributing to, or resulting from piracy. Capacity-building (for example, sharing expertise and implementing training), and providing material logistic support on security, will help to improve surveillance and patrol of the coastline.

In Somalia, in particular, the programme will also carry out anti-piracy awareness campaigns in areas where piracy is prevalent; as well as providing vulnerable groups of young men with training so that they successfully pursue alternative vocations. In this way, Somali administration and communities will be helped to initiate home-grown solutions to these problems.

Background

The MASE programme is part of a wider package of development and political efforts by the European Union in Somalia and the Horn of Africa region. EU support to the region has enabled the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to reach its total strength of 17,731 uniformed personnel, and access to basic, primary and secondary education for more than 40,000 students since 2010.

Some EU programmes addressing piracy and armed robbery in the region include: the European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR Operation ATALANTA), and the implementation of Best Management Practices, or BMPs, (self-protection measures guidelines to reduce the threat of Somali piracy), the Instrument for Stability Critical Maritime Routes Programme projects for the Western Indian Ocean, in particular through information sharing and maritime law enforcement capacity building; as well as the EUCAP Nestor Mission on Regional Maritime Capacity Building.

This programme follows on from an initial preparatory MASE project, which was approved at the end of 2011, and is being financed from the 10th European Development Fund, under the Eastern and Southern Africa andWestern Indian Ocean(ESA-IO) region. It involves countries belonging to four regional organisations (COMESA, the EAC, the IOC and IGAD).

For more information:

Website of DG Development and Cooperation- EuropeAid

http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/index_en.htm

Website of the European Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs

http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/piebalgs/index_en.htm

Website of the European External Action Service

http://www.eeas.europa.eu/piracy/

Somalia London Conference:

https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/somalia-conference-2013

CCRIF Quarterly Report 1 December 2012 – 28 February 2013

The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) is the first multi-country risk pool in the world, and is also the first insurance instrument to successfully develop parametric policies backed by both traditional and capital markets. It is a regional catastrophe fund for Caribbean governments designed to limit the financial impact of devastating hurricanes and earthquakes by quickly providing financial liquidity when a policy is triggered.

CCRIF was developed through funding from the Japanese Government, and was capitalised through contributions to a multi-donor Trust Fund by the Government of Canada, the European Union, the World Bank, the governments of the UK and France, the Caribbean Development Bank and the governments of Ireland and Bermuda, as well as through membership fees paid by participating governments. Sixteen governments are currently members of the fund: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago and Turks & Caicos Islands.

Armed men in hospitals, harassing patients; health facilities used to identify and apprehend enemies; clinics abandoned and hospitals destroyed. Overwhelmed emergency services, where medical staff are in terror of reprisals for having provided care for a patient; ambulances blocked from accessing the wounded, or held up for hours at checkpoints; entrenched animosities and divisions denying certain groups of people the medical assistance they need.

The ICRC and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) strongly condemn any act that deliberately aims to distort medical action, and to deny healthcare to the wounded and the sick. A patient cannot be an enemy. The sick and the injured are not combatants. Medical ethics oblige all health workers to care for all patients and to keep the medical act free from interference. Medical staff must act impartially, prioritising the delivery of care solely on medical grounds. In order to do that, the places where they work - ambulances, mobile clinics, health posts and hospitals - must be safe, neutral spaces.

However, from Syria to the Democratic Republic of Congo, from Bahrain to Mali to Sudan, it seems that this impartiality is not being respected. And civilians are paying a heavy price, as several thousands are being deprived of medical attention.

Since last December, 29 people have been killed while carrying out polio vaccination campaigns in Nigeria and Pakistan, two of the three countries where the disease remains endemic. As in all many other cases of violence against health facilities and workers, the tragedy of the victims' deaths and the pain of their families are only the most direct consequences of these attacks. Thousands of children who would have been immunised have been left at risk of polio and paralysis. Health organisations have been forced to review their activities, and add security issues to the challenges of health care provision.

The overall scale of the problem is alarming. Most incidents that in one way or another deny the right of wounded and sick people to health care go unreported. Hidden from health workers, governments and international organisations, unknown but certainly large numbers of people continue to suffer illness or injury without recourse to medical care.

MSF and the ICRC are seeking to expose the scale and the consequences of the threat to health care. The objective is to bring about real change on the ground, so that people can access the medical care they need without fear, whoever and wherever they are.

The performance and behaviour of health workers themselves - staff involved in management, administration and transportation as well as diagnosis, prevention and treatment - is critical. Securing acceptance for their work from all communities and political and military groups is an essential prerequisite to being able to operate in sensitive and volatile contexts. This requires an unequivocal demonstration of respect for medical ethics and impartiality.

And there are cases, for example in places in Afghanistan in which our organisations work, where medical facilities have been kept safe, and healthcare has been assured, despite a context of brutal violence. If we have to make sure these cases do not remain remarkable exceptions to the rule, if we have to foster responsibility for the protection of healthcare among all actors, we need a concerted, global effort.

Symbols clearly indicate medical services, such as the Red Cross and Red Crescent, or the MSF insignia, must oblige respect and the protection of medical practice. When they are exploited, or ignored, no amounts of sandbags will offer protection to patients and health workers.

The real challenge is to find ways to prevent such acts in the first place. The primary responsibility to prevent the targeting, obstruction, or abuse of the delivery of medical assistance lies with states and all parties engaged in conflict. Health workers must be supported in carrying out their medical duties, and states must ensure that all possible measures are taken to protect medical action through national legislation, and that these measures are implemented.

The protection of the sick and the injured lies at the heart of the Geneva Conventions, yet violence - in all its forms - against health facilities and personnel represents one of the most serious yet neglected humanitarian issues of today. The medical act benefits everyone - combatant and non-combatant - and anyone in need should be able to access it, unconditionally.

This op-ed by Dr. Unni Karunakara, International President of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and ICRC President Peter Maurer was orginally published by Al Jazeera.

Armed men in hospitals, harassing patients; health facilities used to identify and apprehend enemies; clinics abandoned and hospitals destroyed. Overwhelmed emergency services, where medical staff are in terror of reprisals for having provided care for a patient; ambulances blocked from accessing the wounded, or held up for hours at checkpoints; entrenched animosities and divisions denying certain groups of people the medical assistance they need.

The ICRC and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) strongly condemn any act that deliberately aims to distort medical action, and to deny healthcare to the wounded and the sick. A patient cannot be an enemy. The sick and the injured are not combatants. Medical ethics oblige all health workers to care for all patients and to keep the medical act free from interference. Medical staff must act impartially, prioritising the delivery of care solely on medical grounds. In order to do that, the places where they work - ambulances, mobile clinics, health posts and hospitals - must be safe, neutral spaces.

However, from Syria to the Democratic Republic of Congo, from Bahrain to Mali to Sudan, it seems that this impartiality is not being respected. And civilians are paying a heavy price, as several thousands are being deprived of medical attention.

Since last December, 29 people have been killed while carrying out polio vaccination campaigns in Nigeria and Pakistan, two of the three countries where the disease remains endemic. As in all many other cases of violence against health facilities and workers, the tragedy of the victims' deaths and the pain of their families are only the most direct consequences of these attacks. Thousands of children who would have been immunised have been left at risk of polio and paralysis. Health organisations have been forced to review their activities, and add security issues to the challenges of health care provision.

The overall scale of the problem is alarming. Most incidents that in one way or another deny the right of wounded and sick people to health care go unreported. Hidden from health workers, governments and international organisations, unknown but certainly large numbers of people continue to suffer illness or injury without recourse to medical care.

MSF and the ICRC are seeking to expose the scale and the consequences of the threat to health care. The objective is to bring about real change on the ground, so that people can access the medical care they need without fear, whoever and wherever they are.

The performance and behaviour of health workers themselves - staff involved in management, administration and transportation as well as diagnosis, prevention and treatment - is critical. Securing acceptance for their work from all communities and political and military groups is an essential prerequisite to being able to operate in sensitive and volatile contexts. This requires an unequivocal demonstration of respect for medical ethics and impartiality.

And there are cases, for example in places in Afghanistan in which our organisations work, where medical facilities have been kept safe, and healthcare has been assured, despite a context of brutal violence. If we have to make sure these cases do not remain remarkable exceptions to the rule, if we have to foster responsibility for the protection of healthcare among all actors, we need a concerted, global effort.

Symbols clearly indicate medical services, such as the Red Cross and Red Crescent, or the MSF insignia, must oblige respect and the protection of medical practice. When they are exploited, or ignored, no amounts of sandbags will offer protection to patients and health workers.

The real challenge is to find ways to prevent such acts in the first place. The primary responsibility to prevent the targeting, obstruction, or abuse of the delivery of medical assistance lies with states and all parties engaged in conflict. Health workers must be supported in carrying out their medical duties, and states must ensure that all possible measures are taken to protect medical action through national legislation, and that these measures are implemented.

The protection of the sick and the injured lies at the heart of the Geneva Conventions, yet violence - in all its forms - against health facilities and personnel represents one of the most serious yet neglected humanitarian issues of today. The medical act benefits everyone - combatant and non-combatant - and anyone in need should be able to access it, unconditionally.

This op-ed by Dr. Unni Karunakara, International President of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and ICRC President Peter Maurer was orginally published by Al Jazeera.

Armed men in hospitals, harassing patients; health facilities used to identify and apprehend enemies; clinics abandoned and hospitals destroyed. Overwhelmed emergency services, where medical staff are in terror of reprisals for having provided care for a patient; ambulances blocked from accessing the wounded, or held up for hours at checkpoints; entrenched animosities and divisions denying certain groups of people the medical assistance they need.

The ICRC and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) strongly condemn any act that deliberately aims to distort medical action, and to deny healthcare to the wounded and the sick. A patient cannot be an enemy. The sick and the injured are not combatants. Medical ethics oblige all health workers to care for all patients and to keep the medical act free from interference. Medical staff must act impartially, prioritising the delivery of care solely on medical grounds. In order to do that, the places where they work - ambulances, mobile clinics, health posts and hospitals - must be safe, neutral spaces.

However, from Syria to the Democratic Republic of Congo, from Bahrain to Mali to Sudan, it seems that this impartiality is not being respected. And civilians are paying a heavy price, as several thousands are being deprived of medical attention.

Since last December, 29 people have been killed while carrying out polio vaccination campaigns in Nigeria and Pakistan, two of the three countries where the disease remains endemic. As in all many other cases of violence against health facilities and workers, the tragedy of the victims' deaths and the pain of their families are only the most direct consequences of these attacks. Thousands of children who would have been immunised have been left at risk of polio and paralysis. Health organisations have been forced to review their activities, and add security issues to the challenges of health care provision.

The overall scale of the problem is alarming. Most incidents that in one way or another deny the right of wounded and sick people to health care go unreported. Hidden from health workers, governments and international organisations, unknown but certainly large numbers of people continue to suffer illness or injury without recourse to medical care.

MSF and the ICRC are seeking to expose the scale and the consequences of the threat to health care. The objective is to bring about real change on the ground, so that people can access the medical care they need without fear, whoever and wherever they are.

The performance and behaviour of health workers themselves - staff involved in management, administration and transportation as well as diagnosis, prevention and treatment - is critical. Securing acceptance for their work from all communities and political and military groups is an essential prerequisite to being able to operate in sensitive and volatile contexts. This requires an unequivocal demonstration of respect for medical ethics and impartiality.

And there are cases, for example in places in Afghanistan in which our organisations work, where medical facilities have been kept safe, and healthcare has been assured, despite a context of brutal violence. If we have to make sure these cases do not remain remarkable exceptions to the rule, if we have to foster responsibility for the protection of healthcare among all actors, we need a concerted, global effort.

Symbols clearly indicate medical services, such as the Red Cross and Red Crescent, or the MSF insignia, must oblige respect and the protection of medical practice. When they are exploited, or ignored, no amounts of sandbags will offer protection to patients and health workers.

The real challenge is to find ways to prevent such acts in the first place. The primary responsibility to prevent the targeting, obstruction, or abuse of the delivery of medical assistance lies with states and all parties engaged in conflict. Health workers must be supported in carrying out their medical duties, and states must ensure that all possible measures are taken to protect medical action through national legislation, and that these measures are implemented.

The protection of the sick and the injured lies at the heart of the Geneva Conventions, yet violence - in all its forms - against health facilities and personnel represents one of the most serious yet neglected humanitarian issues of today. The medical act benefits everyone - combatant and non-combatant - and anyone in need should be able to access it, unconditionally.

This op-ed by Dr. Unni Karunakara, International President of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and ICRC President Peter Maurer was orginally published by Al Jazeera.

Armed men in hospitals, harassing patients; health facilities used to identify and apprehend enemies; clinics abandoned and hospitals destroyed. Overwhelmed emergency services, where medical staff are in terror of reprisals for having provided care for a patient; ambulances blocked from accessing the wounded, or held up for hours at checkpoints; entrenched animosities and divisions denying certain groups of people the medical assistance they need.

The ICRC and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) strongly condemn any act that deliberately aims to distort medical action, and to deny healthcare to the wounded and the sick. A patient cannot be an enemy. The sick and the injured are not combatants. Medical ethics oblige all health workers to care for all patients and to keep the medical act free from interference. Medical staff must act impartially, prioritising the delivery of care solely on medical grounds. In order to do that, the places where they work - ambulances, mobile clinics, health posts and hospitals - must be safe, neutral spaces.

However, from Syria to the Democratic Republic of Congo, from Bahrain to Mali to Sudan, it seems that this impartiality is not being respected. And civilians are paying a heavy price, as several thousands are being deprived of medical attention.

Since last December, 29 people have been killed while carrying out polio vaccination campaigns in Nigeria and Pakistan, two of the three countries where the disease remains endemic. As in all many other cases of violence against health facilities and workers, the tragedy of the victims' deaths and the pain of their families are only the most direct consequences of these attacks. Thousands of children who would have been immunised have been left at risk of polio and paralysis. Health organisations have been forced to review their activities, and add security issues to the challenges of health care provision.

The overall scale of the problem is alarming. Most incidents that in one way or another deny the right of wounded and sick people to health care go unreported. Hidden from health workers, governments and international organisations, unknown but certainly large numbers of people continue to suffer illness or injury without recourse to medical care.

MSF and the ICRC are seeking to expose the scale and the consequences of the threat to health care. The objective is to bring about real change on the ground, so that people can access the medical care they need without fear, whoever and wherever they are.

The performance and behaviour of health workers themselves - staff involved in management, administration and transportation as well as diagnosis, prevention and treatment - is critical. Securing acceptance for their work from all communities and political and military groups is an essential prerequisite to being able to operate in sensitive and volatile contexts. This requires an unequivocal demonstration of respect for medical ethics and impartiality.

And there are cases, for example in places in Afghanistan in which our organisations work, where medical facilities have been kept safe, and healthcare has been assured, despite a context of brutal violence. If we have to make sure these cases do not remain remarkable exceptions to the rule, if we have to foster responsibility for the protection of healthcare among all actors, we need a concerted, global effort.

Symbols clearly indicate medical services, such as the Red Cross and Red Crescent, or the MSF insignia, must oblige respect and the protection of medical practice. When they are exploited, or ignored, no amounts of sandbags will offer protection to patients and health workers.

The real challenge is to find ways to prevent such acts in the first place. The primary responsibility to prevent the targeting, obstruction, or abuse of the delivery of medical assistance lies with states and all parties engaged in conflict. Health workers must be supported in carrying out their medical duties, and states must ensure that all possible measures are taken to protect medical action through national legislation, and that these measures are implemented.

The protection of the sick and the injured lies at the heart of the Geneva Conventions, yet violence - in all its forms - against health facilities and personnel represents one of the most serious yet neglected humanitarian issues of today. The medical act benefits everyone - combatant and non-combatant - and anyone in need should be able to access it, unconditionally.

This op-ed by Dr. Unni Karunakara, International President of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and ICRC President Peter Maurer was orginally published by Al Jazeera.

In this issue

CCRIF and the Caribbean Development Bank Host Strategic Donor Meeting
CCRIF Events and Happenings Some snapshots
CCRIF Implements 2013
Extra-Regional Scholarship Application Process Update on 2013/14
CCRIF Policy Renewals