scholarly journals COVID-19 in humanitarian settings: documenting and sharing context-specific programmatic experiences

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Neha S. Singh ◽  
Orit Abrahim ◽  
Chiara Altare ◽  
Karl Blanchet ◽  
Caroline Favas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Field Experiences ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Humanitarian Settings ◽  
Humanitarian Organizations ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Guidance Documents ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Context Specific

AbstractHumanitarian organizations have developed innovative and context specific interventions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as guidance has been normative in nature and most are not humanitarian specific. In April 2020, three universities developed a COVID-19 humanitarian-specific website (www.covid19humanitarian.com) to allow humanitarians from the field to upload their experiences or be interviewed by academics to share their creative responses adapted to their specific country challenges in a standardised manner. These field experiences are reviewed by the three universities together with various guidance documents and uploaded to the website using an operational framework. The website currently hosts 135 guidance documents developed by 65 different organizations, and 65 field experiences shared by 29 organizations from 27 countries covering 38 thematic areas. Examples of challenges and innovative solutions from humanitarian settings are provided for triage and sexual and gender-based violence. Offering open access resources on a neutral platform by academics can provide a space for constructive dialogue among humanitarians at the country, regional and global levels, allowing humanitarian actors at the country level to have a strong and central voice. We believe that this neutral and openly accessible platform can serve as an example for future large-scale emergencies and epidemics.

scholarly journals COVID-19 guidance in humanitarian settings: The need for dynamic guidelines adapted to changing humanitarian crisis contexts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Odlum ◽  
Rosemary James ◽  
Audrey Mahieu ◽  
Karl Blanchet ◽  
Chiara Altare ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiences ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Humanitarian Crisis ◽  
Humanitarian Settings ◽  
Complex Process ◽  
Global Guidance ◽  
Guidance Documents ◽  
Context Specific

Abstract Background: For humanitarian organisations to respond effectively to complex crises, they require access to up-to-date evidence-based guidance. In addition, the COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the importance of adapting and updating global guidance to context-specific and evolving needs in fragile and humanitarian settings. Our study aimed to understand the use of evidence in humanitarian responses during COVID-19.Methods: We collected and analysed COVID-19 guidance documents, and conducted semi-structured interviews remotely with a variety of humanitarian organisations responding and adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic. We used the COVID-19 Humanitarian platform, a website established by three universities in March 2020, to solicit, collate and document these experiences and knowledge.Results: We collected 180 guidance documents, and after excluding those that did not meet our inclusion criteria, analysed 131. We conducted 80 interviews with humanitarian organisations in the field, generating 61 published field experiences. Although COVID-19 guidance was quickly developed and disseminated in the initial phases of the crisis (from January to May 2020), updates or ongoing revision of the guidance has been limited. Interviews conducted between April and September 2020 showed that humanitarian organisations have responded to COVID-19 in innovative and context-specific ways, but have often had to adapt existing guidance to inform their operations in complex humanitarian settings.Conclusion: Experiences from the field indicate that adopting guidance to respond and adapt to COVID-19 is a complex process requiring innovation and collaboration based on the local context and resource availability. Global guidance aimed at humanitarian actors could be improved through responsive incorporation of contextualised field experiences in a timely manner using real-time feedback loops through online platforms like the COVID-19 Humanitarian platform.

scholarly journals Health Status and Health Care Needs of Drought-Related Migrants in the Horn of Africa—A Qualitative Investigation

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (16) ◽  
pp. 5917
Author(s):  
Kristina Lindvall ◽  
John Kinsman ◽  
Atakelti Abraha ◽  
Abdirisak Dalmar ◽  
Mohamed Farah Abdullahi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Horn Of Africa ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender

Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, situated in the Horn of Africa, are highly vulnerable to climate change, which manifests itself through increasing temperatures, erratic rains and prolonged droughts. Millions of people have to flee from droughts or floods either as cross-border refugees or as internally displaced persons (IDPs). The aim of this study was to identify knowledge status and gaps regarding public health consequences of large-scale displacement in these countries. After a scoping review, we conducted qualitative in-depth interviews during 2018 with 39 stakeholders from different disciplines and agencies in these three countries. A validation workshop was held with a selection of 13 interviewees and four project partners. Malnutrition and a lack of vaccination of displaced people are well-known challenges, while mental health problems and gender-based violence (GBV) are less visible to stakeholders. In particular, the needs of IDPs are not well understood. The treatment of mental health and GBV is insufficient, and IDPs have inadequate access to essential health services in refugee camps. Needs assessment and program evaluations with a patients’ perspective are either lacking or inadequate in most situations. The Horn of Africa is facing chronic food insecurity, poor population health and mass displacement. IDPs are an underserved group, and mental health services are lacking. A development approach is necessary that moves beyond emergency responses to the building of long-term resilience, the provision of livelihood support and protection to reduce displacement by droughts.

Effects of migration on women’s psychosocial health

2021 ◽  
pp. 137-140
Author(s):  
Mauro Carta ◽  
Giulia Cossu ◽  
Caterina La Cascia
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Psychosocial Health ◽  
African Women ◽  
Migrant Women ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Humanitarian Organizations ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender

The scientific community and humanitarian organizations have produced a considerable amount of research on the mental health status of migrants. However, few studies have looked at the mental health of migrant women. This chapter is aimed to study this phenomenon, beginning with an examination of risks related to sexual and gender-based violence in the different steps of the migration process, and the psychological implications of the migratory process on Mediterranean African women in Europe. The migration and different forms of violence on women are associated with psychopathological manifestations such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, adaptation, and trauma- and stressor-related disorders. There is very limited knowledge on the lived experiences of migrant women and in future studies researchers should investigate the relationship between migration, gender, and mental health, in order to encourage the policies and prevention/treatment programmes for women and for psychosocial issues that may arise.

scholarly journals Hybrid Peacebuilding Approaches in Africa: Harnessing Complementary Parallels

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
MaryAnne Iwara
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
International Peacebuilding ◽  
Management Approaches ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Customary Practices

Many of the most pressing conflicts across sub-Saharan Africa today—including violent extremism, sexual and gender-based violence, pastoralist/farmer conflicts, and criminal banditry—are shaped by local, community-level drivers. Despite these local drivers, however, international peacebuilding approaches often ignore or neglect bottom-up, grassroots strategies for addressing them. Often, international efforts to contribute to the prevention and management of local conflicts depend heavily on large-scale, expensive, and external interventions like peacekeepers, while under-investing in or by-passing traditional/customary mechanisms and resources that uphold locally defined values of peace, tolerance, solidarity, and respect. Recognizing that these traditional and customary practices themselves sometimes have their own legacies of violence and inequality, this policy note emphasizes the possibility of combining aspects of traditional peacebuilding mechanisms with international conflict management approaches to harness the benefits of both.

scholarly journals The syndemic of COVID-19 and gender-based violence in humanitarian settings: leveraging lessons from Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (11) ◽  
pp. e004194
Author(s):  
Lindsay Stark ◽  
Melissa Meinhart ◽  
Luissa Vahedi ◽  
Simone E Carter ◽  
Elisabeth Roesch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Republic Of Congo ◽  
Humanitarian Settings ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender

“You Are a Part of the Solution”: Negotiating Gender-Based Violence and Engendering Change in Urban Informal Settlements in Mumbai, India

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (11) ◽  
pp. 1336-1360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Proshant Chakraborty ◽  
Nayreen Daruwalla ◽  
Anuja Jayaraman ◽  
Shanti Pantvaidya
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Front Line ◽  
Front Line Workers ◽  
Urban Informal Settlements ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Depth Interviews

This article explores how women front-line workers engage with domestic and gender-based violence in the urban informal settlements of Dharavi in Mumbai, India. We conducted in-depth interviews with 13 voluntary front-line workers, along with ethnographic fieldwork in Dharavi, as a part of a pilot study. Our findings contribute to literature on context-specific approaches to understanding gender-based violence and “models” to prevent domestic violence in urban micro-spaces. Furthermore, we also discuss notions of “change” ( badlaav) that the front-line workers experience. Finally, this article presents implications for socially engaged ethnographic research, as well as contextual and grounded insights on ways to reduce gender-based and domestic violence.

Photos from the Quarter

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-112
Keyword(s):  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Israeli Occupation

This sample of photos from 16 August–15 November 2019 aims to convey a sense of Palestinian life during this quarter. The images capture Palestinians across the diaspora as they fight to exercise their rights: to run for office, to vote, and to protest both Israeli occupation and gender-based violence.

THE SINS OF THE FATHER: GENDER- BASED VIOLENCE IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyn Snodgrass
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Black Women ◽  
South African ◽  
African Women ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender ◽  
South African Women

This article explores the complexities of gender-based violence in post-apartheid South Africa and interrogates the socio-political issues at the intersection of class, ‘race’ and gender, which impact South African women. Gender equality is up against a powerful enemy in societies with strong patriarchal traditions such as South Africa, where women of all ‘races’ and cultures have been oppressed, exploited and kept in positions of subservience for generations. In South Africa, where sexism and racism intersect, black women as a group have suffered the major brunt of this discrimination and are at the receiving end of extreme violence. South Africa’s gender-based violence is fuelled historically by the ideologies of apartheid (racism) and patriarchy (sexism), which are symbiotically premised on systemic humiliation that devalues and debases whole groups of people and renders them inferior. It is further argued that the current neo-patriarchal backlash in South Africa foments and sustains the subjugation of women and casts them as both victims and perpetuators of pervasive patriarchal values.

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