Safe water, disease control priorities during India-Nepal flooding

The World Health Organization is providing supplies and technical assistance in response to the deadly flooding in India and Nepal that has also displaced millions of people.

Heavy monsoonal rains on 18 August swelled the Kosi River to breaking point, resulting in flood waters breaching an embankment and causing severe flooding in Nepal's Sunsari district as well as in 16 districts of adjacent India's Bihar state. The river seems to have changed its course, flooding areas of Bihar that are not usually inundated.

More than 3 million people in over 1700 villages have been affected in India and 70 000 in Nepal. While search and rescue operations are ongoing, both countries will face immediate and medium term challenges in providing safe water, sanitation and access to health care to prevent and control communicable disease outbreaks.

"No outbreaks have been reported in India nor Nepal, but the flooding, risk for water- and vector-borne diseases due to the massive population displacements, hot climate, stretched hygiene and sanitation levels and eventual pools of stagnant water pools left behind by receding flood waters," said Dr Poonam Singh, Deputy Regional Director for WHO's South-East Asian Regional Office.

At least 56 people have died in the floods in India, according to the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, while more than 220 000 houses have been damaged. Measles immunizations will begin for all children aged up to 5 years in affected areas.

Indian authorities are leading relief efforts in the country's northern Bihar state and have established accommodation and health centres for thousands of displaced people. Authorities are providing 20 million chlorine tablets for water purification. WHO is in close contact with the Ministry of Health and is supplying 100 chloroscopes for measuring water quality, as well as health promotion and communications material related to measles immunization and public health awareness.

In Nepal, WHO has sent emergency medicines and equipment capable of treating more than 120 000 people for one month to flood-affected areas in the Sunsari district, where 27 shelters have been established. Additional anti-malaria and anti-diarrhoea supplies have also been deployed, while larger quantities of medicines have been pre-positioned in three hubs. Staff from WHO's Country Office have also joined field missions to respond to and assess health needs, as well as deliver medicines.

Nepal's Haripur, Shripur, Laukihi and Paschhim Kushaha districts are among the worst-affected by the flooding, which has also made the country's east-west highway impassable.

"With so many people forced from their homes into extremely challenging conditions, all effort must be made to ensure the supply of safe drinking water, food, sanitation and accommodation facilities, as well as essential medicines," Eric Laroche, Assistant Director-General for WHO's Health Action in Crises Cluster. (reliefweb)

GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS

August 5, 2008—The rapid rise in food prices has been a burden on the poor in developing countries, who spend roughly half of their household incomes on food. Soaring prices for staples such as rice, maize, and wheat have been compounded by rising prices at the gas pumps—leading to requests for emergency food aid in many countries around the world.
“How we respond to this double jeopardy of soaring food and fuel prices is a test of the global system’s commitment to help the most vulnerable,” said World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick, speaking on the sidelines of the recent G8 Summit in Japan. “It is a test we cannot afford to fail.”
In May 2008, the World Bank approved a new $1.2 billion rapid financing facility to address immediate needs arising from the food crisis. The Global Food Response Program (GFRP)aims to strike a balance between short-term food stabilization and measures to ensure countries are able to cope better in the medium term.
Under the program, countries can select from a menu of actions and investments most relevant to their individual situations, including programs to address price policies, social protection and nutrition, and the supply of seeds and fertilizers.
To date, the Bank has approved and begun disbursing $54 million in six countries. Programs totaling $69 million in eight additional countries are pending approval. An additional $440 million in grants is being earmarked for programs in another 16 countries.See the GFRP Project Statustable for details.

UNDERSTANDING THE CRISIS:

Soaring prices have been blamed on lower agricultural production, weather shocks, more meat consumption, and shifts to biofuel crops.
Wheat prices are up 120%.
Rice prices are up 75%.
Poor families spend up to 80% of their budget on food.

IMPACT:

Most countries in South Asia are net food importers and have suffered severe trade shocks.
A 2 kg bag of rice now costs half the daily income of a poor family in Bangladesh
In Indonesia, a 10% rise in rice prices means 2 million more people will be plunged into poverty, according to a recent assessment.

OVERCOMING THE CRISIS: 10 POINT PLAN

The Food Crisis: a Man-Made ProblemHigh fuel costs have resulted in higher agriculture costs, falling food stocks, and land shifted out of food production to produce biofuels. The international community should help those in danger today and ensure the poor don’t suffer this tragedy again.The task is clear, but not simple.

1. World Food Programme
Fully fund the World Food Programme's emergency needs
Support its drive to buy food aid locally
Ensure the unhampered movement of humanitarian assistance

2. Safety Nets Support safety nets, such as distributing food in schools or offering food for work, to quickly help those in severe distress.

3. Seeds and FertilizerGet seeds and fertilizer for the coming planting season to farmers in poor countries. The key is not just financing, but fast delivery systems.

4. Agricultural ResearchDouble spending on agricultural research and development to $800 million over the next 5 years through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research.

5. AgribusinessInvest more in agribusiness to tap into the private sector's ability to work across the value chain.

6. Risk ManagementDevelop innovative risk management tools and crop insurance to protect poor farmers and help build food security

7. BiofuelsEase subsidies, mandates and tariffs on biofuels derived from corn and oilseeds. Policymakers should consider "safety valves" that ease these policies when prices are high. The choice does not have to be food or fuel.

8. Export BansRemove export bans that have led to even higher world prices.28 countries have imposed such controls. Removing these bans could have a dramatic effect.

9. TradeConclude the Doha WTO trade deal to remove agricultural subsidies and tariffs and create a more efficient and fair global food trade. The need for multilateral rules has never been stronger.

10. Collective Action Work together to counter global risks. The challenges of energy, food and water will be drivers of the world economy and security. The time to act is now.

Community Based Performance Monitoring (CBPM)

Community Based Performance Monitoring (CBPM) was developed in The Gambia with support from the World Bank as one element in its promotion of social accountability in poverty reduction programs. Building on earlier work by CARE International in Malawi, CBPM combines elements of familiar participatory tools such as social audits and participatory rural appraisal. It has been scaled up nationally to monitor implementation of The Gambia’s Poverty Reduction Strategy, and has been introduced to a number of other African countries. CBPM enables local communities to negotiate reforms in the delivery of services such as primary education or village dispensaries. Information on the quality of service provision is generated through the use of structured focus group interactions with user groups as well as with service providers. Feedback from user groups to service providers is almost immediate, and changes are arrived at through mutual dialogue during an interface meeting. The community also tracks inputs by comparing actual facility assets and supplies against entitlements. The primary aim of the approach is community empowerment. Secondarily, CBPM can be used as an advocacy tool by aggregating community-generated data across multiple CBPM “community gatherings”. The paper (accompanied by an illustrated slide presentation) first outlines the origins and attributes of the CBPM approach. The CBPM process and outputs, and the experiences to date with variants of the CBPM approach in several African countries, are described. Finally, the paper reviews a number of ongoing strategic and operational challenges, and the potential for adaptation and scaling-up of the CBPM approach.
http://www.engagingcommunities2005.org/abstracts/S96-forster-r.html

CONVENTION ON CHILD RIGHTS TOOLS

Handling information for children's rightsThe importance of accessing relevant information and the necessity of an efficient system for handling it was recognized as a crucial component of its activities by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the treaty body responsible for monitoring the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, since its first meeting in 1991.In this spirit, UNICEF IRC has developed and published, since many years, internationally agreed information-handling tools that can strengthen access to data and effective information exchange.
CRC Clusters
In its Guidelines for Initial Reports and Periodic Reports, the Committee on the Rights of the Child has grouped the provisions of the Convention in clusters: "This approach reflects the Convention's holistic perspective of children's rights: that they are indivisible and interrelated, and that equal importance should be attached to each and every right recognized therein" (CRC/C/58, para.9). Clicking on the CRC Articles, the text of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is parsed according to the CRC Glossary terms.
I General measures of implementationArticle 4: implementation obligations Article 41: respect for existing standards Article 42: making Convention widely known Article 44(6): making reports widely available
II Definition of a childArticle 1:
III General principlesArticle 2: non-discrimination Article 3(1): best interest to be a primary consideration Article 3(2): State's obligations to ensure necessary care and protection Article 3(3): standards for institutions services and facilities Article 6: the right to life, survival and development (see also: VI Basic health and welfare) Article 12: respect for the views of the child
IV Civil rights and freedomsArticle 7: right to name, nationality and to know and be cared for by parents Article 8: preservation of child's identity Article 13: freedom of expression Article 14: freedom of thought, conscience and religion Article 15: freedom of association and peaceful assembly Article16: protection of privacy Article 17: child's access to information, and role of mass media Article 37(a): right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
V Family environment and alternative careArticle 5: parental guidance and child's evolving capacities Article 18(1) and (2): parental responsibilities and State's assistance Article 9: separation from parents Article 10: family reunification Article 11: illicit transfer and non-return Article 27(4): recovery of maintenance for the child Article 20: children deprived of their family environment Article 21: adoption Article 25: periodic review of placemnet and treatment Article19: protection from all forms of violence Article 39: rehabilitation and reintegration of victims of violence (see also: VIII - Special protection measures)
VI Basic health and welfareArticle 6: right to life, survival and development (see also: III - General principles) Article 18(3): support for working parents Article 23: rights of disabled children Article 24: right to health and health services Article 26: right to social security Article 27(1)-(3): right to adequate standard of living
VII Education, leisure and cultural activitiesArticle 28: right to education Article 29: aims of education Article 31: right to leisure, play and participation in cultural and artictic activities
VIII Special protection measuresA - Children in situations of emergency Article 22: refugee children Article 38: children and armed conflict Article 39: rehabilitation of child victims (see also: V Family environment and alternative care) B - Children involved with the system of administration of juvenile justice Article 40: administration of juvenile justice Article 37(a): prohibition of capital punishment and life imprisonment Article 37(b)-(d): restriction of liberty Article 39: rehabilitation and reintegration of child victims (see also: V Family environment and alternative care) C - Children in situations of exploitation Article 32: child labour Article 33: drug abuse Article 34: sexual exploitation Article 35: sale, trafficking and abduction Article 36: other forms of exploitation D - Children belonging to a minority or an indigenous group Article 30: (UNICEF)

CHILD RIGHTS

Child Rights are fundamental freedoms and the inherent rights of all human beings below the age of 18. These rights apply to every child, irrespective of the child's, parent's / legal guardian's race, colour, sex, creed or other status.The essential message is equality of opportunity. Girls should be given the same opportunities as boys. ALL children should have the same rights and should be given the same opportunity to enjoy an adequate standard of living.Why are child rights important?Children are innocent, trusting and full of hope. Their childhood should be happy and loving. Their lives should mature gradually, as they gain new experiences. But for many children, the reality of childhood is altogether different. 2 million Indian babies will die before they celebrate their first birthday. More girl children will be killed at birth than in any previous year. At least 35 million children aged 6 – 14 years (if you believe the official statistics) will not be in school. 17 million children in India work.Right through history, children have been abused and exploited. They suffer from hunger and homelessness, work in harmful conditions, high infant mortality, deficient health care and limited opportunities for basic education. A child need not live such a life. Childhood can and must be preserved. Children have the right to survive, develop, be protected and participate in decisions that impact their lives.What are child rights? We focus on the 4 basic rights of children. In 1992, India ratified the United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child. The Charter of Child Rights (CRC) is built on the principle that "ALL children are born with fundamental freedoms and ALL human beings have some inherent rights". The Charter confers the following basic rights on all children across the world:
the right to survival - to life, health, nutrition, name and nationality
the right to development - to education, care, leisure, recreation
the right to protection - from exploitation, abuse, neglect
the right to participation - to expression, information, thought and religion