A Triple Nexus Water-Energy-Housing (WEH) Framework Modelling towards Improved Decision-Making in Humanitarian Operations

Given the challenges facing most humanitarian operations worldwide, a change of approach is needed to ensure greater sustainability of humanitarian settlements right from the planning stage. Some studies attribute unsustainability to inadequate provision of basic resources and highlight the apparent bottlenecks that prevent access to the meaningful data needed to plan and remedy problems. Most operations have relied on an “ad hoc ism” approach, employing parallel and disconnected data processing methods, resulting in a wide range of data being collected without subsequent prioritization to optimize interconnections that could enhance performance. There have been little efforts to study the trade-offs potentially at stake. This work proposes a new framework enabling all subsystems to operate in a single system and focusing on data processing perspective. To achieve this, this paper proposes a Triple Nexus Framework as an attempt to integrate water, energy, and housing sector data derived from a specific sub-system within the overall system in the application of Model-Based Systems Engineering. Understanding the synergies between water, energy, and housing, Systems Engineering characterizes the triple nexus framework and identifies opportunities for improved decision-making in processing operational data from these sectors. Two scenarios illustrate how an integrated platform could be a gateway to access meaningful operational data in the system and a starting point for modeling integrated human settlement systems. Upon execution, the model is tested for nexus megadata processing, and the optimization simulation yielded 67% satisfactory results, demonstrating that an integrated system could improve sustainability, and that capacity building in service delivery is more than beneficial.

Information Management in Disaster and Humanitarian Response: A Case in United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

To guarantee a unified response to disasters, humanitarian organizations work together via the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Although the OCHA has made great strides to improve its information management and increase the availability of accurate, real-time data for disaster and humanitarian response teams, significant gaps persist. There are inefficiencies in the emergency management of data at every stage of its lifecycle: collection, processing, analysis, distribution, storage, and retrieval. Disaster risk reduction and disaster risk management are the two main tenets of the United Nations’ worldwide plan for disaster management. Information systems are crucial because of the crucial roles they play in capturing, processing, and transmitting data. The management of information is seldom discussed in published works. The goal of this study is to employ qualitative research methods to provide insight by facilitating an expanded comprehension of relevant contexts, phenomena, and individual experiences. Humanitarian workers and OCHA staffers will take part in the research. The study subjects will be chosen using a random selection procedure. Online surveys with both closed- and open-ended questions will be used to compile the data. UN OCHA offers a structure for the handling of information via which all humanitarian actors may contribute to the overall response. This research will enable the UN Office for OCHA better gather, process, analyze, disseminate, store, and retrieve data in the event of a catastrophe or humanitarian crisis.

The Challenges Posed by Autonomous Weapon Systems to Human Rights and Humanitarian Concerns and Relevant Legal Responses

By 2050,autonomous weapon systems may potentially replace humans as the main force on the battlefield,as per predictions.The development of autonomous weapon systems poses risks to human rights and humanitarian concerns and raises questions about how international law should regulate new technologies.From the perspectives of international human rights law and international humanitarian law,autonomous weapon systems present serious challenges in terms of invasiveness,indiscriminate killing,cruelty,and loss of control,which impact human rights and humanitarian principles.Against the backdrop of increased attention to the protection of human rights in China,it is necessary to clarify the existing regulatory framework and fundamental stance regarding autonomous weapon systems and proactively consider and propose countermeasures to address the risks associated with such systems.This will help prevent human rights and humanitarian violations and advance the timely resolution of this issue,which affects the future and destiny of humanity,ultimately achieving the noble goal of universal enjoyment of human rights.

Communicating Agencies＇ Humanitarianism in Natural Disaster and Armed Conflicts＂ Differences, Challenges, and Dilemmas

The literature on disasters mainly focuses on natural disasters and looks at their coverage by the media. The paper argues that armed conflicts are also disasters and that Western relief agencies intervening in natural disasters and conflict are also proactive communicators. Taking a different approach from much of the available research, it explores agencies＇ communication work in these two types of crises and analyses the differences, challenges and dilemmas that they face in communicating their humanitarianism. It outlines the distinguished inherent characteristics of natural disasters and conflicts, and examines their impact on the understanding of the crises, the perception of affected populations, and the implementation of agencies＇ actions. It also investigates how, in turn, all these features influence agencies＇ communication practices that in natural disasters emergencies and conflict-related crises perform a different role and show different parameters. In this sense, the paper distinguishes between ＂humanitarian communication＂ to refer to the former, and ＂humanitarian advocacy＂ to refer to the latter. The paper briefly explores the operational challenges engendered by the contested interpretations of humanitarian advocacy, shows that the use of the parameters of humanitarian communication in conflict-related crises to overcome these problems caused additional concern, and presents two forms of humanitarian advocacy engendering less challenges and dilemmas.

Epidemiology, Clinical Aspects and Management of Cleft Lip and/or Palate in Burkina Faso: A Humanitarian Pediatric Surgery-Based Study

Background: Cleft lip and/or palate are the most common orofacial malformations. Many studies, especially in developed countries have been conducted on this malformation, but in Burkina Faso, data are scarce and they are not specific to children. The aim of this study was to report the epidemiological, clinical and therapeutic aspects of cleft lip and/or palate in children in a low-income country. Materials and Method: The authors conducted a retrospective descriptive study based on data of three humanitarian missions of pediatric reconstructive facial surgery which took place in 2007, 2010 and 2014 at Clinique El Fateh-Suka in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. All children of 0 - 14 years of age, presenting with cleft lip and/or palate, were included in the study. Results: A total of 185 cases of cleft lip and/or palate were seen during these three humanitarian surgery missions. There were 100 boys and 85 girls. The average age of the children was 2.4 ± 3.2 years [0 - 12 years];there were 8.7% newborns. The commonest type of cleft was cleft lip and palate (49.7%) followed by isolated cleft lip (48.7%) and isolated cleft palate (1.6%). The left side was the most affected (49.2%). In 21.1% of cases, clefts were associated with other congenital malformations. In total, 150 of 185 (81.1%) children underwent surgery and there were no postoperative complications reported. Conclusions: Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of cleft lip and/or palate observed in this study are not very different from those described elsewhere in Africa. However, in our conditions, there are circumstances and structural factors which hinder the diagnosis and constitute challenges that must be addressed for adequate management of this congenital, highly disfiguring malformation.

Setting Regional Research Priorities for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Services in Humanitarian Settings

Background: Despite increased recognition of the need for sexual and reproductive health and rights in humanitarian settings, evidence focusing on mainstreaming reproductive health services such as maternal, neonatal mortality, human immunodeficiency virus transmission and unsafe abortion still remains inadequate. The ability to understand the magnitude of the needs and highlight existing gaps is supported by improved data which is critical to informing effective policies, programming and funding decisions. The purpose of this report is to present the results of a research prioritization exercise on sexual and reproductive health and rights services in humanitarian settings for the WHO Africa region for the next three years. Methods: We adapted the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative method in three phases. Experts from the region participated in an online survey to identify key areas for research in sexual and reproductive health and rights. To identify potential areas for research, the experts ensured answerability, effectiveness, deliverability, equity and potential impact of the questions. The research areas they identified were reviewed by World Health Organization technical team from headquarters. In a meeting of 67 participants, the questions were subjected to further review and analysis. Using a modified for scoring criteria, the questions were scored and ranked to provide the top ten priority questions to address sexual and reproductive health and rights services in humanitarian settings. Results: A list of 21 priority research questions on sexual and reproductive health and rights services in humanitarian settings were scored and ranked. Top ten priorities research questions were identified. Those that scored highly by scoring 30 points out of the possible maximum of 30 include: “determining the prevalence and associated factors of unwanted pregnancies and abortions performed in emergency and humanitarian settings”, “evidence on gender-based violence in humanitarian situations and its associated factors” and “defining an optimal model for coordinating sexual and reproductive health and rights interventions and responses in crisis situations”. Conclusions: Top ten research priorities in sexual and reproductive health and rights services in humanitarian settings were identified. The priority research areas have the potential to identify the best areas for programming of services in humanitarian settings. It is our hope that the identified research areas will be prioritized to support programming of services in humanitarian settings based on scientific evidence.

Humanitarian Intervention and International Law

During the last decade of the 20th century, there were nine humanitarian interventions: in Northern Iraq, Bosnia, Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti, Albania, Kosovo, East Timor, and Sierra Leone. Of the cases cited, the consent of the home government was obtained in five cases and two others had explicit Security Council authorization. However, two cases were carried out without consent of the government or authorization by the UN Security Council: Northern Iraq and Kosovo1. NATO bombing of FR Yugoslavia in 1999 received a particular attention and condemnation. Without UN Security Council’s resolution for that “air campaign”, there was justification that the action was about prevention of humanitarian catastrophe. This paper will attempt at identifying legal position of humanitarian intervention in international law;whether or not, and in what circumstances, it is safe to claim that there exists the right to humanitarian intervention. At the beginning of the 21st century, there has been extensive consideration of the “responsibility to protect” as a composite concept comprising the responsibilities to prevent humanitarian catastrophe, to react immediately when they do occur and to rebuild afterwards.2 Such an approach may be seen as an effort to redefine the principle of humanitarian intervention in a way that seeks to minimize the motives of the intervening powers. The paper also deals with the relation and differences between humanitarian intervention and “responsibility to protect” concept.

Naso-Labio-Palatine Clefts: Humanitarian Care in Togo

Introduction: The management of nasolabial-palatal clefts in precarious environments is one of the topics most addressed by many humanitarian missions, especially in Africa and Asia. The aim of our study was to propose a humanitarian and not expensive care to the patients presenting with facial clefts during the fairgrounds in disadvantaged areas. Patients and Method: We carried out a prospective study on 32 patients who were operated with very limited means during the mobile clinics inside Togo during the year 2013. These patients were followed over a period of one year after their surgery. Included in our series were native patients with facial clefts, who had no means of managing their condition, and who therefore needed humanitarian support. We have reported the clinical history of some patients to illustrate our results. Results: Our study included 32 children, including 15 boys and 17 girls, with a sex ratio of around 1. The average age of patients was 5 years, with extremes of 6 months and 13 years. We performed 13 clefts (including 12 unilateral clefts and 1 bilateral cleft), 17 clefts palate (including 12 unilateral clefts and 5 bilateral clefts), and 2 velar clefts. We described the clinical history of a few patients in this humanitarian setting and showed the surgical results obtained.

Two Divergent Cases of Protracted Humanitarian Aid Operations:The World Bank and UNRWA(1949-2017)

The refugee convention of 1951^1 defined a refugee as“someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to the well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race,religion,nationality membership in particular social group,or political opinion.”The convention also lays down basic minimum standards for the treatment of refugees,without prejudice to States granting more favorable treatment to refugees.Such rights include access to courts,to primary education,to work,and the provision for documentation,including refugee travel documents in passport forms”.None of these conditions have been applied to the Palestinian refugees.Following Israel’s war of independence in 1948-49,about 800,000 Palestinians became refugees mainly in Jordan,Syria,Lebanon,and Egypt,where their descendants still live.UNRWA was created in 1949 as a“fire extinguisher”to provide the refugees in these four States with short-term survival assistance.UNRWA’s original mandate was for three years,assuming that the refugees will soon be absorbed by the countries of their refuge.This hope never materialized,and almost 70 years later,the third and fourth generation of Palestinians are still being considered by UNRWA as“refugees”.Our research shows that flows in UNRWA’s working principles have resulted in the prolonging of the problem,and the hindering of its resolution.A comparison with the World Bank’s assistance programs proves that UNRWA’s programs are clearly part of the problem and not part of the solution.

Develop the Adult Value in Andersen's Fairy Tales from Humanitarianism

The Andersen’s fairy tales have made many research results since 20thcentury,but they mainly concentrate on its effect on children.Andersen’s Fairy Tales characterized by their"childishness",are unconsciously referred to as"kids reading".People don’t understand the real meaning of Andersen’s fairy tales.This paper attempts to regard Anderson’s Fairy Tales as a great literary work but not only a fairy tales for children to read.And do a detailed research about"the adult value"in Andersen’s fairy tales from humanitarianism in the book.The whole paper is divided into three parts.Apart from the introduction,the paper starts with a series of specific examples and analysis about humanitarianism in the book.Upon that,it carries on analysis of adult value in Andersen’s Fairy Tales based on some serious problems in nowadays society.It seeks to expound the quality and contemporary value of Andersen’s fairy tales.And it also attempts to put it into good use for guiding the adults and help to solve social problems to some degree.

Modernization of International Humanitarian Law——The Origins and Evolution of the 1977 Additional Protocols to the 1949 Geneva Conventions

Regional wars and internal armed conflicts after the conclusion of the 1949 geneva conventions have presented new challenges to traditional international humanitarian law? To address those challenges, the international community concluded two additional protocols in 1977 to the 1949 geneva conventions? Those two protocols have unified the Hague Rules and the geneva Rules in the realm of traditional laws on wars, improved the protection of civilians,expanded the concept of armed conflicts and combatants, and developed special treaties applicable to non-international armed conflicts,reaffirming and developing the principles and rules of international humanitarian law worldwide, and promoting its modernization?

Humanitarian Champion

Former Ethiopian first lady dedicates herself to improve the well-being of women and children Roman Tesfaye,wife of former Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn,is a fervent advocate of women’s economic empowerment.The former Ethiopian first lady sees this issue as the key to poverty eradication and social transformation.

Humanitarian Emergency

Food security crisis in the Horn is Africa’s worst since Somalia’s 1991-92 famine TWO things happen when violent conflict and widespread famine meet -people die and those deaths grab headlines.And that’s the reality of the sad news coming out of the Horn of Africa about drought,dire starvation and famine.

The Humanitarianism of Tales of Two Cities

Humanitarianism represents the kind side of the human nature,stimulating people’s mutual love,help,assistance and even mutual respect to each other,which is of the most importance.Its essence is liberty,equality and philanthropism.Only when humanitarianism is accepted by everyone around you,in particular,your enemy,can things go well as you have expected.Certainly,life will be much better and smoother,and it will be full of joys and happiness every day.In this article,it mainly makes a deep probe into the specific practice of humanitarianism among the main characters in the tales.Hopefully,it will be a big help for read⁃ers to have a deeper understanding of this great book.

Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Research Center Peking University Law School

In order to implement the stipulation in the National Human Rights Action Plan （2012-2015） requiring the addition of no less than five national human rights education and training bases by 2015, the appraisal and selection meeting for the second group of national human rights education and training bases was held on March 17, 2014 in Beijing.

Humanitarian Aid inAfrica

With the deadly Ebola virus creating panic and tension across West Africa, international cooperation has become essential to prevent the disease spreading any further. At this year＇s Sino-African Red Cross and Red Crescent Forum, held on August 20 in Beijing, delegates exchanged ideas and discussed ways to address the fatal disease. The consensus reached is that Ebola requires efforts from all the global organizations working in the health and rescue field.

Humanitarian Dynamics

The Belt and Road Initiative is about development, and development requires stability and peace. If these conditions are not present, humanitarian action has to jump in. Providing neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian assistance in sometimes protracted conflicts and situations of violence can create an environment conducive for development - but how is this achieved？ Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross （ICRC） was in Beijing for the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation on May 14-15. During his stay, he spoke to ChinAfrica reporter Llu lian about his organization＇s potential contribution to addressing the humanitarian needs along the Belt and Road and other aspects of humanitarian work in today＇s globalized context.

East China University of Political Science and Law Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Research Center

I. Introduction The Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Research Center at the East China University of Political Science and Law was established in December 2006, with public international law experts as its core. The center is administered by the International Law School at the East China University of Political Science and Law.

The Evolution of Charles Dickens' Humanitarian Outlook

Charles Dickens,as an important English novelist,criticised the English society of the Victorian Age, which reflects his humanitarian outlook.His humanitarian outlook includes his early optimism and mature satire as well as sentiment during the climax of his creation and his late years.Furthermore,Dickens’ life experience as a man which helped to form his humanitarian outlook provided him with boundless writing resources,and then,he produced many excellent works.

人道主义援助与冷战——1980年代美国应对埃塞俄比亚饥荒的历史考察

冷战期间,人道主义援助是美国对外政策的重要工具之一。由于连年旱灾、落后的农业生产力、社会体制现代化程度不足和长期内战等原因,埃塞俄比亚在1980年代前期发生了大范围的饥荒。最初,里根政府拒绝提供人道主义救助,以促使门格斯图政权倒台,后因国内政治和社会压力而成为最大的粮食捐助国,但其反共产主义的本质贯彻始终。苏联因经济低迷和粮食增产停顿,对埃塞俄比亚的人道主义援助则较少;以交通工具和医护人员为主,却被广为宣传。里根政府高估了其大规模救助对门格斯图政府消解西方意识形态抗拒力的作用,而门格斯图则在获得国际人道主义援助的同时,维持了政权稳定及其与苏联的关系。