Security and Humanitarian Response
Policy and Guidance Documents
Inter-agency standing committee
Guidelines for Addressing HIV in Humanitarian Settings. December 2009
These Guidelines for Addressing HIV in Humanitarian Settings aim to assist humanitarian and AIDS organizations to plan the delivery of a minimum set of HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services to people affected by humanitarian crises.
These guidelines concentrate on the integration of HIV into the humanitarian response to crises, with a particular focus
on two phases: the minimum initial response, which outlines a set of HIV-related interventions to be carried out during
the early stages of any emergency regardless of the specific local or epidemiological context of the epidemic; and the expanded response, during which additional core HIV interventions should be planned and implemented as soon as possible, taking into account the local contexts and priorities, the epidemiological profiles and the capacity of different sectors to deliver the interventions.
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
World Disasters Report - Focus on HIV and AIDS. 2008
This year's World Disasters Report is the first to focus on HIV because a number of countries (all at present in sub-Saharan Africa) and for a significant number of groups of people where the epidemic is concentrated, the HIV epidemic is undoubtedly a disaster. Government services are overwhelmed by the need for support and treatment, stigma still prevents access for many, even where services exist, and communities are decimated by its effects.
UNAIDS/UNHCR
HIV and Refugees: Policy Brief, February 2007
This policy position paper on HIV and refugees provides the two entities’ recommendations for actions to be taken by governments, civil society and international partners to address HIV among refugee populations.
Summarizes progress in the five years since the adoption of Resolution 1308. It explores the importance of responding to the epidemic’s security aspects with regard to peacekeeping operations and uniformed services and identifies the primary ways that, through its cosponsors, UNAIDS has been advancing implementation of the resolution. It also summarizes key actions supported by UNAIDS to strengthen the AIDS response among national uniformed services and international peacekeeping operations.
This document describes an institutionalized partnership between UNAIDS and OCHA, set up to ensure a systematic response to HIV/AIDS in emergency settings. It is intended that the recommendations can serve as a guide for other regions and at other levels of the organizations. Cooperation is particularly relevant in the following areas: coordination, assessment and monitoring, advocacy and communication, resource mobilization, workplace programs.
UNHCR/Paul B. Spiegel
HIV/AIDS among Conflict-affected and Displaced Populations: Dispelling Myths and Taking Action. 2004
Explores the epidemiology of HIV in conflicts and explains the unique characteristics that must be addressed when planning and implementing HIV interventions among populations affected by conflict as compared to those in resource poor settings.
This meeting report outlines issues and outcomes of UNAIDS and OCHA's technical consultation on HIV/AIDS and humanitarian responses, including HIV/AIDS policy considerations in humanitarian responses; HIV/AIDS in humanitarian planning; HIV/AIDS interventions in humanitarian programming; and the role of and possibility for sub-regional and regional coordination and cooperation.
UNHCR
Antiretroviral Medication Policy for Refugees. New York, 2007
This document sets the objectives as to the availability of ARVs and ART for refugees and outlines the scope of engagement and the responsibilities of UNHCR offices in working towards the achievement of these objectives. The document complements earlier UNHCR policy papers and guidelines related to HIV/AIDS and is consistent with international recommendations relating to ART.
This policy is intended to offer guidance to clinicians, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and governments on the provision of ART among displaced populations, including prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT), post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) and long term ART. These guidelines are not meant to replace national guidelines but to provide additional guidance to health workers to deal with the specific needs of these populations
ActionAid International
Food Security and HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa. Case Studies and Implications for Future Policy. Johannesburg, 2005
This paper was commissioned to document a small selection of best practices, including a selection from ActionAid itself, and to provide an analysis of linkages between HIV and AIDS and food security policies. These case studies are intended to provide an introduction to issues around HIV and AIDS and food security and to provide examples of how a few organisations have responded to this complex situation.
UNHCR
Note on HIV/AIDS and the Protection of Refugees, IDPs and Other Persons of Concern. Geneva, 2006
The Note serves to inform governments and UNHCR staff of recognized standards in the field of HIV and AIDS and the protection of persons of UNHCR's concern, and to assist UNHCR in its protection interventions and advocacy efforts
Sphere
Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response. Geneva
The Charter describes the core principles that govern humanitarian action and reasserts the right of populations affected by disaster, whether natural or man-made (including armed conflict), to protection and assistance. It also reasserts the right of disaster-affected populations to life with dignity. The Sphere handbook is designed for use in disaster response, and may also be useful in disaster preparedness and humanitarian advocacy.
Peter Piot, John Holmes
Joint Letter on HIV in Humanitarian Situations. Geneva, February 2008
HIV in Humanitarian Situations. Global and Country-Level Coordination Arrangements
This paper seeks to deal with AIDS as a humanitarian concern and its linkages to longer term development work. It reviews the need for more systematic and coherent integration of AIDS programming into humanitarian action. It describes existing AIDS planning, coordination and funding mechanisms at global, regional and country levels, and examines their applicability to humanitarian situations. Finally, it lists a set of recommendations for strengthening coordination of and improving predictability and accountability for AIDS programming in such humanitarian situations.
UNAIDS/WHO/OCHA/UNHCR/FAO/UNDP/UNAIDS
After Action Review. HIV Integration into the Humanitarian Response. Kenya: Post-Election Violence
The aim of this mission was to facilitate an After Action Review, (AAR) meaning that the emphasis is on learning, not accountability. AARs can be defined as "a professional discussion of an event or action, with a focus on performance, which enables participants to discover for themselves what happened and why, and how to sustain strengths and improve on weaknesses. It captures and applies learning as quickly as possible back into action.
Guidelines and Best Practice
UNAIDS
The Impact of Floods on HIV and AIDS. Namibbia post-disaster needs assessmen. Windhoek 2009
The objective of the HIV and AIDS post-disaster needs assessment was to collect data on the effects of floods on HIV and AIDS affected persons and the availability and accessibility to HIV and AIDS related services in flood affected areas. This was done through a cross-sectional study among affected populations, health facilities and other AIDS service providers in 5 of the 6 affected regions (Kavango region was not covered due to logistical challenges).
Inter-Agency Standing Committee
Guidelines for Gender Based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Settings. Geneva 2005
Aim to enable humanitarian actors and communities to plan, establish and coordinate a set of minimum multisectoral interventions to prevent and respond to sexual violence during the early phase of an emergency. The guidelines inform and sensitise the humanitarian community to the existence of GBV during emergencies where it is a serious and life threatening protection issue, and offer concrete strategies for including GBV interventions and considerations in emergency preparedness planning and during more stabilised phases of emergencies.
Humanitarian Policy Group
HIV/AIDS and Humanitarian Action. HPG Research Report 16. London, 2004
Examines the implications of HIV for the understanding of crisis and of the role of humanitarian aid, focusing on the humanitarian response to famine in southern Africa in 2002 and 2003.
Inter-Agency Standing Committee
Guidelines for Gender Based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Settings. Geneva 2005
Aim to enable humanitarian actors and communities to plan, establish and coordinate a set of minimum multisectoral interventions to prevent and respond to sexual violence during the early phase of an emergency. The guidelines inform and sensitise the humanitarian community to the existence of GBV during emergencies where it is a serious and life threatening protection issue, and offer concrete strategies for including GBV interventions and considerations in emergency preparedness planning and during more stabilised phases of emergencies.
Inter-Agency Standing Committee
Implementing the Collaborative Response to Situations of Internal Displacement: Guidance for UN Humanitarian and/or Resident Coordinators and Country Teams, Geneva, 2004
Provides humanitarian and resident coordinators and country teams with the tools required to implement the collaborative response. The document outlines the roles and responsibilities of headquarters and field-based actors; offers guidance on how to formulate a Strategic Action Plan; outlines the activities of the different agencies; and offers an overview of the types of capacity-building, training, strategy development and advocacy support available.
Reproductive Health Response in Conflict (RHRC) Consortium
HIV Prevention and Control: A Short Course for Humanitarian Workers, 2004
Aims to deepen individual understanding of the complexities of HIV and to equip participants with knowledge and skills to improve HIV program design and implementation, as well as encourage positive attitudes toward people living with HIV. The course therefore primarily targets health program management staff and clinical staff.
UNAIDS, UNHCS, WFP
The development of programme strategies for integration of HIV, food and nutrition activities in refugee settings. Geneva, 2006
The development of programme strategies for integration of In 2003, The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and United Nations Children�€™s Fund (UNICEF) launched a joint effort to develop, through multi-site field research in refugee communities in Africa, a set of strategies for using food and nutrition-based interventions to support HIV prevention, care, treatment and support for people living with HIV. That initiative deliberately embodied a very high degree of collaboration, both among the agencies involved, but also with refugees themselves, to best capture lessons about how these sectors can be better integrated under the unique circumstances of refugee settings. This document discusses the process and findings of that initiative, whose value for best practices is found in the collaborative, field-driven methodology as well as in the findings and output.
Save the Children
Food Security, Livelihoods & HIV/AIDS
A Guide to the Linkages, Measurement & Programming Implications. London, 2004 This paper is intended for both for managers and technical staff working either in food security and livelihoods or in HIV/AIDS and reproductive health who require an introduction to the linkages between the two areas, and as a guide to the many issues that need to be considered when carrying out assessments (or reviewing others�€™ assessments) and when planning interventions.
IOM
Breaking the Cycle of Vulnerability. Responding to the Health Needs of Trafficked Women in East & Southern Africa. Pretoria, 2006
This is the first study in East and Southern Africa to focus specifically on the links between trafficking of women and sexual, reproductive and mental health (SRMH). With regard to health, special attention is paid to HIV since all countries in ESA are experiencing generalised HIV epidemics (with the exception of the Indian Ocean Island States)
Oxfam
Undocumented Zimbabwean Migrants in South Africa: Vulnerabilities and Responses. Pretoria, 2007
This study assesses the nature and drivers of vulnerability of undocumented Zimbabwean migrants in South Africa. It seeks to fill information and knowledge gaps with respect to the needs of these migrants and recommends various approaches to mitigating their vulnerability, within a rights-based framework. The study was commissioned by Oxfam GB's Southern Africa office, to inform their policy and operational responses as well as those of the UN Country Team Contingency Planning Cell, international and national NGOs, the South African government as well as other national and regional stakeholders.
UNCHR
Behavioral Surveillance Surveys. Kampala, 2006.
This report summarizes the methods, results, and resulting recommendations of the Uganda Behavioral Surveillance Surveys (BSS) that took place among refugees and host communities (villages within 2 kilometers of the edge of the refugee settlement) in two areas of Uganda from April through early June of 2006. The purpose of the surveys was to establish baseline estimates for various knowledge, attitude, and behaviors related to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in an effort to design appropriate prevention programs for each area.
Francoise Nduwimana
The Right to Survive Sexual Violence. Monteal, 2004
Rights & Democracy's Women's Rights Programme made the decision to fund and publish this study in response to the Special Rapporteur' s appeal for more research on the subject and the need expressed by the Coalition for Women's Human Rights in Conflict Situations to better respond to the unparalleled situation experienced by women who were raped and infected with HIV/AIDS during the Rwandan genocide. This essay is divided into two parts. The first part discusses the specific case of the Rwandan genocide and the second, the armed conflicts plaguing sub-Saharan Africa.
Aticles
R T Strand, L Fernandes Dias, S Bergstrom and S Andersson, International Journal of STD & AIDS, 2007.
Unexpected low prevalence of HIV among fertile women in Luanda, Angola. Does war prevent the spread of HIV?
This article studied HIV prevalence and risk factors for HIV infection among fertile women in Luanda for the purposes of obtaining background data for planning of interventions as well as to look into the association of armed conflicts and HIV prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa.
BioMed Central/Massimo Lowicki-Zucca, Paul Spiegel, Filippo Ciantia
AIDS, conflict and the media in Africa: risks in reporting bad data badly. New York, 2005.
Three case studies focusing on Sudan, Uganda and Guinea, describing what the media reported and why the reports were incomplete, misleading or incorrect.
UNHCR/Paul B Spiegel, Anne Rygaard Bennedsen, Johanna Claass, Laurie Bruns, Njogu Patterson, Dieudonne Yiweza, Marian Schilperoord. Geneva, 2007.
Prevalence of HIV infection in conflict-affected and displaced people in seven sub-Saharan African countries: a systematic review.
Violence and rape are believed to fuel the HIV epidemic in countries aff ected by conflict. The authors compared HIV prevalence in populations directly affected by conflict (Democratic Republic of Congo, southern Sudan, Rwanda, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and Burundi) with that in those not directly affected and in refugees versus the nearest surrounding host communities in sub-Saharan African countries.
P. B. SPIEGEL & P. V. LE
HIV behavioural surveillance surveys in conflict and post-conflict situations: A call for improvement. Global Public Health, June 2006; 1(2): 147_156
Behavioural surveillance surveys (BSSs) are a tool to track trends in HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitudes and risk behaviour among populations. The data collected supports organizations in targeting specific HIV/AIDS prevention and care activities, monitoring their effectiveness and coverage, and allocating scarce resources. The objectives are to evaluate the quality and standardization of BSS-like surveys undertaken in conflict and post-conflict situations, and to provide recommendations to humanitarian agencies and governments on how to improve their quality.
Training Resources and Websites
UNAIDS HIV/AIDS in Emergency Website
http://www.aidsandemergencies.org/
UNAIDS HIV/AIDS in Emergency Website
http://www.aidsandemergencies.org/
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
http://ochaonline.un.org/
The Inter-Agency Working Group (IAWG) on Disaster Preparedness for Central and East Africa
http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/iawg-nairobi