The Concept of Humanitarian Intervention in the Context of Constitutional and Legal Policy of the State

Current events in the world have exposed new threats to humanity i. e. nuclear terrorism, artificial grain famine, new forms of ecocide, and biocide. All this significantly changes the priorities of international politics and the constitutional as well as the legal policy of nation-states, where natural disasters and the global COVID-19 pandemic have faded into insignificance, and the issue of re-sovereignization is gaining relevance. The article provides a thorough analysis of the essence of the concept of humanitarian intervention. The discussion is based on the analysis of the consequences of humanitarian intervention on the fate of nation-states and their citizens. The article aims to substantiate the harmfulness of the concept of humanitarian intervention for the sovereignty of nation-states and natural human rights. It is noted that state sovereignty does not contradict the nature of human rights. On the contrary, humanitarian intervention allows certain aggressive political actors to violate the sovereignty of the nation-state and harm a person's constitutional and natural rights, first of all, to peaceful coexistence, life, health, and human dignity. It is argued that modern international law needs to be modernized, which should redefine the concepts of "genocide", "ecocide", "biocide", etc. The concept of humanitarian intervention should be openly recognized as not meeting the expectations of the modern international community.

Breastfeeding in emergencies with assessment of recent humanitarian crises and the Covid-19 pandemic.

The world is becoming a place where the number of emergencies and humanitarian crises is increasing rapidly due to economic inequality and the gap between developed and underdeveloped countries, as well as climate changes leading to disruption of the natural balance and development of natural disasters. The most vulnerable groups of the population including women and children always are affected by disasters. The younger the child, the more vulnerable he/she is, especially if not naturally fed or having a mother or parents. Various humanitarian organizations have been involved in a number of crises, with the World Health Organization and UNICEF and other United Nations-related organizations leading the way. In the care of mothers, infants and young children, most important is to ensure appropriate nutrition because otherwise it can result in life-threatening health conditions. The lack of protection, support and promotion of natural nutrition (breastfeeding) and its disruption and undermining by uncritical and uncontrolled donations and distribution of infant formula are the biggest challenge due to the lack of information of mothers, those who provide support in emergencies from both governmental and non-governmental sector, without cross-sectoral cooperation, thus causing uncoordinated and sometimes harmful interventions. Therefore, it is recommended that governments issue guidelines on infant and young child nutrition prior to the occurrence of an emergency, and crisis management regulations in which the issue of infant and young child nutrition will be given due consideration.Copyright © 2020 Croatian Paediatric Society. All rights reserved.

Collaboration in humanitarian operations in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

This chapter provides an overview of collaboration in humanitarian operations, focusing on the logistical aspects. Humanitarian logistics and operations has emerged as a subfield of supply chain and operations management and studies how humanitarian organizations can be more efficient in the delivery of humanitarian aid. We review the key characteristics of this subfield compared to traditional logistics and supply chain management. Collaboration is particularly important in the humanitarian context, in which only the collective performance of humanitarian organizations should count. We therefore discuss key factors of collaboration using the humanitarian SCOR model. Finally, we analyze how far the COVID-19 pandemic has forced humanitarian organizations to collaborate differently in their operations and what can be learned from it for the future of humanitarian operations. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023. All rights reserved.

Building Resilient Supply Chains with Information Systems: Key Lessons from Médecins Sans Frontières Logistique During the COVID-19 Crisis

This research aims to analyze the resilience of humanitarian supply chains, with a focus on the role of information systems, through a case study of Médecins Sans Frontières Logistique during the COVID-19 pandemic. The empirical research methodology is based on a qualitative study, which includes semi-structured interviews with key actors and operators from the Médecins Sans Frontières Logistique during the COVID-19 crisis in 2020 and 2021. The paper highlights the crucial and inherent role of information systems on each of the four dimensions of humanitarian supply chain resilience: reorganization capacity, collaboration, flexibility, and humanitarian culture. Drawing on recent theoretical works on supply chain resilience as well as empirical results, the paper underscores the importance of information systems and proposes a conceptual model of the relationship between humanitarian supply chain resilience and the role of information systems. The value of this research is linked to its empirical and qualitative study of a Non-Governmental Organization logistics operation during an international crisis, which contributes not only to the literature on resilience, but also provides guidance for managers to target their actions responsively and proactively to enhance resilience over time.. Copyright © 2023 by SCITEPRESS - Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Mobilizing Social Media Data: Reflections of a Researcher Mediating between Data and Organization

This paper examines the practices involved in mobilizing social media data from their site of production to the institutional context of non-profit organizations. We report on nine months of fieldwork with a transnational and intergovernmental organization using social media data to understand the role of grassroots initiatives in Mexico, in the unique context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We show how different stakeholders negotiate the definition of problems to be addressed with social media data, the collective creation of ground-truth, and the limitations involved in the process of extracting value from data. The meanings of social media data are not defined in advance;instead, they are contingent on the practices and needs of the organization that seeks to extract insights from the analysis. We conclude with a list of reflections and questions for researchers who mediate in the mobilization of social media data into non-profit organizations to inform humanitarian action. © 2023 ACM.

Caring in crisis: The experiences of local religious leaders meeting community food needs in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To respond to the unintended consequences of prevention measures to reduce COVID-19 transmission, individuals and groups, including religious leaders, have collaborated to provide care to those negatively impacted by these measures. Amid these various efforts and interventions, there is a need to deepen our understanding of diverse expressions of care across various geographical and social contexts. To address this need, the objective of this study was to investigate how religious leaders in the Philippines practiced care for their communities by meeting emergency food needs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Guided by an ethics of care theoretical orientation, we conducted 25 remote semi-structured interviews with Filipino religious leaders who partnered with a Philippines-based non-governmental organization (NGO) to mobilize essential food aid to their local communities. Through defining the efforts and activities of these religious leaders as care work, we found that religious leader experiences revolved around navigating care responsibilities, caring alongside others, and engaging holistically with the care work. Additionally, we observed how contextual factors such as the humanitarian settings where religious leaders worked, the partnership with an NGO, and the positionality of local religious leaders within their communities, fundamentally shaped the care work. This study expands our understanding of how care is practiced and experienced and also brings greater visibility to the experiences and efforts of local religious leaders in responding to humanitarian emergencies.

COVID-19 Vaccine Perceptions among Ebola-Affected Communities in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2021.

Populations affected by humanitarian crises and emerging infectious disease outbreaks may have unique concerns and experiences that influence their perceptions toward vaccines. In March 2021, we conducted a survey to examine the perceptions toward COVID-19 vaccines and identify the factors associated with vaccine intention among 631 community members (CMs) and 438 healthcare workers (HCWs) affected by the 2018-2020 Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. A multivariable logistic regression was used to identify correlates of vaccine intention. Most HCWs (81.7%) and 53.6% of CMs felt at risk of contracting COVID-19; however, vaccine intention was low (27.6% CMs; 39.7% HCWs). In both groups, the perceived risk of contracting COVID-19, general vaccine confidence, and male sex were associated with the intention to get vaccinated, with security concerns preventing vaccine access being negatively associated. Among CMs, getting the Ebola vaccine was associated with the intention to get vaccinated (RR 1.43, 95% CI 1.05-1.94). Among HCWs, concerns about new vaccines' safety and side effects (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.57-0.91), religion's influence on health decisions (OR 0.45, 95% CI 0.34-0.61), security concerns (OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.37-0.74), and governmental distrust (OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.35-0.70) were negatively associated with vaccine perceptions. Enhanced community engagement and communication that address this population's concerns could help improve vaccine perceptions and vaccination decisions. These findings could facilitate the success of vaccine campaigns in North Kivu and similar settings.

The effect of research on COVID-19 and PM2.5 on the localization of humanitarian aid.

The spatiotemporal variation of the death and tested positive cases is poorly understood during the respiratory coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. On the other hand, COVID-19's spread was not significantly slowed by pandemic maps. The aim of this study is to investigate the connection between COVID-19 distribution and airborne PM2.5 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 µm). Long-term exposure to high levels of PM2.5 is significantly connected to respiratory diseases in addition to being a potential carrier of viruses. Between April 2020 and March 2021, data on COVID-19-related cases were gathered for all prefectures in Japan. There were 9159, 109,078, and 451,913 cases of COVID-19 that resulted in death, severe illness, and positive tests, respectively. Additionally, we gathered information on PM2.5 from 1119 air quality monitoring stations that were deployed across the 47 prefectures. By using the statistical analysis tools in the Geographical Information System (GIS) software, it was found that the residents of prefectures with high PM2.5 concentrations were the most susceptible to COVID-19. Additionally, the World Health Organization-Air Quality Guidelines (WHO-AQG) relative risk (RR) of 1.04 (95% CI: 1.01-1.08), which was used to compute the PM2.5-caused deaths, was employed as well. Approximately 1716 (95% CI: 429-3,432) cases of PM2.5-related deaths were thought to have occurred throughout the study period. Despite the possibility that the actual numbers of both COVID19 and PM2.5-caused deaths are higher, humanitarian actors could use PM2.5 data to localize the efforts to minimize the spread of COVID-19.

Risk management in humanitarian supply chain based on FMEA and grey relational analysis.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the humanitarian supply chain management (HSCM) necessary for delivering emergency items during the disaster. The combined effects of climate change and the pandemic uncover the vulnerabilities of humanitarian supply chain operations and highlight the importance of risk management. This study aimed to identify priority risk factors and proposed mitigating risk strategies of a local government that is at the forefront of relief operations. It used Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) method to validate the Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) approach in identifying priority issues relating to the supply chain risks. This paper reveals that the results of FMEA and GRA are almost similar.

Assessment of the WHO non-communicable diseases kit for humanitarian emergencies in South Sudan: a retrospective, prospective, observational study.

BACKGROUND: The WHO Non-Communicable Diseases Kit (NCDK) was developed to support care for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in humanitarian settings. Targeting primary healthcare, each kit contains medicines and supplies that are forecasted to meet the needs of 10,000 people for 3 months. This study aimed to evaluate the NCDK deployment process, contents, usage and limitations, and to explore its acceptability and effectiveness among healthcare workers (HCWs) in South Sudan. METHODS: This mixed-method observational study captured data from pre-and-post NCDK deployment. Six data collection tools included: (i) contextual analysis, (ii) semi-structured interviews, in addition to surveys measuring/assessing (iii) healthcare workers' knowledge about NCDs, and healthcare workers' perceptions of: (iv) health facility infrastructure, (v) pharmaceutical supply chain, and (vi) NCDK content. The pre- and post-deployment evaluations were conducted in four facilities (October-2019) and three facilities (April-2021), respectively. Descriptive statistics were used for quantitative data and content analysis for open-ended questions. A thematic analysis was applied on interviews findings and further categorized into four predetermined themes. RESULTS: Compared to baseline, two of the re-assessed facilities had improved service availability for NCDs. Respondents described NCDs as a growing problem that is not addressed at a national level. After deployment, the same struggles were intensified with the COVID-19 pandemic. The delivery process was slow and faced delays associated with several barriers. After deployment, poor communications and the "push system" of inventories were commonly perceived by stakeholders, leading to expiry/disposal of some contents. Despite being out-of-stock at baseline, at least 55% of medicines were found to be unused post-deployment and the knowledge surveys demonstrated a need for improving HCWs knowledge of NCDs. CONCLUSIONS: This assessment further confirmed the NCDK role in maintaining continuity of care on a short-term period. However, its effectiveness was dependent on the health system supply chain in place and the capacity of facilities to manage and treat NCDs. Availability of medicines from alternative sources made some of the NCDK medicines redundant or unnecessary for some health facilities. Several learnings were identified in this assessment, highlighting barriers that contributed to the kit underutilization.

An Alternative Food Pantry Responds to the Pandemic: A Case Study on Service Redesign

This article provides a teaching case study detailing the reaction of an alternative food pantry to the Coronavirus. The alternative food pantry provided produce, dairy, meat, and cereals to around 150 families each week before the virus. Due to social distancing and concerns about spreading infection, the food distribution process needed to be quickly modified. This paper examines the enterprise's procurement, transportation, and distribution operations before and during the virus crisis. This juxtaposition highlights the changes that the unfolding pandemic necessitated and the various ways food pantries can organize their distribution. This presents an excellent opportunity to illustrate service process redesign and service blueprinting to students in addition to highlighting the operational issues that the redesign presented. The case can be used in core undergraduate classes on operations and supply chains, specialized undergraduate courses on service management, and graduate-level classes on supply chain and service management. © 2022 NeilsonJournals Publishing.

Menstrual hygiene management during times of complex humanitarian crisis: Listening to the voices of rural adolescent girls of Assam

Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) is an integral component of the reproductive health and hygiene of adolescent girls. Despite being a vital issue that has a multifaceted effect on the well-being of girls, it is often overlooked in the household and community environment. In a disaster-prone zone, the situation further aggravates at the time of emergency situation. The first section of the chapter examines the knowledge, perception, and practices of MHM prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The second section explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and annual flood on menstrual hygiene practices. The first phase of extensive primary survey using mixed sampling method was done in Biswanath district of Assam in 2019. Furthermore, the second phase of the survey was conducted in 2020 to investigate the impact of a biological and climatic disaster. Poor menstrual hygiene practices are the outcome of knowledge gap, unfavorable cultural milieu, and inadequate resources. In general, menstrual hygiene needs of adolescent girls are neglected in rural settings. Respondents' ability to deal with their menses is severely altered during unprecedented crisis situation. Humanitarian agencies also overlook gender-specific needs of hygiene and sanitation facilities, thus amplifying existing vulnerabilities in the relief camps. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: Presidential Tweets, the U.S.–U.K. Free Trade Agreement, Humanitarian Intervention, and China's Bilateral Relations

" Words Matter: Presidents Obama and Trump, Twitter, and U.S. Soft Power. Graph [9] concentrate on the issues that soured the initial optimism for a U.S.-U.K. free trade agreement between President Trump and Prime Minister Johnson which did not come to its planned fruition by 2020. EN Social Media Foreign Policy Twitter Soft Power Obama Trump Boris Johnson Humanitarian Intervention President Clinton Bosnia Kosovo China Sri-Lanka Kazakhstan South Korea ASEAN Sub-Saharan Africa Information Technology. NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: Presidential Tweets, the U.S.-U.K. Free Trade Agreement, Humanitarian Intervention, and China's Bilateral Relations. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of World Affairs is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Impact of Mexican Public Policies in the Development of COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the entire world's health, social and economic systems. More than a year after the declaration of the pandemic, the current situation of the different countries is defined by the actions taken towards containing the spread of the virus and reducing the number of deaths.Mexico has had one of the highestCOVID-19 death tolls in theworld and the policies implemented by the government have been questioned by some international agencies. This chapter seeks to statistically analyze the effect of the policies proposed by theMexican federal government in the number of weekly COVID-19 cases and deaths. The results show that the effects vary from state to state, this depends on the real enforcement of the policies. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

The first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in humanitarian settings: epidemiology, health service utilization, and health care seeking behavior in Bangui and surrounding areas, Central African Republic.

BACKGROUND: Despite increasing evidence on COVID-19, few studies have been conducted in humanitarian settings and none have investigated the direct and indirect effects of the pandemic in the Central African Republic. We studied the COVID-19 epidemiology, health service utilization, and health care seeking behavior in the first year of the pandemic in Bangui and surrounding areas. METHODS: This mixed-methods study encompasses four components: descriptive epidemiological analysis of reported COVID-19 cases data; interrupted time series analysis of health service utilization using routine health service data; qualitative analysis of health care workers' perceptions of how health services were affected; and health care seeking behavior of community members with a household survey and focus group discussions. RESULTS: The COVID-19 epidemiology in CAR aligns with that of most other countries with males representing most of the tested people and positive cases. Testing capacity was mainly concentrated in Bangui and skewed towards symptomatic cases, travelers, and certain professions. Test positivity was high, and many cases went undiagnosed. Decreases in outpatient department consultations, consultations for respiratory tract infections, and antenatal care were found in most study districts. Cumulative differences in districts ranged from - 46,000 outpatient department consultations in Begoua to + 7000 in Bangui 3; - 9337 respiratory tract infections consultations in Begoua to + 301 in Bangui 1; and from - 2895 antenatal care consultations in Bimbo to + 702 in Bangui 2. Consultations for suspected malaria showed mixed results while delivery of BCG vaccine doses increased. Fewer community members reported seeking care at the beginning of the pandemic compared to summer 2021, especially in urban areas. The fear of testing positive and complying with related restrictions were the main obstacles to seeking care. CONCLUSIONS: A large underestimation of infections and decreased health care utilization characterized the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangui and surrounding area. Improved decentralized testing capacity and enhanced efforts to maintain health service utilization will be crucial for future epidemics. A better understanding of health care access is needed, which will require strengthening the national health information system to ensure reliable and complete data. Further research on how public health measures interact with security constraints is needed.

The Geneva Global Hub for Education in Emergencies: A new ally for education in emergencies.

This article provides an overview of the current landscape and needs for education in emergencies, as well as challenges and opportunities in today's critical juncture, in particular with the creation of a new ally for education in emergencies: the Geneva Global Hub for Education in Emergencies. It covers the disruption of education by the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated exacerbation of child-protection risks, as well as the pandemic's impact on the realization of the right to education of displaced children and youth and those living in humanitarian crises. While there is ample recognition at the international policy level of the importance of education in emergencies, major obstacles still prevail, such as continued underfunding and the underprioritization of education in humanitarian situations. As the world faces unparalleled needs, in particular during crises, and grapples to accelerate progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 4 and meet the commitments set out in the Global Compact for Refugees, new opportunities promise to tap opportune alliances, to inspire commitment, and to boost country-level impact.

Social Work and Social Development Challenges to the COVID-19 Pandemic

This chapter provides an overview of social development strategies and social work responses to mitigate the human costs of the COVID-19 pandemic. Three responses were reviewed: social protection policies, humanitarian relief and mutual aid, social solidarity – including civil society responses – the impact of the pandemic on social workers and service delivery. The findings show an exponential expansion of social protection policies in all countries. While government provision was expansive, other non-state social arrangements were crucial to the response, although gaps in coverage remain. Building on these successes and progressively expanding coverage for all citizens while meeting the needs of the most disadvantaged remains a challenge. The pandemic has also accelerated the use of technology in service provision. The expansion of social protection in developing countries before the pandemic provided the foundation for country-level responses. While social work services are better integrated with social protection in some countries, there needs to be a better articulation between social assistance, labour market strategies, and social work services to address multi-dimensional human needs and improve social outcomes. The social development approach provides a sound platform for post-COVID recovery to build societal resilience and responsiveness to future pandemics of environmental and economic crises. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Impact of pandemics on humanitarian retailing operations: A voucher's case

In 2020, the world started a fight against a pandemic that has severely disrupted commercial and humanitarian supply chains. Humanitarian organizations (HOs), like the World Food Programme (WFP), adjusted their programs in order to manage this pandemic. One such program is cash and voucher assistance (CVA), which is used to bolster beneficiaries' freedom of choice regarding their consumption. In this vein, WFP supports local retailers to provide CVA to beneficiaries who do not have access to a functioning market. However, the operations of these stores can suffer from a very high transmission risk of COVID‐19 unless preventive measures are put in place to reduce it. This paper discusses strategies that retailers and HOs can enact to maximize their service and dignity levels while minimizing transmission risk under a CVA program during a pandemic. We argue that HOs providing CVA programs can improve their assistance during a pandemic by implementing strategies that impact the retailing operations of their retailers.

THE FOURTH ETHICAL COMMENT TOWARDS COVID-19 (three years later). TRUST AND FAITH: SOCIAL AND MORAL PROFILE OF VACCINATION.

The summarizing up the semantic and systemic results should comprise the next phase to provide insights into COVID-19 pandemic and consider it as a modern epidemic and humanitarian crisis on global level. The journal <<Infection and Immunity>> regularly and consistently present the results of ethically viewed legal framework of the pandemic and the administrative regulation of the public health system. Analysis and ethical assessment of the situation covers a wide range of issues, including the provision and operational adaptation of the regulatory framework, the problems of medical care, the processes and conditions for developing diagnostics, treatment and prevention, as well as all aspects related to the organization and implementing vaccination. Three previous ethical comments presented in 2020-2022 during the pandemic were devoted to these issues. Current study within the framework of the <<fourth ethical commentary>> follows directly from the data obtained while evaluating and analysing real-world experience on vaccination in the context of a regional cluster - the CIS member states, presented in the previous article. The perceived need and obvious significance of the study is to highlight objective factors of vulnerability in the vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic and identify the response spectrum to form trust/or distrust to vaccination in various sectors of society, depending on a set of social and moral factors, including those coupled to a religious denomination. The data obtained are of paramount importance to find the moral ways to support and stabilize a responsible attitude with the aim to protect moral, social and physical health in emergency situations.Copyright © 2023 Saint Petersburg Pasteur Institute. All rights reserved.

SYRIA-Everybody's War: The Politics of Aid in the Syria Crisis

Gabiam reviews Everybody's War: The Politics of Aid in the Syria Crisis edited by Jehan Bseiso, Michiel Hofman, and Jonathan Whittall.