Academic literature on the topic 'Belgian Humanitarian assistance'

From 22 to 24 June 1988, an international conference was held in The Hague, Netherlands, on “Humanitarian Assistance in Armed Conflict”. It was organized by the University of Leiden's Red Cross Chair of International Humanitarian Law, together with the National Red Cross Societies of Belgium (Flemish Community) and The Netherlands.The conference, which was attended by some 180 participants (with Her Royal Highness, Princess Margriet of The Netherlands, as the most distinguished among them) was opened by the Dutch Minister for Development Co-operation, Mr. Pieter Bukman. Professor René Jean Dupuy, professor of International Law at the College de France, Paris, gave the keynote speech at the opening session. Speakers during the three working sessions of the conference included representatives of the ICRC, the League, UNHCR, Médecins sans Frontières, Médecins du Monde, CEBEMO (the Dutch Catholic Organization for Joint Financing of Development Programmes), Save the Children Fund, Oxfam UK, and the academic world.

AbstractIntroduction:An earthquake is a hazard that may cause urgent needs requiring international assistance. To ensure rapid funding for such needs-based humanitarian assistance, swift decisions are needed. However, data to guide needs-based funding decisions are often missing in the acute phase, causing delays. Instead, it may be feasible to use data building on existing indexes that capture hazard and vulnerability information to serve as a rapid tool to prioritize funding according to the scale of needs: needs-based funding. However, to date, it is not known to what extent the indicators in the indexes can predict the scale of disaster needs. The aim of this study was to identify predictors for the scale of disaster needs after earthquakes.Methodology:The predictive performance of vulnerability indicators and outcome indicators of four commonly used disaster risk and severity indexes were assessed, both individually and in different combinations, using linear regression. The number of people who reportedly died or who were affected was used as an outcome variable for the scale of needs, using data from the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) provided by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters at the Université Catholique de Louvain (CRED; Brussels, Belgium) from 2007 through 2016. Root mean square error (RMSE) was used as the performance measure.Results:The assessed indicators did not predict the scale of needs. This attempt to create a multivariable model that included the indicators with the lowest RMSE did not result in any substantially improved performance.Conclusion:None of the indicators, nor any combination of the indicators, used in the four assessed indexes were able to predict the scale of needs in the assessed earthquakes with any precision.

Abstract As of June 2017, the population of the Maximillian Park (an undocumented migrant camp in Brussels) is mainly Eritrean and Sudanese migrants who intend to continue their journey to the United Kingdom (Depraetere, 2017; Daher, 2018). In response to demanding needs, Médecins du Monde together with 8 organisations, created a one-stop service centre, The Humanitarian Hub, in January 2018 to offer a set of basic services to the migrants. The Hub implemented a voluntary de-medicalized midwifery clinic. The medical team noted an under-representation of women, 40 out of 745 (5,4%), while the coordination team identified a number of complex unwanted pregnancies, many of which relating to violence. Accessing free abortion for undocumented women in Belgium requires the Urgent Medical Assistance certificate. This often takes several weeks, making it unrealistic to obtain in time for an abortion. Accordingly, the women or family planning centres cover the financial cost. The Hub’s midwifery clinic thus focused on building trust with the women, and facilitated referrals to family planning centres. By taking steps to create a more gender-sensitive Hub, the proportion of women seeking consultations doubled. In 2018, 955 out of 8990 (10,6%) patients were women, totalling 324 midwifery consultations. 65 of these women were pregnant, and the 23 who sought abortion were referred to family planning centres. None had Urgent Medical Assistance. It is crucial to consider the particularities of a population and their social determinants of health when implementing a holistic system. For instance, focusing on violent experiences in medical consultations can help better understand women’s situation. The coordination between The Hub and family planning centres helped in reducing barriers for migrant women. The project has seen success, thanks to the flexibility of the family planning centres in quickly receiving these pregnant women, and to the four centres who covered abortion costs. Key messages It is evident that the magnitude of these women’s situation is undervalued, thus it is important to increase sensitization and advocacy in order to offer them greater support. The Hub has provided a number of services for undocumented migrants, notably abortion, and removed some barriers in accessing care. However, it is a fragile solution to a structural problem.

Abstract In November 2022, the European Commission unveiled its new Global Health Strategy. Featuring three cross-cutting priorities, the Strategy calls for the mobilisation of a “wide number of policies to work on a global health agenda” (1). The Strategy also highlights the importance of establishing a “permanent mapping of key measures and financing efforts of the EU and its Member States to better understand what actions are taking place and to allow for tying means to the strategy's priorities”(1). The EU's ongoing actions are already delivering more for health systems globally than one would expect - and it has many policy tools and support instruments which affect Global Health. These instruments vary greatly in their intent and design, with some targeted at strengthening health systems and promoting health and wellbeing, while others contribute to these objectives more indirectly by generating spillover effects. The European Observatory's upcoming policy brief ‘European support for improving health and care systems globally’ aims to unpack the key EU instruments available in policy areas including: • Trade in goods and services • Public investment and fiscal instruments • Official development assistance and humanitarian aid • Solidarity, voice, and multilateralism • Research and training partnerships This roundtable will delve into the main priorities of the Strategy and reflect on upcoming plans for its realisation. Engaging with the audience, the panel will explore the need for transparency, alignment, and coordination of the existing instruments across the different policy areas. It will also discuss opportunities for collaboration between the European level and the EU Member States. This facilitated roundtable discussion will explore how resources such as the Policy Brief can serve as a steppingstone to map and make sense of the diverse range of EU actions relevant for Global Health, in order to maximise synergies, transparency and policy consistency for successful coordination and implementation of the Strategy. (1) EU Global Health Strategy - Better Health for All in a Changing World. Commission Communication COM(2022) 675, https://health.ec.europa.eu/publications/eu-global-health-strategy-better-health-all-changing-world_en Key messages • The EU already has more policy instruments with an impact on Global Health than one would expect. • Delivering on the priorities of the new EU Global Health Strategy will require taking stock of ongoing EU actions and forging meaningful synergies for cross-sectoral collaboration. Speakers/Panelists Scott Greer University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA Nicole Mauer European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Brussels, Belgium Elena Petelos EUPHA-HTA, EUPHA-GH