A commitment to support the world's most vulnerable women, children, and adolescents

Abstract

Women, children, and adolescents face persistent inequities in many regions of the world, but none more so than in fragile and humanitarian contexts, especially conflict settings. It is not only a moral obligation to address their needs, but also an economic imperative aligned with the agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals, including the aim of universal health coverage. To support women, children, and adolescents in conflict settings, however, we need far greater political commitment and leadership. Doing better for women and children in armed conflict settingsA 2017 Lancet Health in Humanitarian Crises Series paper declared that the international “humanitarian system is not just broke, but broken”1 and called for action to prioritise protection; integrate affected and displaced people into national health systems; scale up efficient, effective, and sustainable interventions in humanitarian settings; and renew global leadership and coordination. There has been insufficient progress since then. WHO has understandably focused on managing large-scale infectious disease outbreaks, such as Ebola virus disease, Zika virus disease, and COVID-19, and health needs in conflict settings have largely taken a back seat. Full-Text PDF The effects of armed conflict on the health of women and childrenWomen and children bear substantial morbidity and mortality as a result of armed conflicts. This Series paper focuses on the direct (due to violence) and indirect health effects of armed conflict on women and children (including adolescents) worldwide. We estimate that nearly 36 million children and 16 million women were displaced in 2017, on the basis of international databases of refugees and internally displaced populations. From geospatial analyses we estimate that the number of non-displaced women and children living dangerously close to armed conflict (within 50 km) increased from 185 million women and 250 million children in 2000, to 265 million women and 368 million children in 2017. Full-Text PDF The political and security dimensions of the humanitarian health response to violent conflictThe nature of armed conflict throughout the world is intensely dynamic. Consequently, the protection of non-combatants and the provision of humanitarian services must continually adapt to this changing conflict environment. Complex political affiliations, the systematic use of explosive weapons and sexual violence, and the use of new communication technology, including social media, have created new challenges for humanitarian actors in negotiating access to affected populations and security for their own personnel. Full-Text PDF Delivering health interventions to women, children, and adolescents in conflict settings: what have we learned from ten country case studies?Armed conflict disproportionately affects the morbidity, mortality, and wellbeing of women, newborns, children, and adolescents. Our study presents insights from a collection of ten country case studies aiming to assess the provision of sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health and nutrition interventions in ten conflict-affected settings in Afghanistan, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. We found that despite large variations in contexts and decision making processes, antenatal care, basic emergency obstetric and newborn care, comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care, immunisation, treatment of common childhood illnesses, infant and young child feeding, and malnutrition treatment and screening were prioritised in these ten conflict settings. Full-Text PDF Delivering health and nutrition interventions for women and children in different conflict contexts: a framework for decision making on what, when, and howExisting global guidance for addressing women's and children's health and nutrition in humanitarian crises is not sufficiently contextualised for conflict settings specifically, reflecting the still-limited evidence that is available from such settings. As a preliminary step towards filling this guidance gap, we propose a conflict-specific framework that aims to guide decision makers focused on the health and nutrition of women and children affected by conflict to prioritise interventions that would address the major causes of mortality and morbidity among women and children in their particular settings and that could also be feasibly delivered in those settings. Full-Text PDF