Syrian Humanitarian Crisis Research Articles

Accessibility to Health Care Services and Treatment for People with Noncommunicable Diseases in Northwest Syria.

We assessed the accessibility to health care services and treatment for people with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in Northwest Syria after more than eleven years of the worst humanitarian crisis in Syria. Included in this cross-sectional study were people with one or more of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, or chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases; people from both Aleppo and Idleb governorates; and residents from both inside and outside the camp. Data were collected in November 2022 via face-to-face interviews. The findings were obtained from 674 respondents (52.8% female). Respondents in Idleb were 6.5 times more likely to access health care services than Aleppo (p = 0000). In-camp residents were 1.5 times more likely to access outreach health services (p = 0.020). Respondents with higher income were three times more likely to access health care services compared to respondents with lower income (p = 0.000). Having any of the surveyed NCDs made the respondents less likely to get the required services. The study findings added more evidence about the inequity in terms of accessing health care services in Northwest Syria and identified the barriers. It was clear that a perceived group of people with NCDs do not have access to the health care services, including outreach health services and free medications.

Communicable Disease Surveillance in Lebanon during the Syrian Humanitarian Crisis, 2013-2019.

Lebanon has been one of the most affected countries by the Syrian humanitarian crisis. The national communicable disease surveillance was enhanced to detect outbreaks among Syrians. In this study, we aim to describe the findings of the communicable disease surveillance among Syrians in Lebanon, compare it to residents' data, and describe the implemented surveillance activities between 2013 and 2019. During the study period, data on communicable diseases was mainly collected through the routine national surveillance system and an enhanced syndromic surveillance system. Predefined case definitions and standard operating procedures were in place. Data collection included both case-based and disease-specific reporting forms. Descriptive data and incidence rates were generated. Information was disseminated through weekly reports. Activities were conducted in close collaboration with different partners. The most commonly reported diseases were: viral hepatitis A, cutaneous leishmaniasis, mumps, and measles. Hepatitis A incidence increased in 2013 and 2014 among Syrians as well as residents. For leishmaniasis, the incidence increased only among Syrians in 2013 and decreased after that. An outbreak of mumps was reported among Syrians between 2014 and 2016, with a peak in 2015 concomitant with a national outbreak. Outbreaks of measles were reported among Syrians and residents in 2013, 2018, and 2019. The infrastructure of the well-implemented surveillance system in Lebanon has been utilized to monitor the health status of Syrians in Lebanon, early detect communicable diseases among this population, and guide needed preventive and control measures. This highlights the importance of having a flexible surveillance system that can be adapted to emergencies and the importance of sharing results with involved partners.

Presentation and management outcomes of Retinoblastoma among Syrian refugees in Jordan.

The humanitarian crisis in Syria has had a profound impact on the entire region. In this study, we report the patterns of presentation and management outcomes of Syrian patients with Retinoblastoma (Rb) treated at a single tertiary cancer center in Jordan. This is a retrospective comparative study of Syrian refugees and Jordanian citizens who had Rb between 2011 and 2020. Collected data included patient demographics, presentation, tumor stage, treatment modalities, eye salvage rate, metastasis, and mortality. Thirty Syrian refugees (16 (53%) had bilateral disease) and 124 Jordanian citizens (51(41%) had bilateral disease) were diagnosed with Rb during this period. The median age at diagnosis for refugees was 10 and 32 months for patients with bilateral and unilateral Rb consecutively, compared to 6 and 28 months for citizens. The median lag time between signs of disease and initiation of treatment was 3 months for refugees, compared to 1 month for citizens.Refugees were more likely to present with a more advanced stage (p=0.046). Out of 46 affected eyes in refugees; 32 (70%) eyes were group D or E, while out of 175 affected eyes among citizens; 98 (56%) eyes were group D or E. Therefore, refugees with Rb were more likely to mandate primary enucleation (48%) compared to citizens (25%) (p=0.003). However, out of 24 eyes among refugees who received conservative therapy, 15 (62%) eyes were successfully salvaged, while out of 131 affected eyes among citizens who received conservative therapy, 105 (80%) eyes were successfully salvaged (p=0.06). Two (7%) of the refugees and four (3.2%) of the citizens with Rb died from metastasis. Syrian refugees with Rb presented with more advanced disease due to delay in diagnosis and referral that increased the treatment burden by decreasing the chance for eye globe salvage. However, patients who received the timely intervention had a similar outcome to citizens with Rb; probably a reflection of the management of all patients at a single specialized center. We advocate for the timely referral of refugees with this rare life-threatening tumor to a specialized cancer center for the best possible outcome.

Humanitarian Crisis in Syria and International Response

As the Syrian conflict in the Middle East stands still, the humanitarian situation is further deteriorating. The scale and magnitude of the conflict constitute one of the largest crises of our time, posing significant challenges to the humanitarian architecture. Thus in view of resolving the worst situation of the humanitarian crisis in Syria this study aims to evaluate and analyze the role of the International community in their response to the crisis by providing an overview of the modern Syrian conflict's history, the impact of the conflict, refugee flows and International power politics. Furthermore, the article is concluded with recommendations and ways for the international community to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Syria.

A Troubled Return to the Homeland: Syrian Circassians in Southern Russia

The humanitarian crisis in Syria has fuelled the Circassian issue in Russia. Escaping from the war, hundreds of Syrian Circassians (Adyghe) chose Russia as their destination because their ancestors came to the Middle East from the North Caucasus. Syrian Circassians have faced difficulties in entering Russia and staying there regardless of the state’s ability to accept a large number of immigrants. In the case of receiving Syrian Adyghe, Russian authorities were suspicious about: (1) growing Circassian activism before the Olympics in Sochi; (2) ISIS infiltration; and (3) ethnic tensions in the Southern regions. Nevertheless, many Syrian Circassians settled in Russia due to the support extended by local Adyghe. Our findings are based on interviews and public polls conducted in Karachay-Cherkessia in 2017 and Adygea in 2018.

An analysis of humanitarian and health aid alignment over a decade (2011–2019) of the Syrian conflict

BackgroundThe 11 years of the devastating conflict in Syria resulted in more than 874,000 deaths, and in more than thirteen million refugees and internally displaced people (UNHCR, Syrian refugee crisis: aid, statistics and news, USA for UNHCR, Washington, 2020; Alhiraki et al. in BMJ Glob Health 7:e008624, 2022). The health system was severely affected and has become aid dependent. This study examines aid alignment over a decade of the Syrian crisis from 2011 to 2019.MethodsAid alignment involves donors using national systems and institutional structures to manage their aid to recipient governments and aligning their aid policies with development priorities and strategies defined by the partner countries (ROSA Newsletter, Moving towards increased aid alignment in the food and nutrition security sector, 2013. Available from: http://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/oxfam/bitstream/10546/141974/1/). Aid alignment was explored as part of the 2005 Paris Declaration Framework on aid effectiveness. Based on OECD’s survey on monitoring the Paris Declaration (OECD, Harmonisation, alignment, results: report on progress, challenges and opportunities, OECD, Paris, 2005; OECD, Survey on harmonisation and alignment of donor practices, OECD, 2006. Available from: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/development/survey-on-harmonisation-and-alignment-of-donor-practices_journal_dev-v6-sup1-en) and based on a proposed methodology to assess aid effectiveness by Burall and Roodman (Developing a methodology for assessing aid effectiveness: an options paper, Overseas Development Institute, 2007. Available from: www.odi.org.ukhttp://www.cgdev.org), we designed a sequential mixed methodology to address two main indicators: alignment with national strategies and local procedures, and aid delivery through local systems. The quantitative part investigated the financial alignment of aid using financial data trackers, such as creditor reporting system and the UN-OCHA financial tracking system, and the relevant humanitarian needs estimations by the humanitarian assistance response plans, humanitarian response plans, and humanitarian needs overviews. The qualitative part relied on four focus groups discussions and four key informants interviews with key policy makers, experts and practitioners involved in the humanitarian and health response in Syria, with the aim of interpreting the quantitative findings.ResultsWhile the study found an improvement in aid budget alignment with local procedures in Syria from 34% in 2012 to 86% in 2019, we found limited alignment with local strategies. Our qualitative findings pose doubts in the ability of the various data sources of humanitarian needs in Syria to reflect the actual realities, especially before 2014, due to lack of comprehensive local engagement and data systems by then. Therefore, even if the humanitarian budgets seemed to be aligned with the national procedures, the national plans did not seem to align with the actual realities, let alone the increase in the financing deficit over the years of the conflict. The reliance of humanitarian and health aid on governmental structures, as a main recipient, in Syria was much lower than other developing and fragile countries. This is mainly due to the nature of the Syrian conflict where the government is a party to the conflict. Donors were found to have invested poorly in advancing national and sub-national planning in Syria due to donors’ over reliance on the UN-led humanitarian system which struggles in armed conflict settings. As a result, we found a disconnection between field realities, national planning, and humanitarian aid.ConclusionIn light of the dreadful humanitarian crisis in Syria, there has been an adverse aid alignment. Considering the chronicity of the conflict, there is an urgent need to improve aid alignment through more investment in local planning at district or governorate levels. This is especially important to navigate through conflict sensitivities while responding to local needs and initiating local developments. These approaches, combined with adopting health sector-wide approach, could contribute to the humanitarian-development-peace nexus in Syria, which in turn can contribute to a better aid alignment and aid effectiveness.

Self-rated health and quality of life among Syrian refugees in Ireland – data from a cross-sectional study

IntroductionAs a response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria, the Irish government agreed to accept up to 4000 refugees for resettlement in Ireland in 2016. Prior to their arrival in Ireland, health screening was carried out by the International Organisation for Migration. However, no population-level measurement of the health status or needs takes place in Ireland to inform policy or health services requirements.MethodsCross-sectional data from a self-completed questionnaire among 194 Syrian Refugees aged 16 years and older resident in reception centres in Ireland in 2017/2018 is reported upon. The questionnaire measured self-reported health including quality of life and all study material were available in English and Arabic. The data was examined applying descriptive statistics and regression analysis.ResultsSyrian Refugees in Ireland consist of a relatively young cohort; in this study the majority of participants were younger than 35 years (69.5%). Two-thirds of the respondents reported their overall health status to be good or very good. The most common health condition was found to be headache and the most common medications used were painkillers. Chronic pain was experienced by one quarter of respondents; 27.5% were considered as suffering from anxiety and 10.0% had symptoms compatible with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A significant relationship was observed between chronic pain and self-rated health, as well as between chronic pain and anxiety. Quality of life (QoL) scores were lowest for the QoL environment domain.ConclusionsChronic pain is relatively widespread among these young and otherwise healthy refugees. Psychological distress and trauma are important factors in respondents’ quality of life scores. Chronic pain is associated with one’s mental health. Our findings and the literature suggests that the diagnosis and treatment of pain and providing care in a culturally sensitive manner should be a priority and included in the preparation and training of the relevant care providers. Additionally, the impact of living conditions on quality of life should not be underestimated.

EMPATHY AND COMPASSION

Da crise humanitária na Síria a sua representatividade por meio da fotografia do pequeno Aylan Kurdi – menino sírio de etnia curda, encontrado morto numa praia na Turquia – pensamos neste artigo o testemunho através da estética da imagem e seu impacto na denúncia da barbárie, bem como o desafio humano de conectar-se com o outro na construção de vínculos duradouros por meio do diálogo fundado na interação empática e afinado com a reparação. Sob a perspectiva levinasiana de uma ética da responsabilidade, num mundo conectado à rede internet, entendermos como a sensibilidade empática, quando no domínio da imagem, cria a relação de semelhança com o outro, e ainda cria condições de pensar como o outro e sobre o outro, seja para lograr êxito na mediação de conflitos, seja para refletir sobre o uso da fotografia (também) como local de memória.

GÜVENLİK KONUSU OLARAK ULUSLARARASI GÖÇMENLER: AÇIK KAPI POLİTİKASI VE TÜRKİYE'DE Kİ SURİYELİLER

International migration, an issue as old as the history itself, needs to be tabled. The Syrian conflict which happened due to the Arab Spring led millions of Syrians to leave their country. The wave of uncontrolled immigration, starting from the neighbouring ones and spreading to various countries, became an important tool for terrorists to infiltrate into target countries and caused a serious security problem for migrant-hosting states. Additionally, this human flow has led to changes in the demographic structures of the hosting countries, and these changes have brought many social and economic costs that threaten the internal security. In this context; in Turkey, who applied open door policy for the people fleeing from the humanitarian crisis in Syria from the very first days, issues caused by Syrians in time are quite attention grabbing. An in-depth analysis of these events reveals the relationship between illegal and irregular migration and considerable increase in terrorist activities, social, political and economic costs and demographic changes.

China, Responsibility to Protect, and the Case of Syria

Abstract Will the rise of China, an authoritarian, party-state with a poor record of protecting its citizens’ human rights, undermine humanitarian intervention? This question has been particularly pertinent since China’s “assertive turn” in foreign policy. Drawing on the case of Chinese reactions to the humanitarian crisis in Syria, this article argues that China’s attitude toward humanitarian intervention remains ambiguous and contradictory. While China has at times prevented the UN Security Council from threatening sanctions on Syria, it has not necessarily denied that a humanitarian crisis exists. The article shows that the People’s Republic of China is beginning to act more as a norm maker than norm taker, and is offering its own vision of humanitarian intervention, coined as “responsible protection.”

Towards an emotional geography of diplomacy: Insights from the United Nations Security Council

In this paper I progress an emotional geography of diplomacy by considering emotions as part of calculative action on the part of diplomats. I seek to move the spotlight away from what emotion is to what emotion, as an embodied sociality, seeks to do to the alteration or reproduction of geopolitical relations. This unique focus on the calculative dimensions of emotional usage in diplomacy is a central though unexplored dimension of emotional geopolitics and one that I consider supports a perspective in which emotions are not depoliticised or trivialised, but situated, historicised, and relational, and which may be mobilised for political purposes. Focusing on the socio‐spatiality of calculative emotions, and building on recent scholarly interest in the mobilisation and manipulation of emotions, I explore their use in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), a poignant and powerful context for the study of emotional diplomacies. Using empirically rich materials derived from interviews with Security Council delegations, the paper's aims are threefold. First, I explore the different ways in which emotions are perceived, performed, interpreted, and acted on by diplomats in this international, inter‐cultural geopolitical body. Second, from a geographical perspective I investigate the ways in which embodied emotions are distinctively connected to specific sites and spaces, and demonstrate the complexities of their usage in the UNSC. Finally, using a case study of Russian–UK emotional exchanges in the UNSC over the civil war and humanitarian crisis in Syria, I show that research on emotional diplomacies must be sensitive to the specific social and cultural assumptions over what particular emotions mean and do in altering and reproducing geopolitical relations.

Manipulating Diplomatic Atmospheres: The United Nations Security Council and Syria

This article connects growing interest in affective atmospheres in human geography with critical geographies of diplomacy. Diplomats inhabit, discuss, and operate in and through atmospheres. Specifically, and uniquely, this article explores atmospheric manipulation by them and its connection to geopolitical claim making. In this way, it adds to the work in human geography on atmospheres by revealing its politics; that is, how atmospheres through spatiotemporal and relational processes are manipulated to do the work of geopolitics. Importantly, it also exposes how atmospheres are not incidental, accidental, or unimportant to geographies of diplomacy. Manifestly, atmospheres are political and have consequences. This article is grounded empirically in accounts of atmosphere in the United Nations Security Council by its high-level current diplomatic members. The focus is on the intensity of their “lived” experience and their registering and appraisal of the emerging, transitioning, and transformative atmospheres in the Council. Crucially, their accounts link the complexities of atmospheric perturbations, diplomatic “moments,” and subjectivity with manipulation. Collectively, they expose the cognitively penetrable although differentially affected nature of atmospheric manipulation and how the staging of an atmosphere is taken up and reworked by diplomatic bodies. The specific context for the study of atmospheric manipulation is a Council meeting on the worsening political and humanitarian crisis in Syria and the formulation of a military response by three of its permanent members (the United States, France, and the United Kingdom) in April 2018.

Lost Histories: Recovering the Lives of Japan's Colonial Peoples by Kirsten L. Ziomek

Reviewed by: Lost Histories: Recovering the Lives of Japan's Colonial Peoples by Kirsten L. Ziomek E. Taylor Atkins (bio) Lost Histories: Recovering the Lives of Japan's Colonial Peoples. By Kirsten L. Ziomek. Harvard University Asia Center, Cambridge MA, 2019. xix, 426 pages. $70.00, cloth; $35.00, paper. Names matter. Playwright Eve Ensler (The Vagina Monologues) has said, "I believe in naming what's right in front of us because that is often what is most invisible."1 The Naïve Idealist, contributor to the web site The Good Men Project, adds, "A person's name is the doorway into their world; a [End Page 505] person's name has the power to open a connection into their world, a connection to show them who you are, a connection to pass your feelings of that person through and a connection to show them how you see them."2 Onlookers apparently feel less connected to victims of genocide, refugees crossing treacherous seas, or migrants packed into detention camps unless and until they learn the names of individual sufferers who come to emblematize larger plights. To the extent the world came to care at all about the humanitarian crisis in Syria, it was because we learned the name of Alan Kurdi, the Syrian toddler who was washed ashore on a Turkish beach in 2015.3 People subjugated by colonialism have been generally treated, by both colonial regimes and later historians, as discursive objects and subaltern "ethnotypes" whose individuality is effaced. Noting and recording individual names is one of the most powerful ways in which we can acknowledge their existence, singularity, and historical importance. Unfortunately, colonial archives rarely disclose those names. Therefore, when we find names we must treasure them, not just for the information they can provide for our books and articles, but for the potentially transformative encounters we might have with the bearers of those names. If, as the Naïve Idealist says, "a person's name has the power to open a connection into their world," Kirsten L. Ziomek's Lost Histories demonstrates that power. Her dogged pursuit of the names and life stories of people who lived within Japan's formal empire is truly impressive. In several cases Ziomek circumvents the limitations of the "colonial archive" to provide us with portrayals of people whose lives were certainly affected by the "oppressive nature of Japan's colonial policies" (pp. 8–10) but were nevertheless full and fascinating. Her investigations do not always yield "uplifting stories of power and agency," yet they do reveal some of the ways that "colonial subjects acted within that oppression" (p. 11). Several times throughout the text, Ziomek recounts her sleuthing process, sharing with the reader the excitement of discovery. The author sometimes overstates the originality of her insights and themes. For a couple of decades now, historians of Japanese imperialism have been crafting more "complicated" (p. 6) and "nuanced" (p. 11) depictions of colonial relationships; they have recognized the "precariousness of Japanese rule" (p. 6) and that there was no simple "one-way process in which [End Page 506] the Japanese always controlled their subjects" (p. 5); they have worked in multiple languages to understand the thoughts and experiences of colonial subjects and to create accounts that de-center (while not understating) the fact of Japanese domination. Ziomek is hardly the first to tell us that colonial identities were protean, or that Koreans, aboriginal and Han Taiwanese, Ainu, Okinawans, and Micronesians navigated imperial relations cleverly and turned the material and nonmaterial conditions of colonial modernity to their own personal and collective advantages. We know that Japanese officials relied extensively on connections and alliances with compliant local elites, whose own interests and motivations were complex and malleable, and who did not hesitate to invoke their status as "children of the emperor" to assert their own dignity. Historians of Japan are aware that there were multiple conflicting imperial theories, justifications, and visions, and that in certain contexts "ethnoracial difference" was celebrated as an asset rather than an indication of the failure and futility of assimilation (dōka) and imperialization (kōminka) policies (pp. 5–7). Ziomek is thus contributing to what have become mainstream trends...

Quality-of-life among Syrian refugees residing outside camps in Jordan relative to Jordanians and other countries.

BackgroundSince the beginning of the Syrian humanitarian crisis, Syrians sought refuge in many safer countries. Many aspects of Syrian refugees’ lives have been affected, hence affecting the overall quality of their lives. However, only one study has investigated their quality of life (QOL). The aim of this study was to assess the QOL of Syrian refugees residing outside camps in Jordan and compare it to the QOL of Jordanians and to other refugees and populations around the globe.MethodsData were obtained from Syrian refugees residing outside camps in Jordan, and from two Jordanian groups; low socioeconomic status (LSES) Jordanians and average socioeconomic status (ASES) Jordanians in 2017. A total of 661 Syrians, 208 LSES Jordanians and 714 ASES Jordanians, aged between 18 and 75 years were included. The World Health Organization Quality of Life instrument (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire was used as the QOL assessment tool. Analysis of Variance “ANOVA” and post hoc Tukey-Honest tests were used to find the differences between the means of QOL questions in the three groups (Syrians, ASES, and LSES). Stepwise multivariate linear regression was performed for each domain to determine the most associated risk factors.ResultsNo significant difference was found between Syrian refugees and LSES Jordanians in the physical health domain. Syrian refugees scored significantly lower than LSES Jordanians in the psychological health and social relationship domain. Syrian refugees scored significantly higher than LSES Jordanians in the environmental domain. ASES Jordanians scored significantly higher than the other two groups in all domains, with all its scores above the average.DiscussionDespite the support Jordan provides to the Syrian refugees, they still seem to suffer from poor psychological health, social relationships and environmental domains, with scores below 50 on (0–100) scale. Nonetheless, no significant difference was found between Syrian refugees and LSES Jordanians in the physical health domain, furthermore they scored significantly higher than LSES Jordanians in the environmental domain despite both scoring below 50 on (0–100) scale in this domain. Physical, psychological, and social domains were mainly affected by having a job, having higher income, and being married and free from diseases.

Exodus 2.0: crowdsourcing geographical and social trails of mass migration

The exodus of displaced populations is a recurring historical phenomenon, and the ongoing Syrian humanitarian crisis is its latest incarnation. During such mass migration events, information is an essential commodity. Of particular importance is geographical (e.g., pathways and refugee camps) and social (e.g., refugee activities and networking) information. Traditionally, such information had been produced and disseminated by authorities, but a new paradigm is emerging: Web 2.0 and mobile computing technologies enable the involved stakeholder communities to produce, access, and consume migration-related information. The purpose of this article is to put forward a new typology for understanding the factors around migration and to examine the potential of crowd-generated data—especially open data and volunteered geographic information—to study such events. Using the recent wave of migration to Europe from the Middle East and northern Africa as a case study, we examine how migration-related information can be dynamically mined and analyzed to study the migrants’ pathways from their home countries to their destination sites, as well as the conditions and activities that evolve during the migration process. These new data sources can provide a deeper and more fine-grained understanding of the migration process, often in real-time, and often through the eyes of the communities affected by it. Nevertheless, this also raises significant methodological and technical challenges for their future use associated with potential biases, data quality issues, and data processing.

Tuberculosis, war, and refugees: Spotlight on the Syrian humanitarian crisis.

Tuberculosis, war, and refugees: Spotlight on the Syrian humanitarian crisis.

UN paralysis over Syria: the responsibility to protect or regime change?

The Syrian conflict, now in its eighth year, is a bitter example where a sovereign state and the international community have manifestly failed in their responsibilities to protect civilians from mass atrocity crimes. What factors have prevented the international community from fulfilling its obligation under the principle of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) to save Syrian civilians? This paper argues that the contradiction between the protection of civilians and regime change has undermined international confidence in the principle of R2P and tarnished it as a tool for US foreign policy agendas. This argument is developed by a review of R2P’s conceptualisation followed by examining its implementation in Libya. This study concludes that the conceptual confusion and the Libyan experience have broken the international consensus on R2P and paralysed the United Nations in dealing with the humanitarian crisis in Syria. More specifically, the UN Security Council’s disagreement over the means to protect Syrians has made R2P itself an impediment to its operationalisation.

Simplifying humanitarian assistance/disaster relief analytic models using activity-based intelligence

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose an effective knowledge elicitation method and representation scheme that empowers humanitarian assistance/disaster relief (HA/DR) analysts and experts to create analytic models without the aid of data scientists and methodologists while addressing the issues of complexity, collaboration, and emerging technology across a diverse global network of HA/DR organizations.Design/methodology/approachThe paper used a mixed-methods research approach, with qualitative research and analysis to select the model elicitation method, followed by quantitative data collection and evaluation to test the representation scheme. A simplified analytic modeling approach was created based on emerging activity-based intelligence (ABI) analytic methods.FindingsUsing open source data on the Syrian humanitarian crisis as the reference mission, ABI analytic models were proven capable in modeling HA/DR scenarios of physical systems, nonphysical systems, and thinking.Practical implicationsAs a data-agnostic approach to develop object and network knowledge, ABI aligns with the objectives of modeling within multiple HA/DR organizations.Originality/valueUsing an analytic method as the basis for model creation allows for immediate adoption by analysts and removes the need for data scientists and methodologists in the elicitation phase. Applying this highly effective cross-domain ABI data fusion technique should also supplant the accuracy weaknesses created by traditional simplified analytic models.

The role of public health information in assistance to populations living in opposition and contested areas of Syria, 2012\u20132014

BackgroundThe Syrian armed conflict is the worst humanitarian tragedy this century. With approximately 470,000 deaths and more than 13 million people displaced, the conflict continues to have a devastating impact on the health system and health outcomes within the country. Hundreds of international and national non-governmental organisations, as well as United Nations agencies have responded to the humanitarian crisis in Syria. While there has been significant attention on the challenges of meeting health needs of Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries such as Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, very little has been documented about the humanitarian challenges within Syria, between 2013 and 2014 when non-governmental organisations operated in Syria with very little United Nations support or leadership, particularly around obtaining information to guide health responses in Syria.MethodsIn this study, we draw on our operational experience in Syria and analyse data collected for the humanitarian health response in contested and opposition-held areas of Syria in 2013–4 from Turkey, where the largest humanitarian operation for Syria was based. This is combined with academic literature and material from open-access reports.ResultsHumanitarian needs have consistently been most acute in contested and opposition-held areas of Syria due to break-down of Government of Syria services and intense warfare. Humanitarian organisations had to establish de novo data collection systems independent of the Government of Syria to provide essential services in opposition-held and contested areas of Syria. The use of technology such as social media was vital to facilitating remote data collection in Syria as many humanitarian agencies operated with a limited operational visibility given chronic levels of insecurity. Mortality data have been highly politicized and extremely difficult to verify, particularly in areas highly affected by the conflict, with shifting frontlines, populations, and allegiances.ConclusionsMore investment in data collection and use, technological investment in the use of M- and E-health, capacity building and strong technical and independent leadership should be a key priority for the humanitarian health response in Syria and other emergencies. Much more attention should be also given for the treatment gap for non-communicable diseases including mental disorders.

The humanitarian crisis and civil war in Syria: Its impact and influence on the migration crisis in Europe

In the article we discuss the humanitarian crisis in Syria, which is associated with the ongoing civil war in the country, its origin and primarily its impact on the civilian population. The humanitarian crisis in Syria can be considered the worst humanitarian crisis in modern history, which is also associated with the issue of compliance with the international humanitarian law as a part of the ongoing civil war that greatly deepens the crisis. In this article, we also focus on the influence of this crisis on the current migration crisis in Europe. The aim of the article is to highlight the seriousness of the current situation in Syria, its influence on the migration crisis in Europe, and the issue of compliance and violation of the international humanitarian law in the ongoing civil war. An analysis of relevant sources was used to analyse this topic, especially reports and documents of international humanitarian organizations, documents of the United Nations and the European Union bodies, data from the Statistical Office of the European Union and available resources within the Scopus, Web of Science and Wiley Online Library scientific databases. The analysis of these sources shows that the current humanitarian crisis in Syria is critical, and all parties involved in the armed conflict repeatedly violate the international humanitarian law in the country. This law can help war victims, but it is unable to protect them properly. Fundamental human rights are also being fundamentally violated in the country where civilians are primary victims of the civil war and direct violence. The current situation in the country has resulted in the creation of large numbers of refugees and migrants. Syrian refugees form the largest group of asylum seekers within the European Union.