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Key technical guidelines

Managing WHO Humanitarian Response in the Field               

This handbook provides guidance for WHO Representatives (WR), Country Office staff and consultants in assessing and managing the response to health needs during humanitarian crises. These are key elements of WHO action in relation to Strategic Objective 5: to reduce the health consequences of emergencies, disasters, crises and conflicts, and minimize their social and economic impact.

Online version of the manual | Full text 140 pages [pdf 1.18Mb] | Annexes 140 pages [pdf 955kb]

Prevention and management of wound infection                    

Open injuries have a potential for serious bacterial wound infections, including gas gangrene and tetanus, and these in turn may lead to long term disabilities, chronic wound or bone infection, and death. Wound infection is particularly of concern when injured patients present late for definitive care, or in disasters where large numbers of injured survivors exceed available trauma care capacity. Appropriate management of injuries is important to reduce the likelihood of wound infections. The following core principles and protocols provide guidance for appropriate prevention and management of infected wounds.

Full text [pdf 152kb]

WHO Ethical and safety recommendations for researching, documenting and monitoring sexual violence in emergencies             

Sexual violence in humanitarian emergencies, such as armed conflict and natural disasters, is a serious, even life-threatening, public health and human rights issue. Growing concern about the scale of the problem has led to increased efforts to learn more about the contexts in which this particular form of violence occurs, its prevalence, risk factors, its links to HIV infection, and also how best to prevent and respond to it.

English

WHO Emergency Handbook for the Eastern Mediterranean Region                   

The purpose of this booklet is to assist WHO staff in the field when an emergency occurs. The booklet provides technical hints on how to carry out a rapid health assessment, how to facilitate coordination, how departments in WHO can assist, etc. Standard formats for reporting and reference indicators are provided.

English

Mass casualty management systems                         

Strategies and guidelines for building health sector capacity. Many countries have not yet developed Mass Casualty Management Plans, and communities are too often left alone to develop preparedness and response plans without guidance from higher levels. These guidelines are designed to help policy makers, decision makers and emergency managers at all levels, especially at community level, to overcome the gaps in health system preparedness for managing mass casualty incidents.

English [pdf 850kb]

Manual for the health care of children in humanitarian emergencies                

These guidelines are to assist in the care of children in emergencies. They are designed to serve as a referencemanual for the evaluation and management of children in emergencies, and as the basis for the training of healthcare workers. The target audience is first level health workers who provide care to children under the age of 5 years. Physicians and health care workers with more advanced training are referred to the WHO Pocket Book of HospitalCare for Children: Guidelines for the Management of Common Illnesses with Limited Resources (2005).

English [pdf 564kb]

Protect Children from Sexual Violence and Sexual Exploitation, specifically in Disaster and Emergency situations           

by ECPAT International -- This manual is about how to protect children from sexual violence and sexual exploitation, specifically in disaster and emergency situations. It is not intended to be an academic report but instead is a practical guide that we hope will be of use to people working directly in the field. The aim is to provide fundamental information to assist personnel working in emergency situations in responding to protect children, in terms of what can be done before disaster strikes (which might be called ‘mitigation’ efforts), in the immediate aftermath (the ‘response’) and in the longer term reconstruction phase (sometimes called the ‘recovery’). We have also included recommended actions and key considerations to be taken into account in the event of sexual violence or sexual exploitation.

English

Protecting persons affected by IASC Operational Guidelines on Human Rights and Natural Disasters                   

The publication of these guidelines reflects an understanding of the need for the humanitarian system to provide to the people on the front lines of disaster response the guidance they need to ensure the protection of the rights of the people left homeless by natural disasters.

English

The UNHCR Tool for Participatory Assessment in Operations              

The overall goal of this Tool is to assist offices in strengthening partnerships with persons of concern, in gathering baseline data for age, gender, and diversity analysis and in developing the most appropriate protection strategies

English

Analysing Disrupted Health Sectors            

To provide guidance to analysts of troubled health sectors. This includes countries on the verge of an economic, political and/or military catastrophe, protracted crises and situations of transition from disaster to recovery. The intended users are apprentice analysts, already with field experience, familiar with quantitative techniques, attempting to analyse a disrupted health sector.

English

IASC In-Country Team Self-Assessment Tool for Natural Disaster Response Preparedness                     

The purpose of the tool is to encourage IASC in-country teams1 to embark in a process to gradually increase their capacities to respond to the challenge of providing host governments with prompt, effective and concerted country-level support in disaster preparedness and response. This includes an inward view of response preparedness capacities of IASC partners, as well as those of the host government, in order to ascertain priorities and establish preparedness and response mechanisms and systems according to the national legislation, institutional framework and practices.

English

Human rights guidance note for Humanitarian Coordinators               

The purpose of this guidance note is to provide Humanitarian Coordinators (HCs) with a specific, clear and field-oriented tool to facilitate the integration of human rights into humanitarian action, and to outline the role of the HC in this context. It is hoped that the guidance note will also facilitate and encourage agencies to clarify their role vis-ŕvis the integration of the human rights agenda into their activities.

English

Malaria Control in Complex Emergencies                    

This inter-agency handbook focuses on effective malaria control responses to complex emergencies, particularly during the acute phase when reliance on international humanitarian assistance is greatest. It provides policy-makers, planners, field programme managers and medical coordinators with practical guidance on designing and implementing measures to reduce malaria morbidity and mortality.

English

Emergency Essentials                      

The purpose of this booklet is to assist WHO and other Public Health workers in the field when an emergency occurs. The booklet provides technical hints on how to carry out a rapid health assessment, how to facilitate coordination, how departments in WHO can assist, etc. Standard formats for reporting and reference indicators are provided.

English [pdf 115kb]

Training Manual on Essential Emergency Surgical Procedures                             

Surgical Care at the District Hospital provides a comprehensive guide to surgical procedures that are commonly performed at the district hospital. It is intentionally limited to emergency and very common problems and is not designed as a major textbook of surgery.

English

Best Practice Guidelines on Emergency Surgical Care in Disaster Situations              

These guidelines have been extracted from the WHO manual Surgical Care at the District Hospital (SCDH), which is a part of the WHO Integrated Management on Emergency and Essential Surgical Care (IMEESC).

English [pdf 1.64Mb]

Handbook of The Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response              

The Sphere Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response sets out for the first time what people affected by disasters have a right to expect from humanitarian assistance. The aim of the Project is to improve the quality of assistance provided to people affected by disasters, and to enhance the accountability of the humanitarian system in disaster response.

English | French | Spanish  

Checklist for evaluating a mortality report               

F. Checchi and L. Roberts, 2005

English [pdf 20kb]

Resources on Humanitarian Issues (Oxfam)                            

Oxfam collection of resources on humanitarian issues

English [pdf 665kb]  

Humanitarian Supply Management And Logistics                   

The management of supplies, whether from the local market or from an external source, is, in most cases, a complex logistical problem that should not be left to improvised decision making. The acquisition, storage, mobilization, and distribution of supplies to the victims require a minimum framework of organization that permits efficient handling and better use of the resources. This new book provides guidelines to handle this process. As a practical guide, it points out that countries and organizations should incorporate the topic of logistics into their planning and preparedness for disasters. It also underlines that each step in the supply chain should be seen as a critical and interrelated link in the chain.

English

Community Emergency Preparedness: A Manual for Managers and Policy-Makers      

A guide to policies, procedures, and planning techniques that can help mitigate the consequences of natural and man-made disasters. Addressed to managers in health administrations, hospitals, public works, and volunteer organizations, the manual draws on abundant evidence that emergency preparedness can help stricken communities limit the consequences of emergencies and overcome them at an early stage.

English

The UNHCR Tool for Participatory Assessment in Operations              

The overall goal of this Tool is to assist offices in strengthening partnerships with persons of concern, in gathering baseline data for age, gender, and diversity analysis and in developing the most appropriate protection strategies

English

Analysing Disrupted Health Sectors            

To provide guidance to analysts of troubled health sectors. This includes countries on the verge of an economic, political and/or military catastrophe, protracted crises and situations of transition from disaster to recovery. The intended users are apprentice analysts, already with field experience, familiar with quantitative techniques, attempting to analyse a disrupted health sector.

English

IASC In-Country Team Self-Assessment Tool for Natural Disaster Response Preparedness                     

The purpose of the tool is to encourage IASC in-country teams1 to embark in a process to gradually increase their capacities to respond to the challenge of providing host governments with prompt, effective and concerted country-level support in disaster preparedness and response. This includes an inward view of response preparedness capacities of IASC partners, as well as those of the host government, in order to ascertain priorities and establish preparedness and response mechanisms and systems according to the national legislation, institutional framework and practices.

English

Human rights guidance note for Humanitarian Coordinators               

The purpose of this guidance note is to provide Humanitarian Coordinators (HCs) with a specific, clear and field-oriented tool to facilitate the integration of human rights into humanitarian action, and to outline the role of the HC in this context. It is hoped that the guidance note will also facilitate and encourage agencies to clarify their role vis-ŕvis the integration of the human rights agenda into their activities.

English

Malaria Control in Complex Emergencies                    

This inter-agency handbook focuses on effective malaria control responses to complex emergencies, particularly during the acute phase when reliance on international humanitarian assistance is greatest. It provides policy-makers, planners, field programme managers and medical coordinators with practical guidance on designing and implementing measures to reduce malaria morbidity and mortality.

English

Emergency Essentials                   

The purpose of this booklet is to assist WHO and other Public Health workers in the field when an emergency occurs. The booklet provides technical hints on how to carry out a rapid health assessment, how to facilitate coordination, how departments in WHO can assist, etc. Standard formats for reporting and reference indicators are provided.

English [pdf 115kb]

Training Manual on Essential Emergency Surgical Procedures                             

Surgical Care at the District Hospital provides a comprehensive guide to surgical procedures that are commonly performed at the district hospital. It is intentionally limited to emergency and very common problems and is not designed as a major textbook of surgery.

English

Best Practice Guidelines on Emergency Surgical Care in Disaster Situations             

These guidelines have been extracted from the WHO manual Surgical Care at the District Hospital (SCDH), which is a part of the WHO Integrated Management on Emergency and Essential Surgical Care (IMEESC).

English [pdf 1.64Mb]

Handbook of The Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response              

The Sphere Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response sets out for the first time what people affected by disasters have a right to expect from humanitarian assistance. The aim of the Project is to improve the quality of assistance provided to people affected by disasters, and to enhance the accountability of the humanitarian system in disaster response.

English | French | Spanish  

Checklist for evaluating a mortality report               

F. Checchi and L. Roberts, 2005

English [pdf 20kb]

Resources on Humanitarian Issues (Oxfam)                            

Oxfam collection of resources on humanitarian issues

English [pdf 665kb]  

Humanitarian Supply Management And Logistics                    

The management of supplies, whether from the local market or from an external source, is, in most cases, a complex logistical problem that should not be left to improvised decision making. The acquisition, storage, mobilization, and distribution of supplies to the victims require a minimum framework of organization that permits efficient handling and better use of the resources. This new book provides guidelines to handle this process. As a practical guide, it points out that countries and organizations should incorporate the topic of logistics into their planning and preparedness for disasters. It also underlines that each step in the supply chain should be seen as a critical and interrelated link in the chain.

English

Community Emergency Preparedness: A Manual for Managers and Policy-Makers      

A guide to policies, procedures, and planning techniques that can help mitigate the consequences of natural and man-made disasters. Addressed to managers in health administrations, hospitals, public works, and volunteer organizations, the manual draws on abundant evidence that emergency preparedness can help stricken communities limit the consequences of emergencies and overcome them at an early stage.

English

Acute Watery Diarrhoea Preparedness
(AWD)


Matrix: current stock levels of health cluster partners for AWD preparedness (as of 15 October 2009).

The matrix is subject to continuous review

 

Outbreak alerts

 

AWD rumour verification in Bakool Region
October 2009

AWD outbreak in Banadir Region
October 2009
 

Capacity building


AWD preparedness in Bakool Region
October 2009
 

Guidelines


Key technical guidelines health cluster partners

See further WHO technical resources for use in emergencies
 

Floods in Somalia

See latest update on flooding in Somalia