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Donors Making a Difference: Protecting health on the frontlines of humanitarian crises [1]

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Date: 2024-08

On the World Humanitarian Day 2024, we reflect on WHO’s lives-saving work in response to humanitarian crises around the globe, made possible with the support of its partners and donors. We honour the aid workers who, in the midst of conflicts and natural disasters, risk their lives daily on the frontlines to protect and serve others, and the health workers who, despite fear, threats, and intimidation, continue to provide care to those in desperate need.

This years’ World Humanitarian Day confronts a grim reality: the normalization of attacks on aid workers, including on health. Read stories from Cuba, Ethiopia, the Gaza Strip, Haiti, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nepal, Somalia, Ukraine and Zimbabwe.

Evacuating patients with complex injuries and medical conditions from Gaza

On 24 July 2024, sixteen people from Gaza with complicated medical conditions travelled to Spain to receive care there. Photo credit: WHO/Inas Hamam

Since October 2023 till July 2024, around 5000 people have been evacuated for treatment outside Gaza, with over 80% receiving care in Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). These governments support WHO to help evacuate patients further to countries where they will receive the care they urgently need. For instance, in late July 15 children from Gaza with complicated medical conditions, from 3- to 17-year-old, arrived in Spain, through an evacuation process involving multiple partners. The patients had been in hospital in Egypt for the several months with their care supported by the government, and Spain is now providing similar support, at various hospitals across Spain.

A week later, the largest medical evacuation since October 2023 took place, with 85 sick and severely injured patients from Gaza evacuated to Abu Dhabi, UAE, for specialized care. This extremely complex operation was carried out successfully due to the close collaboration with the UAE Government and other partners. Despite damaged roads, insecurity, and risks to their own safety, the WHO team managed the transfer of 35 children and 50 adults, who were patients from various areas in Gaza.

The evacuated patients are just a small portion of the thousands of other children and adults who need access to specialized medical care outside of Gaza.

Read the full story about the children transferred to Spain

Find out more about the evacuation of 85 patients from Gaza to the UAE

Dubai International Humanitarian City sends lives-savings supplies to Gaza. Photo: WHO/EMRO

Visit the WHO EMRO website to read more about delivery of medicines and supplies to Gaza, from WHO’s logistics hub at Dubai’s International Humanitarian City

Thanks to the European Union, WHO donates medical equipment for Sudan’s health system

In a significant boost to Sudan’s health infrastructure, WHO Sudan donated a new batch of medical equipment, including state-of-the-art zero-emission incinerators, to the Federal Ministry of Health in May 2024. This was made possible thanks to financial support from the European Union (EU) amounting to US$ 3 million.

Trucks carrying the medical equipment, procured with EU financial support, for donation to the Federal Ministry of Health. Photo: WHO Sudan

The assets will help enhance the quality of care provided and support infection prevention and control in health facilities in 6 states.

This initiative marks a crucial step in rebuilding Sudan’s health system and addressing critical needs in hospital settings. It is a continuation of EU support to the WHO health emergency response in Sudan. In 2023, EU support enabled WHO to deliver critical life-saving devices and equipment for use in intensive care units. EU supports WHO’s work in Sudan, as the two partners stand with Sudan’s people through the past year of conflict.

Read the full story on the WHO Country Office in Sudan website

Revisit the WHO feature story about donors for WHO's work to save lives in Sudan and South Sudan

Somalia: three examples of life-saving WHO work with partners in flood- and drought-affected regions

Health care for 15,000 people affected by drought in the Banadir, Bay and Lower Shabelle regions

There are more than one million people sharing the fate of being displaced from their areas of origin into camps in Mogadishu due to conflict, drought and floods. The living conditions in the camps are harsh, with limited access to basic services, such as water, sanitation, food and health services. To address the critical risk of disease outbreaks and severe acute malnutrition and to improve access to health and nutrition services, WHO in Somalia is working with Action Against Hunger, an international NGO, and as well as the Juba Foundation, a local partner in Lower Shabelle Region, with the generous and timely support provided by the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

Young Mohamed is now better following treatment for fever and vomiting made possible by CERF-funded primary health care in Kahda, implemented jointly by WHO and Action Against Hunger. Photo: Action Against Hunger/Ahmed Issack

Disease surveillance teams, community health workers, and health centres workers delivered life-saving health and nutrition interventions. Working together, WHO and Action Against Hunger avoided duplications and enabled smooth referral between community and facility-based care. More vulnerable people were reached through complementary interventions, leverage of resources and knowledge sharing. The project’s impact extended to providing outpatient consultations, safe delivery services, vaccination, antenatal and postnatal care, as well as nutrition, mental health and psychosocial support.

WHO and Action Against Hunger provide life-saving health and nutrition services in drought-affected regions of Somalia

Read about the USAID support for building subnational Health Clusters coordination in Somalia

ECHO funds help provide supplies and services to over 5 million population across drought-affected states

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and WHO, with funding from the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (EU ECHO), have supported Somalia’s Federal and State Ministries of Health to provide lifesaving health supplies and services to over 5 million people across drought-affected areas of Banadir, South West, Jubbaland and Galmudug states in Somalia.

The 24-month ECHO-funded project aims to increase access to life-saving health and nutrition services for populations within camps for internally displaced people as well as the host communities. Beneficiaries are pregnant and breastfeeding women, elderly individuals, and children under five in drought and conflict-affected areas.

ECHO-funded project helped equip 11 nutrition stablization centres across target districts with severe acute malnutrition kits to record a cumulative average cure rate of 94.25% amongst under five children. Photo: WHO Somalia/I. Taxta

Read more about the ECHO funding

Agreeing to support 900 000 people living with the impact of extreme climate events

A critical project led by the WHO Country Office in Somalia aims to reach nearly 900 000 people with life-saving interventions over the course of 2024. The project targeting people in Somalia who are still living with the impacts of extreme climate events is supported by the Government of Japan with a generous grant of over US$ 700 000.

This new project follows the completion of an earlier project that benefited over 3 million people affected by drought and floods in Somalia with integrated health and nutrition services. This latest funding, allocated under the Japanese Supplementary Budget, thus represents continued support to Somalia from the Government of Japan.

The project is titled “Ensuring Access to Essential and Emergency Health Care for Drought (and Flood) -affected Communities Living in Hard-to-reach Areas in Somalia” and spans the entirety of 2024. It targets 15 flood- and drought-affected districts across the country. Working with the Ministry of Health and Human Services, WHO aims to mitigate the health impacts of recurrent climate shocks, food insecurity and disease outbreaks, especially cholera, while strengthening health system resilience.

Japan & WHO’s new project targets 900 000 flood- and drought-affected people in Somalia

Revisit the WHO feature story about Japan's supports for WHO's work to improve health services and emergency response in humanitarian settings, in Ethiopia, Gaza Strip, Somalia and Syria

Babies, girls and women victims of bombings close to Goma, DRC

The Mugunga site for internally displaced people, one of many in the Nord Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), was heavily bombed in May, resulting in deaths and injuries. Those most affected are children, girls and women, who are at increased risk of sexual violence and trauma.

Dr Alain Mangolopa, WHO Emergency Officer for North Kivu, talks to Wemana, who fled her home and is currently sheltering at Bushagara Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp. Photo: WHO/Guerchom Ndebo

To meet the most urgent needs of affected populations in North Kivu and ensure access to essential services, UNFPA, WHO and other partners are working hand in hand, delivering psychosocial and mental health services to more than 312 affected people, including pregnant women, people living with disabilities and victims of gender-based violence.

To find out more about the additional urgent needs in the affected areas, see the web story from WHO’s Country Office in DRC about the support in camps for internally displaced persons in North Kivu

Community health workers, WHO and partners fighting cholera in Zimbabwe

Since June 2024, the number of cholera cases in Zimbabwe has been declining thanks to the expanded and decentralized cholera response activities undertaken by the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), supported by WHO and other partners such as the EU, UK Aid, Gavi, UNFPA and UNICEF. While current figures remain higher compared to the same period last year, this reduction is a welcome development, given the alarming surge between November 2023 and January 2024.



WHO supported the Ministry of Health and Child Care in Zimbabwe to establish an 8-bed capacity Cholera Treatment Centre at Tafuna shopping centre. Photo by WHO/Gift Njirisi



WHO thanks financial support from health Resilience Fund and UN Central Emergency Response Fund (UN CERF). This facility is dedicated to providing prompt access to life-saving care for cholera patients to reduce the possibility of death. Photo by: WHO/Gift Njirisi

At the peak of the outbreak in Manicaland Province, teams at the Zvipiripiri Rural Health Centre, played a critical role - responding to rumors in the community, providing essential information and disinfecting homes of suspected patients after assisting with their transportation to the clinic.

In Zvipiripiri, WHO leveraged funding from the Health Resilience Fund (HRF) to strengthen the cholera treatment center. In addition, WHO, with the support from HRF and Central Emergency Response Fund (UNCERF), spearheaded training programmes for EHPs, reaching over 60 individuals from all districts across the country.

Read a story about Lovemare Mudzingwa – one of the many environmental health workers supported by WHO on the frontlines of Zimbabwe's cholera outbreak

The website of the WHO Country Office in Zimbabwe has a story about a joint Russian Federation -WHO support to build stockpiles of medical supplies at the UN humanitarian warehouses the country

Addressing Ethiopia's humanitarian needs: Urgent action needed to save lives

Ethiopia is facing one of its most severe humanitarian crises in recent history, with millions of lives at risk due to widespread hunger, disease outbreaks, conflict, and climate-related challenges. As the situation continues to deteriorate, urgent concerted multi-partner action is needed to prevent further suffering and loss of life. Global leaders and representatives from international organizations, UN agencies, NGOs, and civil society gathered in April in Geneva, Switzerland, for the High-level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Situation in Ethiopia. The event aimed to raise funds to support Ethiopia's urgent humanitarian needs. The situation is critical particularly in regions like Tigray, Amhara, Afar, and Oromia. Widespread hunger, disease outbreaks, and infrastructure degradation due to armed conflict have left millions of people without access to essential services. The High-level Pledging Event resulted in financial announcements totalling $610.1 million to support Ethiopia. However, more support is needed to address the escalating humanitarian crisis and prevent further suffering.

Despite damage to much of the hospital's infrastructure, the pharmacy is in use at Adi-Dairo Primary Hospital. Much of the hospital's supplies are provided by WHO. Photo: WHO/Nitsebiho Asrat

Visit the WHO Ethiopia Country Office website to learn more about the humanitarian needs in the country

A new strategic approach for addressing the humanitarian crisis in Nigeria is introduced with the support of the EU and USA

In Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe States, at least 7.9 million people are in need of urgent support as a result of a protrude humanitarian crisis. The response plan targets at least 4.4 million people in the BAY states, cutting across critical sectors such as health, nutrition, food security, protection, water and sanitation, etc.

Led by WHO, the health sector is re-strategizing to ensure underserved, hard-to-reach populations in critical conditions are reached with essential health services. This includes strengthening local capacities to further build the resilience of the health system.

This strategic approach is implemented with the generous funding from the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) and the European Commission Humanitarian Aid (ECHO). The Health Sector Coordinator for the Humanitarian Response, Dr Pekezou Tchoffo Aurelien says “the current review/capacity building aims to leverage lessons learnt during the 2023 response and develop a more coordinated approach to sustain essential health services to the most vulnerable persons while ensuring complementarity with development partners.” He calls on humanitarian donors to urgently support activities in the BAY states to save lives. “At least $90 million is needed in 2024 for the humanitarian health sector to reach the targeted populations with healthcare services… especially children, to have access to healthcare services as part of their basic human right”.

Read more about the new strategic Health Sector approach in the BAY states, Nigeria

Ensuring continuity of essential health services after a devastating earthquake in West Nepal

Following the earthquake that struck Nepal’s Karnali Province in November 2023, over 70 health facilities were damaged, severely impeding the provision of essential health services. In response to the urgent need to continue medical services in severely affected areas such as the basic hospital in Nalgad, WHO set up three temporary health facilities using medical camp kits (MCKs), at the request of the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP).



Field Medical Officer from WHO Nepal, Dr Shraddha Pangeni, inspects a child for a suspected measles case inside a temporary Outpatient Department (OPD) Centre at Chinabagar, Nepal. Photo: WHO Nepal

These MCKs collectively cater to 60 000 individuals residing in these hard-to-reach areas of Nepal. Funded by the South-East Asia Regional Health Emergency Fund (SEARHEF) and Contingency Fund for Emergencies (CEF), these medical camp kits exemplify the commitment of WHO and partners to address healthcare needs in times of disasters and public health emergencies.

See a photo story about the post-earthquake action in West Nepal

Displaced populations in Haiti in dire need

"I never had high blood pressure before the current crisis. But the sounds of gunfire echo in my head. You're always forced to flee without knowing where to go," says 67-year-old Marie Yliane, living in a public school that is now home to almost 2500 people. Marie visited the mobile clinic set up by the local health authorities with the support of PAHO/WHO and other partners such as The Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

Marie, 67, resident of the Colbert Lochard site for internally displaced people. Photo: PAHO/WHO

"The mobile clinic helped me a lot today,” she added. “The doctors discovered that my symptoms are due to high blood pressure. I received medication and thanked God for this care in these chaotic times", she added.

Since February, Haiti has experienced an intensified security crisis, marking a new stage in the violence already impacting a struggling healthcare system, and further complicating access to care for millions of Haitians. The crisis has hit the country’s most vulnerable the hardest, including those living in one of the 84 Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) sites of the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince. Since March, PAHO/WHO has regained access to 22 of the sites, reactivating the mobile clinics crucial in facilitating access to health care for displaced populations, and carrying out more than 1000 health consultations. PAHO/WHO has also assisted the National Blood Transfusion Program through the donation of supplies and reagents, and the National Ambulance Centre to ensure the continuity of ambulance care and the transport of injured people. Support for three public hospitals in the field of maternal health helped increase access by reducing the financial barriers to caesarean deliveries for women requiring this procedure.

Learn more about partner actions in the heart of the emergency: story in English , in French and in Spanish

Read about the Haiti humanitarian crisis Grade 3 emergency

This is a story about the University Hospital as a beacon of resilience in the heart of the crisis

Cuba receives a donation of emergency medical kits with the joint effort of Russia and PAHO

The Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), in coordination with the government of the Russian Federation, which provided the funds with which the supplies will benefit the island's health system. The official delivery took place in April at the warehouses of the National Medical Supplies Company (ENSUME). This contribution seeks to guarantee a timely response from the competent authorities in the event of emergencies and disasters. Russia has continuously supported Cuba and cooperated with its health sector.

The number of donated kits amounts to 358. Among the medicines acquired with these kits are antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, antipyretics and analgesics; while expendable material includes syringes, bandages, gloves, drainage material, sutures and various surgical material.

The supplies come from the "Jerónimo Venegas " Regional Strategic Reserve that PAHO maintains in Panama as part of its Emergency and Disaster Program.

Visit the PAHO / AMRO website to read the full story in Spanish

Ukrainian children living with cancer transferred to Germany

In mid-July, eight children who were receiving treatment for cancer at Okhmatdyt hospital in Kyiv have been medically evacuated to Germany alongside their chaperones. These are some of the most vulnerable paediatric patients, in need of urgent care, both physical and mental; 2 of them are in a critical condition.

Their gruelling, more than 24-hour journey took them in a convoy of ambulance busses from Kyiv to Lviv in western Ukraine. They then proceeded across the border to Rzeszów in Poland, from where a Norwegian aircraft flew them to various locations in Germany to receive the necessary care.

A specialized Norwegian medical team oversees the evacuation a sick baby so that she can be transferred from Rzeszow, Poland to Nuremberg, Germany to continue her treatment. Photo: WHO/Uka Borregaard

WHO has been working closely with Okhmatdyt hospital ensuring it can provide life-saving care for thousands of children. This has included providing 2 generators to ensure uninterrupted power supply, donating assistive technologies to support physical rehabilitation, and donating medicines and other medical products to hospitals that received patients from Okhmatdyt.

For the past 2 years, WHO/Europe, with funding from the European Union, has helped the Ministry of Health of Ukraine to manage medical evacuations to countries within the EU and beyond.

Read the full story on the website of the WHO Regional Office for Europe

***

The work of WHO is possible thanks to all contributions of our Member States and partners. WHO thanks all donor countries, governments, organizations and individuals who are contributing to the Organization’s work, with special appreciation for those who provide fully flexible contributions to maintain a strong, independent WHO.

This week we also especially thank all our donors who support our emergencies work through the Contingency Fund for Emergencies and other means,

Donors and partners featured in this story include:

Action Against Hunger,

Egypt,

The European Union,

OCHA and CERF,

Japan,

Qatar,

The Russian Federation,

Save the Children,

Spain,

The South-East Asia Regional Health Emergency Fund (SEARHEF),

The United Arab Emirates,

UNICEF,

UNFPA and

USAID.



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