Public Health Promotion in Urban Emergencies

Considerations for Public Health Promotion in Urban Areas

Nicholas Brooks, Oxfam GBHealth and Hygiene Promotion ForumOxford, UK, 30 March – 1 April 2011

Nicholas Brooks, Oxfam GB 2

‘Urban’ PHP


Urban humanitarism

• Current hot topic for humanitarians• Oxfam GB interests• IFRC - World Disasters Report 2010; World Water Day 2011;

IASC ‘Meeting Humanitarian Challenges In Urban Areas’• UN Habitat• ODI/HPG (Sudan), RSC (urban IDPs), WSUP


How can PHP further the debate?

1. Technical2. Operational3. Urban communities


Technical issues

• Are key diseases / risks to public health different?• What do we understand / not know about urban hygiene

practices• Information Communication Technologies (ICT) possibilities• NFI distributions• EFSL integration


Technical issues


Operational issues

• Vulnerability targeting / beneficiary selection• Local partners / CBOs• Opportunities for working with local government• Opportunities for innovative partnerships• Security / political issues• Urban capacity building needs for PHP staff


Urban community mobilisation

• Are urban communities different?• Displacement - intra-urban, rural-urban• How to best mobilise?

– incentive issues– leadership (gangs?)


Next steps / questions

• What options for taking this forward?• Compilation of urban PHP lessons learnt / best approaches.

Currently very little documentation.• PHP tools – do they need ‘urbanisation’?• What action research is needed?

– Community dynamics– ICT / Somalia– others?


Summary

1. Urban humanitarism / why urban PHP important2. Considerations for PHP

– Technical– Operational– Community mobilisation

3. Next steps


Resources

• IASC - Final Strategy For Meeting Humanitarian Challenges In Urban Areas• IFRC - World Disasters Report, 2010• ALNAP - Responding to urban disasters, 2009• WASH Cluster (urban) floods material• Oxfam Haiti - Waterlines poo bags article, water markets study, token scheme

lessons learnt, WASH Lessons Learnt, Humanitarian Exchange article.• UN Habitat Challenge of Slums (2003), State of Africa’s Cities (2010), Hidden

Cities (with WHO, 2010) etc. etc.• HPG / RSC / WSUP – online resources

Public Health Promotion in Urban Emergencies

Health & Medicine

Transcript of Public Health Promotion in Urban Emergencies