Regional IAWG on RH in Crisis Middle East and North Africa

Olivia Hill, MSF

Co-Chairs Mollie Fair, UNFPA ASRO

Ali Shaar, UNFPA OPT

Members of the Steering Committee

14th Annual IAWG Conference, Kuala Lumpar 2013

Middle East North Africa RegionSituation… Diverse region that suffers from a

variety of emergencies affecting a large number of states

Political unrest & armed conflict (Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, South Sudan)

Prone to natural disasters (ie. floods, droughts, earthquakes)

Displacement & Migration (refugees, IDPs, migration from rural to urban areas)

MENA established December 2008

1st Regional Meeting  for MENA (Cairo July 2009) andRegional MISP Training of Trainers: A course for SRH coordinators (Cairo December 2009)

Developed MENA Action plan…

Focused on 4 priorities:

Capacity building Develop team of trained RH Coordinators

through MISP TOT and echo trainings.

Adaptation of MISP ToTs.

Technical assistance Develop roster of experts & identify good tools

Coordination and information sharing Enhanced communication, expanded network, information sharing

Advocacy and awareness raising Develop advocacy tools and strategies to integrate SRH preparedness

into national emergency preparedness plans

MISP ToT Manual Translated into ArabicMISP ToT echo trainings held in country Jordan :28 participants from Jordan, 5 from Syria, + 1 Advocacy Day, Drafted RH Emergency plan for integration into Jordan MOH National Health Strategy Plan for Disaster PreparednessPalestine: 2 echo MISP ToT trainings Sudan: Multiple MISP ToT trainings held in Darfur and South Sudan Lebanon: MISP ToT planned for North, South and Bekaa regionsYemen: MISP ToT Libya: MISP trainings, CSSAS, EmOC Coordination: MENA WG emails exchanged during onset of Egypt and Libya crisis Jan/Feb 2011Advocacy: meetings with MoH at country level

MISP TOT: echo training Participants, Jordan

2010 – 2011 MENA Activities

2012 MENA Activities

2nd Regional IAWG (19-21st March 2012, Cairo, Egypt) Over 60 participants representing 12 countries and 28 organizations

Aim: build a regional network of agencies to support country level coordinated SRH preparedness and response interventions in crisis with particular focus on women and young girls, and adolescents.

Strategies: the group continued working on the 4 priority areas for its work: Capacity building Technical Assistance Knowledge Management Advocacy

Facilitation: MSF-Spain, UNHCR, OCHA, IMC, IPPF, Save the Children, Ibis, and WHO have volunteered to be members of the Steering Committee

UNFPA agreed to continue to serve as Secretariat for the Group. All presentations are available at http://www.iawg.net/

MENA Action Plan for 2009 - 2013Summary Terms of Reference submitted to IAWG

January 2009 and updated 2013: 1.1 Identify gaps and challenges in reproductive health and rights for populations in

crisis settings in the MENA region.

1.2 Provide a platform to share information and lessons learned across projects in the region and enable partnerships to minimize duplication of efforts and to fill gaps in order to facilitate effective and coordinated SRH response in emergencies in the region.

1.3 Improve access to information, services and support partnerships to encourage capacity building of actors providing reproductive health services in the region.

1.4 Advocate and implement the MISP in the region through support of the SPRINT initiative and by seeking efforts to continue to mainstream MISP into humanitarian response.

1.5 Advocate for response to unmet needs in reproductive health in countries facing crisis in the region.

MENA updates for (Feb 2013) Briefing by OCHA on the Minimum Preparedness Package (MPP)

mapping exercise for MENA region; present the current MPP presentation prepared by OCHA ROMENA

for the region and its challenges briefing on the process to update the MPP mapping exercise in the

region in order to have a clear picture about the MPP status in the region, the gaps and challenges

Update on Current Crises in the Region and brainstorming on joint activities/action

Egypt’s response to influx of Syria refugees

UNHCR has carried out several assessments related to the influx of Syrians into Egypt; UNHCR, UNICEF, IOM and Partners joint assessments in Egypt's Damiette and Alexandria will be uploaded in the web portal http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/regional.php

UNCT in Egypt will develop the SRRP for June-January

MENA priorities and challenges Reminder of Priorities

Need for concerted efforts to build capacities (UN, NGO's, etc. for MISP)

Strengthen advocacy efforts to ensure RH is recognized as a priority in crisis situations

Improve and share information to build off lessons learnt (MSF, UNFPA)

Challenges(1) No organization has staff fully dedicated to IAWG activities-- it is anadd on to existing responsibilities and portfolios; therefore, to somedegree it is voluntary in nature which makes it difficult in terms ofaccountability; we are looking into getting an intern to help support someactivities (2) We have no budget(3) Expectations of working group may not match dedicated resources