Since its creation, the Agency established measures to deal with public health emergencies including

The Public Health Act, adopted in 2001 to deal with public health emergencies and threats, specifies the powers of public health officials to investigate and intervene.

The list included tales of troubling humanitarian emergencies and fragile post conflict situations, as well as encouraging stories about human rights, health and development.

It will enhance efforts to prevent chronic and infectious diseases and injuries, respond to public health emergencies and disease outbreaks, work to keep Canadians healthy and help reduce pressures on the health care system.

Education in Emergencies

Countries experiencing the greatest challenges are often characterized by weak and inequitable health and nutrition systems and services and poor governance, as in complex emergencies.

UNICEF programmes on nutrition, education, psychological health, water and sanitation, landmines and protection in complex emergencies seek to mitigate the impact of conflict on children.

With limited access to transport for evacuation in health emergencies, or immediate relief following cyclones and other natural disasters, not only is the health of women at stake but that of all the people in the Province.

WFP also participated in the ongoing work of the UNSCN working groups on HIV AIDS, household food security, school health and nutrition, nutrition in emergencies and micronutrients.

Evidence of this can be seen in the Millennium Villages Project, where mobile communications have had a particularly significant impact on health care improved response times to emergencies, reduced isolation, and better training and equipment for health care workers.

Manual for dealing with obstetric emergencies.

But global health emergencies like the current Ebola epidemic highlight the folly of these fiscal priorities. Though we may not lean too heavily on our health infrastructure typically, its importance becomes all too apparent when disease and death come knocking at our door.

UNICEF will make use of lessons learned in recent emergencies, while consistently supporting children affected by complex emergencies and natural disasters.

Dealing with obstetrical complications and neonatal emergencies.

Seven of the ten countries with the highest under five mortality rates (U5MR)2 have been affected by complex emergencies, which increase risks to the health and nutrition of mothers and children.

Article 11 Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies

With the passing of time, humanitarian emergencies tend to be forgotten, especially when new emergencies occur that divert the attention of the global community.

Spotlight Response to major emergencies Indian Ocean and Darfur

In emergencies, UNICEF support takes account of gender concerns.

Institutions are weakest in countries affected by complex emergencies.

An integrated, web based roster of staff in both emergencies and regular settings will consolidate data on available staff resources, to provide better support during emergencies.

This will be done through the regular supply of outreach and mobile teams, performance incentives, defaulter tracking or periodic campaigns such as national health days with an integrated package, especially in fragile States and emergencies.

UNICEF has developed and is testing, on a regional basis, a performance monitoring and reporting system for emergencies based on the core commitments to children in emergencies.

3. Don t worry about panic. Panic is rare in emergencies.

Humanitarian response needs to become more predictable in all emergencies.

Elsewhere, conflict based man made emergencies continue with varying intensity.

Almost all states constitutions require balanced budgets (with exceptions for emergencies).

Enabling refugees to access education even in emergencies presents particular challenges.

Its ability to face emergencies had diminished, however, since the 1990s.

Offshore orders processed for emergencies exceeded 60 million, and supported the UNICEF response to emergencies in Bangladesh, the Caribbean, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Sudan and several other countries.

The main areas supported by these 135 United Nations partnership initiatives were education (22 per cent), health (21 per cent), HIV AIDS (21 per cent), protection (13 per cent), gender (13 per cent) and emergencies (11 per cent).

Responsibility for achieving this was delegated to the National Reproductive Health Programme which, as an initial step, has updated the plan to reduce this scourge.8 The institutional framework for this plan is set out in the Framework Document for the National Reproductive Health Programme (PNSR), the strategic guidelines for the reduction of maternal mortality, the reproductive health guidelines and norms, and the obstetric emergencies manual.9

Complex emergencies and natural disasters continued to attract the support of donors.

The persistent underfunding of some emergencies, particularly in Africa, is especially concerning.

I have the honour to transmit herewith the core principles adopted by the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza at a meeting held on 6 and 7 October 2005, noting the global cooperation needed to address health emergencies (see annex).

Similarly, I have called for a more predictable humanitarian response in complex emergencies.

Although LifeStraw is available for retail sale in the developing world, the majority of LifeStraw are distributed as part of public health campaigns or in response to complex emergencies by NGOs and organizations that give them away for free in the developing world.

All of these disturbances reveal the scope of insecurities and complex emergencies facing humankind.

In addition, UNICEF will continue to apply its Core Commitments for Children in Emergencies.

Until recently, the record on evaluating responses to humanitarian emergencies has been patchy at best.

The world must get used to a twilight security environment of sudden and peripheral emergencies.

Many delegates emphasized the need for UNICEF to ensure effective responses to children in emergencies.

Affirming that the concept of sustainable development should imply that of the reduction of emergencies,

Both political will and the resources to deal with these emergencies are not yet present.

The launch in December 2004 of Minimum Standards and Indicators on Education in Emergencies by the Interagency Network on Education in Emergencies, in which UNHCR is an active participant, provide an important framework for action on this issue.