From the editors
Public health and WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) have rarely been as much in the spotlight as they have been since the global COVID-19 pandemic began in late 2019, making our main feature particularly timely. Although a number of articles…
De la editoras
La salud pública y el WASH (agua, saneamiento e higiene) rara vez han estado tan en boga como desde que comenzara la pandemia mundial de la COVID-19 a finales de 2019, lo que hace especialmente oportuna nuestra sección principal. Aunque…
Le mot de la rédaction
La santé publique et WASH (eau, assainissement et hygiène) ont rarement été autant sous le feu des projecteurs que depuis le début de la pandémie mondiale de COVID-19 fin 2019, ce qui rend notre dossier principal particulièrement opportun. Bien qu'un…
Breaking down silos: integrating WASH into displacement crisis response
Forcibly displaced populations are repeatedly exposed to public health risks and threats when they leave behind their social networks, livelihoods, service providers, and infrastructures. Displaced people often see their health weakened during their displacement journey because they lack food and…
Collaboration in times of crisis: a case-study from Mexico
Before the emergence of COVID-19, UNHCR had been working for several years in the southern Mexican city of Tapachula on ways to engage with local health authorities to improve access to health services for asylum seekers and refugees. The onset…
Equity and community engagement in the transfer of water supply management
Uganda hosts an estimated 1.4 million refugees mainly from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. To improve long-term sustainability, Uganda’s Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE) and UNHCR have begun transferring management of water supply schemes to the…
Thinking upstream: a critical examination of a cholera outbreak in Ethiopia
According to one of the foundation stories of public health, in 1854 John Snow removed the handle from a pump in London – the water source used by local residents who were dying of a mysterious disease. At the time,…
Refugee women in Liberia: repairing handpumps, dispelling myths
The outbreak of COVID-19 has derailed employment and trade, and has jeopardised life in general. The adverse effects of the pandemic are innumerable but have been felt most by the most vulnerable members of the globe – refugees. In the…
The role of traditional medicine and community strategies in combating COVID-19
Colombia’s Afro-descendant population represents approximately 12% of all internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the country. Thousands of Afro-descendant communities and families have been forced to leave their lands, moving to peripheral urban areas in cities such as Bogotá, Medellín and…