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Thinking Ahead about Reproductive Health: Contingency Planning and Emergency Preparedness in Crisis Situations (Iraq and West Africa)
Author(s) -
DeLargy Pamela,
Alakbarov Ramiz
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
disasters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.744
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-7717
pISSN - 0361-3666
DOI - 10.1111/j.0361-3666.2004.00262.x
Subject(s) - preparedness , contingency , contingency plan , population , family planning , economic growth , political science , refugee , politics , business , medicine , environmental health , economics , management , law , philosophy , linguistics , research methodology
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) coordinated efforts to integrate RH into contingency planning for the 2003 Iraq crisis and the 2003 regional response for displaced populations in West Africa. Using UNFPA's network of country offices in the Middle East, staff developed logistics plans, conducted workshops and pre‐positioned RH supplies. Though refugee movements did not occur, the contingency planning enhanced the response capacity of UNFPA offices and made it possible to rapidly provide assistance inside Iraq. In West Africa, multi‐country workshops and follow‐up resulted in country‐level and regional action plans useful during the renewed crises of 2003; scarce funding, however, limited their full implementation. UNFPA's experiences show that contingency planning requires committing resources for crises, some of which will not occur; new staff skills; and follow‐up. Moreover, RH is considered by some to be additional to the core elements of contingency planning. RH's political sensitivity, particularly with certain donors, further complicated integrated planning.