Key Resource: Rehabilitation of Health Structures

Hi delegates,

 For our second topic, the Rehabilitation of Health Structures in Post-Conflict Zones, this following resource is extremely helpful.

 The World Health Organization produced this guideline to address some key issues that are faced when creating a new healthcare system in a conflict-affected area. It's 158 pages, so you are by no means required to read all of it, but you should skim through a few sections to understand what factors go into making a solution as detailed as possible. 

 This resource should also help you understand the kinds of recommendations WHO makes regarding these types of issues. Remember that conflict is not the topic - we are not the Security Council, and resolving conflicts and instituting new governments are not the responsibility of WHO.

 Instead, think about the policy recommendations that WHO can make in regards to a new ministry of health, a new public health department, or similar facet of the government.

 Hopefully this helps frame the focus of the topic in a much clearer way!

 Best,
Stacey 

Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 1, 2018 at 8:36 PM

    We as the delegation of China were particularly glad to read this resource, as we believe that it is of particular importance due to its integral information regarding the policy making aspect of this second topic. One aspect that we found particularly intriguing is the formation of new management and leadership in an newly established ministry of health or public health department. There seems to be a lack of experienced healthcare workers due to the conflict in the country. For example, this WHO guideline explains how in Timor-Leste, before their independence from Indonesia in 1999 had around 2632 qualified health workers that were from Timor-Leste, and then after the conflict, there were only 31 doctors left in the region. Similarly in Cambodia, there were 487 registered doctors in 1975, but only 43 remained in the nation in 1979. Both of these cases just goes to show how hard it is to find qualified health workers in an immediate post conflict environment, let alone give them high management positions.

    Consequently, other nations, non-governmental organizations, and multilateral and bilateral donors become eager to share their ideas and implement plans that further only their own agenda, and most often, their influence is ill suited for the challenge. This guideline brings to mind two different cases that show what happens when one influence is allowed to reign supreme over decision making in a newly established government. In 2017, the Syrian government launched a campaign to rebuild the capital, Damascus, and within the plans were only regime friendly companies, or companies from foreign allies, allowing them to establish a very government friendly capital. Conversely, in Afghanistan, the U.S. Agency for International Development spent billions of dollars on rebuilding Afghanistan, while also training their military to fight Russian forces, proving that they were only in the nation to promote their own international agenda.

    Thus, China believes that we should try to find a policy creation system that both allows country rehabilitation plans to be unique to each nation, while also being streamlined and organized, without letting internal or external corruption take the reigns.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousMarch 1, 2018 at 8:37 PM

      Research:
      http://www.who.int/hac/techguidance/tools/guide%20to%20 health%20 workforce%20development.pdf
      https://www.propublica.org/getinvolved/how-have-us-efforts-to-rebuild-afghanistan-gone
      https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/03/world/middleeast/syria-war-rebuilding-homs.html

      Delete

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