For immediate release: February 21, 2013

Boston, MA — The large antiretroviral treatment (ART) scale-up in a rural community in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, has led to a rapid and dramatic increase in population adult life expectancy—a gain of 11.3 years over eight calendar years (2004-2011)—and the benefit of providing ART far outweighs the cost, according to new research from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH).

WASHINGTON – The Satellite Sentinel Project, or SSP, has released a situation report, “Scorched Earth Near al Abassiya,” with DigitalGlobe satellite imagery showing the recent intentional burning of 13 villages and a 31-square-mile (82 square kilometer) area of scorched earth in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan, Sudan.

This imagery confirms media reports that militia aligned with the government of Sudan deliberately burned 13 villages near al Abassiya town, in the northeastern part of the war-torn border region of South Kordofan, from November 17-22, 2012.

Better training, closer coordination among relief agencies, and a bigger dose of humility while working in unfamiliar cultures would help humanitarian aid workers, and make more of the billions of dollars spent each year on assistance, according to Harvard specialists with experience in the field.

HHI Concludes Satellite Sentinel Program Pilot, Launches Signal Program

The Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) today announced the launching of its new Signal Program on Human Security and Technology. The goal of Signal is to transform lessons learned about the use of technology in tracking human rights violations into the first-ever research and academic program for the practice, study and teaching of crisis mapping.

Community Suffering Unceasing in LRA-affected areas; International Response Remains Insufficient

New Study Reveals Exhaustive Impacts of Violence

Safe Childbirth Checklist Program Aims to Prevent Maternal and Newborn Deaths in Low-Income Countries

Boston, MA - A new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the World Health Organization (WHO) found that a simple checklist-based childbirth safety program dramatically improved adherence to essential childbirth care practices at a pilot hospital in south India. Of 29 practices measured, 28 were improved after adoption of the checklist and overall adherence to essential practices was 150% better after the checklist was introduced.

The Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) has confirmed through the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative’s analysis of DigitalGlobe satellite imagery that Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) has deployed a significantly increased number of combat capable air assets within range of South Sudan’s border and territory. SSP has documented evidence consistent with reported aerial bombardment in close proximity to a strategic bridge located in Unity State, South Sudan. SAF spokesman al-Sawarmi Khaled Saad denied Sudan’s involvement in the bombings.

Reported natural disasters are up dramatically since 1950, with more lives damaged by homelessness and injury, even as modern medical care and improved disaster response have reduced the number of lives lost, an authority on global disaster data said Monday.

The result of these trends is that the burden of care on survivors is increasing, according to Debarati Guha Sapir, director of the Brussels-based Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disaster (CRED), which collects and maintains two major global disaster databases.

25 January 2012