The project is an independent academic collaboration between researchers from the LSHTM and the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health at the Johns Hopkins University and is funded by the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub. It aims to inform decision-makers by generating scientific estimates of likely health consequences based on different trajectories of the war. We report mortality as the most downstream indicator of health impact, while recognising that the crisis in Gaza has multi-dimensional effects.

Country focus: Palestine

LSHTM staff involved: Francesco Checchi, Zeina Jamaluddine

Funder: UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub

Contact: [email protected]

Health and economic impact of integrated nutritional activities to increase vaccination coverage in Chad and Niger.

Country focus: Chad, Niger

LSHTM staff involved: Fiona Majorin, Kaja Abbas, Laura Skrip, Akanksha Marphatia, Ali Fahmi, Alannah Hogg, Francesco Checchi, Han Fu

Funder: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Dates: November 2024 – March 2027

Contact: Kaja Abbas

Projections of acute malnutrition during the Sudan crisis (AMBER)

Country focus: Sudan

LSHTM staff involved: Maysoon Dahab

Dates: October 2024 – March 2025

Contact: Mortala Ndow

LSHTM, SIMAD University and Evidence for Change (e4c) have launched a multi-disciplinary project to drive collective action on mortality estimation in the humanitarian sector. Funded by Elrha through the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub (UKHIH), this ‘systems innovation partnership’ seeks to work with diverse partners in the mortality estimation community of practice to explore challenges and opportunities to drive systems change.

Estimating mortality associated with a humanitarian crisis is critical for assessing needs objectively and key for evaluating humanitarian responses. Mortality estimation is difficult to do, however. Mortality measurement is rarely accurate or comprehensive because of difficulties accessing populations and mortality data is often contested for both methodological and political reasons. Coordination of stakeholders that could produce and use mortality evidence for public health decision-making to respond to crises is also fragmented and lacks a consistent ‘home’ to advance best practices. This project responds to previous calls to accelerate action on system-wide strengthening of mortality evidence generation and uptake in humanitarian settings.

Country focus: Bangladesh, Central African Republic, Somalia, Palestine

LSHTM staff involved: Francesco Checchi, Jennifer Palmer

Dates: April 2024 – March 2025

Funder: Elhra

Contact: Francesco Checchi, Jennifer Palmer

Building climate resilience in the maternal and child health system in Brazil and Zambia (REACH)

Country focus: Brazil, Zambia

LSHTM staff involved: Josephine Borghi, Anna Foss, Sari Kovats, Cherie Part, Sharif Ismail, Manar Marzouk

Funder: UKRI

Dates: October 2023 – September 2027

Contact: Josephine Borghi

Barriers and solutions to reaching zero-dose and under vaccinated children in Ethiopia and Nigeria and to conduct an evaluation of Save the Childrens innovation incubator programmes in these respective countries

Country focus: Ethiopia and Nigeria

LSHTM staff involved: Catherine McGowan, Nada Abdelmagid, Kaja Abbas, Neha Singh

Dates: September 2023 – December 2027

Contact: Mortala Ndow

The Health in Humanitarian Crises Centre at the LSHTM was founded with the aim of advancing health and health equity in crises-affected countries through research, education, and the translation of knowledge into policy and practice. The Fight Against Institutional Racism (FAIR) Network is a legacy of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and efforts by staff and students to address racism and coloniality within LSHTM. As an independent network, FAIR facilitates dialogue and action around racism and colonial legacies in global public health education, research and practice at LSHTM. FAIR worked collaboratively with HHCC on the mixed methods research underpinning this project.

The research team

The research team was formed of 3 FAIR members (Amber Clarke, Dr Katharina Richter, and Sali Hafez), the HHCC co-Directors (Dr Neha Singh and Dr Michelle Lokot) and Dr Althea-Maria Rivas, an expert consultant who provided her expertise in critical, feminist and decolonial theoretical frameworks.

Study aim and objectives

This project aimed to create a charter and implementation guidance to enable HHCC members to embed decolonial practice into their work and to challenge the colonial history and legacies within research, teaching and partnerships. Specific objectives were to:

1. Identify characteristics of a decolonial environment (research, teaching and other practices) that can be embedded within the HHCC.
2. Explore current barriers and historical barriers/barriers over time, facilitators and good practices around decolonising research, teaching and other practices within the HHCC.
3. Explore current gaps, barriers and facilitators for decolonial partnerships with donors and other partners at the HHCC.

Methods

This project employed mixed methods research. First, the study team carried out a scoping review of current practical guidance on decolonising global/humanitarian health research, teaching and practice. Next, rapid qualitative research was conducted with internal HHCC and external actors to understand the barriers and facilitators to decolonising teaching, research and partnerships. In total, 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted: 10 internal HHCC member interviews and 10 interviews with external donors and research partners from local, national and international organisations. Focus group discussions were also conducted with 21 participants, namely with HHCC management/ leadership members (3 participants) and wider HHCC members (16 participants). Finally, internal HHCC members reviewed and discussed the findings and the draft Charter during design workshops and online consultation opportunities. The outcomes of all three research steps guided the development of the HHCC Charter and Implementation Guidance which are based on, and tailored to, the experiences and perspectives of HHCC members and external stakeholders.

Outputs

The outputs of this research project are two public-facing documents and two forthcoming academic peer-reviewed publications:

1. A Charter on Decolonising Our Work at HHCC which is to galvanise and steer collective action from HHCC members to decolonise research, teaching and wider Centre partnerships
2. An Implementation Guidance document which outlines how the Charter’s core principles and commitments can be implemented collectively, collaboratively and widely by HHCC members and leadership.
3. A peer-reviewed scoping review of practical guidance to decolonise the field of humanitarian health
4. A peer-reviewed paper summarises the qualitative research findings

Country focus: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia

LSHTM staff involved: Francesco Checchi

Dates: November 2022 – Aug 2024

Funder: UNICEF

Contact: Mortala Ndow

The Afya Consortium seeks to generate key evidence on public health threats in populations affected by crises, across different thematic areas including mortality, transmission of current and emerging epidemic threats, improved hygiene behaviour measures and interventions, and measurement of the indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on sexual and reproductive health, and on non-communicable diseases and mental health.

Our current main research programme is supported by the US Centers for Disease Control, with the title: “COVID-19 and related public health threats in populations affected by crises: a multi-disciplinary, collaborative research programme”.

This programme of research and capacity strengthening runs from February 2022 to September 2026, focused on four key crisis-affected countries (the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan), but with flexibility to conduct data collection in new emergencies and other settings where existing collaborations facilitate this.

Country focus: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan

LSHTM staff involved: Francesco Checchi, Neha Singh, Rahaf Abu Koura

Dates: July 2022 –

Funder: US Center for Disease Control

Contact: Mortala Ndow

Country focus: Ethiopia

LSHTM staff involved: Lauren D’Mello-Guyett

Funder: Oxfam

Dates: June 2022 – March 2025

Contact: Lauren D’Mello-Guyett