The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s International Emergency Refugee Health Branch (IERHB) has announced the availability of grant funding to support a center for training public health professionals to respond to complex humanitarian emergencies.
A complex humanitarian emergency (CHE) is a crisis in a country, region or society, often associated with a natural, man-made, or biological disaster in which there is a breakdown of authority and which requires an international response that goes beyond the capacity of any single agency.
Working in a CHE is challenging and requires a broad knowledge base and a skill set particular to crisis management that includes:
- Establishing the public health priorities during an emergency
- Providing the best possible evidence to inform decision makers
- Advocating for the affected population to ensure their needs are met
- Working in resource poor setting while developing solutions quickly and effectively
This funding effort supports development of a certificate program for public health graduate students in the US; development of a US based fellowship program for international candidates; and establishment of a program to support international summer practicum experiences for graduate students in a US-based global health program.
Further details are available via Funding Opportunity Announcement CDC-RFA-GH13-1370. The response deadline is Mar 25, 2016.