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Internally displaced people flee from Nadali district to Lashkar Gah during ongoing clashes between Taliban fighters and Afghan security forces in Helmand province on October 14, 2020. AFP

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, calls for urgent protection and assistance for tens of thousands of civilians displaced by recent escalation of violence in Afghanistans southern Helmand Province.

Men, women and children have been forced from their homes in Nahr-e-Saraj, Nawa-e-Barakzaiy, Nad-e-Ali/Marja and Lashkargah districts by a fresh wave of fighting between the Taliban and government forces. Many ran for their lives with no belongings. Although the exact extent of new displacement is unknown, local authorities estimate more than 5,000 families (nearly 40,000 people) have fled in the last 10 days since clashes erupted.

This latest eruption of violence and displacement reflects the multitude of challenges Afghanistan is facing today. said Caroline Van Buren, UNHCR Representative for Afghanistan. More support is urgently needed as the country grapples with insecurity in some parts, on top of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

UNHCR, as part of the government-led joint humanitarian response, is helping affected people in Helmand. Initial assessments have identified more than 5,000 displaced people in need of immediate assistance. The number is expected to rise as teams continue assessments.

In the last few days, UNHCR has dispatched emergency shelter kits and essential household items such as blankets, plastic sheets, water buckets, cooking utensils and hygiene kits. In addition, UNHCR is providing cash assistance for particularly vulnerable individuals, such as the elderly, children and women at risk, people with disabilities, and those with serious medical conditions. Our initial assessment found that many displaced families urgently need food, water, shelter, hygiene kits, latrines, and cash for rent and other purposes.

Humanitarians are working with limited access to the majority of displaced civilians, said UNHCRs Van Buren. Disruptions in telecommunications, the threat of improvised explosive devices and the continued closure of the highway between Kandahar and Helmand following the destruction of several bridges are adding to the challenges.

Mobile health teams are delivering services to displaced people in Lashkar Gah the capital of Helmand Province, where the majority of displaced Afghans are currently staying. Living conditions are poor with many living in open spaces, in rented accommodation shared with several families, or in shops in the vegetable market.

The Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) has allocated 20 million AFN (US$260,000) and is distributing food packages to some 200 families.

More than 220,000 Afghans have been newly displaced by conflict so far this year while another 456,000 people were forced to flee their homes in 2019, adding to an overall figure of around 4.1 million people displaced in Afghanistan since 2012. Conflict and poverty have prevented most of them from returning to their areas of origin.

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UNHCR - UNHCR calls for protection, support for civilians affected by violence in southern Afghanistan - UNHCR

The Sehatmandi Project provides quality health, nutrition, and family planning services across Afghanistan. The delivery of health services is contracted out to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and uses a pay-for-performance approach to incentivize a focus on health outcomes, particularly for women and children. The project is helping to improve basic health and essential hospital services, strengthen the overall performance of the health sector, and boost demand for key health services.

Challenge

Afghanistans health system faces a critical shortage of key ingredients qualified healthcare workers, especially female healthcare workers to ensure that women can seek health services; safe and equipped facilities, particularly in areas that are experiencing active conflicts; and supplies of medicines, equipment and vaccines. Insecurity, gender imbalances, and lack of government revenue severely limit the availability of even the most basic healthcare for most Afghans and the situation has become particularly acute during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Approach

The Sehatmandi program builds on the innovative approach of contracting out the provision of virtually all basic and essential health services to service provider non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The project takes a pay-for-performance (P4P) approach that directly links the payment of service providers to their performance on the delivery of 11 key health-related services such as immunization, skilled birth attendance, family planning visits, and growth monitoring of infants and children. The performance is verified by an independent third-party monitor before payment is made. The expected outcomes are clearly spelled out and quantified and customized for each province of the country through a contract between the MOH and the NGO with set terms for service standards.

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While cooking in the kitchen, I stopped breathing and my vision went dark. When I woke up, I was on a hospital bed. Every time I come here, doctors are so respectful and care about us. My neighbors and I are so pleased. It is five days that I am here in hospital and I have had a very good experience. I appreciate the hospitals management system. There are so many patients, but the doctors are always doing their best.

Gulab Zarin, Kama district, Nangarhar province

The project focuses on improving the value-for-money by enhancing accountability and transparency in the health sector and is a cutting-edge model for service delivery in fragile and conflict-affected settings.

The project has effectively served as a platform to channel the resources of key development partners in a common results framework to finance basic and priority health services across the country with minimal management cost, including in highly insecure and conflict-affected areas which are difficult to serve.

Results

The program made notable achievements despite the rising insecurity and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since 2002, international development aid, including support from the World Bank and the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund, has been a critical part of Afghanistan's development.

Overall health outcomes in Afghanistan have improved markedly since the first decade of the 2000s:

Bank Group Contribution

The Sehatmandi Project is supported by grant of $140 million from the International Development Association (IDA), a $425 million grant from the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF). The ARTF is a multi-donor trust fund administered by the World Bank on behalf of 34 donor partners which have contributed almost $12 billion. The ARTF is a vital mechanism to coordinate international aid. Through the ARTF, donors align and coordinate their support around key development programs, reducing aid fragmentation.

Partners

The Afghanistan Sehatmandi Project is implemented by the Ministry of Public Health of Afghanistan in close cooperation with the donors to the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF), WHO and UN agencies. Afghan and international NGOs support the project as service providers.

The Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF) supports the project with a $35 million grant. The GFF supports low- and lower-middle-income countries to accelerate progress on reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition, and strengthen financing and health systems for universal health coverage (UHC).

Moving Forward

Building on the programs success and to further enhance health service delivery, additional financing for the project is under preparation to make further investments in health facilities and the capacity of the healthcare system and healthcare providers and expand the menu of health services provided.

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Delivering Strong and Sustained Health Gains in Afghanistan: The Sehatmandi Project - Afghanistan - ReliefWeb

SHAHRISTAN, Afghanistan It was midnight on 6 August when there was a loud knocking at my front door. My husband answered. Standing in the dark was a person asking for my help a baby was being born, Shirin described to UNFPA.

It was the start of the greatest challenge she had ever faced as a midwife.

Shirin, 31, manages a family health house in Usho Golaka Village, in Daikundi Province. Family health houses are community-based facilities that provide a host of basic reproductive health services in remote communities, including family planning, antenatal care, safe delivery services, newborn care and immunizations.

She knew the man. He was a relative of Fatima, one of her patients. Tonight her situation was critical, Shirin said.

Fatima, already a mother of six children, was in labour with her seventh. Shirin was immediately alarmed an earlier examination had shown that the delivery would be dangerous.

Fatimas baby was found to be in the wrong position and the delivery was to be a breach birth, Shirin explained. I'd provided information and counselling on her condition, but advised her to refer the case to the provincial hospital in Nili, the center of Daikundi, for further management of her delivery.

But Fatimas family couldnt afford to seek care so far from home. Were a poor family and the economy and unavailability of transport was a big problem for us, Fatima said. We would have had to pay 13,000 afghanis [$170] for transport to reach the provincial hospital in Nili. This was not possible.

Afghanistan has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, according to United Nations data. Some 638 women die per 100,000 live births. Poverty, lack of access to health services and gender inequality all contribute to these tragically high numbers; fewer than 60 per cent of births are overseen by skilled health professionals.

To address these concerns, UNFPA supports Afghanistans community midwifery education programme, a training programme funded by the Canadian Government, which equips midwives to provide essential basic maternal health services and other midwifery care. These midwives then operate from UNFPA-established family health houses, which provide the only medical services available in Afghanistans remotest and most difficult-to-reach areas.

Shirin graduated from the community midwifery education programme in 2015. She has since worked in the family health house in Usho Gholaka, where she has served hundreds of women.

A midwife wears full protective gear to prevent the spread of COVID-19. UNFPA Afghanistan

Her husband is supportive of her work. That night, he took her by motorbike to the village where Fatima and her family live.

The intent was to save a mother and her baby, her husband said. Ive pledged to support my wife in this work, even if its midnight.

Shirin found Fatima suffering in terrible pain, shouting for help. She tried to find a way for the family to urgently transport Fatima to the provincial hospital, but the family felt it was impossible.

Although Shirin is an experienced midwife, she is not equipped to manage serious complications like breach delivery. But in that situation, she was forced to improvise.

I called an expert gynaecologist who was working in the provincial hospital and asked for instructions. This was the only solution I could come up with that might save their lives. I was instructed to use different manoeuvres to shift the position of the baby in the womb. I followed the gynaecologists guidance carefully.

It was a tense labour but in the end, her efforts paid off.

Finally, the uterine contraction began and a baby boy was born after one hour and 45 minutes of labour. He was safe and healthy, Shirin recalled.

Fatimas family was greatly relieved.

When I heard that Fatima and her baby were alive, I cant tell you how happy I was, Fatimas mother-in-law told UNFPA. I am so grateful to Shirin for being there and helping women in need.

Fatima later brought her newborn to the family health house for postnatal services. Im grateful to Shirin, she said. She saved not only my life but also the life of my child.

And Shirin, too, is grateful. Though the experience was harrowing, she feels she has grown as a midwife.

I was very proud of what I did, she said.

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Midwives on the front lines working to reverse Afghanistan's high maternal death rate - UNFPA News

Quantum computersare machines that use the properties of quantum physics to store data and perform calculations based on the probability of an objects state before it is measured. This can be extremely advantageous for certain tasks where they could vastlyoutperform even the best supercomputers.

Quantum computers canprocess massive and complex datasetsmore efficiently than classical computers. They use the fundamentals of quantum mechanics to speed up the process of solving complex calculations. Often, these computations incorporate a seemingly unlimited number of variables and the potential applications span industries from genomics to finance.

Classic computers, which include smartphones and laptops, carry out logical operations using the definite position of a physical state. They encode information in binary bits that can either be 0s or 1s. In quantum computing, operations instead use the quantum state of an object to produce the basic unit of memory called as a quantum bit or qubit. Qubits are made using physical systems, such as the spin of an electron or the orientation of a photon. These systems can be in many different arrangements all at once, a property known as quantum superposition. Qubits can also be inextricably linked together using a phenomenon called quantum entanglement. The result is that a series of qubits can represent different things simultaneously. These states are the undefined properties of an object before theyve been detected, such as the spin of an electron or the polarization of a photon.

Instead of having a clear position, unmeasured quantum states occur in a mixed superposition that can be entangled with those of other objects as their final outcomes will be mathematically related even. The complex mathematics behind these unsettled states of entangled spinning coins can be plugged into special algorithms to make short work of problems that would take a classical computer a long time to work out.

American physicist andNobel laureate Richard Feynmangave a note about quantum computers as early as 1959. He stated that when electronic components begin to reach microscopic scales, effects predicted by quantum mechanics occur, which might be exploited in the design of more powerful computers.

During the 1980s and 1990s, the theory of quantum computers advanced considerably beyond Feynmans early speculation. In 1985,David Deutschof the University of Oxford described the construction of quantum logic gates for a universal quantum computer.Peter Shor of AT&T devised an algorithmto factor numbers with a quantum computer that would require as few as six qubits in 1994. Later in 1998, Isaac Chuang of Los Alamos National Laboratory, Neil Gershenfeld of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Mark Kubince of the University of Californiacreated the first quantum computerwith 2 qubits, that could be loaded with data and output a solution.

Recently, Physicist David Wineland and his colleagues at the US National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) announced that they havecreated a 4-qubit quantum computerby entangling four ionized beryllium atoms using an electromagnetic trap. Today, quantum computing ispoised to upend entire industriesstarting from telecommunications to cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, finance medicine and beyond.

There are three primary types of quantum computing. Each type differs by the amount of processing power (qubits) needed and the number of possible applications, as well as the time required to become commercially viable.

Quantum annealing is best for solving optimization problems. Researchers are trying to find the best and most efficient possible configuration among many possible combinations of variables.

Volkswagen recently conducted a quantum experiment to optimize traffic flows in the overcrowded city of Beijing, China. The experiment was run in partnership with Google and D-Wave Systems. Canadian company D-Wave developed quantum annealer. But, it is difficult to tell whether it actually has any real quantumness so far. The algorithm could successfully reduce traffic by choosing the ideal path for each vehicle.

Quantum simulations explore specific problems in quantum physics that are beyond the capacity of classical systems. Simulating complex quantum phenomena could be one of the most important applications of quantum computing. One area that is particularly promising for simulation is modeling the effect of a chemical stimulation on a large number of subatomic particles also known as quantum chemistry.

Universal quantum computers are the most powerful and most generally applicable, but also the hardest to build. Remarkably, a universal quantum computer would likely make use of over 100,000 qubits and some estimates put it at 1M qubits. But to the disappointment, the most qubits we can access now is just 128. The basic idea behind the universal quantum computer is that you could direct the machine at any massively complex computation and get a quick solution. This includes solving the aforementioned annealing equations, simulating quantum phenomena, and more.

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Every Thing You Need to Know About Quantum Computers - Analytics Insight

By: Anand Patil

On October 23, 2019, researchers from Google made an official announcement of a major breakthrough one that scientists compared to the Wright Brothers first flight, or even mans first moon landing. They said to have achieved Quantum Supremacy, meaning that they had created a Quantum Computer that could perform a calculation that is considered impossible by the classical computers of today. The announcement was a landmark, highlighting the possibilities of Quantum Computing.

The concept of Quantum Computing itself isnt new. It is a field that has been a point of interest of physicists and computer researchers since the 1980s. Googles announcement, however, has brought it to the mainstream, and shone a spotlight on the promise that this niche field of innovation holds. Of course, like someone once said, with great power comes with great responsibility, so this field isnt without complexities.

The Possibilities of Quantum Computing

Quantum Computing is a branch of computer science that is focused on leveraging the principles of quantum physics to develop computer technology. Quantum Computers hold the promise to power major advances in various fields that require complex calculations from materials science and pharmaceuticals to aerospace and artificial intelligence (AI).

So far, Quantum Computers have been nothing more than fancy laboratory experiments large and expensive but they have successfully demonstrated that the underlying principles are sound and have the potential to transform industries and accelerate innovation like never before. This has spurred scientific and industrial interest in this nascent field, giving rise to multiple projects across the world in pursuit of creating a viable, general-use Quantum Computer. That said, it may still be many years before Quantum Computers are commercially and generally available.

So Why Does It Matter Today?The possibility of Quantum Computers poses a serious challenge to cryptographic algorithms deployed widely today. Todays key-exchange algorithms, like RSA, Diffie-Hellman, and others, rely on very difficult mathematical problems such as prime factorization for their security, which a Quantum computer would be able to solve much faster than a classical computer.

For example, it would take a classical computer centuries or even longer, to break modern algorithms like DH, RSA-2048 etc. by using brute-force methods. However, given the power and efficiency of quantum machines in calculations such as finding prime factors of large numbers it may be possible for a quantum computer to break current asymmetric algorithms in a matter of days

So, while the encrypted internet is not at risk at the moment, all that a bad actor has to do is capture the encrypted data today including the initial key exchange, and then wait until a powerful enough quantum computer is available to decrypt it. This is particularly a problem for organizations that have large amounts of sensitive data that they need to protect over the long term such as Banks, Governments and Defense agencies.

What Can I Do Now?For organizations that could be at risk in the future, this is the best time to start evaluating post-quantum cryptography. Simply put, this means moving to algorithms and/or keys that are a lot more robust and can withstand a brute-force attack by a quantum computer i.e. quantum resistant.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the US is leading the effort towards the standardization of post-quantum secure algorithms. However, given the lengthy process involved, this may take many years to fructify.

An alternative is to use Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) techniques with existing algorithms that are considered quantum-safe. This involves using a dedicated optical channel to exchange keys using the quantum properties of photons. Any attempt to tap this secure channel will lead to a change in the quantum state of the photon and can be immediately detected and therefore the key is unhackable. One of the limitations of QKD in this method is the need for a dedicated optical channel that cannot span more than 50km between the two terminals. Of course, this also means that the existing encryption devices or routers should be capable of ingesting such Quantum-Generated keys.

Post-Quantum Cryptography and CiscoCisco is an active contributor to the efforts to standardize post-quantum algorithms. However, recognizing that an implementable standard may be some years away, there is work ongoing to ensure that organizations are able to implement quantum-resistant encryption techniques in the interim, that leverage existing network devices like routers which are most commonly used as encryptors.

To start with, a team of veteran technical leaders and cryptography experts from Cisco US David McGrew, Scott Fluhrer, Lionel Florit and the engineering team in Cisco India lead by Amjad Inamdar and Ramas Rangaswamy developed an API interface called the Secure Key Import Protocol or SKIP through which Cisco routers can securely ingest keys from an external post-quantum key source. This allows existing Cisco routers to be quantum-ready, with just the addition of an external QKD system. Going forward, this team is working on a way to deliver quantum-safe encryption keys without the need for short-range point-to-point connections.

The advantage of this method is that organizations can integrate post-quantum key sources with existing networking gear in a modular fashion without the need to replace anything already installed. In this manner, you could create a quantum-ready network for all traffic with minimal effort.

Getting Ready for the Post-Quantum WorldQuantum Supremacy is an event which demonstrates that a quantum machine is able to solve a problem that no classical computer can solve in a feasible amount of time. This race has gathered momentum in the recent past with several companies joining the bandwagon, and some even claiming to have achieved it.

There is an unprecedented amount of attention focused on making a commercially viable quantum computer. Many believe it is inevitable, and only a question of time. When it does happen, the currently used cryptography techniques will become vulnerable, and therefore be limited in their security. The good news is, there are methods available to adopt strong encryption techniques that will remain secure even after quantum computers are generally available.

If you are an organization that wants to protect its sensitive data over the long term, you should start to evaluate post-quantum secure encryption techniques today. By leveraging existing networking infrastructure and adding suitable post-quantum key distribution techniques, it is possible to take a quantum leap in securing your data.

(The author is Director, Systems Engineering, Cisco India and SAARC and the views expressed in this article are his own)

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Quantum Computing and the Cryptography Conundrum - CXOToday.com