Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

Philippines

Rebuilding the Philippines After Typhoon Yolanda through Sustainable Initiatives

November marks the first year since Typhoon Yolanda (internationally known as Haiyan), the category five typhoon that swept across central Philippines; leaving over 6,000 people dead, thousands more missing and severely affecting the lives of at least 7 million others. Loss of homes, assets, livelihoods and infrastructures were widespread.

As the people of Philippines and the international community remember the lives lost and recognize the resiliency of survivors, ACF recalls one year of actions and looks to a future of restorative efforts to help provide the unmet needs of affected communities.

ACF's emergency response began 72 hours after the typhoon hit, with food and water deliveries in the most affected areas: Tacloban and Roxas. A year later, ACF has been on the ground every day addressing the immediate needs of the population, particularly children under five, pregnant and lactating women, single female-headed households, the elderly, and persons with disabilities and chronic illnesses.

"The first months after the typhoon, the survivors faced enormous challenges. One year later, they are on the road to recovery thanks to combination of impressive personal effort, an amazing spirit of resilience in the face of disaster and the collaboration of the local and national government units and the international community. The challenge, now, is to continue past year’s gains focusing on the long-term recovery, be it the improvement of their livelihoods or activities for the mitigation of the impact of future disasters”, says Eduardo de Francisco, ACF’s Director for the Yolanda Response.

ACF International has worked closely with partners and local government bodies in delivering programmes on nutrition and psychosocial support; water, sanitation and hygiene; food security and livelihoods. All of these integrate gender issues, disaster risk management, climate change adaptation and care for the environment. These have gone from the life-saving interventions of the first days to long-term, sustainable solutions for the affected population. All in all, our interventions have reached 555, 375 people.

“ACF exists because hunger and malnutrition persists. We work in emergency and development context, save lives and help rebuild livelihoods,” says Javad Amoozegar, Country Director.

For interviews with our spokespersons, please contact Rosa May de Guzman - Maitem at +63 998 998 5461 or rmaitem@ph.acfspain.org

www.accioncontraelhambre.org / www.actionagainsthunger.org

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ACF.Philippines Twitter: www.twitter.com/ACF_Philippines Youtube: ACFphilippines Flickr: www.Acf_International