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Philippines

Philippines Humanitarian Bulletin Issue 29 | 01 - 31 October 2014

Attachments

HIGHLIGHTS

  • 8 November marks the one-year commemoration of Typhoon Haiyan that devastated central Philippines in 2013.

  • Emergency threshold for severe malnutrition exceeded in Zamboanga.

  • Partners support authorities to meet the needs of over 53,000 Mayon Volcano-evacuees.

FIGURES

Typhoon Haiyan

No. of people in evacuation centres - 320

No. of people in tents - 4,760

No. of people in transitional sites - 19,700

Total - 24,780

Source: IOM DTM

Zamboanga Crisis

No. of people in evacuation centres - 11,790

No. of people in transitional sites - 11,230

No. of displaced people staying with relatives or friends - 15,190

Total # of people displaced - 38,210

Source: Protection Cluster

Mayon Volcano

No. of evacuees - 53,060

No. of evacuation centres - 50

Source: Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office

Typhoon Haiyan: One year on On the road to recovery

On 8 November 2013 Typhoon Haiyan (locally known as Yolanda) devastated the Philippines, affecting over 14 million people, causing more than 6,000 deaths and displacing 4 million people. The government, together with national and international partners, rallied to respond to the humanitarian needs of the affected people. There was a rapid deployment of experienced humanitarians in a system-wide response, where international staff worked alongside their national and government counterparts.

One year on, the Government-led response is focused on recovery and long-term development. Typhoon Haiyan made its first landfall in the municipality of Guiuan, in the far east of the Visayas region. A master tailor in the district, Felimon Sales, was injured during the storm by falling rocks and can no longer work. He worries that he is now unable to provide for his wife and their orphaned two-year old grandchild. His family became dependent on relief goods for survival, and is living in a government-provided bunkhouse.

But the Sales family has recently moved to one of the transitional sites built by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in nearby Barangay San Roque Sapao. Their new home has a ramp to provide Filemon with easy access in his wheelchair, and his wife, Virginia, is making ends meet by planting a vegetable garden.

Filemon’s plight is just one story of survival and an illustration that there is still much to be done on the road to recovery for those affected by last year’s disaster.

The 25,000 people living in transitional sites still require inter-sectoral assistance, including protection, livelihoods support, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and shelter until durable solutions to their displacement are reached. The government integrates the response to remaining needs into the recovery agenda under the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery (OPARR) Social Services Cluster led by the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

In addition, around 95,000 households (475,000 people) are estimated to be living in unsafe or inadequate makeshift shelters, and are considered highly vulnerable because communities most at risk because their coping mechanisms have diminished and vulnerabilities have increased further.

The priorities of the recovery process are to restore, rehabilitate or reconstruct damaged infrastructure to sustain economic and social activities in the affected areas, and to repair houses, facilities and services. The response going forward will also seek to restore livelihoods, and to increase resilience and the capacities of communities themselves to cope with future disasters.

UN agencies, international and local non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and civil society organisations (CSOs) are currently working together with the OPARR-led clusters and advocating for permanent housing, long-term sustainable livelihoods, and disaster preparedness and risk reduction. It is important that all actors – the government, NGOs, CSOs, and the private sector – complement each other as the response moves towards full recovery and building community resilience over the years ahead.

Disclaimer

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
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