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Philippines

Philippines: Typhoons Appeal No.26/2004 Final Report

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The Federation's mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity. It is the world's largest humanitarian organization and its millions of volunteers are active in over 181 countries.

In Brief

Appeal No. 26/04; Final Report; Period covered: 13 June 2005 - 31 August 2005; Final Appeal coverage: 77.5%; Due to constraints in closing financial accounts and the pending finalization for the utilization of remaining appeal funds, the Final Financial Report will only be published at a later date.

The Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) has submitted a separate proposal to the Federation regional delegation in Bangkok for the utilization of the remaining appeal funds. The proposal aims at increasing response preparedness capacity at the national level by advancing the gains in development achieved under the Typhoon Emergency Appeal (No. 26/04) programme on institutional capacity building. It also includes the establishment of the national disaster response team, the pilot testing of the assessment templates, incountry logistics training, and the repair of heavy transport fleet for disaster response operations. The proposal is currently under review by the regional delegation. Donors are requested to respond to the reallocations through the Southeast Asia desk officers within the next two weeks.

Appeal history:

Preliminary appeal launched on 2 December 2004 for CHF 2,011,000 (USD 1,749,036 or EUR 1,316,738) for three months for 250,000 beneficiaries.

Appeal revised on 15 December 2004 for CHF 4,193,878 (USD 3,634,146 or EUR 2,731,487) for six months for 60,000 families (some 300,000 beneficiaries).

The appeal timeframe was extended to the end of August 2005 on 13 June 2005.

Disaster Relief Emergency Funds (DREF) allocated: CHF 150,000.

Related Emergency or Annual Appeals: Philippines Floods and Landslides Emergency Appeal 03/04,

Southeast Asia Regional Appeals 01.66/2004 and 05AA057

Background and summary

In late November and early December 2004, a series of four typhoons battered the islands of Luzon in the Philippines. The destruction was so great that the Philippine government had requested for international assistance to repair damaged infrastructure including roads, bridges, schools, health centres and dikes. The destruction covered several provinces in Northern Luzon, Central Luzon, Southern Luzon and the Bicol Region.

These areas are prone to annual typhoons, but this was an unusual case, considering that some provinces were struck several times in a matter of days with cumulative effects on the environment and the communities. Secondary disasters also occurred as a result of the typhoons, including flash floods, mudslides and epidemics.

The PNRC is mandated to assist the Philippine government in relief, health, welfare and development. Immediately after the typhoons, it had mobilized its chapters in relief distribution, utilizing local relief funds to support the disaster operations in affected areas. Its local resources, however, were exhausted because of the magnitude of the disaster and large number of affected families. It had asked the help of local donors and the Federation to seek international assistance. The Federation sent its regional programme coordinator for Southeast Asia and two disaster risk management programme officers to draft an international appeal in Manila, Philippines together with some members of the PNRC technical staff. Coordination meetings were held with the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team, the National Disaster Coordinating Council and other agencies involved in disaster response operations to avoid duplication and to maximize resources. With the approval of PNRC, the appeal was finalized and sent to Geneva for dissemination. The formal launching of the appeal was undertaken together with the UNDAC team at the Asian Institute of Management attended by members of the diplomatic community and representatives from various components of the UN system and leaders of PNRC and the Federation. By early January 2005, the appeal was fully covered.

A modest delegation of three people was set up by the Federation in the Philippines with a head of delegation, a logistics delegate and a finance delegate. For its part, the PNRC organized a project team led by the head of the disaster management service, and composed of contractual workers hired for the project and permanent staff of the disaster management service, community health and nursing service, logistics and other support departments involved in the operation.

For further information specifically related to this operation please contact:

In Manila: Mr. Victor Liozo, PNRC Secretary-General; email: pnrc@redcross.org.ph; Phone: +63.2527.8386; Fax: +63.2527.0857

In Bangkok: Alan Bradbury, Programme Coordinator, Regional Delegation; email: alan.bradbury@ifrc.org; Phone: +66.2.640.8211; Fax: +66.2.640.8220;

In Bangkok: Bekele Geleta, Head of Regional Delegation; email: bekele.geleta@ifrc.org; Phone: +66.2.640.8211; Fax: +66.2.640.8220

In Geneva: Charles Evans or Sabine Feuglet, Southeast Asia Desk Officer, Asia Pacific Department; email: charles.evans@ifrc.org or sabine.feuglet@ifrc.org; Phone: +41.22.730.4320/4456; Fax +41.22.733.0395

All International Federation assistance seeks to adhere to the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO's) in Disaster Relief and is committed to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response (Sphere) in delivering assistance to the most vulnerable. For longer-term programmes in this or other countries or regions, please refer to the Federation's Annual Appeal. For support to or for further information concerning Federation programmes or operations in this or other countries, or for national society profiles, please also access the Federation's website at http://www.ifrc.org

For longer-term programmes, please refer to the Federation's Annual Appeal.

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