Attachments
Period covered: 1 July 2012 to 19 October 2012
Appeal target (current): CHF 5,705,280
Appeal coverage: The appeal is 78 per cent covered. Further funding is required as significant early recovery needs remain.
This update adjusts some budget lines, and extends the operation timeframe until 28 February 2013.
Appeal history: • An emergency appeal was launched on 23 January 2012 for CHF 5.69 million to assist 20,000 families (100,000 persons) in 12 months • An preliminary emergency appeal was launched on 21 December 2011 for CHF 2.6 million to assist 5,000 families (25,000 people) in nine months • Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF): CHF 200,000 allocated to support the initial response.
Summary: Philippine Red Cross (PRC) continues to deliver early recovery assistance to families affected by Tropical Storm Washi which hit the northern part of Mindanao Island in mid-December 2011. During the reporting period, 372 families in Cagayan De Oro and Iligan City completed construction of their transitional shelters, bringing the total number of families that have received such assistance to 602, since the start of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) emergency appeal operation. Procurement of shelter materials for an additional 400 families in Iligan City and 150 families in Bukidnon is underway and construction is set to start during November. Based on the financial resources mobilized to date, this operation will deliver transitional shelter to 1,150 of the 2,000 families targeted in the emergency appeal.
Preparations to distribute PHP 5,000 (approximately CHF 112) unconditional cash grants to the 602 families who have already moved into their homes have been completed. The families received necessary orientation in September; the required amounts were transferred to the remittance company; and actual provision of the grants to respective families – by the remittance company – is scheduled to be done in the coming days. The grants will enable assisted families to meet multi-dimensional needs, including replacing lost assets, improving existing income-generating activities, starting up new livelihood activities, and improving their homes, among others.
As delivery of shelter assistance and related unconditional cash grants continues, the team leading implementation on the ground has made some adjustments to the implementation plan. Since construction of 400 units in Iligan City and 150 units in Bukidnon is set to start in the course of November, completion may not be achieved by 31 December. This takes into account the reality that there will be a lull in implementation when community members and suppliers take time off for Christmas holidays. Consequently, this update is extending the operation timeframe until 28 February 2013. The extension is to allow for effective completion of shelter interventions and subsequent distribution of unconditional early recovery grants – which are provided to beneficiary families once they have moved into their new homes. The extension will also allow adequate time for PRC and IFRC to undertake a house occupancy survey, prior to the closure of the operation.
Meanwhile, having reached some 25,600 families with information on preventing waterborne, water-related and infectious diseases as of the previous reporting period, during the period under review, PRC focused on health and hygiene education, targeting students and staff of ten schools in Cagayan De Oro and Iligan City. The targeted schools have a combined population of 13,900 students and 400 staff. Between 1 July and 19 October 2012, some 2,650 students and 170 staff in the ten schools – five schools each in Cagayan De Oro and Iligan City – were reached with sessions on classroom-based and peer education on hygiene promotion, and maintaining the cleanliness of school water and sanitation facilities.
Over the same period, IFRC supported the Cagayan De Oro and Bukidnon chapters of PRC to form and equip water search and rescue teams. Procurement of equipment for the teams was completed during the first half of October, with training of staff and volunteers that now form the teams already undertaken in August 2012. Additionally, the operation supported procurement of one vehicle (geared for rough terrain and flood conditions) for PRC’s Cagayan De Oro chapter. The vehicle arrived in Manila from IFRC’s fleet base in Dubai during the first half of October and is currently going through customs and registration requirements before it is handed over to the chapter.
Red Cross Red Crescent partners who have contributed to this operation are American Red Cross, British Red Cross, Canadian Red Cross/Canadian government, Danish Red Cross/Danish government, French Red Cross, Finnish Red Cross/Finnish government, Hong Kong branch of Red Cross Society of China, Irish Red Cross Society, Japanese Red Cross Society/Japanese government, Netherlands Red Cross/Netherlands government, New Zealand Red Cross/New Zealand government, Norwegian Red Cross, Red Cross of Monaco, Swedish Red Cross/Swedish government, and Swiss Red Cross. Contributions to this operation have also been received from institutional partners, including the European Commission’s Directorate General of Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (DG ECHO) and WHO staff Voluntary Emergency Relief Fund (VERF). A donation has also been made by the government of Czech Republic.
On behalf of Philippine Red Cross, IFRC would like to thank all partners for their generous and invaluable contributions to this appeal. Partners are encouraged to make further cash contributions to support the provision of safer shelter solutions for families still living in temporary or unsafe situations i.e. evacuation centres or makeshift structures.