Period covered by this update: 26 October 2010 to 30 April 2011
Appeal target: CHF 4,183,640
Appeal coverage: With contributions received to date, the appeal is 67 per cent covered. Further contributions are required to meet the needs of the most vulnerable typhoon-affected families.
Summary: This consolidated report summarizes the progress made during the first six months of the operation. The emergency appeal operation was launched following the effects of super-typhoon Megi, which battered northern parts of Luzon on 18 October 2010 affecting 428,000 families (approximately two million people), with around 148,000 houses damaged – 30,000 of them completely and 118,000 partially.
A four-month progress update was issued on 22 March 2011. It reported the closure of relief activities, during which Philippine Red Cross (PRC) had served some 13,300 families with food packages – 11,200 of them in the five provinces covered by this operation, i.e. Cagayan, Kalinga, Isabela, La Union and Pangasinan. In addition, 10,250 families in the five provinces received non-food items while 5,400 families in Isabela received tarpaulins. Hygiene kits formed part of the non-food item package and were distributed concurrently with information materials bearing vital hygiene messages. As such, this report focuses mostly on shelter and National Society capacity building and preparedness programmes that PRC continues to implement with support of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
Though shelter interventions started at a slow pace in November 2010, they have since intensified and as of 30 April, some 6,000 families had received shelter materials to repair or rebuild their homes. Provision of shelter materials is ongoing. Beneficiary families are being provided with cash vouchers to purchase shelter repair or construction materials at recommended shops. The families have the choice of selecting items according to their individual needs – without being limited by pre-determined lists – but within the allocated amount.
In addition to serving typhoon-affected families, PRC has dedicated effort towards improving the disaster preparedness and response capacity of its three chapters in typhoon-affected provinces. In this regard, IFRC supported the Cagayan, Isabela and Kalinga chapters to form and train land and water search-and-rescue teams. Procurement of equipment for the teams is in progress. Furthermore, IFRC has provided the Isabela and Kalinga chapters with one land cruiser each to enhance their capacity to monitor projects.
To date, cash and/or in-kind contributions have been received from the American Red Cross, British Red Cross, Canadian Red Cross/Canadian government, Finnish Red Cross/Finnish government, Hong Kong branch of the Red Cross Society of China, Japanese Red Cross Society, Swedish Red Cross/Swedish government and the Red Crescent Society of the United Arab Emirates. Funding has also been provided by the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (DG ECHO).
On behalf of PRC, IFRC would like to thank all partners/donors for their generous contributions to this appeal and to encourage additional support. Based on the progress made to date, activities that can be supported using available funds will be completed by end-June 2011. If no further donations are forthcoming between now and that time, the appeal timeframe will be revised and this operation closed prior to October 2011.