Typhoon Haiyan’s aftermath in Palo and Tolosa, Leyte

Firstly, what happened?

Early morning November 8th, a 600km diameter super typhoon named ‘Yolanda’ (international name Haiyan) made landfall in
the eastern Philippines, with average wind speeds of 290kph, comparable to a category 5 hurricane. Despite extensive advance
preparations, such as activation of local Disaster Risk Reduction Councils in 58 areas in the Visayas region, closing of schools and
workplaces, and the evacuation of 792,000 people from 37 provinces, the super typhoon’s ferocity has left a path of
destruction in the Visayas region. The worst hit areas include the islands of Samar, Leyte, Cebu, Bohol and Iloilo.

Who was affected?

As indicated in various UN-OCHA, NDRRMC, DSWD and UNICEF reports, the super typhoon has left the following impact:

The affected population is dispersed across 44 provinces, 585 municipalities, 57 cities, and 11,996 barangays. Current casualty and damage assessed:

What humanitarian assistance is needed?

The UN Action Plan launched on November 12th aims to provide targeted support and humanitarian assistance to the affected people in the hardest hit regions, over the next six months (November 2013 – May 2014). The Appeal identified the following emerging needs:

Immediate threats to life:

• Lack of safe drinking water
• Lack of shelter
• Trauma injuries, especially if untreated
• Other acute medical conditions (including contagious diseases)
• Disruption of treatment for severe acute malnutrition and for severe chronic diseases
• Lack of sufficient food
• Lack of access to sanitation and personal hygiene items
• Lack of household items and supplies especially for food preparation

Medium-term threats:

• Lack of access to primary health care and treatment for other medical conditions
• Moderate acute malnutrition
• Psychosocial malaise
• Disruption of education
• Disruption of livelihood

ChildFund’s Response

Food aid in Ormoc City

Addressing the immediate needs of affected families and children, ChildFund has launched an emergency response and initiated activities in Ormoc, Iloilo, Roxas City, Bantayan Island, Tacloban, Palo, Tanauan and Tolosa. We have launched a USD$10M appeal to support the response and recovery interventions. The initial intervention includes:

• Providing initial activities for children in 12 evacuation centers in five areas;
• Distribution of 8,000 food packs to families in five areas; and
• Distribution of 1,000 non-food item (NFI) kits (including bath soap, sanitary pads, laundry soap, blankets and cooking utensils) to families in the target areas.

Child Protection at the heart of ChildFund’s Emergency Response

Child Centred Spaces

42% of the 13.2 million people affected by Typhoon Haiyan are CHILDREN

Given this level of impact, the overall objective  of ChildFund’s response as a child-focused organization is of protecting the children and families of this emergency. ChildFund’s response will be an integrated one, addressing the well-being, development, and protection needs of both children and families during the relief and early recovery stage.

Child Protection is the centrepiece of ChildFund emergency programs. During emergencies, children’s vulnerability increases; while parents’ and caregivers’ energy and attention is focused on satisfying basic needs such as finding shelter, food, water and emergency assistance. Children are often left unsupervised in chaotic situations, increasing their susceptibility to abuse, exploitation, and harassment. Children are often separated from loved ones, and exposed to levels of violence and destruction that have long term effects on their psychological and physical development. Early assessment reports indicate that more than 180,000 pre-school and school age children are currently displaced following typhoon Haiyan, and 12,000 public elementary schools and 10,000 day care centers, serving about 4.7 million children, are affected.

Child Centred Spaces (CCS)

Spaces (CCS) is ChildFund’s entry point to child protection programming in emergencies. CCS’ promote and enable children’s rights to protection and psychosocial well-being. CCS’
create safe spaces for children and youth to play, socialize, learn, and express themselves in a caring and supportive environment especially when community structures such as Early Childhood Centers (ECD)s and schools are badly damaged in many areas.

The CCS will act as a referral pathway for services needed by children and adolescents with particular protection needs and vulnerabilities. Children with handicaps and disabilities, survivors of violence, gender-based violence and abuse, can be supported. This is also an opportunity to identify the most vulnerable children and families and to advocate on their behalf to gain access to services.

Program Response Objectives and Interventions

With child protection as the overall framework of ChildFund’s emergency response program, the objectives and proposed interventions are:
Overall Objective

Families and children affected by the super typhoon in the Philippines are provided with an integrated response addressing their well-being, development and protection needs during the relief and early recovery stage.
Proposed Interventions

ChildFund response is divided into two phases: relief and recovery. Our interventions are depicted below:

For a more detailed look at ChildFund’s Response Strategy in the Philippines, please download the report here

If you would like to help support ChildFund’s Response please considering donating NOW