© UNICEF Philippines/2012/Brown
Children wait outside UNICEF-supplied portable toilets at the new school site in Barangay Mandulog, Iligan. The toilets are a temporary measure until proper latrine blocks can be built.
Philippines
In 2013, UNICEF and partners plan for:
125,000
children and adolescent access basic health supply services
266,000
internally displaced persons with safe water
286,000
school-aged children access quality early childhood care and basic education
2013 requirements (US$)
Owing to its geographic location and geological make-up, the Philippines is perpetually at risk from meteorological, seismic and volcanic hazards. The country is also affected by internal armed conflicts waged by the government and non-state armed groups. Almost one year after Tropical Storm Washi dumped heavy rainfall that triggered destructive flash floods in Northern Mindanao, Typhoon Bopha (three times stronger with more intense and heavier rainfall than Washi) created greater havoc in Eastern Mindanao in early December 2012. Initial assessments estimated more than 2 million children in 2,317 villages had been affected, particularly in those communities where the typhoon made its initial landfall. These are home to more than 200,000 children, where not a single house or structure was left unscathed by Bopha’s fury. In August 2012, floods caused by incessant rains from the southwest monsoon in Metropolitan Manila and 10 other provinces displaced more than 700,000 people. Concurrently, nearly 40,000 people were displaced in Central Mindanao following the outbreak of violence between government troops and the insurgent Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM). The Peace Framework Agreement signed between the Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in October 2012 is an encouraging development that hopefully will lead to cessation of hostilities and expansion of access to services. The main consequence of these hazards and conflicts is the forcible and often prolonged displacement of affected communities. The responsibility for reducing disaster risk and providing immediate humanitarian response mainly rests with local government units. The Philippines is a lower-middle-income country, and while there have been positive developments in recent years, poverty is still prevalent and widespread, with substantial socioeconomic and regional disparities. Over a quarter of the population1 are living under the poverty line, including 10.2 million children, who live in informal settlements in hazard-prone areas along waterways, coastlines and hillsides. The national prevalence of wasting or acute malnutrition among children under 5 stands at 7.3 per cent, but the rate reaches 10 per cent in conflict-affected and less developed areas.2 The displacement of families often disrupts and constricts access to education, as schools are closed down and used as evacuation centres during emergencies.
Planned results for 2013
2013 Programme Targets
(Includes response to Typhoon Bopha)
Nutrition
- 47,000 pregnant and lactating women access infant and young child feeding (IYCF) in emergencies support services
- 240,000 children screened for acute malnutrition
- 8,000 children under 5 cured of severe acute malnutrition
Health
- 125,000 children (including adolescents) access basic health supply services
- 13,500 pregnant and lactating women provided with essential emergency obstetric care
WASH
- 266,000 internally displaced persons (including 111,720 children) provided with safe water based on agreed-upon standards
- 266,000 internally displaced persons (including 111,720 children) access adequate sanitation based on Sphere standards
- 266,000 affected people benefit from hygiene promotion messages and washing facilities
Child protection
- 171,000 children provided with safe access to community socialization, play and learning facilities
- 14,000 children benefit from the rehabilitation package of the United Nations-MILF Action Plan on CAAC
- At least 80 per cent of survivors of grave child rights violations provided with access to child protection services
Education
- 286,000 school-aged children (3–15 years old) access quality early childhood care and development (ECCD) and basic education, with adequate WASH services
HIV and AIDS
- 8,000 children, young people and women in emergency-affected metropolitan areas access information on prevention, care and treatment during a crisis, with continuing care for those previously under treatment
In 2013, UNICEF will support national response capacity by addressing the humanitarian needs of more than 270,000 children and women who are most at risk to the adverse effects of displacement caused by natural hazards and armed conflict. As part of the continuing response to address the impact of Typhoon Bopha in Eastern Mindanao, UNICEF will provide assistance in all the concerned areas – i.e., water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) (supplies; information, education and communication; and activities); nutrition (screening and management of severe and acute malnutrition, micronutrients, infant and young child feeding promotion); health (re-establishment of health services); education (temporary learning spaces, learning materials and supplies); and child protection (protection of separated, unaccompanied and orphaned children; child-friendly spaces; psychosocial support activities). This will be done in the context of the government’s policy and programme frameworks, including risk reduction and climate change adaptation. UNICEF will support the government in providing sustained access to essential emergency maternal, newborn and child health services, as well as lifesaving nutrition interventions to vulnerable children under 5 and pregnant and lactating women. To prevent the spread of waterborne diseases, WASH services, based essentially on the Sphere standards, will be provided to at least 53,200 families in both displaced and host communities, with special attention given to children in schools. UNICEF will work with partners in setting up temporary learning and child-friendly spaces in evacuation centres and relocation sites to ensure continuity in education and psychosocial stability among the children. In addition, registration and provision of services to separated and unaccompanied children and victims of grave child rights violations will be pursued in tandem with the Government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as part of efforts to support children affected by armed conflict (CAAC). Community-based networks will be organized in affected communities to provide better protection and safety to children, particularly against trafficking and recruitment. For emergencies in metropolitan areas, UNICEF will also work with government agencies to ensure that children, young people and women have access to information on HIV prevention, care and treatment during crisis, and to secure continued care for those under treatment. As lead of the nutrition and WASH clusters and the child protection area of responsibility (AoR), and co-lead of the education cluster and the gender-based violence (GBV) AoR, UNICEF will provide cluster coordination support to the Government for all emergency phases, from preparedness to early recovery.
UNICEF funding requirements for 2013
UNICEF is requesting US$23,609,000 to meet the humanitarian needs of children in the Philippines in 2013, building off the inter-agency Humanitarian Action Plan (HAP) for Philippines (Mindanao). This includes US$12,977,000 in UNICEF requirements added in December through a HAP addendum for the Typhoon Bopha response. The requirements listed here also include responses to anticipated emergencies in the northern island groups of Luzon and Visayas. Funding for this appeal would enable UNICEF to immediately respond to the critical needs of the most vulnerable children and women affected by major emergencies for which the country may need additional support. It would also contribute to the continuing recovery in Mindanao and strengthen the capacities of humanitarian actors. It is aligned with the National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework and Plan of the Government of the Philippines.
1 National Statistics and Coordination Board, ‘2009 Philippine Poverty Statistics’, revised 8 February 2011, <www.nscb.gov.ph/poverty/2009/default.asp>, accessed 14 December 2012
2 http://www.nnc.gov.ph/information-materials/doc_details/347-food-and-nutrition-research-institute-7th-national-nutrition-survey-results-media-briefing