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IOM PHILIPPINES EMERGENCY RESPONSE DELIVERING RELIEF AND RECOVERY TO COMMUNITIES IN EMERGENCIES AND POST-CRISIS

February 2015

Advocating the Barangays. A Barangay Official from Bagacay speaks about the assistance received by his constituents © IOM 2015

Map of IOM field offices

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CAMP COORDINATION AND CAMP MANAGEMENT (CCCM)

44,623 individuals assisted

with Site Management Sup-port

12,121 individuals trained in

Camp Management

18,606 individuals in camps benefitting from Camp Man-

agement

31 displacement sites as-

sessed as per January DTM

IOM conducted a Training of Trainers (ToT) for the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Programme (Bridging Filipino families against poverty) for 12 individuals who will help start the roll-out of the Family Preparedness Programme at the grass-root level. The first training on Main-streaming Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) for the Local Government Units (LGUs) was attended by a total of 60 individuals. This training was conducted as a part of a partnership with City Disaster Risk Reduction and Manage-ment Office (CDRRMO) of Tacloban City. Participants came from schools and offices that played a role in the evacuation phase during ty-phoons Yolanda, Glenda and Ruby. During the roll out of the Family Preparedness training, trained parent leaders were given an opportuni-ty to facilitate the module with support of the IOM CCCM training team. This capacity building session was much appreciated by partici-pants.

In Guiuan, a ToT for Mainstreaming CCCM on Disaster Preparedness was conducted in partnership with Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Regional Offices, with the aim of infusing Evacuation Preparedness and Support to Disaster Preparedness and tar-geting LGUs.

Evacuation Support Training of Trainers Workshop

From 16 to 19 February, IOM Philippines together with DSWD, held a ToT Workshop on Mainstreaming Evacuation Support in Local Disas-ter Risk and Reduction” in Tagaytay City. The three-day training was aimed to develop a roster of certified national CCCM trainers to con-duct trainings on basic camp management and family- and community-based disaster preparedness for practitioners and Local Disaster Risk Reduction in Management Councils at the city, municipal and barangay level. It was attended by 22 officials and 14 IOM practitioners. The DSWD Assistant Secretary Vilma Cabrera gave a closing message and expressed her appreciation to IOM for the long partnership that start-ed in 2006 and the generosity in supporting DWSD disaster responses. “It is very important to build the capacities of local governments and take the lead in immediate response, and we are glad we can work on this together with IOM.”

Family and community-based disaster preparedness training in Tacloban City © IOM 2015

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SHELTER

55,621 Recovery Shelter Kits distributed

72,765 individuals attended the

Technical DRR Training

3,938 Transitional Shelters

completed

126 Transitional Shelters on-

going

Ramona’s story

Ramona Garcia, 43, from Barangay Port Kennedy in Mercedes, Eastern Samar, was not spared by the outrage of Typhoon Haiyan. It left Ramona and her husband homeless together with their four children. A few days after the devastation, her husband Mario gathered iron sheets and coco lumber and constructed a new dwelling for the family. The makeshift shelter made of broken sheets and torn lumber could not protect the family from the strong rain which entered their home. It added to discomfort of the whole family having to squeeze in a small room to sleep. Considering the difficult living circumstances, IOM provided the family with a transitional shelter. “This makes a big difference compared to when we did not have this yet. Our old house leaked. Now our sleeping area has become wider and my hus-band was able to put a screen”, Ramona says. She also comments “Typhoon Haiyan may have left my family homeless; but never hope-less, especially when generous hearts are there to help.”

Across all Haiyan affected areas, IOM team continue to conduct disaster risk reduction (DRR) trainings in order to increase the resilience of the communities for future disasters. In Tacloban alone, a total of 180 training sessions have been carried out with 18,436 participants since the beginning of the emergency response. The trainings focus on safer shelter construction techniques, which is part of the shelter recovery programme. The Eight (8) Shelter Key Messages build a culture of safety and resilience among beneficiaries. Participants com-mented that they are more confident of the gained knowledge and understanding of safer shelter construction practices that help commu-nities mitigate the impact of natural hazards.

In Ormoc, IOM's cash grant distributions that started on December 2014 and continued until the end January were revisited following a lessons-learned exercise. The programme supports the already completed Recovery Shelter Kit (RSK) distribution by giving families cash grant to fix their houses and help their livelihoods. The 3,500 Philippine Pesos assistance drew positive reactions from recipients. For in-stance, Evangeline from Barangay Concepcion, commented "This will be a big help; I will buy some walling (amakan)” for the house. I also plan to buy some supplies to sell because, we have a small store, and this will cover some of the costs.”

Ramona and her transitional shelter © IOM 2015

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PROTECTION

58,039 individuals oriented on protection issues

84,444 individuals reached through protection IEC materi-

als

3,845 individuals assisted through protection support

activities

3,383 individuals trained in partners’ capacity building

activities

135,305 Consultations

34,883 Expanded Pro-gramme on Immuniza-

tion/ Vaccines

6,160 Dental consulta-

tions

11,845 Maternal Child Health consultations

3,236 Medical Referrals

HEALTH

The IOM medical team distributed emergency health kits to different bunkhouses and transitional sites in Tacloban City. The health unit also conducted health awareness sessions in coordination with the shelter teams for 597 male and 664 female participants. These sessions focused on communicable, non-communicable diseases, prevention, sanitation and proper hygiene. These kits were donation from AmeriCares and were distributed in six places around Tacloban City, namely in the Nation Housing Authori-ty bunkhouse, Abucay bunkhouse, Cali transitional site, Tagpuro transitional site, International Pharma-ceutic Incorporated (IPI) bunkhouse and in the Local Government Unit Complex. These donations will benefit more than 6,100 persons.

Handover of emergency health kits to IPI Bunkhouse, Tacloban © IOM 2015

In Ormoc, IOM hosted the Victim/Survivor-Centred Counter-Trafficking Project on 15 to 17 February. IOM and its partners re-viewed the needs for capacity development of government and Civil Society Organization partners in Cebu, Ormoc and Tacloban.

“Every disaster situation is a trafficking situation”, noted DSWD Assis-tant Secretary for Operations and Programmes Group – Support Pro-grammes, Teodulo R. Romo, Jr. at the opening of the third region-wide J/TIP project partners meeting.

Featured in the meeting were experiences in advocacy and service provision from complex emergency context in Central Mindanao, including cross-border return and reintegration assistance.

One of the highlights of the event was the presentation of Ormoc’s LGU on their efforts to combat trafficking and gender-based violence. They presented comprehensive efforts in law enforcement, improve-ment of services, and institutionalization of referral pathways through its city ordinance. The LGU also revealed that they now have successfully put in place a Local Council against Trafficking and Gen-der Based Violence (LCAT/GBV), which IOM will also be part of.

Opening ceremonies of the third region-wide J/TIP project partners

meeting © IOM 2015

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COMMUNICATIONS WITH COMMUNITIES (CwC)

On 26 February, IOM together with World Vision and Plan International organized a conference to present the experience and results of the ‘Pamati Kita’ Common Services Project. Marking the culmination of the project that started in July 2014, the event aimed at sharing key achievements, best practices and ‘lessons learned’ with the donor and partners. The project manager and core staff members presented various videos, animations and information, education and communication materials that were produced in such as comics, and the partici-pants were able to learn about the impact this project made in the communities affected by Typhoon Haiyan.

The objective of the ‘Pamati Kita’ Common Services Project was to increase accountability of the humanitarian community to Haiyan’s affected populations. It also aimed to increase quality and impact of response interventions through the use of common approaches of inclusive participation of beneficiaries. This included providing information, creating complaints and response mechanism to ‘close the feedback loop’ of follow-up and response to beneficiaries.

The event took place in Manila and was attended by 60 participants from government partners, embassies, donors, UN partners, non-profit organizations, media and the private sector.

Representatives of Pamati Kita Common Service Project, including IOM, Plan International and World Vision staff members after the event ©IOM 2015

ZAMBOANGA

On 4 February, IOM together with cluster partners, LGU, City Social Welfare and Development, and DSWD conducted an inspection in Philippine Tuberculosis So-ciety Inc. (PTSI) transitional site for the construction of additional 12 transitional shelters to accommodate the remaining 12 families who are still living in Zamboanga East Central School Evacuation Centre. This activity is part of the CCCM transfer support for affected families, so that they are consulted prior to their transfers. The camp managers provided community consultations and informed them on the current status of the transitional shelters.

Camp managers conducting focused group discussions and community consultations to IDPs in PTSI Transitory Site © IOM 2015

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SHELTER

As of 24 February 2015, a total of 258 units out of the 400 transi-tional shelters were constructed, while 125 are ongoing and 17 are to be started. A construction site for 300 more transitional shelters has been identified in Kasanyangan and the construction is ex-pected to start during the first week of March 2015.

Fernando’s story

Fernando Dahili, 47, found refuge in Grandstand Evacuation Centre. Diagnosed with congestive heart failure, Fernando had difficulty stay-ing in a crowded place such as the evacuation centre. He was provided with a transitional shelter built by IOM. After several months, to-gether with his wife Lorna and two sons, he recently moved to a permanent shelter in Paniran. “We are very thankful that we already have our home, standing up again on the very land that we own”, he says. His wife Lorna, 40 years old has participated in the livelihood skills training and learned sewing. She says she is eager to use her new skills to improve their living condition further.

Fernando in front of his transitional shelter (left); in front of the permanent shelter, with Lorna (right) © IOM 2015

Construction of transitional shelters in Mampang III © IOM 2015

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COTABATO

The Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Manage-ment Office (MDRRMO) of Pagalungan reported a rido (clan feud) incident between Nayang Timan and Gani Saligan on 9 February at Sitio Tatak, Kalbu-gan, Pagalungan, Maguindanao. The incident later escalated and affected the municipality of Sultan Sa Barongis, Maguindanao. IOM Sub-Office in Cotaba-to continues to monitor the armed clashes between the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), par-ticularly the conditions of the internally displaced persons (IDPs). As part of its humanitarian response, IOM partici-pated in joint needs assessment with government, humanitarian and civil society organizations part-ners in the respective evacuation sites in the munic-ipalities of Mamasapano, Datu Unsay, Shariff Saydo-na Mustapha, Shariff Aguak, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Datu Hoffer, Datu Salibo and Rajah Buayan.

Map of North Cotabato and Maguindanao provinces

On 6 February, IOM organized a special report presentation for our partners from the international community and national media on the DTM Post-Crisis Situation Report 2014, and provided further updates on other ongoing initiatives in the Bangsamoro region. The informal event took place at IOM Office in Manila, attended by government partners, embassies, international agencies, NGOs and the private sec-tor. The presentation was conveyed by IOM staff from Cotabato Sub-Office, Information Management and Protection officers. Participants included donors, government partners, international organizations, media and private sector. The event was followed by lively discussions with the participants.

Phyo Wai Kyaw, IOM Senior Information Management Officer presenting the DTM results © IOM 2015