World Vision Ireland’s CEO Visits Typhoon-Hit Communities in the Philippines

As the ghost of Typhoon Haiyan haunts the people of the Philippines, 12 months on, with devastation and despair, Helen Keogh, CEO of World Vision Ireland and World Vision Ambassador, Lorraine Keane explore the ruins of the once thriving communities in the Philippines.

The catastrophe that was Typhoon Haiyan (locally knows as Yolanda) changed the lives of millions of people forever and Helen and Lorraine are there with a team from the Irish Independent to shed some light on the aftermath of one of the worst natural disasters in modern times.

It’s been 12 months now since Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines and although the humanitarian situation has remained stable (thanks to the massive response in the emergency phase and the resilience and strength of the survivors) millions still require attention.

On November 8th, 2013, the category 5 Super Typhoon hit the Philippines, battering Visayas, the central region of the country and devastating areas in 44 provinces, affecting the lives of millions of people and claiming the lives of at least 6,300, with more than 1,000 still reported missing.

Since then, significant achievements were made in both the timely response of immediate life-saving aid and the provision of sustainable access to health services. WASH (Water and Sanitation Hygiene) and Health coordination systems have been established at regional, provincial and municipal levels and these clusters are working together to provide access to essential preventative and curative services and to identify and respond to suspected disease outbreaks and other potential health risks.

More than half of all health facilities were damaged by Typhoon Haiyan, causing disruption to delivery of services. Restoration of these facilities has been a priority for health partners and now these facilities continue to provide health consultations for those affected.

Although these centres are providing a much needed services to the people, adequate facilities and training of healthcare providers are still needed for maternal, neonatal and child health.

The efforts of World Vision have contributed significantly to the increase in people reached, with 91% of people in Leyte and 92% of those in Western Samar as well as 95% reached in Region 7 and 94% reached in Region 8.

In response to the massive need brought by the enormous disaster, World Vision declared a CAT III, global response. Surge capacity from global and regional teams was deployed immediately to support the response efforts.

Assessments were undertaken showing food, shelter, livelihoods, WASH and health to be significant needs.

In the emergency phase, World Vision provided food, shelter kits, NFI kits, Kitchen kits, hygiene kits, clean water kits, unconditional cash transfers and other relief commodities to meet that immediate needs of affected households in 44 municipalities and 492 barangays.

In addition, Child Friendly Spaces (CFSs) and Women and Young Child Spaces (WAYCS) were established. However, with the changing context outlined above, World Vision’s programming approach is adapting to the chaining needs of the affected population, transitioning from distribution-focused relief to a nuanced recovery programme that continues to ensure the basic needs to the communities are met, while supporting self recovery efforts.

World Vision is one of the leading humanitarian agencies responding to the destruction caused by Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), reaching more than 766,000 people. By the end of the response, World Vision will have reached more than 1,000,000 beneficiaries with much needed aid.

The relief phase ended in February of this year, while the current focus is now on recovery, including extensive repair and reconstruction work of health centres, providing tools and medical supplies at existing facilities, providing livelihood training and supplying those affected with temporary shelter kits.

Don’t miss the amazing and heartbreaking story on Helen and Lorraine’s visit on independent.ie tomorrow and in this weekend’s Sunday Independent.