UNICEF - United Nations Children's Fund

Objet publié

February 2014 - On November 8, 2013, Typhoon Haiyan (locally known as Yolanda) made landfall in the Philippines, a densely populated country of 92 million people. The category five typhoon killed over 6,000 Filipinos, caused 4 million people to be displaced from their homes, and caused severe damage to infrastructure, including homes, roads, schools and health centres. Although many people have already received life-saving humanitarian assistance, significant humanitarian needs remain, including early recovery activities that contribute to building communities that are more resilient. With DFATD’s support, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is helping up to 1.34 million people affected by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, including 558,000 children. The project aims to provide safe drinking water, improve sanitation, provide nutrition and health services, protect children from violence and abuse, and provide education. Project activities include: (1) providing sufficient and safe water for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene; (2) building and repairing appropriately designed toilets to ensure proper sanitation, or the safe treatment and disposal of waste water; (3) providing key hygiene items, such as soap and toothbrushes, to children in schools and in learning spaces; (4) providing supplementary feeding, or extra food to infants, young children and pregnant women beyond the normal ration of their home diets, to prevent undernutrition and malnutrition; (5) vaccinating children aged 6 to 59 months against measles and providing full immunization (according to the World Health Organization’s Expanded Programme on Immunization) to children under one year; (6) establishing child-friendly spaces in which children can play and access the support they need to deal with grief and loss; (7) providing psychosocial support services to children and their caregivers; (8) providing learning materials and supplies for pre-school and school-aged children; and (9) setting up temporary learning spaces for children.