Philippines - IOM and UNICEF have formed a new partnership to improve evacuation facilities in some of the most cyclone-prone regions of the Philippines.

Marking the new working relationship, the two organizations organized a ground breaking ceremony for the construction of a pilot community evacuation centre in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, alongside local authorities and relevant ministries. The construction of the evacuation centres was made possible with funding from a campaign organized by Fuji TV, Japan – a partner of UNICEF Japan.

Welcoming IOM’s collaboration with UNICEF, IOM Philippines Chief of Mission Marco Boasso noted that the new facilities will provide long-term solutions for communities often affected by natural disasters, such as Typhoon Haiyan, which caused widespread devastation in Guiuan in 2013.

“This evacuation centre will provide life-saving protection during natural disasters like typhoon, floods and earthquakes and will increase the capacity of the people in Guiuan to cope with future natural disasters. After Typhoon Haiyan, many schools were used as post-disaster emergency shelters. This meant that many children were unable to go back to school,” he said.

UNICEF Country Representative Lotta Sylwander added: “Children are the most vulnerable in times of natural disasters. We want to make sure they not only survive, but also thrive. Returning to school is a priority action in ensuring the safety and well-being of children, as well as a return to normalcy in post-disaster situations. Disruption to children’s education should be kept minimal.” She stressed that the evacuation centres will not only enable communities to be resilient to recurring natural disasters, but also keep school facilities ready to resume classes.

The purpose-built evacuation centre will provide safe shelter for up to 350 people, and act as a community centre during non-disaster times. The building will combine international best practices in disaster-resilient design for mass evacuation centres with local construction technologies and locally available materials. This will allow the structure to be replicated at other sites across the Philippines.

IOM and UNICEF will start work on a second community evacuation centre in the City of Borongan in October 2015. It will also be funded by the Fuji TV Japan campaign.

Analysis:

IOM is the global lead of the Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster for natural disasters and works closely with local authorities and humanitarian partners to support and manage the displacement of affected populations. In view of the increasing numbers of displaced people and the need to promote safe and orderly evacuations, the CCCM cluster has been working on capacity building of relevant stakeholders and developing on guidelines on mass evacuation, including infrastructure.

In the Philippines, IOM is the co-lead of the CCCM cluster which is led by Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the two institutions have been working closely with local authorities and other humanitarian partners to enhance evacuation systems, which were severely disrupted by the frequent natural disasters occurring in the country.

 For more information please contact Marco Boasso at IOM Philippines, Email: mboasso@iom.int, Tel. +63 2 901 0124