http://www.irinnews.org/irin-fp.aspxUpdated everydayen-gbMon, 08 Mar 2010 09:53:55 GMTMANILA Monday, March 08, 2010 (IRIN) - Warnings have been raised over food security in the Philippines as the El Niño phenomenon wreaks havoc across vast agricultural areas, leaving staple crops such as rice dying in parched earth, officials say. MANILA Monday, March 08, 2010 (IRIN) - Warnings have been raised over food security in the Philippines as the El Niño phenomenon wreaks havoc across vast agricultural areas, leaving staple crops such as rice dying in parched earth, officials say.

The cost of crop damage has topped US$239 million since the phenomenon started a heat wave across much of northern Luzon Island and parts of the central Visayas region in late December, said the Department of Agriculture in a recent report by its special task force on El Niño.

Some 14 provinces have been affected, with the brunt of the crisis borne by the agricultural provinces of Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Cagayan and Isabela, where irrigation has dried up.

The El Niño drought is compounding problems for an already bleak agricultural sector recovering from devastation wrought last year by two powerful storms, Ketsana and Parma, that pummelled Luzon, officials say.

To stave off a potential shortfall in rice supply, the agriculture department has said it may import some three million metric tonnes of rice this year.

Gary Olivar, spokesman for Philippines President Gloria Arroyo, confirmed that the government had entered into import contracts for rice as a "short-term alternative".

"There are no long-term food shortage effects from a short-term phenomenon like El Niño, but we are preparing for its more frequent recurrence due to global warming by expanding our water supply sources, exploring dry weather cultivation methods, as well as similar other policies," Olivar told IRIN.

Range of crops affected

Pig and poultry farmers are also alarmed at the impact on corn crops, fearing skyrocketing prices of animal feeds, since corn is a major raw material.

According to official statistics, 54 percent of the total 487,389ha planted with rice, corn, tobacco and other high value commercial crops have been affected in the northern region.

Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya and Cagayan provinces are officially under a “state of calamity”, so they can now tap extra government funding.

The government is also racing against time to save remaining crops by bringing in additional irrigation pumps and seeding clouds in what has so far been a failed bid to induce rain. Teams of experts are also monitoring possible drought-triggered outbreaks of pests and diseases.

The World Food Programme (WFP) described the situation as "a slow onset emergency".

“We are particularly concerned for people still trying to recover from floods and storms that hit the country in September and October, that now, when they are trying to grow crops, they are again confronted with another natural disaster,” WFP country director Stephen Anderson told IRIN.

Long-term solutions needed

With much of the arable land relying on rain-fed irrigation systems, the situation has become dire, a coalition of rice farmers and traders is warning.

It noted that the bulk of rice production was expected in the last quarter of the year, but this could be weakened by the extended effects of El Niño.

The group is urging the government to help farmers withstand abnormal weather conditions threatening the country’s staple foods instead of “quick fix” solutions like importing rice.

"Being in the typhoon corridor of the Pacific, the Philippines is naturally vulnerable to the vagaries of the weather," said Jessica Reyes-Cantos, head of the Rice Watch and Action Network. "However, the government continues to resort to [the] quick fix solution of importing when struck by natural calamity."

Farmers are marginalized after years of neglect, while the government has failed to "devise strategic and effective measures" confronting the industry, such as climate change, she said.

She said only $212.7 million was needed to put in place working irrigation systems for some 164,000ha of rice fields in the country, thereby increasing yields.

Ernesto Lactao, a 52-year-old father of two in Isabela province, said without proper irrigation systems, small farmers like him had to invest in pumps to draw out ground water, increasing capital outlays but not improving harvests.

“What we need now is support from government, price subsidies and proper irrigation," Lactao told IRIN. "Do we have to wait until people are dying of hunger before we get help?"

El Niño is a weather phenomenon in which warmer water from the western Pacific Ocean flows towards the east, disrupting atmospheric systems.

It creates a major shift in rainfall, bringing floods and landslides to arid countries and drought to areas in the western Pacific.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=88347MANILA Monday, March 01, 2010 (IRIN) - The controversial issue of family planning is taking a prominent role in campaigning for the general election in the Philippines.MANILA Monday, March 01, 2010 (IRIN) - The controversial issue of family planning is taking a prominent role in campaigning for the general election in the Philippines.

Family planning advocates in the predominantly Catholic country are calling on voters to ditch candidates opposed to government funding of contraceptives before the 10 May poll for presidential, legislative and local representatives.

“If they want us to vote for them, they should allocate funding for contraceptives. We want a real reproductive health programme here in Manila,” said Fe Nicodemus, 50, a reproductive health campaigner.

Nicodemus has been fighting Manila’s local government over an executive order issued in 2000 by then Mayor Lito Atienza, which prohibits the provision of modern contraceptives and sterilization at the city’s public health facilities.

The city has since selected a new mayor, but calls to repeal the order have been ignored - which Nicodemus said was contributing to a worsening reproductive health situation in the capital.

"In Manila, girls as young as 14 get pregnant. There are 18-year-old girls who already have four children,” Nicodemus told IRIN. “They come to my house to ask for help. In spite of the [order], we make a stand to help these children, even if the village officials threaten to arrest us."

Unwanted pregnancies

The availability of contraception is hotly contested in the Philippines, where the Catholic Church holds sway over 80 percent of the population.

Reproductive health advocates, however, say family planning and modern contraceptive methods such as condoms and birth control pills are sorely needed.

"The poorest are [most] affected because of the lack of contraceptives," said Clara Rita Padilla, executive director of EnGendeRights, a women’s rights NGO. [http://engenderights.wordpress.com/about/]

In a 2008 national demographic survey [http://www.census.gov.ph/data/pressrelease/2010/pr1027tx.html] released on 14 January 2010, the National Statistics Office said about one in three births in the Philippines was either unwanted or unplanned.

It also said the country’s total fertility rate was 3.3 children per woman, but that four out of 10 women said they preferred to have only two children. Poorer women, or those with less education, wanted more children.

The Philippines’ population is projected by the National Statistics Office to have reached 92.2 million in 2009, compared with neighbouring countries Malaysia, with 28.3 million, and Thailand, with 65.4 million.

Family planning advocates are now pressing presidential candidates – including incumbent President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo - to support a comprehensive nationwide family planning programme.

“Presidential candidates should make a clear stand on reproductive health now,” said Ramon San Pascual, executive director of the Philippine Legislators Committee on Population and Development [http://plcpd.org.ph/], a non-profit group that assists lawmakers in pushing for reproductive health legislation.

“We need a national policy on reproductive health that will make sure that the likes of Mayor Lito Atienza will not be able to curtail our reproductive health rights," he said.

Lost opportunity

Reproductive health advocates almost scored a victory when a bill was presented to Congress in January this year that mandated the government to fund modern contraceptives. The government only supports natural forms of birth control.

An October 2008 nationwide survey conducted by polling firm Pulse Asia showed that 63 percent of Filipinos supported the bill.

However, intense debate among legislators, including pro-Church lawmakers, delayed a vote on the bill, which expired after the congressional session ended.

“That's why it's important to have a president who can stand up to the Catholic Church in favour of reproductive health rights," said Benjamin de Leon, president of the Forum for Family Planning and Development Inc, an NGO [http://www.forum4fp.org/html/about-us.html].

The advocates have vowed to file the same bill in the next Congress after the elections.

Church campaign

In December, the Catholic Bishop's Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) issued a paper advising Catholics not to vote for candidates who support government funding for contraception [http://www.cbcpnews.com/?q=node/12037]. "It would not be morally permissible to vote for candidates who support anti-family policies, including reproductive health … Otherwise one becomes an accomplice to the moral evil in question,” it said.

Out of nine presidential candidates, only one, Benigno Aquino III, son of the late president Corazon Aquino, favours government funding of contraceptives.

Former Department of Health Secretary, Alberto Romualdez, lamented that the presidential candidates appeared to have “meekly acquiesced to the CBCP dictates”.

"Not a single politician has dared to question any of the contents of the issuance while at the same time avoiding the subject as much as possible,” Romualdez told IRIN.

“Interference of a religious body in civil and political affairs is a violation of our constitution's section on the separation of church and state and candidates should take a stand on this issue,” he said.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=88257MANILA Friday, February 26, 2010 (IRIN) - Humanitarian agencies and rights groups are concerned about overcrowding in Philippine prisons, where tuberculosis (TB) is now taking a toll.MANILA Friday, February 26, 2010 (IRIN) - Humanitarian agencies and rights groups are concerned about overcrowding in Philippine prisons, where tuberculosis (TB) is now taking a toll.

At the Manila city jail, every available space has been appropriated. Men and youths angrily jostle each other, while some sleep standing up as a medical worker walks the corridors to check on their condition.

The oppressive heat creates a nauseating smell of humanity, but there is a bigger problem - TB - an infectious bacterial disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most commonly affects the lungs.

Otherwise treatable, the disease is spreading rapidly through the prison population, officials say.

"We have seen that the overcrowding of jails and prisons has serious consequences for detainees," Jean-Daniel Tauxe, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) head of delegation in Manila, told reporters recently after numerous prison visits across the Philippines.

"Access to safe water, sanitation, healthcare, and acceptable living conditions are a major problem in overcrowded detention facilities," he said, adding that the steady spread of tuberculosis had become "a serious concern".

Built in the 1940s, the Manila City Jail was designed to accommodate about 1,000 inmates. It currently houses more than 5,000 prisoners, adult men mixing with teenage boys awaiting trial, on trial or awaiting transfer to a penal colony after conviction.

The women's section is equally grim.

According to the Bureau of Jail and Management Penology (BJMP), which has administrative control over all the country's 1,132 city, district and municipal jails, the total inmate population has doubled to nearly 70,000 from about 35,000 a decade ago.

In Metro Manila, some 22,000 inmates are now registered, over an actual capacity of 16,000, the same agency reports.

And with cases, including petty offences, taking years to resolve in backlogged, understaffed courts, the number of inmates will likely rise to more than 115,000 this year, the penology bureau says.

Tauxe said concern over tuberculosis spreading in Philippine jails had prompted his group to support local authorities to implement a national programme to help combat the disease, a pilot project involving some 30,000 inmates in seven prisons.

"Legal and procedural problems, which delay the processing of cases, are the root causes of overcrowding," Tauxe said.

"Criminal neglect"

In one highly publicized case in 2008, Melvic Lupe, a factory worker jailed with 18 others in a labour dispute, died due to tuberculosis.

One of the surviving 18 meanwhile died in September last year, although the cause of death remained unclear, according to the Asian Human Rights Commission, which was following the case.

"It is appalling that anyone should die of tuberculosis today. It is no longer the dreaded affliction that has killed millions of people over the past decade," the commission said in its letter to the BJMP last year.

"It has been for many years now a treatable disease and the fact that prisoners have died of it while in custody speaks of the criminal neglect of the prison authorities."

Lawyer Rita Arce Alfaro, in a study for Manila's Far Eastern University on the problems facing inmates, said the situation had become so dire that inmates "fall easy prey to outbreaks of skin diseases such as boils, infections and various allergies.

"Tuberculosis proliferates inside prison walls," she said, stressing that the Philippine government allots less than US$1 a day per prisoner to cover three meals and water. This harsh reality contravenes the UN's Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners [see: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/treatmentprisoners.htm] , she wrote.

"The main thrust of the present-day prison system has not evolved from the time of the guillotine. But if urgent needs are to be addressed, reform in the prison system is a must," she said.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=88241NUSA DUA Thursday, February 25, 2010 (IRIN) - The use of pesticides in Asian countries has exposed communities across the region to unacceptably high health risks, according to a study conducted by the international Pesticide Action NetworkNUSA DUA Thursday, February 25, 2010 (IRIN) - The use of hazardous pesticides in Asian countries has exposed communities across the region to unacceptably high health risks, according to a study conducted by the international Pesticide Action Network (PAN) [http://www.panap.net/].
 
PAN Asia and the Pacific said interviews with peasant farmers in eight Asian countries revealed that 66 percent of pesticide-active ingredients used on vegetables, paddy and other crops were highly hazardous according to the group's classification criteria.
 
“Exposure to these pesticides puts communities at high risk of developing severe permanent health problems such as endocrine disruption, which can be caused at low doses of exposure to certain pesticides,” said Bella Whittle, coordinator of the project and author of the report, [http://www.panap.net/panfiles/download/asrep_lowres.pdf] launched to coincide with an environmental conference organized by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in Bali, Indonesia, from 22 to 26 February.
 
The interviews with more than 1,300 farmers were conducted in 2008 in China, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Vietnam, India, Indonesia and Malaysia, said PAN, an umbrella group for more than 600 NGOs worldwide.
 
Poison symptoms
 
Respondents said they experienced one or more symptoms, such as headaches, when using pesticides or being exposed to them, with reports ranging from 5 percent in one area to 91 percent in another.
 
In Bangladesh, pesticide poisoning was recorded in 2008 as a leading cause of death, and officially recorded as the second-highest cause of death among 15-49 age group, the PAN report said.
 
Given that previous studies have found that up to 98 percent of cases of pesticide poisoning were under-reported, many agricultural communities may be suffering acute and chronic health effects of chemicals, the group said.
 
“It is essentially distressing that the most vulnerable populations, such as women and children, the sick, the malnourished and the elderly are disproportionately affected and cannot escape the sources of exposure,” Whittle told reporters in Bali.
 
Several pesticides used in the Asian countries have been banned elsewhere, even in countries that are home to the agrochemical companies' headquarters, the PAN report said.
 
Paraquat, an acutely toxic herbicide with no antidote, is banned in Europe, where it is produced, while endosulfan is banned in over 62 countries, the group said.
 
Deadly exposure
 
However, Hedi Surya, 51, a farmer in Bali, told IRIN: “I've sprayed pesticides for 20 years and I have not been sick because of poisoning. I always use a towel to cover my mouth when spraying and face the direction of the wind.”
 
The PAN report said people were exposed to the deadly chemicals for various reasons, including a lack of protective equipment, spills during mixing and spraying, and spraying against the wind.
 
PAN is urging countries to make huge efforts to implement international regulations on pesticides and stop the registration of pesticides that require personal protective equipment, saying its shortcomings and cost made proper use unfeasible.
 
“Governments should phase out highly hazardous pesticides and progressively phase in non-chemical pest-management approaches,” said PAN Asia and the Pacific director Sarojani Rengam.
 
Lucrative Indonesian market
 
In Indonesia, six out of 100 farmers interviewed in the Central Java district of Wonosobo as part of the PAN study had experienced serious poisoning, said Rossana Dewi, an activist with Gita Pertiwi, an NGO which conducted the survey.
 
“Indonesia is a lucrative market for pesticides,” Dewi told IRIN. “Indonesian farmers use pesticides extensively, many of them using several pesticides for their crops.”
 
In 2009, there were 1,832 brands of pesticides sold in the country, an increase from 1,702 brands in the previous year, she said.
 
Farmers usually wear long-sleeve shirts, trousers and hats when spraying pesticides, but few use proper protective equipment, she said.
 
The use of pesticides as mosquito repellants is also widespread in Indonesian households, she said.
 
“Our survey in seven cities on Java shows that each household used two types of pesticides as mosquito repellants. That means it's highly likely the food we consume is contaminated with pesticides,” she said.
 
In Bali, environmentalists also expressed concern that the heavy use of pesticides on farms had contaminated lakes. “The government is not taking action to seriously address the problem of chemical pollution in lakes,” Children of Nature Community, a local NGO, said on its website anakalam.org.  “One hundred percent of locals still use chemical pesticides.”
 
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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=88234MANILA Tuesday, February 16, 2010 (IRIN) - Nearly five months after tropical storm Ketsana and two typhoons ravaged northern Philippines, evacuation centres are starting to close but thousands of people are still displaced, aid workers say.MANILA Tuesday, February 16, 2010 (IRIN) - Nearly five months after tropical storm Ketsana and two typhoons ravaged northern Philippines, evacuation centres are starting to close but thousands of people are still displaced, aid workers say.

“The situation is definitely getting worse and people’s coping mechanisms are being stretched to the limit,” Paula Brennan, Oxfam’s Ketsana response manager, told IRIN.

“Evacuation centres are closing for a number of reasons. The churches, for example, closed [for] Christmas mass; the schools were closed when classes started,” she said.

On 26 September, tropical storm Ketsana inundated 80 percent of Manila on the island of Luzon, home to some 12 million people.

A week later, Typhoon Parma made landfall, drastically affecting outlying regions that were already heavily flooded. Typhoon Mirinae wreaked additional havoc at the end of October. The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) [http://www.ndcc.gov.ph] says more than 10 million people were affected.

As of 30 January, 24,318 people or 5,253 families were being hosted in 54 evacuation centres, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). However, the actual numbers of displaced are thought to be higher, since the figure does not include those staying with relatives.

Some 230,000 homes have been either completely or partially destroyed, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Fishing ground turned marshland

The Laguna de Bay in Luzon is the largest lake in the Philippines, and the main livelihood source for the fishing communities living along its banks.

Anna Maravilla, a 43-year-old single mother, once ran a fishing business with her brother. But Ketsana caused the lake to overflow, destroying her home.

“My home was totally wiped out. We cannot go back there because the government has declared the land uninhabitable,” she said.

Since September, she and her three children have been relocated three times.

The Laguna Lake Development Authority estimates that originally 400,000 families in the area were affected by the onslaught of the storms.

“First, we occupied a public school, but we had to move when classes started. We were then moved to a basketball court… but we had to leave when the residents wanted to use it,” said Maravilla.

Maravilla now lives in a small shack on a poultry farm that was converted into an evacuation centre with 47 other families.

The makeshift centre has no electricity; there are two running taps and two toilets. Oxfam is building four showers and toilets.

“Our life before was not easy, but we were able to survive. We did not have to live like this. At least I had my own house, my own toilet,” said Maravilla, who is also missing her daily income of at least US$10 from fishing.

“I used this [money] as revolving capital and managed our daily expenses. Now, I have nothing to live on,” she said.

Others in the centre have turned to scavenging and re-selling aluminium cans and paper.

Teresita Cuervas, 70, said: “I make about $2 [daily] from scavenging. This used to supplement our income from fishing, but now, this is all I have.”

Lack of funds

The Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) [http://www.worldbank.org.ph/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/EASTASIAPACIFICEXT/PHILIPPINESEXTN/0,,contentMDK:22405100~menuPK:3968175~pagePK:64027988~piPK:64027986~theSitePK:332982,00.html] released in December by the government, the World Bank and other agencies, estimated that $942.9 million was required to meet recovery needs, while $3.48 billion was needed for reconstruction.

“Under normal conditions, shelter was already a problem, but the extent of the devastation [wrought] by [Ketsana] was simply overwhelming,” Edin Garde, programme manager for the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) in the Philippines, told IRIN.

The UN launched a flash appeal for $74 million in October 2009, which was revised a month later to $143.7 million.

However, as of 16 February 2010, only 39.2 percent has been funded, according to the UN’s Financial Tracking Service (FTS). Shelter, along with education, protection and economic recovery, are the least funded.

“Funding shelter is very expensive. It costs about $543 to build one transitory house and $1,489 for a more permanent structure,” said Garde. “It is much easier to fund relief efforts like food, for those who want to reach out to more people and see immediate results.”

“You cannot build a structure on land without first assuring its safety conditions, and this takes time,” Garde said.

“The key is a sustainable source of funding, so as not to depend on the donors,” said Warren Ubongen, shelter cluster coordinator with UN-HABITAT.

“We are now looking at bilateral strategies to mobilize resources. Private institutions like banks are being tapped to donate some repossessed properties,” he said.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=88120MANILA Thursday, February 11, 2010 (IRIN) - Armed conflict and protracted displacement in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao are taking their toll on young men in many areas such as education, and forcing them into adult roles, say aid workers.MANILA Thursday, February 11, 2010 (IRIN) - Armed conflict and protracted displacement in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao are taking their toll on young men in many areas such as education, and forcing them into adult roles, say aid workers.

The conflict has lasted nearly four decades, displacing and killing hundreds of thousands. Boys are shouldering responsibilities they are simply too young to face and for which they are not prepared, say agencies.

“It is common and expected for young boys, even while they are studying, to help augment the family income by taking on jobs as street vendors, tricycle drivers or contractual labourers,” Steven Muncy, executive director of the Philippines-based NGO, Community and Family Services International (CFSI), [http://www.cfsi.ph/index.htm] told IRIN.

“My father was killed four years ago. Since then, I have been taking on odd jobs to help my mother take care of my six brothers and sisters,” Saidman, 17, told IRIN from Mindanao.

CFSI has provided humanitarian assistance in Mindanao for nearly a decade. Research [http://www.cfsi.ph/pdf/Paper35July2006.pdf] by the group on the impact of armed conflict on male youth, defined as younger than 24, has found that despite their violent environment, many look to education and skills training as the way to improve their lives.

However, in the Philippines, boys are more disadvantaged than girls in accessing education, and more so in Mindanao, according to the UN Children’s Fund-Philippines (UNICEF).

“More than the girls, the boys are exposed to vulnerabilities like health problems, child labour and violence, like being in gangs,” Lourdes de Vera-Mateo, UNICEF’s chief of education, told IRIN.

“In Mindanao, especially in ARMM, this problem becomes more pronounced,” she said, referring to the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, comprising mainly Muslim provinces.

Taking up arms

Limited education opportunities, the proliferation of firearms and the constant state of insecurity and fear have made young boys prone to taking up arms in Mindanao.

“Carrying a gun is way of getting respect. There is a certain status with being armed, whether as a part of a resistance movement or for security. It is certainly more attractive [to them] than being a fisherman or farmer,” said Muncy.

One of the most impoverished areas in the Philippines, the ARMM has consistently pulled down national averages when it comes to key education indicators.

According to the most recent literacy and education survey conducted by the National Statistics Office in 2003 [http://www.census.gov.ph/data/publications/pubflemms.html], the Philippines’ overall literacy rate was 93.7 percent for males and 94 percent for females.

In the ARMM, it was 71 percent for males and 69.4 percent for females.

The number of children dropping out of school was also the highest in the ARMM, at 23 percent, compared with major provinces such as Luzon and Visayas, where the rates are less than 8 percent.

Peace talks offer hope

In August 2008, hostilities resumed in the ARMM between the government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), displacing some 700,000 people.

Both sides agreed to a ceasefire agreement in September last year. Peace talks have started and are set to resume on 18 February, offering a glimmer of hope for young men caught up in the conflict.

“The peace talks will be a definite start. But as far as education is concerned, there is a need for interventions that will go beyond putting up a school structure and setting up a curriculum,” said the director of CFSI’s Philippine programme, Vladimir Hernandez.

“Hope needs to be re-established in these young boys. This will make the difference between taking up arms and seeing education as a way to a better life,” he said.

However, this may prove a challenge. The London-based Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, in a 2008 Global Report, [http://www.childsoldiersglobalreport.org/files/country_pdfs/FINAL_2008_Global_Report.pdf] noted the continued involvement over years of children in government-linked paramilitaries and Mindanao armed groups, including the MILF.

The MILF acknowledges there are children in its 21 base camps scattered around Mindanao, but insists they only perform simple chores in the community-like camps.

But even if not all children who become members of the armed groups are combatants, their presence in camps, nonetheless, exposes them to extreme risks, campaigners say.

“Whether or not they are being used as child soldiers or in auxiliary roles as cooks or porters, the fact that they are in a camp puts them in danger and cuts them off from basic services like schools and healthcare,” said Ryan Silverio, Southeast Asia regional coordinator for the Coalition to Protect Children in Armed Conflict.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=88068MANILA Tuesday, January 26, 2010 (IRIN) - Nurina was 14 when she married Sid, who was 23. “We were close friends. He treated me like a younger sister,” Nurina said. “People started to gossip and my family insisted that we be married to avoid tarnishing my reputation.”MANILA Tuesday, January 26, 2010 (IRIN) - Nurina was 14 when she married Sid, who was 23. “We were close friends. He treated me like a younger sister,” Nurina said. “People started to gossip and my family insisted that we be married to avoid tarnishing my reputation.”

Seven years later, Nurina is a third-year high-school student and a mother of three.

Early and arranged marriages are common practice in Muslim culture in the Philippines where about 5 percent of the country’s 97 million inhabitants are Muslim.

It is estimated that 80 percent of Filipino Muslims live on the southern island of Mindanao. Muslims have a different set of rules governing marriage, divorce, custody of children, among others [http://www.muslimmindanao.ph/shari%27a/pesonal_laws.pdf].

“Under Article 16 of the Muslim Code, the minimum marrying age is 15 for both males and females. However, upon petition of a male guardian, the Shari’a District Court may order the solemnization of the marriage of a female who has attained puberty though she is younger than 15, but not below 12,” Claire Padilla, executive director of EnGendeRights, a legal NGO working for the repeal of this provision, which it considers discriminatory, told IRIN.

No accurate information

There is no accurate data of how many Muslim girls in Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) marry before the age of 18.

Yasmin Bursan-Lao, founder and executive director of Nisa Ul-Haqq Fi Bangsamoro (Women for Justice in the Bangsamoro), an NGO advocating for women’s rights in the context of Islamic culture, attributes this to several factors.

“Marriage registration is not a common practice, especially in far-flung areas. Many do not find the registration of marriages, births and deaths relevant unless they seek employment. The process and costs entailed further discourage registration,” says Bursan-Lao, quoting findings in a research paper, Determinants and Impact of Early Marriage on Moro Women, by Nisa in March 2009.

A total of 593 respondents from five provinces in ARMM, who were younger than 18 at marriage, were surveyed. The study shows that 83 percent were 15-17, while 17 percent were between nine and 14 years old. The ages of the respondents’ husbands ranged from 11-59 years, with 57 percent between 17 and 21 at the time of marriage.

“Early marriage is not just a result of cultural practices. The Muslim Code allows it. Challenging the practice of early and arranged marriage needs evidence-based argumentation which we hope this research will address,” Bursan-Lao concluded.

Reasons for getting married

Religious beliefs ranked highest, with women saying early marriage was in accordance with their religion. This was followed by cultural reasons such as keeping family honour, and economic factors.

A small proportion said they married for political reasons like settling or preventing family disputes, or forging political alliances, while others still report being "forced" into the arranged marriage by their parents.
Maternal mortality risks

According to the 2008 National Health and Demographic Survey, [see: http://www.un.org.ph/response/clusters/nutrition/keyDocs/2008%20National%20Demographic%20and%20Health%20Survey.pdf], the maternal mortality rate in ARMM is twice as high as the national average of 162 per 100,000 live births.

ARMM has a high unmet need for family planning, with the lowest contraceptive prevalence rate for modern methods at 9.9 percent and traditional methods at 5.2 percent.

On average, six out of 10 births take place at home under the supervision of a traditional birth attendant, but in ARMM, that figure is nine out of 10 births, the survey states.

Elizabeth Samama, a provincial health officer in ARMM, said having children at a young age poses serious health risks. “The body of an adolescent girl is not fully developed. Her uterus and other reproductive organs are not mature or properly equipped to support the development of another human life. The ideal age for conceiving is between the age of 20 and 35,” she said.

Armed conflict

The Department of Social Welfare and Development estimates that 126,225 individuals are still living in evacuation centres since the outbreak of renewed fighting between the government and the Muslim separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, in August 2008.

“The combination of so much idle time in a close space like an evacuation centre makes the youth vulnerable to exploring relationships,” says Laisa Alamia, a programme manager for Nisa Ul-Haqq Fi. Pre-marital relations are forbidden in Muslim culture and to protect the girl’s chastity, she is forced into marriage.

But Alamia also noted another factor. “In the evacuation centre, each family is entitled only to one food coupon for basic relief goods. Girls and boys are married off by their parents to create new families and qualify for more food coupons,” she said.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87873JOHANNESBURG Tuesday, January 19, 2010 (IRIN) - The best search and rescue workers have stamina, a phenomenal sense of smell, and sharp hearing - they usually also have four legs. JOHANNESBURG Tuesday, January 19, 2010 (IRIN) - The best search and rescue workers have stamina, a phenomenal sense of smell, and sharp hearing - they usually also have four legs.

Highly trained dogs and their handlers can offer the best chance of survival to people buried in the rubble of an urban search and rescue (USR) site, where there are often no outward signs of life.

The dog

Intelligence and a remarkable nose make dogs ideal for the job, according to Ann Christensen, Canine Committee Chair at the US-based National Association for Search and Rescue. Most dogs have better vision than humans, particularly in the dark, and more acute hearing. But it is their sense of smell - said to be a thousand times more sensitive than that of people - that really sets them apart.

Popular breeds are German Shepherds, Border Collies and Golden or Labrador retrievers, with trainers looking for a specific combination of talents. "There are only a few dogs can do this type of work, that have the right stuff. The average family pet can't do this, no matter what training you give them," Christensen told IRIN.

Disaster sites are usually extremely dangerous and stressful, so "a disaster dog has to be confident, courageous and agile"; it must be able to focus while sniffing through the wreckage and ignore all other scents and noises, no matter how tempting.

The training

"It takes a minimum of around 18 months to two and a half years to train a ... team [consisting of a dog and handler]. Normally, if you have a dog that has the ability, the drive, the focus to carry out the job, it actually takes longer to train the handler," said Chris Pritchard, Coordinator for USR Dog Teams at the International Search and Rescue Team of the United Kingdom Fire and Rescue Service.

Handlers are an integral part of the dog's training and by the end of it, if the chemistry is right, they are partnered for the duration of the dog's working life - about 10 years.

"When a handler certifies with a dog, they certify as a team and they work together. You develop a very strong bond with the dog because you spend a lot of time training with the dog, travelling with the dog, going on missions with the dog – you spend almost more time with your dog than you do with your family," said Christensen.

According to Wolfgang Zörner, president of the International Rescue Dog Organisation, the global umbrella body that ensures members comply with the standards set by the UN International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG), international teams must pass a mission readiness test to qualify for deployment.

"Once you pass, the certification is valid for three years, but the test is very hard - it goes on continuously day and night for two days, and not more than 40 percent pass," he commented.

The Equipment

Canine-handler teams need to be completely self-sufficient for up to 10 days after deployment. That means they arrive on site with tents, food, medical and veterinary equipment or water. The dogs need at least one litre per day - more in hotter climates - to maintain workable levels of hydration. Appropriate kennelling is also important to keep the dogs secure on site.

Besides their leash and collar, equipment can range from lifting harnesses and cooling jackets to dog boots. "You want to protect the dog so that it can do its job - they are as important as the rescuers," said the UK's Pritchard.

The deployment

The first 24 hours after a disaster has struck is the "golden day", Pritchard commented. "The ability of the individuals that may be trapped to survive starts to decrease dramatically after that."

Zörner noted that "every disaster is different, but the main objective is to be on site as soon as possible. In every catastrophe there are always some miracles, and some people survive longer, but normally a person cannot stay alive without water for more than four days."

His last mission was the Padang earthquake in Indonesia. "When the call comes in we can be ready to deploy with the dogs within eight hours," he said. Typically, a call will come through the INSARAG Virtual On Site Operations Coordination Centre (OSOCC) – an online information exchange and coordination tool for disaster managers and international response organisations.

The canine-handler teams become part of a larger group of USR specialists. Once medical checks are passed, teams are briefed, equipment is checked and palletised for transportation, and the team heads off, either on civilian or military aircraft.

The search

On arrival the teams report to the OSOCC, usually set up by INSARAG in cooperation with the local emergency management authority. "The problem on the spot is always transportation. To get from the airport to the [OSOCC] and then to the sites," said Zörner.

Given the limited time and resources, initial reconnaissance to identify priority areas is essential. "It is important that they [OSOCC] already know where it is useful to search with dogs; that they have conducted an initial assessment," he noted.

The dogs are one part of the "technical search element", the others are highly sensitive acoustic equipment that can pick up minute sounds, and tiny cameras that can be manoeuvred through tiny cracks or holes drilled in concrete.

"It's a big game of hide and seek - that's the only reason the dogs go out and find. If the dog locates a scent source it will demonstrate that by either scratching, or through a focused bark, and will continuously bark at that point where the scent is most strong," said Pritchard.

"But that does not necessarily mean that the person is buried right under them - the scent can travel a considerable distance. We then work the dog at different angles to see if the scent is coming out somewhere else." A second dog is often brought in to verify a find.

The dogs are used in more than one phase of the rescue operation. "Once rubble is removed from an area and dogs can get closer, that may open a scent channel and allow the dogs to pick up on the scent of a person that is trapped. We recommit dogs to the building as we remove large pieces of rubble," Prichard said.

The rescue

"They recognize a human scent picture made up of many different scents - like the clothing that people wear ... the food that they ate, the polish of their shoes, sweat glands." It is generally understood that they also home in on skin rafts – scented skin cells that drop off human beings at a rate of 40,000 a minute.

Once a find is confirmed, the dogs are removed so that the victim can safely be taken out. Because searching is essentially a game, a find is always rewarded – usually with a toy – to ensure the dogs remain motivated.

Zörner said a dog worked for 20 minutes, because "If it works too long the dog loses interest and the work is no longer secure – he can give an indication even when it is not absolutely sure," and then rested for the same amount of time.

"We search only for live people - that is the priority." When the search is called off - usually 10 days after the disaster began - the dog-handler teams are sent home.

Then, as the humanitarian phase of the relief operation intensifies, another specialist sniffer dog - the cadaver dog - is brought in to search for the dead.

tdm/oa/hehttp://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87790BANGKOK Friday, January 15, 2010 (IRIN) - The government of the Philippines has a new tool to better address the humanitarian needs of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in conflict-affected Mindanao. BANGKOK Friday, January 15, 2010 (IRIN) -  The government of the Philippines has a new tool to better address the humanitarian needs of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in conflict-affected Mindanao.
 
Set up by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and funded by the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) [see: http://ec.europa.eu/echo/index_en.htm] , the Humanitarian Response Monitoring System (HRMS) offers a new means to streamline information about the more than 125,000 IDPs now estimated to be living in evacuation centres on the island.
 
“HRMS is designed to monitor IDP movements, track humanitarian response, and highlight gaps and needs,” Ida Mae Fernandez, the IOM Manila regional programme officer, told IRIN on 15 January, noting that in times of disaster, information management was as critical as the immediate and coordinated delivery of aid.
 
Her comments followed a day after IOM signed an agreement with the Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) [see: http://www.dswd.gov.ph/] - the lead agency of the government’s emergency shelter, camp management and protection cluster - to oversee the new system's management.
 
In addition to tracking IDP movement, collate information on humanitarian response activities by area as well as by sector, the database has the capacity to store and manage maps.
 
“We believe that it will complement and enhance our information management capacity in disaster response,” said DSWD’s assistant secretary Ruel Lucentales.
 
According to aid workers, one of the biggest challenges is obtaining an accurate assessment of the number of displaced, with government figures and agencies often contradicting each other.  
 
Only 20 percent of Mindanao’s displaced are registered in the system at the moment; however, now that the handover is complete, IOM will be working closely with DSWD to register the entire affected population.  
 
Once operational, aid agencies will be able to access key demographic information online, such as the number of IDPs at specific evacuation centres and the number of IDP sites, as well as track who is doing what and where, specific needs and identifying gaps in aid provision.
 
The system is being piloted in central Mindanao and could subsequently be rolled out in other areas during times of disaster.
 
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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87742MANILA Thursday, January 14, 2010 (IRIN) - With its mosques, colourful buildings and veiled girls going to Madrasa schools, Maharlika village resembles a Mindanao town rather than a Manila suburb.MANILA Thursday, January 14, 2010 (IRIN) - With its mosques, colourful buildings and veiled girls going to Madrasa schools, Maharlika village resembles a Mindanao town rather than a Manila suburb.

Established as a government housing project by the National Housing Authority (NHA) in the 1970s, Maharlika village has become a favoured destination in the capital for Muslims fleeing the conflict.

"My family came to Manila to escape war in Maguindanao [province]. Here in Maharlika Village, we are among fellow Muslims," Al-hesam Ebrahim, 19, told IRIN.

Ebrahim's parents fled Mindanao years ago. A student of architectural engineering and technology at the Technology University of the Philippines, Ebrahim says, "Years from now, I want to be famous for building houses, bridges and buildings."

But Ebrahim also dreams of returning to Mindanao where many of his relatives remain, their lives marked by constant displacement and uncertainty.

"I want to help build roads and schools there [in Mindanao]. My life is so different - and so much better - compared to my cousins' lives there who are the same age.

"I have cousins who are 17 years old, but only in grade 6. They had to stop studying because their schools were used as evacuation centres. Others have families already, which I think curtails their chances of improvement. My father, for example, was able to leave Maguindanao to come to Manila, but his sisters could not because they already had children to look after."

Decades of conflict

Mineral-rich Mindanao has been plagued by armed conflict for almost four decades. The fight for self-determination led by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) broke out in renewed hostilities in August 2008 when a memorandum that would have given the MILF control over land claimed to be its ancestral domain was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Nearly 400 people were killed and 700,000 people displaced.

More than 17 months on, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) [see: http://www.dswd.gov.ph/] says an estimated 126,225 people, mostly in the municipalities of Datu Piang, Mamasapano, and Datu Saudi remain internally displaced.

"Many areas have been declared safe to return by the military, but many IDPs chose to remain in the evacuation centres or with friends and relatives out of fear," Datukan Mokamad, Welfare Assistant, DSWD Maguindanao.

The government has extended more than US$10 million in humanitarian assistance to Maguindanao.

From IDP to social worker

Growing up in the Liguasan wetland in Maguindanao, Aleem Siddiqu Guiapal started dodging bullets and mortar shells at the age of three.

"I was an IDP. My family lost a lot of their land and my mother lost her brother, who was a rebel," Guiapal told IRIN.

Guiapal managed to leave the conflict zone by the time he was about to go to university. He studied at Mindanao State University and was later awarded a scholarship by the Asian Development Bank to pursue a Master's in Development Management.

Now 32, he has decided to use his education to give back to his homeland. As project director of the Young Moro Professional Network (YMPN) [http://www.ympn.org/] - a group comprising some 200 Muslim scholars, students and professionals who use their skills to alleviate the plight of marginalized Muslim communities, Guiapal now calls himself a social worker.

Recently, the YMPN was able to raise $4,000 for a feeding and rehabilitation programme for the displaced in Maguindanao.

"We inspire other Muslim youth to be successful in their field and contribute to making a better Mindanao," says Guiapal. "We also act as a channel of information for employment and scholarships because of our network in Asia and the US. We help open doors."

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87726MANILA Wednesday, January 06, 2010 (IRIN) - Thousands of evacuees from the area around Mayon volcano in the Philippines have returned home as the mountain gradually calmed down three weeks after it began spewing lava and ash. MANILA Wednesday, January 06, 2010 (IRIN) - Thousands of evacuees from the area around Mayon volcano in the Philippines have returned home as the mountain gradually calmed down three weeks after it began spewing lava and ash.

As of 6 January, only 510 families or 2,332 people from three villages remain in evacuation centres out of more than 50,000 who had fled their homes and farms from a danger zone of an 8km radius around Mayon, in Albay Province, southeast of Manila, officials told IRIN.

On 2 January, the green light to return was given by the provincial government after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology lowered the alert level to three out of a five-step system.

This means Mayon's activity was gradually decreasing, and there is less probability of an explosive eruption. Immediately after the announcement, the evacuees began returning home.

"While most have been allowed to return home, however, not everything has gone back to normal. These people still need help from the local government because their livelihoods were disrupted for weeks because their farms were untended and vegetables that were to be harvested were destroyed by ash fall," Cedric Daep, chief of Albay's emergency disaster response office, said.

The Albay provincial government, with the help of international NGOs and humanitarian agencies, had launched "early recovery" programmes, including "food for work and cash for work" projects, he said.

The government was also working on a long-term plan to relocate more people from the danger zone to areas where there would no longer be any need to evacuate every time Mayon wakes up, he added.

"This, however, will require a lot of political will," he said, noting that many families around Mayon had lived there for decades to take advantage of its fertile slopes.

"Relocation plans are continually being drawn up even now. When Mayon last exploded in 2006, we permanently relocated around 6,000 people," Daep said.

"The most likely priority now for permanent relocation is the more than 2,000 still in evacuation sites."

Financial strains

Albay Governor Joey Salceda said the evacuations had put a strain on local finances, and moving those in harm's way to safer areas permanently might prevent a bigger calamity in future.

"We also want to preserve their dignity because the conditions in the evacuation centres are different," he said, noting that the 29 public schools that were converted into temporary shelters in the past three weeks offered no privacy and many, including children and women, had to sleep on floors in overcrowded classrooms.

"A lot has been provided for these people, but we need to build them homes. That is what we aim to do in the longer term, to relocate them all," he said, although he did not say where his government would get the resources to do so.

Continuing threat

Meanwhile, the National Disaster Coordinating Council warned the public on 5 January that the threat is not over. The lowering of the alert level, it said, should not be misinterpreted as "that the unrest of the volcano has ceased. If there is a resurgence in the volcano's activity and the potential for explosive eruption is perceived to be forthcoming, the alert level may be raised back to four, but if there is a noticeable downward trend in the monitored parameters, then the alert will be further lowered."

Seismic monitors have recorded faint rumblings over the past few days, although these were mostly associated with rock falls and not due to rising magma levels.

There may still be sudden bursts of ash and steam due to pockets of gas, although these are not expected to affect populated areas, it said.

"People residing close to these danger areas are advised to observe precautions associated with post-eruption activity such as rock falls, pyroclastic flows and ash fallout which can occur any time due to instabilities of lava deposited on steep slopes," it said.

It warned residents of the foothills of Mayon to monitor river channels and gullies on the southeastern slope of the mountain, especially during heavy or prolonged rainfall.

Mayon last erupted in August 2006, although no one was directly killed. However, a strong typhoon in December that year dislodged volcanic debris that had collected on its slopes, triggering a deadly avalanche that buried entire villages and killed more than 1,000 people.

The 2,460m Mayon has erupted 48 times in recorded history. In 1814, more than 1,200 people were killed when lava flows buried the town of Cagsawa.

Given its near perfect cone, Mayon has become a tourist attraction, providing additional resources to towns around it, but also misery whenever it acts up.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87644MANILA Monday, December 28, 2009 (IRIN) - Nearly 50,000 people are still crammed in 29 evacuation centres in the eastern Philippine province of Albay after scientists raised the alert level of the Mayon volcano from three to four on a five-step alert system on 20 December.MANILA Monday, December 28, 2009 (IRIN) - Nearly 50,000 people are still crammed in 29 evacuation centres in the eastern Philippine province of Albay after scientists raised the alert level of the Mayon volcano from three to four on a five-step alert system on 20 December.

Evacuees spent Christmas in the centres - schools converted into temporary shelters - and will likely spend up to four months there should the volcano continue rumbling, according to provincial authorities.

"I have already declared my province open season for all aid agencies," Governor Joey Salceda told IRIN.

"They don't have to go to my office any more to secure permission. We need all the help we can get at this hour of need."

Standby emergency funds from the local government may only last for four weeks, and resources were fast dwindling, he warned.

"Our hope is that Mayon will not continue with this phase since the schools have to re-open after the Christmas break," he said.

But the deep rumblings, ash fall and lava flows are indicative of a dangerous and imminent eruption.

To date, close to 10,000 families or 47,285 people from hundreds of villages in five townships inside an extended 8km danger zone have been evacuated since volcanic activity started on 14 December.

Since the evacuation, however, many of the men were reportedly sneaking out of the camps in the daytime to check on their farms in the foothills of Mayon.

While they are "actively being discouraged" from doing so, Governor Salceda said it was almost impossible to monitor each and every person in the camps.

No room for complacency

Meanwhile, experts have reiterated the need not to be complacent: Renato Solidum, head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, said “a hazardous eruption remains likely within days."

The institute’s observatory in Legaspi city near Mayon reported at least nine ash explosions accompanied by rumblings in the 24 hours up till 7am on 28 December.

The explosions sent ash and lava fragments up to 2,000m into the air, covering villages and towns with a thin layer of fine particles that scientists warn could also cause respiratory and skin problems.

Some 44 volcanic quakes were also recorded by seismic machines, it said.

Relief supplies

Tons of relief supplies have been trucked into the evacuation centres, and temporary tent clinics and hospitals have also been set up. Water and sanitation facilities, however, were in critically short supply.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said it had provided over US$100,000 in supplies to address the urgent needs of children and their families, including water kits and medical supplies such as face masks.

"Our hearts go out to the thousands of children and families who have been affected by the eruption," UNICEF country representative Vanessa Tobin said, but expressed relief that there had so far been no reports of any casualties.

UNICEF said it was concerned for the more than 24,000 children whose schools have been converted into temporary shelters, and promised to bring in school tents and tuition packs to ensure classes can resume after the Christmas break.

Breathing problems

Meanwhile, Eric Tayag, head of the National Epidemiology Centre, has advised those in evacuation centres to protect their children from Mayon’s fine ash, warning that it could exacerbate asthma, bronchitis and respiratory-related illnesses.

"While illnesses caused by ash fall may not be that dangerous, people should take precautions and stay indoors if they can. For those in evacuation centres, prepare a wet cloth to cover the nose and mouth in cases of heavy ash fall. Those with asthma, bronchitis and emphysema should take precautions," he said.

"They may experience increased attacks because ash fall, when inhaled, can trigger breathing problems."

The 2,460m high Mayon is the most active of the Philippines 22 active volcanoes. It has erupted 48 times in recorded history, and in 1814 buried the entire town of Cagsawa, killing over 1,200 people.

Three months after it last erupted - in August 2006 - a typhoon dislodged tons of volcanic debris from its slopes, triggering a mudslide that buried entire villages and leaving over 1,000 dead.

jg/ds/cbhttp://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87581BANGKOK Wednesday, December 23, 2009 (IRIN) - On 26 December, 2004, a magnitude 9.15 earthquake struck off Indonesia’s Aceh Province on Sumatra island. It was followed by a tsunami which killed more than 226,000 people in 13 countries, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). BANGKOK Wednesday, December 23, 2009 (IRIN) - On 26 December, 2004, a magnitude 9.15 earthquake struck off Indonesia’s Aceh Province on Sumatra island. It was followed by a tsunami which killed more than 226,000 people in 13 countries, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

The earthquake moved a 1,200-km section of the sea floor, releasing energy equivalent to 550 million Hiroshima atomic explosions, according to the 2009 “Tsunami Legacy” report by Tsunami Global Lessons Learned Project.

Seen as one of the greatest natural disasters in recent history, over 1.7 million people were displaced in the worst-affected countries of India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Some 422,000 homes were damaged or destroyed in these countries.

In this photo gallery by Jefri Aries, IRIN looks back at the effects of the disaster on the worst-hit area of Aceh, where most of Indonesia’s death toll of over 167,000 occurred, and the relief efforts that followed.

es/dshttp://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87533BANGKOK Thursday, December 17, 2009 (IRIN) - More funds and policies are needed for disaster risk reduction to protect vulnerable communities in the Asia Pacific region, says the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).BANGKOK Thursday, December 17, 2009 (IRIN) - More funds and policies are needed for disaster risk reduction to protect vulnerable communities in the Asia Pacific region, says the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
 
The call comes as the IFRC marks the fifth anniversary of the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 226,000 people in 13 countries, including more than 50,000 people whose bodies were never found.
 
“We’re calling for greater awareness, greater commitment, in terms of funding but also in terms of actions on all of our part, because that’s really what we believe is going to save lives in the long run,” Al Panico, head of the IFRC’s tsunami unit, told reporters at a 17 December briefing on lessons learnt after the tsunami.
 
That means “developing a policy, including it in programmes and … incorporating it into the response areas that are funded by donors, doing what people said they would do, and connecting the early warning systems to the community”, he said.
 
The Asia Pacific region experiences major disasters but the IFRC said the main threat came from localized, small-scale disasters - which have increased from an average of 21 in 2004 to 51 in 2008 - and more risk-reduction activities were needed.
 
Panico said much had been done to improve early warning systems in the region after the tsunami, but there was a gap in communicating warnings to people potentially affected by disasters.
 
“Getting [messages] to the people who need to act, the people in the community, the people on the ground who need to … protect themselves in some way, is the challenge. And that’s where there is a gap,” he said.
 
Humanitarian reform
 
The tsunami was caused by a 9.15 magnitude earthquake off Indonesia, which lasted for nearly 10 minutes. It led to destruction on an immense scale, but was matched by an unprecedented outpouring of donations, and the biggest response and recovery operation since World War II, said Panico.
 
“This disaster touched everyone, everywhere,” he said.
 
The cost of rebuilding damaged infrastructure has been estimated at US$10.9 billion, according to the IFRC, citing UN and government agencies.
 
By December 2005, $14 billion had been pledged, with $11.6 billion either committed or received by NGOs, the Red Cross movement and UN agencies.
 
Challenges included a lack of government capacity in the coordination of relief efforts, immense logistical problems with infrastructure destroyed, as well as demands for increased accountability.
 
However, Panico said the disaster had also sparked reform of humanitarian action by a number of governments. It also helped establish the cluster system – which better coordinates agencies’ efforts – and brought in recovery activities as a key element of disaster relief.
 
Having learnt these lessons, efforts moved from relief to recovery in three months following the earthquake off West Sumatra in Indonesia in September this year, which Panico said was “unheard of in previous disasters”.
 
The tsunami “has changed for ever the way that we respond”, he added.
 
The IFRC, with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, also launched a multimedia web documentary [http://tsunami.trust.org/] on how tsunami survivors have recovered since the disaster.
 
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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87465MANILA Wednesday, December 16, 2009 (IRIN) - Mayon volcano in eastern Albay Province in the Philippines is expected to erupt any minute, but relief assistance has been in place for months for thousands of evacuees, officials say.MANILA Wednesday, December 16, 2009 (IRIN) - Mayon volcano in eastern Albay Province in the Philippines is expected to erupt any minute, but relief assistance has been in place for months for thousands of evacuees, officials say.
 
Nearly 23,000 people have been evacuated to 13 centres from villages near Mayon, one of the country's most active volcanoes, according to the Office of Civil Defence in the Bicol Region, where the province is located.
 
"We are now in a state of imminent disaster," Albay's governor, Joey Salceda, told IRIN, as he ordered the release of "calamity funds" to allow local government units to mobilize additional resources for evacuation centres around Albay.
 
"You don't have to wait for people to die to declare a disaster … We aim to have zero casualties," he said, adding that within the next two days, an additional 30,000 plus people will be evacuated to safer ground.
 
The picturesque Mayon, 2,460m high, which looms over the provincial capital Legazpi, began spewing ash plumes and lava on 14 December, forcing the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology [http://www.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph/] to raise the alert level from two to three.

Level three means magma is close to the crater and hazardous volcanic eruption is possible within weeks. Level four means an eruption is possible within days, while the highest level five means an eruption is occurring, according to the institute’s website. The upgrade sparked a mandatory evacuation of villages and towns within 8km of the mountain.
 
"Right now, we can't rule out a major explosion," said Cedric Daep, head of the provincial disaster operations, stressing that ash explosions as high as 1,000m have been recorded, alongside a series of deep rumbling earthquakes.
 
Schools within an 8km radius of Mayon have been suspended, hospitals are on alert and basic relief items are being made available in evacuation centres, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said in its situation update on 15 December.
 
Deadly mudslides
 
Known for its near-perfect cone, Mayon has erupted 48 times in recorded history.
 
It was last active in mid-2006, when a mild eruption saw large amounts of volcanic debris deposited on its slopes. After an initial alert, residents who had been evacuated were allowed to return to their farming villages.
 
But typhoon Reming struck the region in November of that year, triggering deadly mudslides of volcanic ash and boulders from the slopes that engulfed entire communities and left more than 1,000 dead.
 
That was the worst disaster blamed on Mayon since 1814, when an eruption buried the town of Cagsawa and killed about 1,200 people.
 
Governor Salceda said his government learned bitter lessons in 2006.
 
"That is not going to happen any more. We have learned our lessons. This year alone, we have carried out at least five preventive evacuations," he said.
 
However, he stressed that a prolonged crisis could also mean additional funds may be needed from the national government.
 
"These people may end up spending Christmas and New Year in evacuation centres,” he said.
 
Lessons learned
 
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), meanwhile, said it had dispatched a team to Albay to help in the evacuation.
 
"IOM is now pre-positioning an emergency response team in Albay to conduct pre-coordination meeting[s] with our government partners to monitor the situation and stand by for rapid assessment and response, should the need arise," IOM's regional programme officer, Ida Mae Fernandez, told IRIN.
 
"Our post-Reming programme was a fertile source of lessons learned in the arena of coordination with government, among humanitarian agencies and within the affected populations and communities," said Fernandez.
 
"As importantly, post-Reming was the time when the Philippine government institutionalized the cluster approach towards ensuring predictability of disaster response among relevant agencies,” she said.
 
President Gloria Arroyo's office said she had directed the NDCC in Manila and the Social Welfare Department to begin preparing for a likely eruption, and to ensure that relief assistance could be deployed at a moment's notice.
 
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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87444MANILA Tuesday, December 08, 2009 (IRIN) - The government and international donors should not forget the crisis in southern Mindanao after a shift in focus to flood-ravaged Manila and the main southern island of Luzon, officials say. MANILA Tuesday, December 08, 2009 (IRIN) - The government and international donors should not forget the crisis in southern Mindanao after a shift in focus to flood-ravaged Manila and the main southern island of Luzon, officials say.
 
While stressing that work should continue in Luzon, where thousands of families are still in evacuation centres, officials warn that aid originally meant for those in need in Mindanao island could be diverted to the north.
 
"It is incumbent upon humanitarian actors and other NGO networks to make sure that the spotlight also remains on Mindanao, and that it does not turn into a forgotten emergency," Lan Mercado, former country chief of Oxfam, now an adviser to the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) disaster management and emergency response unit, told IRIN.
 
She said progress in the peace talks between the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the government "would likely bring the Mindanao agenda back to the forefront of the national consciousness".
 
Both sides resumed negotiations in Malaysia on 8 December after agreeing in September on the composition of the so-called International Contact Group (ICG), a panel of third-party observers helping to facilitate the talks.
 
The peace talks were suspended last year, when two MILF commanders broke a five-year ceasefire and launched simultaneous attacks across Mindanao in August 2008.
 
More than 700,000 people were affected at the height of the fighting, which also left nearly 400 dead. Over 250,000 people remain in evacuation sites or are staying with friends and relatives, according to the National Disaster Coordinating Council.
 
Talks overshadowed
 
The good news about the negotiations was pushed to the back-burner after tropical storm Ketsana pummelled Luzon on 26 September, triggering the worst flooding in Manila and outlying areas in more than 40 years. It was followed a week later by Parma, a super typhoon that lashed Luzon for a week. Another typhoon, Mirinae, compounded the crisis in October.
 
Over 1,100 people were killed by the typhoons, including 178 survivors who contracted a deadly flood-borne disease called Leptospirosis. Some areas in Manila's southern region, including urban centres near Laguna de Bay, a massive reservoir, remain flooded and officials have said waters may not subside before next year.
 
The UN recently revised upwards its flash appeal of US$74 million to $144 million, warning that a funding shortfall had limited aid agencies' capacity to effectively respond to the crisis.
 
Mercado said Mindanao was not part of the flash appeal and that there were existing avenues for funding for the island. “However, funds are flowing through slowly as of now," she said.
 
Mindanao also suffered a setback after clan violence led to the massacre of 57 people, including 30 journalists, on 23 November in the island’s Maguindanao Province.
 
The attack raised fears that an increase in such violence would undermine humanitarian aid, and sparked the imposition of martial law in the province on 4 December. [http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/MUMA-7YF72B?OpenDocument&rc=3&cc=phl]
 
The Australian government announced over the weekend that it had advised the temporary suspension of Australian aid programmes on the island until the situation stabilized. [http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/Philippines].
 
Funding concerns
 
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), meanwhile, said it was “actively seeking funds” to support people affected by conflict and violence in Mindanao. "UNICEF is concerned about the security situation in Central Mindanao, since there are families still living in evacuation centres primarily within Maguindanao that require our support,” Vanessa Tobin, UNICEF’s representative in the Philippines, told IRIN.
 
She said the agency was obliged to work with the government to ensure children's rights and needs were being met in the safest way possible.

"We are aware that donor focus has been drawn away from the south in recent months, and we are keen for a shift in focus back to the south, as we see many of the displaced populations in Luzon returning to their communities and rebuilding their lives," Tobin added.
 
She said it was difficult to say if funds raised for Luzon would adversely affect those required for Mindanao, and that the agency had found donors who are "open to discussing the needs of both areas. But we cannot say for certain until 2010 when all the appeals have been made."
 
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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87360MANILA Tuesday, December 01, 2009 (IRIN) - On 1 December, World AIDS Day, activists in the Philippines will be wearing nothing but the red AIDS ribbon in a campaign to raise awareness about the growing threat of HIV.MANILA Tuesday, December 01, 2009 (IRIN) - On 1 December, World AIDS Day, activists in the Philippines will be wearing nothing but the red AIDS ribbon in a campaign to raise awareness about the growing threat of HIV.

Some of the activists are HIV-positive, but they all hope the daring photographs will serve as a wake-up call while HIV prevalence in their country is still below one percent. UNAIDS estimated that 8,300 people were living with the virus in 2008, but the population is almost 90 million.

The "Dare to Bare Campaign" will be featured in a leading national daily newspaper and several online magazines until 5 December 2009. Every picture is accompanied by a personal story, because either that individual or someone they care about is living with the virus.

Shame and silence

Carlos Celdran, a performing artist and one of the "models" in the campaign, told IRIN/PlusNews that his youth was marked by living a carefree life in New York. "We may have been a bit promiscuous back then, but we were careful and always used condoms. Now, there is a whole new generation of young people who no longer see HIV/AIDS as a death sentence, and are more reckless."

According to the National AIDS Registry of the Department of Health, HIV cases among young people have been increasing at an unprecedented rate: newly reported cases in the 15-24 age group tripled from 41 in 2007 to 110 in 2008.

Health experts in the Philippines have warned that the low level of testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, combined with limited access to accurate information, could be masking higher HIV figures.

Even worse, the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) Bill, which would standardize access to sexual health services and information, has been languishing in legislative debate for 20 years.

About 80 percent of the population is Roman Catholic, giving the Church a key role in shaping public opinion and influencing government policy. It has sought to block passage of the Bill, saying the legislation would promote abortion and promiscuity. The Church is particularly opposed to a provision promoting condom use and other family-planning methods, describing condoms as "abortifacients".

Condoms have only recently become available in convenience stores, groceries and filling stations. Previously, people would have to buy condoms abroad - an option not readily available because most of the population live below the poverty line.

Condoms may be easier to get but buying them is still stigmatized. "The man in front of me bought five packs of condoms and when he left, the cashier openly made vulgar comments about the man being promiscuous and sex-crazed," said Rain Naldoza, 22, who appears in the campaign.

"The benefits of using condoms are completely overlooked. The worst thing is, it sent the wrong message to others who heard the comments that buying condoms is a bad thing."

Alcs Porras, a fashion designer who lost three friends to AIDS-related illnesses in the 1980s, commented: "There is shame and silence." He has his own unique way of promoting safer sex among the youth.

"Many of my young friends who are starting to experiment [sexually] ask me for advice because they don't know who else to ask. Many are too embarrassed to buy condoms." He prepares "care packages" of condoms, lubricants and other safer sex devices and hands them out.

Support

The organizers of the "Dare to Bare Campaign", with the support of other groups working in sexual health, hope their brave effort will move others to rally for their right to protect themselves and stay free from HIV/AIDS.

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and UNAIDS have distributed information brochures and HIV/AIDS pins, and condom manufacturer DKT Philippines gave condoms to all participants at the ceremony launching the campaign.

Victoria Court, a chain of high-end short-stay motels, hosted the photo shoot and now provides free condoms in their rooms, discreetly tucked between the towels and toiletries.

"Our clients go to us to get intimate with their partners," said Ian King, Managing Director of Victoria Court. "We need to be responsible about this aspect of our business. It is everyone's responsibility to be aware and be informed."

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87266MANILA Monday, November 30, 2009 (IRIN) - A further increase in clan violence on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao could undermine humanitarian work for tens of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs), aid officials warn. MANILA Monday, November 30, 2009 (IRIN) - A further increase in clan violence on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao could undermine humanitarian work for tens of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs), aid officials warn.
 
"We are not pulling our staff out but if the security situation deteriorates further, it could affect us," Stephen Anderson, country representative for the World Food Programme (WFP), told IRIN.
 
"We don't want tensions to increase in a way that could certainly impact on our ability to continue to assist," he said, noting the agency was closely monitoring the situation.
 
His comments follow the massacre of 57 people, including 30 journalists, on 23 November, just six months before key elections.
 
About 100 armed men - allegedly under orders of an influential local warlord, Andal Ampatuan Jr - kidnapped the group, took them to a grassy hill and systematically murdered them.
 
Authorities say some of the bodies had been mutilated, and there are now fears that more violence could occur in Maguindanao Province and outlying areas as troops and the military go after those responsible for the crime.
 
“The issue of ‘rido’ [see: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=84979] or clan violence is a longstanding issue in Mindanao and the government recognizes this as a particular source of displacement,” Matthew Serventy, head of the sub-office at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Mindanao, said.
 
“In the short term, the impact on the delivery of assistance is limited as agencies are redirecting their aid; however, should such violence continue or escalate, relief assistance could be affected,” Serventy added.
 
Clan rivalry

Those killed included the wife of Ampatuan's rival Esmael Mangudadatu, his two sisters and supporters, who were on their way to the provincial capital to file his candidacy for governorship of the impoverished province, a post that Ampatuan is also contesting.
 
The military and police have since relieved their commanders on the ground, and disarmed hundreds of pro-government militiamen under the control of the Ampatuan family to prevent further bloodshed.
 
Ampatuan himself surrendered three days later to Philippine President Gloria Arroyo's chief adviser in the region. The Ampatuan clan is a close ally of Arroyo and has traditionally delivered crucial swing votes to candidates in the ruling administration coalition.
 
But the Mangudadatu family is also an old, powerful clan and it is now feared that they will soon begin revenge killings, which could plunge the region into further crisis.
 
"The area is under our direct control now to prevent further violence. We don't expect the Mangudadatu family to just sit down and accept the deaths," military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Brawner told IRIN. "There remains an uncertainty in the area."
 
"The recent carnage in Maguindanao is an empirical validating of the worsening armed violence in Mindanao," said Rommel Banlaoi, executive director of the think-tank Philippine Institute for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, [http://pipvtr.com/pipvtr/index.php?section=1] which has closely followed the Muslim insurgency in the south.
 
"If justice is not served in the Maguindanao massacre, it will set a very bad precedent in other areas [of the Philippines] where private armies and clan conflicts exist. This will make the Philippines the epicentre of armed violence in Southeast Asia in the 21st century, an ugly truth that we have to overcome," he told IRIN.

Food aid

Anderson conceded that any movement of staff at present would need to be closely coordinated with security forces. "We can't yet determine whether it will have an impact in terms of access. Right now, our 40 staff are pretty much confined in Cotabato. We will have to see in the coming days. The last thing we want is to see disruption of food distribution to cause further tensions and problems in the area."
 
WFP has been providing vital food aid to tens of thousands still displaced by fighting between the government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in late 2008.
 
Nearly 400 people were killed and 700,000 people displaced at the height of last year's conflict, after the Supreme Court outlawed a proposed deal that would have given the 12,000-strong MILF control over 700 villages and townships.
 
According to the National Disaster Coordinating Council, [http://ndcc.gov.ph/home/] more than 250,000 people are still in camps or with friends and relatives.
 
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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87236NAIROBI Thursday, November 26, 2009 (IRIN) - From the first goat sales about five years ago, creative NGO fundraisers have expanded a range of animal and farm-related "gifts" for sale online to benefit developing countries. NAIROBI Thursday, November 26, 2009 (IRIN) -  From the first goat sales about five years ago [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4078527.stm], creative NGO fundraisers have expanded a range of animal and farm-related "gifts" for sale online to benefit developing countries.
 
The approach has its detractors and not all NGOs have joined the trend. IRC [www.theirc.org], which is promoting its gift catalogue this week, for example, offers no living creatures, sticking to school supplies and mosquito nets.
 
Important: Inclusion in the list below does not imply endorsement by IRIN, nor should exclusion be interpreted as significant. Buyer beware and always read the fine print. The NGOs may not literally spend the funds on the purchase of an individual animal.  
 
Nonetheless, as the Christmas fund-raising season picks up, IRIN has rounded up a few options just to give a whiff of the livestock-related fundraising available. If you have found more "funusual" (or outrageous) charity gift ideas, drop us a line at feedback and we'll make a list  [LINK].
 
Manure: (Oxfam Australia, from AUS$15) - [http://www.oxfamunwrapped.com.au/Product.php?productid=103] (promotional video here: http://www.oxfamamericaunwrapped.com/beep.html)
 
Sheep: (Save the Children, $30) [https://secure.savethechildren.org/01/web_cat_d_1_sheep]
 
Goat: (ADRA, $70) [https://secure2.convio.net/ccadra/site/SPageNavigator/giftcatalog10]
 
Pig: (World Vision Spain, EUR60) [http://worldvision.es/colaborar_regalos_pedido.php?action=add&id_regalo=4]
 
Alpaca: (Practical Action, £50) [http://www.practicalpresents.org/view_product.php?product_id=9]
 
Llama: (Project Concern, $100) [https://secure2.convio.net/pci/site/Ecommerce/692413658?VIEW_PRODUCT=true&product_id=1121&store_id=1141]
 
Cow: (Send a Cow, £125) [http://www.sendacowgifts.org.uk/mumstheword]
 
Camel: (£230, Muslim Hands) [http://www.muslimhands.org/en/gb/great_charity_gifts/select_gift/?gift=G1]
 
And finally:
 
Fermented cow's urine: (Farm Africa, £20) [http://www.farmafricapresents.org.uk/buy/item/9]
 
28 Farm Animals (2 sheep, 2 cows, 2 goats, 2 pigs and 20 chickens): ($2,000, World Vision) [http://donate.worldvision.org/OA_HTML/xxwv2ibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?section=10375&item=92]
 
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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87197COTABATO Thursday, November 26, 2009 (IRIN) - Health experts report a high rate of treponematosis among pregnant displaced women in conflict-hit Mindanao.COTABATO Thursday, November 26, 2009 (IRIN) -  Health experts report a high rate of treponematosis among pregnant displaced women in conflict-hit Mindanao.  
 
Treponematosis refers to a group of non-venereal infections, as well as the bacterium Treponema pallidum, the cause of syphilis.
 
“We are aware of these cases and are closely following the situation,” Elizabeth Samama, provincial health officer at the Datu Piang Regional Health Centre, told IRIN in Cotabato city.
 
“We will need to confirm them,” she said, referring to the need for further testing and research.
 
Médecins Sans Frontières Switzerland (MSF) reported that 25.5 percent of women undergoing antenatal and post-natal care have tested positive for the medical condition.
 
“It may be yaws,” said Samama, the most widespread form of treponematosis which is also endemic to the region. [http://www.who.int/neglected_diseases/diseases/yaws/en/index.html].
 
Transmitted from person to person by direct skin contact, or through breaks in the skin as a result of injuries or bites, yaws generally affects children younger than 15 in underprivileged, remote rural communities, say health experts.   
 
Resembling syphilis in its early stages; yaws is marked by red skin eruptions and ulcerating lesions in the nose, mouth and ears, they say.  
 
The disease eats away at the skin, cartilage and bones of those infected and is fast re-emerging in poor, rural and marginalised populations of Africa, Asia and South America.
 
But the need for further testing cannot be discounted.
 
“This may or may not be sexually transmitted syphilis,” said Sue Averill, MSF medical coordinator in Cotobato, noting that there are four types of bacteria which can turn the test positive – one of which is sexually transmitted.
 
“That’s the dangerous one. That’s the one that can be transmitted from mother to child and has a high mortality for both the mother and child. The test does not differentiate between the two [venereal and non-venereal], but the treatment is the same,” she clarified.    
 
Health experts recommend early screening for syphilis, ideally in the antenatal visit.   
 
Additionally, screening can be repeated in the third trimester if resources permit, to detect infection acquired during pregnancy. Those women who do not receive antenatal care should be tested at delivery.  
 
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), sexually-transmitted syphilis remains a leading cause of peri-natal mortality and morbidity in many parts of the world, despite widely available and affordable technology for diagnosing and treating infection in pregnant women.  
 
Among pregnant women in the early stages of syphilis who are not treated, an estimated two-thirds of pregnancies end in abortion, still-birth, or neo-natal infection.
 
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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87199BANGKOK Wednesday, November 18, 2009 (IRIN) - The UN has warned of serious health risks and food security problems over a lack of funding to assist the Philippines after the country was hit by three major storms and typhoons.BANGKOK Wednesday, November 18, 2009 (IRIN) - The UN has warned of serious health risks and food security problems over a lack of funding to assist the Philippines after the country was hit by three major storms and typhoons.

“The emergency response is being hampered by low levels of funding, particularly in areas such as agriculture, protection, shelter and education of children,” Jacqueline Badcock, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Philippines, said in a statement on 18 November.

The UN launched a flash appeal for US$74 million in Manila on 7 October after tropical storm Ketsana flooded the nation’s capital and outlying regions in late September.

Before the country could recover, Typhoon Parma hit on 3 October, and then Typhoon Mirinae on 31 October, bringing widespread damage and misery. The additional devastation, which has affected 10 million people, led to a revised appeal (see: http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/EDIS-7XUQ73?OpenDocument) this week of $143.7 million from humanitarian agencies.

Donors have only handed over $26 million in funding to date – about 36 percent of the original $74 million requested, or 18.6 percent of the revised $143.7 million, according to the UN.

If funding levels do not increase substantially, about 1.7 million people living in or displaced from areas that are still flooded face serious health and protection risks, warned Badcock’s office.

Some 350,000 people may not be able to return to or rebuild their homes and more than one million children may not be able to resume their education, it said.

The disasters severely affected the critical planting season in Northern Luzon, the country’s main agricultural region, and preliminary assessments cited in the revised appeal showed some 100,000-120,000 farming households had lost 100 percent of their production and assets.

“The November planting season might be missed, which has longer-term implications for food security,” the statement added.

In a separate interview, Badcock told IRIN that donors had been waiting for more information about the scale of damage caused, and that the first appeal had not fully assessed the extent of the devastation.

“The extent of the appeal and the damage was not really well understood by everybody until all the assessments were done,” she said.

“This revised [appeal] has a lot more analysis … we hope it will provide more clarity and confidence to the donors that these are real needs."

Early recovery

The total revised amount of $143,774,080 will cover the immediate and early recovery needs of 4.2 million people, including more than 520,000 children under the age of five. This is twice the population covered under the original appeal.

The revised appeal is planned to run until March 2010 and is being presented on 18 November to donors and the government in Manila, UN officials said.

“The urgent needs remain the people who live in evacuation centres, who need continuing assistance with food and shelter,” said Badcock.

“Then there are farms where the water is going down. We need to get those farmers rehabilitated and planting out for the next season, and their families need food for the next three months because they lost their harvest,” she said.

“Water and sanitation remain critical, particularly in the flooded areas, where there are huge Filariasis [http://www.who.int/topics/filariasis/en/] and Dengue [http://www.who.int/topics/dengue/en/] concerns.”

Early recovery efforts are needed to assist people in restoring their livelihoods, as well as fully restoring schools that are damaged or being used as evacuation centres, she said.

The appeal is being made by UN agencies, NGOs, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87094BANGKOK Friday, November 13, 2009 (IRIN) - A recent spate of natural disasters in Asia has further underscored the importance of breastfeeding during emergencies, with a need for additional policies to support this.BANGKOK Friday, November 13, 2009 (IRIN) -  A recent spate of natural disasters in Asia has further underscored the importance of breastfeeding during emergencies, with a need for additional policies to support this.
 
Hundreds of thousands were displaced and forced into evacuation shelters following a series of deadly typhoons in the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos, and an earthquake in Indonesia in the past two months.
 
But according to experts, during such disasters, support for mothers to breastfeed is often overlooked and not given the priority it needs, despite its life-saving function.
 
Besides raising awareness of the importance of breastfeeding, aid organizations need to have policies on infant feeding, they say.

“You have to have a strong policy in place, and make sure all the actors and all the staff in that organization know about this policy,” Anna Winoto, a nutrition specialist with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Indonesia, told IRIN.
 
In emergency situations, poor water and sanitation and security situations contribute to a heightened risk of disease among children, who are vulnerable to diarrhoea, malnutrition and pneumonia.
 
Practices such as using infant formula milk, when water may be contaminated and feeding bottles cannot be sterilized, contributes to the risk and has been shown to lead to an increase in diarrhoeal disease in infants.
 
“Breastfeeding is actually even more crucial under emergency conditions because children under five, and infants in particular, are at an increased risk of infection, disease and malnutrition,” Winoto said.
 
“Breastfeeding should be seen as a life-saving intervention,” she said.
 
In an emergency situation, establishing private spaces for mothers and infants, one-to-one counselling and mother-to-mother support is needed to encourage breastfeeding, say UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO).
 
“As part of emergency preparedness, hospitals and other healthcare services should have trained health workers who can help mothers establish breastfeeding and overcome difficulties,” said WHO Director-General Margaret Chan in a statement to mark World Breastfeeding Week in August.
 
Both UNICEF and WHO advocate exclusive breastfeeding for children up to six months of age, and continued breastfeeding and complementary feeding until age two.
 
Dangerous donations
 
But one obstacle to breastfeeding during emergencies is unsolicited or uncontrolled donations of breast-milk substitutes, which undermine breastfeeding, according to UNICEF and WHO.

Following a 7.9 magnitude earthquake in West Sumatra on 30 September, UNICEF Indonesia, worked with the country’s Health Ministry, and contacted local and national radio stations to broadcast requests to stop milk-substitute donations.
 
“It’s a huge problem, and the problem lies in the lack of knowledge among the donors on the potential harm,” said Winoto.
 
Meanwhile, coordination in emergencies also remains a challenge, with little capacity to locate only those children who truly need infant formula and not disrupt breastfeeding practices, she said.
 
“In our experience, it’s gotten better but it’s still a huge challenge because there are so many actors when an emergency comes, and so many donations,” she said.
 
Helping with trauma
 
Besides the health benefits, breastfeeding advocates underline the psycho-social benefit of maintaining the activity during an emergency, which is traumatic for babies and young children, experts say.
 
“In an emergency, keeping the baby on the breast is not only about nutrition, it is giving the child that security and closeness when it is scared,” Elvira Henares-Esguerra, director of the Philippine NGO Children for Breastfeeding, [http://breastfeedingphilippines.com/cfb.html] told IRIN.
 
In the aftermath of Typhoon Ketsana, which caused massive flooding in the Philippines in September, Henares-Esguerra and a handful of breastfeeding mothers with their children visited an evacuation centre.
 
They demonstrated breastfeeding practices, and encouraged displaced mothers to do the same.
 
“We discovered that infant formula was being given out by the government at evacuation centres,” said Henares-Esguerra.
 
“We wanted to encourage the mothers to breastfeed,” she said.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87020DUSHANBE Thursday, November 12, 2009 (IRIN) - Even as world food production grows, hunger is on the rise in many poor countries, according to the Global Crop Prospects and Food Situation report for November, published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 12 November.DUSHANBE Thursday, November 12, 2009 (IRIN) - Even as world food production grows, hunger is on the rise in many poor countries, according to the Global Crop Prospects and Food Situation report for November [http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/ak340e/ak340e00.htm], published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 12 November.

The report highlights a contradiction: world cereal production is at its second-highest level ever, yet food prices remain very high. It identifies 77 countries that are both low-income and food deficit.

In East Africa, cereal prices range from 68 percent to 177 percent over the 2007 numbers. In southern Africa, prices are 58-200 percent higher than in 2007, and in most of Asia prices are up 40-70 percent. Since most low-income food deficit countries are food importers, they lose far more from high prices than they gain from steady crop production.

Hunger, in most cases, is caused by lack of money rather than a shortage of food production, according to the World Food Programme (WFP). [http://www.wfp.org/hunger/causes] In 2008 the number of undernourished people in the world increased by 40 million, despite record harvests. [http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/8836/icode/]

The new FAO report suggests that 2009 is likely to see a similar increase in hunger.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=87006JOHANNESBURG Wednesday, November 11, 2009 (IRIN) - A move by donor countries to provide aid agencies with cash, allowing them the flexibility to source cheaper or more appropriate food in the region or beneficiary country and save on transport and warehousing costs, is not addressing nutritional needs, according to a new report.JOHANNESBURG Wednesday, November 11, 2009 (IRIN) - A move by donor countries to provide aid agencies with cash, allowing them the flexibility to source cheaper or more appropriate food in the region or beneficiary country and save on transport and warehousing costs, is also not addressing nutritional needs, according to a new report.

Food aid should include foodstuffs fortified with micronutrients and animal protein. "The emphasis is more on quantity rather than quality, and rarely does the food aid target the most vulnerable groups: children under five, pregnant women and lactating mothers," said Stéphane Doyon, of the international medical charity, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), a co-author of the organization's report, Malnutrition: how much is being spent?

"Barely 1.7 percent of interventions reported as 'development food aid/food security' and 'emergency food aid' between 2004 and 2007 actually address nutrition needs," he said.

The MSF report was published ahead of a new UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) report, which points out that the level of child and maternal undernutrition "remains unacceptable" throughout the world; 90 percent of the developing world's chronically undernourished or stunted children live in Asia and Africa.

jk/he http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86993MUNTINLUPA Monday, November 09, 2009 (IRIN) - Seventy-two year-old grandmother Jovita Ramos's arthritic hands could hardly stop shaking as she stood in line for assistance. MUNTINLUPA Monday, November 09, 2009 (IRIN) - Seventy-two year-old grandmother Jovita Ramos's arthritic hands could hardly stop shaking as she stood in line for assistance.
 
Her home in Muntinlupa District - just an hour's drive south of Manila in Luzon island, the worst-affected of all the islands - is still flooded six weeks after the first of four typhoons hammered the Philippines.
 
Like many of her neighbours, Ramos, her two children and four grandchildren were evacuated to a temporary shelter after tropical storm Ketsana. The ensuing flooding washed away entire communities in Manila and outlying areas, including Muntinlupa, a city of 500,000 on the banks of Laguna de Bay.
 
Now they have begun returning, but face new challenges.
 
"It was so difficult living in the evacuation centre. Food and water were difficult, and my grandchildren who are still little often got sick," Ramos said, clutching a crude staff to keep her balance.
 
"So we decided to return here, but our house is still under water," she said.
 
Ramos's close friend, 70-year-old Armando Anciaga, said many of his relatives in the lake-shore slum of Putatan in Muntinlupa also had no choice but to return.
 
Most of the families traditionally relied on fishing in Laguna de Bay, a heavily silted 90,000-hectare body of water around which developers erected poorly-planned housing estates in recent years.
 
"We may have angered the lake, and it is now reclaiming land that in the past it once owned," Anciaga shrugged, adding that the last major flooding to have hit the area was in 1972, but on a much smaller scale.
 
"Now we have to rely on donations and help from the outside. But one day, they will also tire of giving, and what will happen to us then?" Anciaga said.
 
His two adult sons and their wives have gone to Manila in search of work, leaving him to care for four young children whom he said had not eaten a proper meal in two weeks.
 
Exactly a week after Ketsana, Typhoon Parma battered northern Luzon Island, causing heavy damage to agriculture and dumping more rain on already flooded areas.
 
A third Typhoon, Lupit, spared the country in late October, but days later, Typhoon Mirinae caused additional havoc.
 
Nine million affected
 
More than 1,125 people died from the typhoons, including 167 who succumbed to leptospirosis, a flood-borne disease caused by exposure to water contaminated with rat and other animal urine.
 
According to the country’s National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC),  more than nine million people were affected by the back-to-back storms.
 
The UN launched a flash appeal for US$74 million for one million people in immediate need of assistance, but as of 9 November, only 36 percent of the total had been pledged or received.
 
President Arroyo has set up a special reconstruction committee to find ways of draining flooded areas, which experts have warned would probably remain flooded well into next year, directly affecting over one million people living near the lake.
 
"Transitional communities"
 
Ida Mae Fernandez, project officer for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said the agency was now looking at setting up "transitional communities" to provide semi-permanent shelters in devastated areas.
 
"Through the camp coordination/camp management and emergency shelter clusters of government, the IOM continues to discuss the exact feasibility of this strategy, applied in the current situation, because setting up of transitional communities means constructing transitional shelters - which may take more time than what we have, in terms of immediately and urgently alleviating the situation of communities still under water," Fernandez told IRIN.
 
"While it was not an inherent concern in the affected communities before Ketsana, now after Mirinae, the longer the water stays, the higher the risk," she warned.
 
"The cumulative effects of weekly rains and floods have increasingly and seriously impacted communities' and families' capacities to recover quickly," she said, adding that the current scenario posed "real challenges to the disaster planning continuum".
 
As of 9 November, more than 130,000 storm-displaced continue to live in more than 400 evacuation centres in Manila and outlying areas as well as elsewhere in Luzon, the NDCC reported.
 
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