To ensure the safety and welfare of women and children in the aftermath of typhoon ‘Ompong’, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), in coordination with local government units (LGUs), has established child- and women-friendly spaces in the evacuation centers in all affected regions.

“In any disaster, whether natural or man-made, women and children are most vulnerable and prone to risks, hence, women and child-friendly spaces are established to promote their resiliency against the negative effects of emergency situations,” stated DSWD Secretary Virginia “Gee” N. Orogo.

The establishment of child and women-friendly spaces is in accordance to Republic Act. No. 10821 or the Children’s Emergency Relief and Protection Act which seeks to protect children, nursing mothers and pregnant women before, during, and after disasters, calamities or any emergency situation.

According to RA 10821, child-friendly spaces offer activities such as psychosocial counseling, games, educational activities, art therapy sessions, and supplementary feeding, among others. Women-friendly spaces on the other hand, provides privacy for breast feeding mothers.

DSWD Field Office (FO) II Women and Child Friendly Facilitators conducted play and art therapy for children in all evacuation centers and established Women Welfare Desks and Senior Citizen spaces to accommodate issues and concerns of said sectors.

The said FO is currently doing field visits to the affected families in different evacuation centers throughout the province of Cagayan to assess the condition of evacuees and the evacuation centers where they stay.

DSWD FO II OIC-Regional Director Lucia Alan yesterday visited the municipality of Amulung, Cagayan where 584 families composed of 2,069 individuals were affected by Typhoon Ompong.

Lola Dolores Fiesta, 81, an evacuee presently staying in an evacuation center in Amulung East Central School, said that she felt happy and important because  the field office visited them.

“Agyaman nak ti DSWD ti parabur nga indanun da dituy. Dakkel nga banag iti relief goods kadakami nga nadangran, (I am thankful for the assistance that DSWD gave. The relief goods given will really help us who were affected),” Lola Dolores said.

The FO will continue to do field visits especially to the towns adjacent to Baggao, Cagayan where Typhoon Ompong made landfall at 1:40 am last September 15, 2018.

Moreover, DSWD is closely coordinating with the protection cluster members, such as United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Vision and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), for possible augmentation support of child friendly kits, family tracing reunification kits and women friendly kits on the establishment of Child/Women Friendly Spaces in the affected areas.

Meanwhile, DSWD FO CAR is mobilizing the participation of teachers and child development workers during monitoring of evacuation centers to ensure that women and children in camps are given appropriate services and protection.

Further, the LGUs, through their City/Municipal Social Welfare Development Offices (C/MSWDOs) assured that children with special needs are attended to, while the Barangay Peace and Order Committees and Philippine National Police (PNP) maintains law and order in all evacuation centers.

A team of psychologists from FO CAR conducted immediate psychological first aid to the survivors of landslide at Itogon, Benguet, including three children who are currently residing with their relatives in Kias, Baguio City. The team coordinated with the Sunflower Children’s Center, one of the NGO’s which volunteered to provide psychosocial interventions for the children in the region.

Fr. Geraldo Costa, center head pledged to assist DSWD in providing psychological processing and interventions not only to the survivors but also to the responders and professionals who worked with the survivors. They also pledged to help in establishing child friendly spaces in the evacuation centers.

DSWD FOs I, II, III and CAR SWADTs/MATs and Field Office Disaster Monitoring and Response Teams are still closely coordinating with their respective counterparts in the LGUs in the monitoring of the evacuation centers.

To date, Typhoon Ompong has affected a total of 264,304 families or 1,096,799 persons were affected in 3,780 barangays, 468 cities/municipalities, and 31 provinces in Regions NCR, I, II, III, CALABARZON, MIMAROPA, and CAR.

A total of 473 evacuation centers remain open accommodating 15,577 families with 61, 271 persons. Around 76,270 families with 288,673 individuals previously staying in evacuation centers have returned to their homes.

DSWD NROC sent family food packs and non-food items worth Php71,258,087.75 to Field Offices I, II, III and CAR.

“We are doing our best to implement measures to deliver the basic needs of all, those devastated by Typhoon Ompong. We appeal to all sectors to work together for the speedy recovery and rehabilitation of all affected communities,” Sec. Orogo underscored. ###