“If women weavers are empowered to negotiate and market, they will be able to get more income”. Women are at the forefront of economic recovery, after the Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) hit the town of Basey in The Philippines.

The town of Basey in the Philippines is known for its colourful and unique “tikog” (native reed) handicrafts.

Tikog stems are gathered and bleached under the sun for several days to dry out. The weavers use these to make intricate mats, bags, pouches, storage boxes and other crafts. Most of the laborious activities to produce these handicrafts are done by women.

Basey was one of the most heavily affected areas by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in December 2013. The town is located near the sea and is at a high-level risk of storm surges and flash flooding.

Yolanda had a significant impact on the tikog handicraft production as Basey was flooded with salt water from the sea. This destroyed the native reed from growing in the wild, and the salted soil was not suitable for immediate farming. In addition to this most of the homes, materials and work areas used for mat weaving were lost or badly damaged.

Since May 2015, CARE has supported 13 local women’s handicraft associations in the area. CARE has provided financial assistance and training on productivity, business planning, and marketing for the women involved in handicraft making.

“It was a big challenge for all women weavers of Basey to continue their interrupted livelihood activities. Most of them lost their houses because of Haiyan and had to rebuild from what was left and given by humanitarian organizations. Some children were also forced to stop schooling because their parents lack money,” said Anita Ogrimen who leads the Basey Association for Native Industry Growth (BANIG).

Anita sees the burden being carried by the women weavers. A weaver usually finishes a family-size tikog mat in 3 days but is only able to sell it at a low price.

“Some private traders are buying the finished products at a very low price. And these traders are selling the handicrafts double or triple the original price in Manila or somewhere,” she disclosed. “Obviously, the women are deprived of what they truly deserve.”

Anita believes that if these women weavers are empowered to negotiate and market, they will be able to get more income.

The weavers’ husbands take part in activities that require physical strength such as plowing and land preparation for tikog farming. The processing of the native reeds which requires bundling, counting the strands, drying, dividing by colour and size, weaving, mat embroidering, and marketing are completed by the women weavers.

A day in the life of a woman weaver

The women’s working hours are long from 10-14 hours a day on the average. The responsibility and labour of producing the mats and related products rests upon the women.

The women typically wake up at 4am in the morning to start weaving. They do this for a couple of hours, whilst start preparing their families breakfast. After this, the women then feed their families, do household chores and prepare their children for school. By mid-morning, the women continue the mat weaving until midday when they start preparing for lunch.

In the afternoon, the women continue their weaving work. If the women have older children to help with the household chores and dinner preparations, then she can continue uninterrupted otherwise she would have to stop her work.

In the evening once the family are asleep, the women continue weaving for as long as they can physically can. This is especially true if there are orders to deliver, or catch up on.

Disaster-resilient economy

CARE aims to help the BANIG and the rest of women associations to develop a competitive tikog industry to help uplift their status from marginalized workers into highly skilled and enterprising beneficiaries. This is for the economic growth of these disaster-resilient communities in an ecologically balanced environment.

CARE and BANIG will be establishing production areas in Basey to ensure a steady supply of the raw material requirement of the industry. A rehabilitation of a display area will be done to serve as a promotion and market outlet of the products to support Basey’s tourism industry.

Product diversification is also being promoted to the weavers. CARE will be conducting skills upgrading training to also try maximizing the use of other native materials such as rattan and buri.

“We are also looking forward to improve the quality of our products. We are now participating in various marketing events and trade fairs in the region and in Manila,” said Anita.

Anita said that the idea of boosting the industry through the support of various stakeholders drives the women weavers to produce high-quality products.

“Our vision is to penetrate the international market as well. Though for most weavers it is too ambitious, I told them that nothing is impossible if we will all work hard for it,” said Anita.

Inondation, sécheresse : les impacts climatiques du phénomène El Niño risquent de s'intensifier en cette fin d'année et en 2016. CARE agit dès aujourd'hui pour protéger les communautés les plus vulnérables et leur permettre de s'adapter à ces bouleversements climatiques.

Les impacts du phénomène climatique El Niño pourraient affecter 20 millions de personnes dans les prochains mois.

« Les communautés les plus à risque sont celles qui n'ont pas accès aux informations ou aux outils pour faire face à ces aléas et anomalies climatiques », explique Philippe Lévêque, directeur général de CARE France.

Afin de limiter les impacts humanitaires d'El Niño (pauvreté profonde, déplacement de populations), CARE fourni une aide d'urgence aux communautés touchées et met en place des projets de long terme pour augmenter leur résilience face aux catastrophes climatiques.

Soutenir la sécurité alimentaire

Au Niger

Au Niger, les fluctuations météorologiques causées par le phénomène El Niño se traduisent par de longues périodes de sécheresse qui retardent la pousse des semences. Dans certaines régions du pays, victimes d'insécurité alimentaire chronique, la production agricole est en berne. Le gouvernement nigérien estime que 3,4 millions de personnes ont besoin d'une aide humanitaire. CARE fournit actuellement une aide d'urgence à plus de 500 000 personnes.

Aux Philippines

D'ici début 2016, la moitié des Philippines devrait être touchée par une baisse des précipitations de 60 à 80%. Pour les communautés fortement dépendantes de la culture du riz, de tubercule ainsi que de la production de fruits et de légumes, cela représente une menace directe sur leur sécurité alimentaire. Pour limiter ces impacts, CARE travaille avec 288 organisations communautaires sur le renforcement de la sécurité alimentaire en amont des aléas climatiques à venir.

Assurer un accès à l'eau et l'assainissement

Le phénomène El Niño perturbe la répartition des précipitations au niveau mondial.

Au Kenya

Une grande partie du Kenya devrait être touchée par de fortes pluies dans les prochaines semaines et jusque début 2016 . Les populations n'étant pas préparées ni équipées pour faire face à ces conditions météorologiques extrêmes (inondations, glissements de terrain), les impacts sur l'accès à une eau propre s'annoncent désastreux. C'est pourquoi CARE améliore l'accès au traitement ainsi qu'au stockage de l'eau et construit des latrines. Nos équipes soutiennent également la formation des personnels médicaux pour empêcher la propagation de maladies liées à l'eau.

En Somalie

Entre 400 000 et 900 000 Somaliens sont exposés à des risques d'inondations. L'ONG CARE, présente dans ce pays, se prépare à apporter une aide d'urgence en cas de catastrophe naturelle par la distribution d'eau, de nourriture et de kits d'hygiène aux populations affectées et déplacées. CARE prévoit également la construction de latrines d'urgence et la réhabilitation de puits pouvant résister aux inondations.

Renforcer la résilience face aux chocs climatiques

L'eau se fait rare et les populations n'ont pas les moyens de cultiver leur nourriture. CARE apporte aux populations affectées une aide de long terme en leur distribuant des poulets et porcs d'élevage ainsi que des patates douces et plants d'arachide résistants aux sécheresses. Des formations à des techniques agricoles plus conservatrices des sols sont également mises en place.

A Madagascar

Pour augmenter la résilience des populations face aux bouleversements climatiques, il est nécessaire d'agir en amont. A Madagascar, une île de plus en plus touchée par des cyclones et de fortes précipitations, le risque d'inondation est élevé. CARE mène notamment un programme de réduction des risques de catastrophes naturelles afin de réduire durablement les impacts des futures inondations. CARE soutient également les populations du Sud de l'île, victimes d'une sévère sécheresse par la distribution de nourriture.

Executive summary

On the 8th of November 2013 super typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Yolanda, made landfall in the Philippines. It proceeded as a category 5 typhoon across the central Philippines, causing widespread devastation. The typhoon severely damaged or destroyed over one million houses. Over 16 million people were affected by the storm.

CARE Philippines responded with emergency food, shelter and livelihoods programmes. This report presents the findings from CARE’s Emergency Shelter Team’s internal evaluation of the early recovery shelter programme undertaken by CARE Philippines and its partners.
The evaluation’s key findings were that:

• The programme correctly identified and assisted the most vulnerable and beneficiaries are well on their way to recovery:

• They have mostly achieved dignified and safe shelter after the typhoon

• Beneficiary ownership of the recovery process and of their houses is very high

• Most are confident that they will complete their houses to meet their household’s requirements, although the time this will take varies considerably

• Houses are stronger and safer than the houses people had before:

• There is a high level of awareness of build-back-safer principles

• All houses have some build-back-safer principles incorporated

• The majority of houses have high levels of incorporation of build-back-safer principles The approach met the urgent needs of the population while catalysing the recovery. Self-recovery support is a good way to empower communities to take charge of their own recovery, if justified by a rigorous analysis. A model where materials and cash are provided based on an analysis of needs, capacities and local markets, and coupled with strong community engagement and technical assistance which continues throughout the recovery process, allowed cost-effective reconstruction of shelter at a significant scale.
  While programmes of this type do not provide fully engineered buildings built to western standards, they provide sufficient support for households to build houses which are stronger than they had before and will offer more resistance to future hazards. In doing so, they provide support to far more people than expensive fully engineered building programmes can and allow buildings which are tailored to meet the housing and other needs of households. There are no unoccupied buildings as a result, and waste is minimal. Ownership of and pride in the process and the product of the programme, by the beneficiaries, was exceptionally high.

OVERVIEW

An estimated 16.1 million people were affected by typhoon Haiyan, with 1.1 million damaged or destroyed homes and as many as 4.1 million people displaced – nearly four times as many as those left homeless by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. At least 6,300 people lost their lives and another 5.9 million workers lost the sources of income to support their families.

This report documents the operations of CARE’s Household Cash Transfer (HHCT) Program in Leyte,
Western Samar and the four provinces of Panay Island (Capiz, Iloilo, Aklan and Antique) during the period from March to December 2014. The HHCT Program was initiated by CARE to address the needs of the survivors of Typhoon Haiyan.

CARE’s overall Haiyan recovery response is integrated and multi-sectorial. The food security, shelter reconstruction and livelihoods components of the response are expected to contribute to the overall Program Goal, which is: “Affected communities (men, women, boys and girls in Region 6 and 8) have recovered, built back safer and have increased resilience.” .

Program Background

CARE’s livelihood assistance program aimed to reach the most vulnerable families in villages assisted previously by the food distributions and emergency shelter program.

Household targeting was undertaken for the first round of cash transfers (CT1) using an economic and vulnerability selection tool. Barangay Selection Committees —comprising of women, men, younger and older people— managed the targeting process under the guidance of CARE and its partnerorganizations.

Household livelihoods assistance was provided to 27,040 households across 17 municipalities in Leyte (8), Western Samar (1) and Panay (8). CARE selected the most vulnerable households with the lowest monthly income to benefit from the livelihoods cash grant. Selected households nominated a household member to participate in seminars on improved money management and livelihoods planning. Once a simple business plan has been completed, families receive about USD181 (PhP8,000) in two installments to (re) start a quick-impact livelihood or income-generating activity (IGA) over a 6-12 month period.

The program was implemented in partnership with seven NGO partners who have active presence in the provinces assisted.

The Haiyan response was the first time that CARE undertook cash transfer programming on a large scale in the Philippines. This assessment report aims to provide analysis, indicate additional findings about livelihood outcomes, and identify lessons learned from the program.

With the current global average temperature now at around 1°C above pre-industrial levels, poor people in developing countries are already suffering devastation from climate change impacts. It is therefore critical and urgent for vulnerable countries and communities to adapt to climate change impacts. Being prepared for changes in climate and severe weather events can reduce the impacts on people’s lives, their livelihoods and food security. For too long, however, action in cutting emissions and scaling-up adaptation has been utterly inadequate. As a result, more and more of these impacts are exceeding people’s ability to adapt.

Loss and damage is therefore now part of the reality of climate change, and must be tackled. Loss is often understood as irreversible (e.g. loss of lives, species or habitats), while damages can be repaired (such as roads, embankments etc.). If the planet undergoes 2°-3°C of warming, which is a possibility with current national climate pledges – known as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) – on the table, the scale of loss and damage will be catastrophic.

As past greenhouse gas emissions are the main driver of climate change and associated loss and damage, historic responsibilities for these emissions must be taken into account when it comes to providing financial and technical means to those countries and communities most affected, and least responsible for global warming. This is a matter of justice and human rights.

This joint report between CARE, ActionAid and WWF explains the current reality of loss and damage and outlines recommendations to ensure that the international community’s response to climate change in the 21st century can adequately address loss and damage during the UN climate negotiations at COP21 in Paris.

By Sam Bolitho

Emergency teams in the Philippines from international humanitarian organisation CARE are preparing for the arrival of Typhoon Melor, as it approaches areas hit hard by Typhoon Haiyan two years ago.

The category-three storm, known locally as Nona, is expected to make landfall on Monday night local time.

Packing winds of up to 150kmh, the storm is likely to bring heavy rain which could cause flash flooding and landslides.

Storm surges of up to 3.6 metres are also possible in coastal areas.

“This storm is looking big and heading straight for communities that were devastated just two years ago by Typhoon Haiyan. We’re working to ensure people are prepared, and our team will be set to respond should the worst eventuate,” said Tess Bayombong, CARE’s acting country director in the Philippines.

CARE’s Tacloban office is taking precautionary measures and key emergency staff are ready to conduct rapid assessments if needed.

CARE is monitoring weather updates and will provide updates as they become available.

CARE has a long history in the Philippines that stretches back to 1949. CARE has been providing emergency relief when disasters strike and helping communities prepare for future disasters. CARE responded to Typhoon Ketsana (2009), Typhoon Bopha (2012) and again when Super Typhoon Haiyan ripped through the central Philippines in 2013, affecting more than four million people.

CARE Australia is an international humanitarian aid organisation fighting poverty, with a special focus on working with women and girls to bring lasting change to their communities. Donations to CARE’s Global Emergency Fund can be made at www.care.org.au.

– ENDS –

Interviews with CARE staff in Philippines are available. Contact Sam Bolitho (0419 567 777) to arrange.

“All of the houses in my village were destroyed in a snap,” says Analita Garcela, the captain of the upland village of Cambucao in Tabon Tabon, Leyte – one of the communities hardest hit by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.

Though it is already two years after the typhoon, Analita says that the tragic experience is hard to forget:

It was devastating but we had no choice but to move forward. People in my community worked hard to recover and I must say we are on the right track.

CARE and local partner Assistance and Cooperation for Community Resilience and Development (ACCORD) have supported Cambucao through emergency food distributions, shelter repair assistance, financial support to restore livelihoods, and training on disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation.

The Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, and since Haiyan, further typhoons such as Hagupit and Koppu have further tested the recovery efforts of the affected communities. Analita says:

Good thing that we were able to rebuild and repair our damaged homes through the support of CARE.

“We were taught how to apply the ‘Build back better’ techniques that definitely improved the quality and durability of our homes,” she adds.

After the shelter repair and livelihoods recovery support, CARE and ACCORD implemented disaster risk reduction training in the affected communities. CARE also conducted a series of DRR training sessions and community drills in Cambucao involving all the members of the community to increase their ability to prepare for and respond to natural disasters and emergencies. Analita explains:

Everyone in my community participated, from the youngest to the oldest. They saw its relevance and importance and the people themselves wanted to be well-prepared for future disasters.

The training helps community members identify resources at risk from climate hazards, analyse changes in seasonal activities, understand trends and changes over time, and develop livelihoods and coping strategies.

The community drill involved responding as a village to a Haiyan-like typhoon. Analita says: “Everyone joined the drill and they took their roles seriously. Even it was just a simulation, they acted like it was really happening.

“They went to designated evacuation areas, they brought their important belongings with them, wore raincoats and boots, and even rescued those who needed help such as trapped older people.

If the people know how to prepare, adapt and respond, it will lessen the damages and avoid cases of casualties. We thank CARE for addressing that concern.

“I could say that my community is now disaster-resilient,” she concludes.

By Dennis Amata, Information and Communications Manager, CARE Philippines

By CARE Australia

As we mark six months since Cyclone Winston devastated Fiji, CARE Australia’s Emergency Response Manager Adam Poulter reflects on the pattern of severe storms that is becoming the new normal.

We have crossed the threshold. Gone are the days when catastrophic cyclones were a once in a lifetime event.

A couple of years ago it would have been inconceivable to have multiple category-five mega-storms hitting Australia’s neighbours in so short a time. But that is today’s reality.

In just the last three years we’ve seen three of the biggest storms ever recorded – all in the Pacific.

When Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines in 2013, it was unprecedented. We had never seen 300km/h winds and the damage they could inflict. Homes were destroyed, whole communities devastated.

The recovery effort was huge. CARE helped people mend their homes and we provided advice on how people could build safer homes that were better able to stand up to storms.

Afterwards, we all breathed a sigh of relief. Well, we thought, we won’t see one of these again for another five-to-ten years. Then, just over a year later, Cyclone Pam struck Vanuatu. It was the biggest storm the country had ever seen.

As the recovery process got underway, again we breathed a sigh of relief. That’s a one-in-twenty-year event. We won’t see another one like that in a while, we said, not in the Pacific anyway.

Then Cyclone Winston ripped across Fiji. It was the biggest storm ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere.

Fiji is a robust country with a centralised, well-organised government. People were evacuated and, thanks to an investment in disaster preparation, the number of casualties was relatively low. But the long-term impact is more complex.

The trouble is these disasters are smashing people’s homes and their livelihoods – the way they make a living. And the storms are destroying the vital infrastructure of countries. If you take the case of one island alone in Vanuatu – Tanna – Cyclone Pam cut gross domestic product by 50 per cent.

While the ‘debate’ around climate change continues, it is the world’s poor who are paying the price.

But there is some positive news: the number of people being killed by disasters is falling. And there is a clear reason for this: preparation.

In places like Vanuatu and Fiji where we work with partners Live and Learn, we are helping remote communities gain better access to cyclone warning systems. We have been working with telecom providers to disseminate warning messages to the ever-expanding mobile phone network, and working with communities to build safe community structures which are more robust in the face of storms. Crucially, we have been training men and women to lead disaster preparedness teams, called Community Disaster Committees (CDC).

In Vanuatu, once the CDC knew Cyclone Pam was near, they started the evacuation procedure, using the megaphone provided by CARE, to announce the imminent arrival of the cyclone. Using CARE’s cyclone map and listening to warnings via radio, the team advised everyone to prepare their houses and to be ready to move to an evacuation centre. Immediately people started preparing: cutting down branches near their homes, fastening roofs, pulling fishing boats out of the water, and gathering essential supplies.

The CDCs were successful: there were no deaths reported in the many villages where CARE has been working.

In today’s reality, preparedness is more important than ever.

As powerful Typhoon Haima continues to strengthen and barrel towards the Philippines, CARE is preparing to support affected communities with emergency supplies. An estimated 2.7 million people in the northern part of the country are predicted to be affected by extremely strong winds and heavy rainfall.

CARE’s Country Director in the Philippines, David Gazashvili said: “Typhoon Haima is reported to be the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year, and may cause significant damage to infrastructure and livelihoods. Our emergency team and partners on the ground are helping communities prepare for this typhoon and are ready to provide relief assistance.”

The Philippines weather bureau said Haima has reached maximum winds of up to 210 km/h with gusts of up to 260 km/h.

“This strong typhoon could become a super typhoon and may cause storm surges in coastal communities and landslides and flash floods in low-lying areas,” said Mr Gazashvili.

This is the third emergency that CARE has responded to in this area since November 2015. The humanitarian aid organisation is closely monitoring the situation in coordination with local partners and government bodies and has prepositioned food packs and relief items in areas likely to be affected.

CARE has worked in the Philippines since 1949, providing emergency relief when disaster strikes and helping communities prepare for disasters. CARE's past responses in the Philippines have included Typhoon Bopha in 2012, Haiyan in 2013, Hagupit in 2014, Koppu and Melor in 2015. CARE continues to assist Typhoon Haiyan-affected communities to rebuild their livelihoods.

Donate to CARE’s Global Emergency Fund at www.care.org.au/emergency or call 1800 DONATE (1800 020 046)

For interviews contact Nerida Williams on 0412 449 691

Category four Typhoon Haima (locally known as Lawin) continues to strengthen and will be hitting Northern Luzon, Philippines with heavy rains and strong winds. An estimated 2.7 million people will be affected by Haima in several provinces in northern part of the country.

In its bulletin issued 8 am on Wednesday, state weather bureau PAGASA said Haima now has maximum winds of up to 210 kilometers per hour (km/h) and gustiness of up to 260 km/h. Moderate to heavy rain is expected within Haima's 700-km diameter. PAGASA earlier warned that Haima could become a super typhoon and may cause storm surges in coastal communities and landslides and flashfloods in upland and low-lying areas. In PAGASA classification, a super typhoon has maximum winds of at least 240 km/h.

CARE is closely monitoring the typhoon situation and coordinating with UNOCHA, the National Disaster Risk Reduction & Management Council and international non-government organization networks in Manila. CARE has activated its emergency response team and mobilized partner organizations located in areas to be affected by the typhoon (Cagayan, Ilocos and Cordillera). CARE and its partners Citizen’s Disaster Response Center, Cordillera Disaster Response and Development Services and Ilocos Center for Research, Empowerment and Development have started prepositioning food packs and non-food items.

“Our emergency team and our partner organizations are ready to carry out rapid assessments in affected areas and provide relief assistance,” said David Gazashvili, CARE Philippines’ Country Director. “Typhoon Haima is reported to be strong and may cause significant damage in infrastructure and livelihoods. Our partners are also helping disseminate information in communities to prepare for this typhoon,” added Gazashvili.

CARE has provided emergency food packs yesterday in communities heavily affected by typhoon Sarika in Central Luzon region and also conducted information sharing in communities about taking precautionary measures for approaching typhoon Haima.

CARE has already responded to three emergencies in this area since November 2015, and has established linkages with communities and local government units. CARE has worked in the Philippines since 1949, providing emergency relief when disaster strikes and helping communities prepare for disasters. CARE's past responses in the Philippines have included typhoon Bopha in 2012, Haiyan in 2013, Hagupit in 2014, Koppu and Melor in 2015. CARE continues assisting typhoon Haiyan-affected communities helping them to rebuild their livelihoods.

*Haima, with maximum sustained winds up to 137 mph as of the moment, is a category 4 typhoon under the Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale

CARE Philippine Key Contacts For Media Interviews:

Spokesperson:

David Gazashvili, Country Director
Mobile: +63 917 510 6974
Email: dgazashvili@care.org
Skype: gazata

Other contact:
Dennis Amata, Information and Communications Manager, CARE Philippines
Mobile: +63905 275 3752
Email: dennis.amata@care.org
Skype: dennis.amata2

Emergency teams have begun assessing the damage caused by Typhoon Haima in the Philippines, which has affected an estimated 2.7 million people and caused the evacuation of 90,000 people from their homes.

Heavy rains and ferocious winds of up to 225 km/h have caused significant damage to infrastructure, houses and crops. There have been cases of flashfloods in low-lying areas and landslides in upland communities.

International aid agency CARE is working with local partners in affected areas to provide immediate relief to families who fled their homes with few belongings to evacuation centres in schools, churches, and gymnasiums.

CARE’s Country Director in the Philippines, David Gazashvili said: “There is still a complete power blackout across the most severely affected areas, which is hampering relief efforts. In this type of emergency, it really is a race against time to get immediate relief to those who have lost everything and ensure families can stay safe and healthy.”

Many of the provinces are still recovering from powerful Typhoon Sarika, which caused severe damage to houses and crops earlier this week.

“It will be another day or two before we get a true picture of just how much destruction this storm has been caused,” Mr. Gazashvili said.

CARE has worked in the Philippines since 1949, providing emergency relief when disaster strikes and helping communities prepare for disasters. CARE's past responses in the Philippines have included Typhoon Bopha in 2012, Haiyan in 2013, Hagupit in 2014, Koppu and Melor in 2015. CARE continues to assist Typhoon Haiyan-affected communities to rebuild their livelihoods.

Donate to CARE’s Global Emergency Fund at www.care.org.au/emergency or call 1800 DONATE (1800 020 046)

ENDS

For interviews contact Nerida Williams on Nerida.williams@care.org.au or 0412 449 691

OTTAWA, November 2, 2016

Thanks to the Canadian Humanitarian Assistance Fund, Philippines residents affected by Typhoon Haima will receive immediate life-saving assistance from Humanitarian Coalition member CARE Canada.

On October 19, 2016, Typhoon Haima lashed the northern tip of the Philippines with winds gusting up to 315 km/h and torrential rain, resulting in flooding and landslides. Haima followed on the heels of Typhoon Sarika, leaving thousands of residents vulnerable to volatile and strained conditions. At least 8 people were killed, and more than 380,000 people were affected. Two weeks later, more than 150,000 people remain displaced, and while many have found refuge in shelters and with family and friends, an estimated 40,000 have no place to stay.

With $350,000 allocated from the Canadian Humanitarian Assistance Fund, CARE Canada is able to respond immediately to the needs of 10,000 people affected. The organization will increase access to essential shelter and improve living conditions to affected residents by providing cash grants earmarked for buying construction materials like lumber and educating beneficiaries on building back safer principles and techniques.

CARE has been working in the Philippines since 1949, developing strong relationships with local communities and other non-governmental organizations. CARE has 38 staff in country, and is currently implementing recovery programmes for the Haiyan response and other emergency programs.

The Canadian Humanitarian Assistance Fund is a joint mechanism financed by Global Affairs Canada, the Humanitarian Coalition and its member agencies.

For more information:

Yosé Cormier
Humanitarian Coalition
613-292-2687
yose.cormier@humanitariancoalition.ca

Darcy Knoll
CARE Canada
613- 228.5641
darcy.knoll@care.ca

Three years after typhoon Haiyan caused catastrophic devastation across Central Philippines, more communities have become resilient to disasters and climate change impact. On 08 November 2013, Haiyan shocked the world as it mercilessly swept away houses, destroyed farmlands and livelihood assets, and left unimaginable number of casualties. The typhoon struck mostly the poorest communities and left people --including landless farmers and fisherfolks, indigenous tribes and micro-entrepreneurs-- without any source of income. As of November 2016, international aid organization CARE and its partners in the Visayas have reached more than 380,000 people through emergency food distributions, shelter repair and livelihoods recovery assistance, and various trainings on disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, women empowerment, and skills advancement. “Typhoons and other natural calamities have been hampering people’s recovery efforts. So it is important to not just provide livelihood options but also educate the communities about disaster preparedness and climate change adaptation,” said David Gazashvili, CARE Philippines Country Director. “CARE was quick to mobilize its staff and resources from different parts of the world after the typhoon. Through the generous support of our donors and collaboration of our staff, partners and communities we support, we are able to help build sustainable livelihoods and disaster-resilient communities,” said David Gazashvili, CARE Philippines Country Director. According to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Philippines endured a total of 274 natural calamities over the past two decades, making it the fourth most disaster-prone country in the world. After Haiyan, the Philippines experienced relatively strong typhoons such as Hagupit in 2014, Koppu and Melor in 2015 and recently Sarika and Haima that caused massive agricultural damage. “The biggest challenge for these communities is to protect their assets from natural calamities that’s why our emergency response is part of a long-term commitment. We place great importance on building local capacity, partnerships with local organizations and strengthening women’s participation.” CARE is currently implementing livelihoods recovery programs for communities severely affected by Haiyan in Eastern and Western Visayas regions. A total of 281 community associations have been supported through financial assistance and trainings to revive rice and corn fields, provide harvest facilities for farmers, boost abaca and seaweed production, promote eco-tourism, have economic opportunities for women weavers, etc. Also, more than 900 women micro-entrepreneurs have been assisted to start their income-generating activities and involve more people in their respective communities. Aside from the financial support, CARE has partnered with various local NGOs, government agencies and LGUs, the Academe and training institutions to provide learning sessions to people affected by the typhoon. The trainings include relevant topics on entrepreneurship, organic farming, sustainable agriculture, hazard mapping and contingency planning for disaster preparedness, gender and development, climate change mitigation and other industry-focused subjects. CARE’s assisted community organizations are now practicing organic farming, using solar dryers for their commodities, and other eco-friendly livelihood practices. CARE continues to work with the affected people and reach more communities in the Philippines through livelihoods recovery assistance and skill-building trainings. CARE works in the most vulnerable and geographically isolated areas affected by Haiyan, with special attention given to women and girls and the most marginalized.

Written by: Dennis Amata (Information & Communications Manager, CARE Philippines)

Severe Tropical Storm Nock-ten (locally known as Nina) is expected to make landfall in the Bicol Region, Philippines on December 25, Christmas Day. The storm is expected to intensify into a typhoon before it hits land.

In a bulletin issued 11 a.m. on Friday, state weather bureau PAGASA reported that Nock-ten is already 790 kilometers east of Guiuan, Eastern Samar. The severe tropical storm strengthened further late Friday morning and now has maximum winds of up to 105 km/h and gustiness of up to 130 km/h.

Nock-ten’s landfall this Sunday (Christmas Day) in Bicol will either be in the afternoon or evening. This might bring difficulty for the people to immediately evacuate.

PAGASA earlier warned that Nock-ten could become a typhoon and may cause storm surges in coastal communities, and landslides and flashfloods in upland and low-lying areas.

CARE is closely monitoring the typhoon situation and coordinating with its partners, UNOCHA, the National Disaster Risk Reduction & Management Council and international non-government organization networks in Manila. CARE is working with the Leyte Center for Development (LCDE) and other partners for rapid needs assessment and immediate response in the affected areas. “It is very unfortunate that the storm will hit on Christmas Day, a festive time for Filipinos to celebrate and be with their families,” said David Gazashvili, CARE Philippines Country Director.

“Our emergency team and our partner organizations are ready to carry out rapid assessments in affected areas and provide relief assistance.”

CARE has already responded in Eastern Visayas region (one of the areas to be affected) since November 2013, and has established linkages with communities and local government units. CARE has worked in the Philippines since 1949, providing emergency relief when disaster strikes and helping communities prepare for disasters. CARE's past responses in the Philippines have included typhoon Bopha in 2012, Haiyan in 2013, Hagupit in 2014, Koppu and Melor in 2015. CARE continues assisting typhoon Haiyan-affected communities helping them to rebuild their livelihoods.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report, based on extensive research and consultations by CARE International, argues that efforts to protect and assist people caught up in natural disasters and conflict will be more effective if women can contribute.

Over the past two years, CARE interviewed over 300 women involved in humanitarian action either at a global level or in emergency responses in Jordan (to the Syria crisis) and the Philippines (to Typhoon Haiyan). Three interlinked, and widely shared, issues emerged:

• Women are not just victims: the humanitarian system still primarily sees women and girls as victims, and treats women and girls as passive beneficiaries of humanitarian assistance.

• Gender is not just a tick-box: efforts to ensure that the specific needs of people of all genders are addressed in humanitarian action are seen as a tokenistic, tick-box exercise at the planning stage, with a lack of followthrough in the implementation of humanitarian assistance.

• She is a humanitarian: women’s organisations, and individual women, are already playing a key role as frontline responders in disasters and conflicts. They are playing a leading role in affected communities, helping everyone in those communities – women, men, girls and boys – survive, cope with and adapt to the crisis. The contribution of women as humanitarian actors needs to be recognised and supported.
Based on our extensive consultations with women activists at national and global levels, as well as a literature review and discussions with policy-makers, the report identifies four emerging trends in humanitarian response:

• A shift from women as victims to women as first responders: this shift in policy and practice was recognised at a global level by the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit, and now needs to be carried through in implementing and delivering on the Summit’s core commitments on gender.

• A shift from tick-box gender accountability to a comprehensive approach: this means ensuring gender is addressed at all levels, from funding through project planning and delivery to M&E and accountability.

• Increasing the support and space for women to participate in humanitarian action: as agencies more seriously address their accountability to affected populations, the specific challenges of accountability to women and girls are getting recognised.

• Recognising the participation of local women’s groups in humanitarian action: contributions by women-led civil society groups are increasingly recognised at the level of policy rhetoric, but this is not yet translating into funding or joint work on the ground.

The challenges and opportunities are explored in evidence from Jordan and the Philippines, including a case study of Syrian women’s activism in Jordan, and accountability for gender in the shelter sector in the Philippines. The report concludes with recommendations for different stakeholders involved in humanitarian action: donors, governments in crisis-affected contexts, the United Nations, INGOs, and local women’s groups. Key recommendations are:

• Bring the World Humanitarian Summit Gender Core Commitments to the field level.
Emphasis should be placed on integrating the Summit’s gender outcomes into follow-up on the Grand Bargain and the Call to Action on Protection from Gender-based Violence in Emergencies at global and field level, for example by identifying pilot countries. Donors and host governments in crisis-affected countries should likewise identify action plans to translate the global commitments on women’s participation into practice in the context of national disaster management strategies, national action plans on women, peace and security, emergency response funding and related frameworks.

• Identify individual and collective commitments on gender and Leave No One Behind at the leadership level in global clusters, Humanitarian Country Teams, field clusters or sector working groups, and national line ministries.
Humanitarian Coordinators should convene consultations with relevant stakeholders, including local women’s groups, to identify priorities in implementing UN Humanitarian Response Plans for 2017. Senior leadership at global and country levels is critical to enable technical gender expertise and the experience of women from affected communities to inform decision-making. Progress should be reviewed at mid-year and end-of-year points.

• Strengthen and align approaches to ‘whole of programme cycle’ accountability for gender and Leave No One Behind, measuring outcomes, not just processes, in humanitarian funding.
Donors, UN agencies and NGOs should work together to integrate good practices, building on the IASC Gender and Age Marker, the Minimum Standards on Gender and Age piloted in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector, and the IASC Gender-based Violence Guidelines. Accountability in crisis response funding should be framed in a comprehensive manner to address gender equality, women’s leadership and participation, gender-based violence prevention and response, and sexual and reproductive health and rights – avoiding siloed approaches and maximising links between efforts in different sectors. Crucially, it needs to shift away from the tick-box approach focusing only on processes towards accountability to ensure actual improvements in how people access assistance and protection.

• Give humanitarian action a women’s face – appoint female staff at all levels.
All institutions involved in humanitarian action should undertake gender audits of their organisational culture and human resource management and set milestones to increase female staffing and gender sensitivity at all levels.
Donors should make this mandatory in multi-year funding for preparedness, resilience and disaster risk reduction.

• Strengthen partnerships with and increase multi-year and flexible funding to local women’s organisations (in line with the wider Grand Bargain commitment to channel 25% of funding to local organisations).
Partnerships between local women’s groups and humanitarian agencies should be fostered to promote learning in both directions and leverage these partnerships to become drivers of change for women’s participation, gender equality and gender-based violence prevention and response in each sector.
The needs of people affected by a crisis, as well as their coping strategies, are shaped by gender. As humanitarians, if we don’t try to understand these, then we are not doing our job. While the specific roles played by women and girls are often off the radar for mainstream humanitarian action, they are in fact amongst the first and frontline responders. It’s already happening, and the challenge and opportunity for the humanitarian system is to now better support those efforts.

CARE is on alert in the Philippines as Category Three Typhoon Noul begins to intensify as it moves closer to the Philippines.

Typhoon Noul (known locally as Dodong), which is expected to make landfall near the province of Isabela-Cagayan on Sunday, is packing sustained winds of 150 kilometres per hour near its eye, with wind gusts of up to 185 kilometres. Philippines’ state weather bureau reports that there is a possibility for Noul to develop into a super typhoon due to its intensifying patterns.

CARE teams in Philippines are closely monitoring the typhoon and coordinating with the United Nations Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Philippines’ National Disaster Risk Reduction & Management Council, and other aid agencies throughout the Philippines.

CARE emergency staff in Manila are on standby to immediately respond if needed. CARE has already identified and alerted its suppliers of emergency food packs and water, sanitation and hygiene kits that have presence across all regions should there be a need for an immediate response.

“Our emergency team is ready to deploy to affected areas and we are ready to respond,” said Elisa Nuada, Acting CARE Philippines’ Country Director.

CARE has worked in the Philippines since 1949, providing emergency relief when disaster strikes and helping communities prepare for disasters. CARE’s past responses in the Philippines have included Typhoon Hagupit (2014), Typhoon Haiyan (2013), Typhoon Bopha (2012) and Typhoon Ketsana (2009). CARE is continuing to support Typhoon Haiyan and Hagupit-affected communities to help them recover and build disaster-resilient livelihoods.

CARE has more than six decades of experience helping people prepare for disasters, providing lifesaving assistance when a crisis hits, and helping communities recover after the emergency has passed.

CARE Australia is an international humanitarian aid organisation fighting poverty, with a special focus on working with women and girls to bring lasting change to their communities.

Lessons by Partners for Resilience: moving from output to impact

by Juriaan Lahr, Head of International Assistance, Netherlands Red Cross

With the outcome targets established at the start of the programme broadly achieved, the Partners for Resilience (PfR) alliance is now working toward its closing global conference in the Netherlands later this year. PfR’s unique approach integrating disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, and ecosystem management and restoration, is increasingly endorsed by government and civil society partners. The programme’s annual report for 2014 will be the last of its kind – this article by Juriaan Lahr is an abridged version of his introduction.

After PfR’s success in quantitative terms for the communities and organizations involved, our focus now is increasingly on ensuring that interventions are cost-effective and sustainable, and able to be replicated and scaled-up.

Much effort has gone into learning. Country teams have worked on a learning agenda, while researchers from Groningen and Wageningen universities conducted a study that focuses on evidence for the contribution of the PfR approach in enhancing the resilience of local communities – that is, moving from output to impact.

Since building resilience is a process involving interdependent structures within communities, this requires intensive, focused and sustained efforts.

Organizations and institutions need to adopt this approach in their strategies; technical, legal and financial support must continue where needed.

Take-up

Even though five years is a relatively long period – especially for activities that would normally fall exclusively within disaster management – results will probably become visible only after several more years, if communities experience situations that, in the past, critically affected their coping levels.

Their ability to reduce losses will be proof of the effectiveness of the integrated PfR approach, blending disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, and ecosystem management and restoration; it will enable communities to continue on an upward path of development.

While PfR works in over 500 disaster-prone communities, there are many more places where disaster risks are a recurring threat, aggravated by population growth, uncontrolled development, urbanization, environmental degradation and competition for resources.
Climate change pushes increasing numbers of vulnerable people into situations that exceed their ability to cope.

Therefore in 2014, the programme’s penultimate final year, there was also a focus on documenting the activities carried out, collaboration with stakeholders, take-up by governments at various levels, and the organizational set-up of the alliance.

This will continue in 2015, and the results, together with the outcomes of the academic study, will be presented at the closing Global Conference of Partners for Resilience, planned for the Netherlands in October.

Lobbying and advocacy

The partners are engaging in policy dialogues with governments and key stakeholders, bringing local experience to national and international levels and vice versa, to work on policy and funding appropriate for local solutions to local risks.

Strong civil society organizations play a central role, for in the end the local level is both point of departure and arrival when assisting people.

PfR is excited that the Netherlands government has recognised the added value of the alliance in reducing disaster risk and safeguarding development by selecting us as strategic partners under the Dialogue and Dissent programme in 2016–2020.

The focus here will be on lobbying and advocacy, and strengthening civil society organizations to become strong players in this.

Financial flows need to be tailored for local communities. Pilot community-interventions remain important, not only for the targeted communities but also to render lobbying and advocacy more credible.
They are the examples that show how building community resilience serves as a return on investment in development efforts, and how such programmes can be included in local and national budgets and plans.

“If women weavers are empowered to negotiate and market, they will be able to get more income”. Women are at the forefront of economic recovery, after the Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) hit the town of Basey in The Philippines.

The town of Basey in the Philippines is known for its colourful and unique “tikog” (native reed) handicrafts.

Tikog stems are gathered and bleached under the sun for several days to dry out. The weavers use these to make intricate mats, bags, pouches, storage boxes and other crafts. Most of the laborious activities to produce these handicrafts are done by women.

Basey was one of the most heavily affected areas by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in December 2013. The town is located near the sea and is at a high-level risk of storm surges and flash flooding.

Yolanda had a significant impact on the tikog handicraft production as Basey was flooded with salt water from the sea. This destroyed the native reed from growing in the wild, and the salted soil was not suitable for immediate farming. In addition to this most of the homes, materials and work areas used for mat weaving were lost or badly damaged.

Since May 2015, CARE has supported 13 local women’s handicraft associations in the area. CARE has provided financial assistance and training on productivity, business planning, and marketing for the women involved in handicraft making.

“It was a big challenge for all women weavers of Basey to continue their interrupted livelihood activities. Most of them lost their houses because of Haiyan and had to rebuild from what was left and given by humanitarian organizations. Some children were also forced to stop schooling because their parents lack money,” said Anita Ogrimen who leads the Basey Association for Native Industry Growth (BANIG).

Anita sees the burden being carried by the women weavers. A weaver usually finishes a family-size tikog mat in 3 days but is only able to sell it at a low price.

“Some private traders are buying the finished products at a very low price. And these traders are selling the handicrafts double or triple the original price in Manila or somewhere,” she disclosed. “Obviously, the women are deprived of what they truly deserve.”

Anita believes that if these women weavers are empowered to negotiate and market, they will be able to get more income.

The weavers’ husbands take part in activities that require physical strength such as plowing and land preparation for tikog farming. The processing of the native reeds which requires bundling, counting the strands, drying, dividing by colour and size, weaving, mat embroidering, and marketing are completed by the women weavers.

A day in the life of a woman weaver

The women’s working hours are long from 10-14 hours a day on the average. The responsibility and labour of producing the mats and related products rests upon the women.

The women typically wake up at 4am in the morning to start weaving. They do this for a couple of hours, whilst start preparing their families breakfast. After this, the women then feed their families, do household chores and prepare their children for school. By mid-morning, the women continue the mat weaving until midday when they start preparing for lunch.

In the afternoon, the women continue their weaving work. If the women have older children to help with the household chores and dinner preparations, then she can continue uninterrupted otherwise she would have to stop her work.

In the evening once the family are asleep, the women continue weaving for as long as they can physically can. This is especially true if there are orders to deliver, or catch up on.

Disaster-resilient economy

CARE aims to help the BANIG and the rest of women associations to develop a competitive tikog industry to help uplift their status from marginalized workers into highly skilled and enterprising beneficiaries. This is for the economic growth of these disaster-resilient communities in an ecologically balanced environment.

CARE and BANIG will be establishing production areas in Basey to ensure a steady supply of the raw material requirement of the industry. A rehabilitation of a display area will be done to serve as a promotion and market outlet of the products to support Basey’s tourism industry.

Product diversification is also being promoted to the weavers. CARE will be conducting skills upgrading training to also try maximizing the use of other native materials such as rattan and buri.

“We are also looking forward to improve the quality of our products. We are now participating in various marketing events and trade fairs in the region and in Manila,” said Anita.

Anita said that the idea of boosting the industry through the support of various stakeholders drives the women weavers to produce high-quality products.

“Our vision is to penetrate the international market as well. Though for most weavers it is too ambitious, I told them that nothing is impossible if we will all work hard for it,” said Anita.

Inondation, sécheresse : les impacts climatiques du phénomène El Niño risquent de s'intensifier en cette fin d'année et en 2016. CARE agit dès aujourd'hui pour protéger les communautés les plus vulnérables et leur permettre de s'adapter à ces bouleversements climatiques.

Les impacts du phénomène climatique El Niño pourraient affecter 20 millions de personnes dans les prochains mois.

« Les communautés les plus à risque sont celles qui n'ont pas accès aux informations ou aux outils pour faire face à ces aléas et anomalies climatiques », explique Philippe Lévêque, directeur général de CARE France.

Afin de limiter les impacts humanitaires d'El Niño (pauvreté profonde, déplacement de populations), CARE fourni une aide d'urgence aux communautés touchées et met en place des projets de long terme pour augmenter leur résilience face aux catastrophes climatiques.

Soutenir la sécurité alimentaire

Au Niger

Au Niger, les fluctuations météorologiques causées par le phénomène El Niño se traduisent par de longues périodes de sécheresse qui retardent la pousse des semences. Dans certaines régions du pays, victimes d'insécurité alimentaire chronique, la production agricole est en berne. Le gouvernement nigérien estime que 3,4 millions de personnes ont besoin d'une aide humanitaire. CARE fournit actuellement une aide d'urgence à plus de 500 000 personnes.

Aux Philippines

D'ici début 2016, la moitié des Philippines devrait être touchée par une baisse des précipitations de 60 à 80%. Pour les communautés fortement dépendantes de la culture du riz, de tubercule ainsi que de la production de fruits et de légumes, cela représente une menace directe sur leur sécurité alimentaire. Pour limiter ces impacts, CARE travaille avec 288 organisations communautaires sur le renforcement de la sécurité alimentaire en amont des aléas climatiques à venir.

Assurer un accès à l'eau et l'assainissement

Le phénomène El Niño perturbe la répartition des précipitations au niveau mondial.

Au Kenya

Une grande partie du Kenya devrait être touchée par de fortes pluies dans les prochaines semaines et jusque début 2016 . Les populations n'étant pas préparées ni équipées pour faire face à ces conditions météorologiques extrêmes (inondations, glissements de terrain), les impacts sur l'accès à une eau propre s'annoncent désastreux. C'est pourquoi CARE améliore l'accès au traitement ainsi qu'au stockage de l'eau et construit des latrines. Nos équipes soutiennent également la formation des personnels médicaux pour empêcher la propagation de maladies liées à l'eau.

En Somalie

Entre 400 000 et 900 000 Somaliens sont exposés à des risques d'inondations. L'ONG CARE, présente dans ce pays, se prépare à apporter une aide d'urgence en cas de catastrophe naturelle par la distribution d'eau, de nourriture et de kits d'hygiène aux populations affectées et déplacées. CARE prévoit également la construction de latrines d'urgence et la réhabilitation de puits pouvant résister aux inondations.

Renforcer la résilience face aux chocs climatiques

L'eau se fait rare et les populations n'ont pas les moyens de cultiver leur nourriture. CARE apporte aux populations affectées une aide de long terme en leur distribuant des poulets et porcs d'élevage ainsi que des patates douces et plants d'arachide résistants aux sécheresses. Des formations à des techniques agricoles plus conservatrices des sols sont également mises en place.

A Madagascar

Pour augmenter la résilience des populations face aux bouleversements climatiques, il est nécessaire d'agir en amont. A Madagascar, une île de plus en plus touchée par des cyclones et de fortes précipitations, le risque d'inondation est élevé. CARE mène notamment un programme de réduction des risques de catastrophes naturelles afin de réduire durablement les impacts des futures inondations. CARE soutient également les populations du Sud de l'île, victimes d'une sévère sécheresse par la distribution de nourriture.

Executive summary

On the 8th of November 2013 super typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Yolanda, made landfall in the Philippines. It proceeded as a category 5 typhoon across the central Philippines, causing widespread devastation. The typhoon severely damaged or destroyed over one million houses. Over 16 million people were affected by the storm.

CARE Philippines responded with emergency food, shelter and livelihoods programmes. This report presents the findings from CARE’s Emergency Shelter Team’s internal evaluation of the early recovery shelter programme undertaken by CARE Philippines and its partners.
The evaluation’s key findings were that:

• The programme correctly identified and assisted the most vulnerable and beneficiaries are well on their way to recovery:

• They have mostly achieved dignified and safe shelter after the typhoon

• Beneficiary ownership of the recovery process and of their houses is very high

• Most are confident that they will complete their houses to meet their household’s requirements, although the time this will take varies considerably

• Houses are stronger and safer than the houses people had before:

• There is a high level of awareness of build-back-safer principles

• All houses have some build-back-safer principles incorporated

• The majority of houses have high levels of incorporation of build-back-safer principles The approach met the urgent needs of the population while catalysing the recovery. Self-recovery support is a good way to empower communities to take charge of their own recovery, if justified by a rigorous analysis. A model where materials and cash are provided based on an analysis of needs, capacities and local markets, and coupled with strong community engagement and technical assistance which continues throughout the recovery process, allowed cost-effective reconstruction of shelter at a significant scale.
  While programmes of this type do not provide fully engineered buildings built to western standards, they provide sufficient support for households to build houses which are stronger than they had before and will offer more resistance to future hazards. In doing so, they provide support to far more people than expensive fully engineered building programmes can and allow buildings which are tailored to meet the housing and other needs of households. There are no unoccupied buildings as a result, and waste is minimal. Ownership of and pride in the process and the product of the programme, by the beneficiaries, was exceptionally high.