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Two months after Super Typhoon Haiyan

hit the central part of the Philippines, the World Food

Programme (WFP) continues to provide humanitarian

assistance to the people in need.

With more than 4.1 million people displaced,

casualties and about 14.1 million people affected,

Haiyan (locally known as ‘Yolanda’) has been the

deadliest natural disaster in the country’s history. The

Government of the Philippines, with the support of

the international community, has led relief efforts,

which today is transitioning towards reconstruction

and the re-building of livelihoods.

In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, WFP launched a

six-month emergency operation to provide food assistance

to target 2.5 million people in the worst affected areas of

Leyte, Samar, Northern Cebu and Panay Island.

Two Multi-Cluster Rapid Assessments (MIRA), carried out in

November and December, together with market

assessments have helped WFP to implement the most

appropriate intervention modality and target the most

vulnerable groups both geographically and by sector.

Aligning activities with Government recovery plans remains

a priority for WFP, as it transitions towards livelihood

recovery programmes. WFP’s response is part of a wider UN

Haiyan Strategic Response Plan (SRP) which is aligned to

the Philippine Government´s own Reconstruction Assistance

on Yolanda (RAY).

As the co-leads of the Food Security Cluster, WFP and the

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have been working

with partners to avoid overlap of activities, and to ensure

complementarity of efforts on the ground.

In its capacity of Logistics Cluster lead, WFP has also been providing and coordinating air, land, and sea transport, as well as handling and storage facilities on behalf of the humanitarian community. Through the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS), WFP has enabled the deployment of humanitarian personnel and the delivery of relief items- now

being scaled down as commercial services come on-line.

Furthermore, as the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster lead, WFP has been providing emergency telecommunication services (internet access as well as voice and radio communications) to enable the humanitarian community to work efficiently.

In addition, WFP and the International Humanitarian Partnership (IHP) have set up base camps to provide catering, accommodation, electricity and water purification for the humanitarian community.

Over 2.9 million beneficiaries

reached through food and cash transfers

Over 20,000 metric tons of WFP

food distributed

A total of 27,730 cubic meter of humanitarian cargo transported

on behalf of 39 different humanitarian organizations

WFP in Numbers

The path of Super Typhoon Haiyan which tore

through 44 provinces, directly hitting

Eastern Samar, Leyte, Cebu, Iloilo and

Palawan Provinces. Source: WFP

World Food Programme

Philippines

Food Distribution

As of 31 December 2013, WFP had reached 2.7 million typhoon-affected

people in Samar, Leyte and Panay Island with family food packs containing WFP rice through its NGO partners and the Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

In the early phase of the emergency, WFP also distributed HEBs, which do not require cooking, directly to families taking refuge in evacuation centres.

In late November, WFP signed agreements with seven NGOs to distribute food, particularly to people living in hard-to-reach areas.

Taking into consideration the evolving food security situation and the availability of commodities in local markets, WFP is now progressively scaling down its general food distributions, with a view towards transitioning to early recovery and support activities such

as cash and livelihoods support.

Cash and Livelihoods

In some parts of Western Visayas, market functionality was soon

restored after the typhoon. In response, WFP launched cash transfers through NGO partners already in early December targeting 85,000 people for a two-month period in northern Cebu and northeastern Panay Island.

WFP is simultaneously providing cash assistance to beneficiaries, following an agreement with DSWD, which will see the

disbursement of US$ 6 million. The intervention foresees a targeting of 500,000 food insecure people across 50 municipalities of Leyte and Samar. Under this activity, the money is being channeled through the existing cash transfer programme of DSWD. Each household receives an additional transfer of US$30 per month for two months, on top of the DSWD transfer they are entitled to.

Cash transfers are, in some cases, being provided in combination with rice distributions. This allows vulnerable households to buy items such as meat, fish, eggs, milk and other fresh food commodities.

As the focus of WFP’s assistance is progressively shifting towards building the foundation for livelihood recovery, consultations are ongoing between WFP, FAO and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) aimed at integrating efforts

under the Typhoon Haiyan Sustainable Livelihood Recovery Plan.

Nutrition

In partnership with UNICEF, the Department of Health, as well as local and international NGOs, WFP is addressing the nutritional needs of over 95,000 children between 6-59 months by providing high-energy biscuits

(HEBs) through a blanket supplementary feeding programme.

WFP also provides Plumpy’Doz, a peanut –based specialized product to prevent acute malnutrition, to younger children aged 6-23 months.

As the food and nutrition security situation becomes more stabilized WFP is transitioning towards more targeted interventions aimed at addressing micronutrient deficiencies in children under five years of age and pregnant and lactating women.

All nutrition activities are being complemented with education and training for mothers and caregivers.

PROTECTION

As part of its commitment to gender and protection issues, WFP is coordinating with the Protection

Cluster on broader protection and rights concerns. Moreover, WFP is conducting awareness sessions with its NGO cooperating partners which

focus on the humanitarian principles as well as minimum requirements for safe distributions

including crowd control and attention to vulnerable population.

Over 2.7 million people have received WFP food assistance- equivalent to the population of Rome. In addition, over 95,000

children have been assisted through nutrition interventions. As the situation moves towards a recovery stage, where markets come back on-line, WFP is progressively moving towards scaling up its cash assistance

programme: by end of year 2013, over 110,000 beneficiaries were reached with cash transfers.

By 31 December 2013, WFP had reached over 2.7 million beneficiaries through general food distributions; over 95,000 beneficiaries through

nutrition interventions; and over 110,000 beneficiaries through cash transfers. WFP’s outreach prioritizes the most affected areas across the Visayas while efforts are ongoing to

provide assistance to isolated populations living in remote and hard

to reach areas.

Logistics and Emergency

Telecommunications

Support

Since the early days of the emergency, WFP has mobilized logistics assets to support the Government of the Philippines and the broader

humanitarian community in the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

Strategic air transport for the deployment and installation of operational support equipment. WFP deployed support equipment to start-up operations from emergency stocks held within the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD) Network. Items included pre-fabricated office and accommodation units,

telecommunications equipment, generators and mobile storage units, and other operational support items.

Air services. UNHAS has been providing air transport services to the humanitarian community. Services included the transportation of humanitarian personnel for in and out of affected areas, as well as movement of light cargo - such as emergency communications equipment, ready-to-eat foods and medical supplies. To date,

UNHAS has transported 2,400 passengers (including six medical evacuations) and over 10 mt of humanitarian cargo to 20 different

locations.

With the restoration of commercial flights, UNHAS is progressively reducing its services will finalize its operation in mid-February.

Coastal sea transport. During the first

weeks of operations WFP contracted barges and a RoRo vessel to transport humanitarian cargo from Cebu to Tacloban on behalf of the humanitarian community. Today, WFP has contracted an LTC, the ACS Victoria, which is able to reach isolated islets and smaller ports. Smaller commercial vessels have also been contracted on an ad hoc basis.

Road transport. A dedicated fleet of trucks has been secured to enable the movement of relief items from logistics

hubs in support of food and logistics cluster operations. WFP is also moving towards the regular contracting of transporters for its activities, as commercial services come back on-line.

Logistics hubs in the affected regions. Logistics hubs have been set up in Tacloban, Ormoc, Guiuan, Palo and Roxas. These hubs include temporary storage, cargo consolidation, and administration facilities. To ensure the smooth flow of aid, WFP, through the

Logistics Cluster, uses innovative tracking applications to know exactly where each item is at any moment.

Civil-military coordination. In the aftermath of the typhoon, and until the end of December, over 20 militaries offered aircraft and ships to support the humanitarian effort.

The Logistics Cluster established a civil-

military coordination structure to liaise with national and international military entities to reach isolated and remote locations.

Base camps. With most of the housing infrastructure destroyed by the typhoon, humanitarian staff (of both NGO and UN) required accommodation and services. WFP and the International Humanitarian Partnership (IHP) established base camps in key affected areas, five initially, with only one still in operation in Guiuan.

Private sector. Through the Logistics Cluster, WFP has leveraged support from the Logistics Emergency Team (LET), which has helped to improve the response capacity of the humanitarian community and the government.

Emergency Telecommunications. The Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) is providing voice and radio communication, internet connectivity, IT help desk and printing facilities to humanitarian workers. Over 6,170 users

are now registered on ETC wireless networks across 30 locations in nine towns.

For more information contact:

World Food Programme

Charlene Tordesillas, Public Information Officer

Charlene.Tordesillas@wfp.org

http://www.wfp.org/countries/philippines

WFP is able to respond to populations affected by Typhoon Haiyan thanks to generous contributions from the international donor community. WFP is also grateful to the public response which has generated millions of dollars in donations.

“I will use the money for food, and in getting our house fixed. This will also give

us some spare for Christmas.”

Nely Arcinas, 79, is a resident of Brgy. Embarcadero, Batad, Iloilo.

She is one of the beneficiaries of WFP’s Cash Assistance

Programme.

“We have been in an evacuation center for weeks.

This rice helps us save money, and makes

life more bearable.”

The Lorido and Mahusay family have been staying in an evacuation

center for weeks. Typhoon Yolanda brought about an oil spill

which displaced the families from their homes.

SALAMAT! THANK YOU!