Shelter building in Philippines.
Doha: Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has signed an executive agreement with the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) to help the victims of Typhoon Vinta, which hit Mindanao, southern Philippines, in December 2017.
Under the two-month agreement, the partners will work together to provide emergency assistance to the affected families, at a total cost of $300,000.
The intervention covers shelter, water, sanitation, and hygiene. About 740 shelter repair toolkits to be provided to the families whose houses were damaged and live in evacuation centers. As per the agreement, the victims will get 200 hygiene kits.
Other activities include procurement of two water tanker trucks for water distribution in areas where the water system was damaged by severe flooding, providing chlorine tablets for water treatment.
Community-based training will be launched on Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation (PHAST) to reduce the risk of waterborne and other hygiene-related diseases.
These projects are estimated to benefit 1,500 families (9,000 individuals) in the provinces of Palawan (Balabac island) and Lanao del Norte.
QRCS’s mission in the Philippines is coordinating with the local and international humanitarian organizations responding to the crisis.
QRCS was the first international humanitarian organization to respond to the disaster, allocating $280,000 (QR1m) for early intervention. A humanitarian appeal was issued to raise $2m (QR 7.3m) for a 12-month relief programme. The plan is reaching out to more than 13 families (65,000 people).
