Unicef goes to flooded areas

UNICEF Philippines has delivered 3,000 hygiene kits and 3,000 water kits to typhoon-stricken families in Bulacan and Pampanga through the local government units and the Central Luzon office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Vanessa Tobin, Unicef Philippines country representative, together with an emergency team, visited the flooded areas to assess the condition of children and their families.

“I’m impressed by the effective organization of many local government workers alongside nongovernment organizations and the private sector. Supplies are getting through but we need to be vigilant to monitor childhood diseases as well as getting schools reopened and getting children back to learning,” Tobin said.

With communication and power lines down and access to flooded areas difficult, the United Nations’ agency for children found that food, emergency shelter, medical supplies, water, hygiene and sanitation, and nonfood items were the most urgent needs.

Unicef distributed water kits (composed of water containers, pails and water purification tablets) and hygiene kits (water jugs, nail cutters, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, sanitary napkins and malong) to the evacuees.

“Large areas of stagnant water are a danger in many ways. Risks of dengue, of diarrhea and of other infectious diseases are a big threat to young children,” Tobin said.

Unicef participated in a joint needs assessment last Thursday with the government to better assess the nutrition and water and sanitation needs of families affected by the floods.

It also planned to conduct a rapid needs assessment in Region II (Cagayan Valley) to further understand the situation of children and women in the provinces of Cagayan and Isabela.