|November 11, 2013 1:44pm|
Current facts on areas affected by Typhoon Haiyan
- 18 million – total population in the worst affected regions
- 792,018 – people evacuated (161,973 families) from affected regions
- 10,000 – unconfirmed deaths. (1,200 confirmed – OCHA)
- 80% – percentage of the shoreline communities damaged by flash floods, landslides, storm surges and wind damage in the Eastern Samar and Leyte provinces
The Philippines and Natural Disasters
The Philippines has a high risk for natural hazards (i.e. floods, typhoons, tsunamis, volcanoes, earthquakes). Occurrence of typhoons has been more frequent in the recent years reaching areas not usually affected: The north of the country Luzon and Mindanao had been specially stroked yearly for the last three years. For 2010, the Philippines ranked 3rd in the list of countries most frequently hit by natural disasters.
The Philippines and Malnutrition
All types of malnutrition (stunting, underweight, acute malnutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and nutrition related chronic diseases) are a problem in the Philippines. Although acute malnutrition rates currently do not reach the emergency cut off of 15%, it is, nevertheless, considered to be a concern by the local health authorities. Malnutrition in the Philippines is caused by a combination of factors including: inadequate access to food, inadequate sanitation facilities and access.
History of ACF in the Philippines
ACF has a long track record of emergency, early recovery and development work in the Philippines.Since 2000, ACF has provided humanitarian assistance to the conflict affected families in Central Mindanao and emergency response during natural disasters in Northern & Central Mindanao, Bicol, Central & Southern Luzon and Metro Manila.
The ACF Philippines efforts focus on improving access to basic services of less empowered and more vulnerable populations, notably through access to permanent sources of water and to proper sanitation facilities; access to health and nutrition; and the promotion of livelihood activities.
ACF projects in the Philippines have been funded by Unicef, the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP), the European Commission Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO), the Spanish Cooperation in the Philippines through the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), and Ajuntament de Barcelona, Spain, among others.
Filipino community in Canada
There are more than 800,000 Filipinos in Canada, with the majority having settled in Toronto and Vancouver. This East Asian country is our top source of recent immigrants: in the past five years, around 152,000 newcomers were born in the Philippines, 13 per cent of all recent immigrants, according to Statistics Canada.
There are about 7,500 Canadians in the Philippines, the federal government says.