Integral Alliance has launched a Disaster Response for Typhoon Mangkhut (locally called Typhoon Ompong) which has brought devastation to the northern Philippines. Eight Integral Members have opted into the response with others monitoring the impact to decide how they will respond…
Currently four Integral Members are responding directly or working with local partners – providing urgent food, shelter, water and household items. Work on the ground is being supported by Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) through their aerial assessments and transport assistance carrying relief goods to remote locations. A number of Members are launching fundraising appeals to support the relief response.
Reports are still coming in, but nearly 900,000 people have been affected and over 230,000 are displaced. Assessments in the worst-affected locations have found that homes have suffered extensive damage and crops, such as corn and rice, have been devastated. This will affect livelihoods and the food supply for many months to come. Large areas of floodwater remain, and there is an increased risk of waterborne diseases, such as dengue fever. [Source here and here]
Trina Helderman from Medair says, ‘The Medair team on the ground is coordinating with various stakeholders and Integral partners to identify areas of most need and determine how best to respond after this disaster. As an Integral Member, Medair appreciates the willingness of others to work together on the ground to share resources and information – especially those with long term presence in the country who quickly share what knowledge and resources they have for the greater response.’
Jan Eyre, Head of Disaster Management and Programmes at Integral comments, ‘Integral Members were coordinating with one another in the run up to Typhoon Mangkhut making landfall – sharing information and prepositioning for a response. Now Members and their partners are focusing on assessing the impact of the Typhoon while providing essential assistance to those most in need. Through our coordination as Integral we aim to bring together the strengths of all the Members and partners involved, to enable a more collaborative and shared response to this disaster.’
In the initial stages of an Integral response calls are held as frequently as necessary, so that Members can provide valuable updates in the critical phase when needs are acute. Integral Members will continue to use the Integral online platform to share photos and stories, information, needs and plans with each other.
A PDF of this Press Release is available here.
Integral members opted in: Cedar Fund (Hong Kong), Medair (Switzerland), Missions Alliance (Norway), Tear Netherlands, Tearfund Belgium, Transform Aid International (Australia), World Renew (Canada & USA) and ZOA (Netherlands).
