Typhoon Haiyan (locally known as Yolanda) ravaged the Philippines on 8 November 2013 which affected more than 14.4 million people across nine regions, displaced around 4 million and left about 6,000 people dead. It caused extensive damage to property and public social networks.

The Protection Cluster was activated and hubs in Borongan, Cebu, Guiuan, Ormoc, Roxas and Tacloban were established. The Cluster members carried out monitoring, documentation and advocacy on the protection of the rights of the affected population (including with national, provincial and local administrations), addressing access to services and justice for survivors of SGBV and other human rights concerns relating to loss of documentation, and property and land issues. The Free Mobile Civil Registration project was also launched and was able to generate civil documents for around 90,000 people who lost these documents when the storm surge wiped out their homes and properties.

The Cluster has supported capacity-building of national and local actors, including police, armed forces and national authorities, the Commission on Human Rights, the Council for the Welfare of Children and health facilities.

The Child Protection Working Group has provided psychosocial support through Child-Friendly Spaces (CFS). Training was given to government personnel, community members and NGO agencies in psychosocial first aid and psychosocial support techniques to girls and boys in distress.

Emergency supplies and core relief items from UNHCR together with cluster members were distributed targeting the most vulnerable people. Solar lights and radios have also been distributed in tent cities to reduce the risk of insecurity and provide solar power, enhancing the communication capacity of the affected population and family reunification.