UNHCR Philippines CRI Quarterly Report (January – March 2020)
In the face of the extraordinary challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, UNHCR is working closely with the government and Mindanao Humanitarian Actors to address the needs of displaced families and maintain essential protection services. During the reporting period, UNHCR has distributed a total number of 3,268 Core Relief Items to 3,847 individuals in the following locations: 1) Cotabato City; 2) Ampatuan, Maguindanao; 3) Datu Hoffer, Maguindanao; 4) Marawi City; 5) Maluso, Basilan; and 6) Makilala, North Cotabato.
In February 2020, UNHCR and its project partner, Community and Family Services International (CFSI) provided blankets, hygiene kits, mosquito nets, plastic sheets and sleeping mats to 239 families at Pacheco Camp in Makilala, North Cotabato. These families remain displaced due to 6.6 magnitude earthquake that hit Mindanao in October 2019. Displaced families could not return to their homes since their districts have been declared a ‘no build zone’ by the local government. Plastic sheets were also provided to a Temporary Learning Center in Rorogagus Transitory Site in Marawi City to serve as roofing for the school children who are attending classes.
In March 2020, CRIs were distributed by UNHCR and its Project Partner, Magungaya Mindanao Incorporated (MMI) to 227 IDP families in Ampatuan, Maguindanao and 250 IDP families in Datu Hoffer, Maguindanao. These families fled to safety when the Armed Forced of the Philippines (AFP) launched a mortar shelling and aerial bombings in an operation against an alleged local ISIS-inspired militant group. Plastic sheets were also provided by UNHCR through its government partner Bangsamoro Rapid Emergency Action on Disaster Incidence (BARMM-READi) to 217 individuals in Maluso, Basilan who came from Sabah, Malaysia through a wooden vessel. These individuals were considered Persons Under Monitoring (PUM) for COVID-19 who will undergo quarantine and isolation in an island in Basilan before they could return to their residences.
Plastic sheets were likewise received by the City Government of Cotabato to be utilized at the holding stations occupied by front liners of the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center and Cotabato City Hall. Hygiene kits were distributed as well to Persons Under Investigation (PUI) for corona virus disease and to frontline healthcare workers in the city.
