Typhoon Hagupit in the Philippines - Water Sanitation Hygiene and Livelihoods - Oxfam 2014

December 2014 - Typhoon Hagupit (locally known as Ruby) made landfall in the Philippines as a category 3 typhoon on December 6 2014. It struck the far eastern island of Samar with winds of 210km/h which makes it the most powerful storm to hit the Philippines in 2014. The Government of the Philippines has confirmed 18 deaths and reported 241 700 houses damaged or destroyed across the affected areas as well as more than $82 million worth of damages in agriculture and infrastructure. According to the Philippines’ National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council Typhoon Hagupit has affected nearly 3.9 million people in the regions of eastern Visayas (Samar) and southern Luzon who are in need for assistance. With DFATD’s support Oxfam Canada is helping to meet the immediate needs of 15 000 typhoon- affected families. Activities include: (1) providing water purification and hygiene kits to 15 000 typhoon-affected families; (2) delivering newborn kits to 500 mothers; (3) repairing 1 500 household latrines; (4) training community members in hygiene promotion to help prevent water-borne diseases such as diarrhea; (5) treating and/or repairing 50 community water points; (6) providing livelihoods assets such as seeds and tools to 3 200 typhoon-affected families to cultivate crops; and (7) providing small cash grants to 4 000 typhoon-affected families to help them purchase food and other basic items.

The expected outcome of this project is improved access to clean water sanitation hygiene support and livelihoods opportunities for typhoon-affected people. The expected ultimate outcome is lives saved suffering alleviated and human dignity maintained in countries experiencing humanitarian crises or facing acute food insecurity.