ACCESS will deliver food, clean water, sanitation facilities, and protection assistance to the hardest-hit, least-served, most remote communities
Manila, Philippines, 19 August 2024 – The ACCESS consortium – made up of five international and nine local organizations implementing the ACCESS Project – has secured PHP 76 million (EUR 1.2 million) in funding from the European Union (EU) to deliver timely, appropriate, life-saving aid to communities in Cotabato, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte and del Sur, and Sultan Kudarat who were affected by the July 2024 flooding and landslides.
Said Ansherina Talavera, Humanitarian and Peacebuilding Coordinator of consortium lead CARE Philippines: “As humanitarian workers, we’re committed to addressing human suffering wherever it is found, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable. This funding from the European Union helps us support the hardest-hit communities, who are not only dealing with the aftermath of floods and landslides but are also facing the ongoing challenges of conflict and climate change.”
Existing organizational presence enabled quick response
The consortium had been on the ground when floods and landslides hit the region, allowing it to immediately assess the situation, identify urgent needs, and deliver initial relief. This established presence in Mindanao and across the Philippines is made possible by the ACCESS-initiated Equitable Partnership Alliance – a non-formal network of local, national, and international non-government organizations committed to delivering quality humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding programs in the country.
The funding will help ACCESS provide food assistance, clean water, sanitation facilities, hygiene promotion, and essential services protecting the rights and ensuring the safety and wellbeing of affected families. As with all its emergency response efforts, the consortium will target the hardest hit, least served, difficult-to-reach areas, prioritizing low-income households for whom recovery may be challenging, and including older persons, pregnant and lactating women, persons with disability, female-headed households, and households from indigenous groups.
From El Nino to floods and landslides
The massive flooding and landslides – the result of the interaction of multiple, successive weather systems, including the southwest monsoon – came just as families were recovering from the impacts of El Nino. Many had also been grappling with the protracted, decades-long conflict across Mindanao.
Urgent needs
Among affected and displaced individuals, the consortium found high levels of food insecurity; significant losses in incomes and livelihood assets; poor water supply, sanitation, and hygiene conditions; extensive damages to belongings and the loss of important civil documents; heightened risks of sexual violence and exploitation against women and children; and a need for mental health and psychosocial support.
Said Talavera, “ACCESS is focused on providing urgent aid and helping families rebuild their lives with resilience and dignity."
About ACCESS
ACCESS (Assisting the Most Vulnerable Communities and Schools Affected by Complex Emergencies in Accessing Quality and Timely Humanitarian and Disaster Preparedness Services) is a multi-year, multi-sectoral project funded by the European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO). The ACCESS Mindanao flood emergency response will be implemented by consortium members ACCORD, Action Against Hunger Philippines, CARE Philippines, Community Organizers Multiversity, Humanity & Inclusion Philippines, Mindanao Organization for Social and Economic Progress, and Save the Children Philippines, together with Oxfam Pilipinas and United Youth of the Philippines-Women.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Tanya Mariano
Communications Specialist, CARE Philippines
tanya.mariano@care.org
Tanya Mariano | CARE Philippines | Communications Specialist for ECHO Actions
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