TY Haiyan (Yolanda) Emergency 2nd DRAFT Protection Cluster Meeting Minutes 6 December 2013 Participants: Department for Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), UNHCR, IOM, OCHA, World Vision, Child Fund, Save the Children, Community and Family Services International (CFSI) Agenda item(s)/DISCUSSION(S) ACTION POINTS AND AGREEMENTS Welcome and introduction and follow up on action points: - Mrs. Nilda Assistant DSWD Officer opened the meeting and invited a round of introductions from the meeting participants. PC cluster coordinator introduced the agenda and provided updates on the action points from the 1st PC Cluster meeting; - Contact details of the Child Protection and GBV sub-cluster were shared with the participants. - Announcement of the first GBV meeting on Wednesday, 11 December 2013 at 9:30 a.m. was made. 1. Update on Evacuation Centres by DSWD The Assistant DSWDO shared the status of evacuation centers of Ormoc city and of 19 municipalities of western Leyte. In Isabel IOM will inform about the and Merida municipalities 46 families are still residing in evacuation centers including 9 families in barangay hall and 10 are living needs to UNHCR and Child with host families in Merida. Similarly 27 families are living in new hospital building, covered court and in parish pastoral center in Fund and will keep the Isabel. Both Merida and Isabel municipalities are located in district 4 of the Leyte province. protection cluster updated DSWDO mentioned that all other evacuation centers in Baybay, Inopacan, Hindang, Hilongos, Bato, Matolm (5th district); Leyte, on progress of the DTM Calubian, San Isidro, Tabango, Villaba (district 3), Albuera, Kananga, Matag-ob, Palompon and Ormoc city (district 4) are closed. The cluster co-lead informed the participants about the joint assessment of protection, CCCM clusters and MSWD of some of the Protection cluster co-lead evacuation centers in Ormoc city, where it was revealed that in barangay Punta 9 families with 36 individuals and 10 families in to share a copy of the Naungan barangays, who were shifted from the schools to the barangays covered courts. The families claimed to have not DSWD update on received any shelter assistance from the DSWD. The MSWD officer confirmed that some of the families are awaiting verification Evacuation center with the of house damage after which they will be prioritized for shelter assistance. partners The DSWD and MSD was approached and requested to prioritize the families for provision of shelter kits so they can return to their places. The municipal authorities in Baybay municipality proposed to provide, subject to verification, financial assistance of 3,000 PhP to fully damaged houses while 2,000 PhP to partially damaged houses. The cluster co-lead also informed the participants of the meeting with the Superintendent of the department of education and mentioned the report of the first day of resumption of schools, in Ormoc city- where 12,946 children were in attendance in 97 schools in the city. The pre-Typhoon strengthen of the total number of students was 31,510. The barangay level SWD structure is still unable to restore social welfare activities at barangay level, hence resulting in lack of information and response to the needs of vulnerable groups. Page 1 of 4 TY Haiyan (Yolanda) Emergency 2nd DRAFT Protection Cluster Meeting Minutes 6 December 2013 IOM has started second round of DTM to track the ex-residents of evacuation centres in consultation with C/DSWD. UNHCR and Child Fund offered to provide assistance in areas where both agencies have presence either directly or through partners. In response to a question, MSDW official mentioned that there is no discussion on the bunkhouses in western Leyte. 2. Protection risks In Leyte municipality, teachers expressed concern on children being unable to go back to schools in the afternoon due to hunger. Food assistance from DSWD does not suffice to families with more number of children. This might get worst in January when food ration from the government may cease and livelihood of families has barely recovered. In Leyte municipality, unidentified men roaming at night warning bonnets and knocking on doors are believed to be prisoners who escaped from prisons during Typhoon. Three teachers living in one of the schools in remote barangays were evacuated to the town proper for fear of violence. This resulted in postponement of classes in that school due to absence of teachers. In San Isidro municipality, a group of indigenous group Badjao’s was caught stealing food from local stores after the typhoon. The police have apprehended the group but there was no information on where the police have sent them. In Matag-ob municipality, sounds of gunshots were heard and local fears possible robberies though there were no reported cases of robbery. Protection monitoring from CFSI noted that a number of persons with specific needs such as elderly and persons with disability are still shelter less. In response, Protection cluster distributed UNHCR’s protection kits to many such families in barangay Sta Rosario in Matag-ob municipality. UNHCR also works on revisiting and doing assessment some remote barangays in Matag-ob municipality which can be reconsidered for NFI distribution. This is to ensure that most vulnerable are reached. Save the Children noted that existing issue of children out of school may exacerbate in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan and would require special attention. With increase migration to Cebu and Manila the associated risks of trafficking, child labour and exploitation may also increase. Currently most of the child protection work of the DSWD is driven by day care centers approach, which is useful in taking care of day care children but the children above day care age are neglected. Similarly there are not enough structure for youth. Child Fund reported increased engagement of adolescents in rehabilitation of houses. Need for adopting protection messages was highlighted by the cluster partners, particularly for children. Save the Children mentioned the key messages on psychosocial support for children at Tacloban level, which could be distributed among various partners in Ormoc. The protection cluster co-lead also mentioned the key protection messaged developed by the Ormoc cluster and shared with Tacloban and Manila for integration of child protection and GBV sub-groups to adopt it at all levels. Incidents of GBV and child protection remain unreported. Save the children is coordinating women friendly spaces with UNFPA as a long term approach. UNHCR solar lanterns have arrived on 06 December. Protection cluster will prioritize distribution of the solar lanterns in far off barangays in western municipalities with a view of preventive measures to minimize protection risks such as exposure to GBV Page 2 of 4 TY Haiyan (Yolanda) Emergency 2nd DRAFT Protection Cluster Meeting Minutes 6 December 2013 cases, possible crimes such as robbery and accidents at night. Save the Children is planning multi-sectoral protection monitoring of children in Kananga, Villaba and Capoocan municipalities. In consultation with UNICEF, it is also planning child protection assessment within Ormoc, Matag-ob, Isabel and Tabango municipalities. The emphasis would remain to strengthen the existing barangay level structure of social welfare. The aspect of children consultation was also felt missing in inter-agency response. Save the Children shared the number of hotline of DSWD and Women and Children desk i.e. 0917 6317752 Protection cluster coordinated with the MSWD Office on the cases of children begging on the highway of Visarez and San Joaquin in Capoocan municipality. Local MSWD committed to discuss the concern with the barangay officials. Continued monitoring on the response of the LGU for this concern will be done. 3. Presentation on strategic objective of protection cluster The protection cluster co-lead gave a multi-media presentation on the strategic objective of the protection cluster by explaining Co-lead to provide a that the overall objectives is to strengthen the protective environment of the affected communities by ensuring non- copy of the presentation discriminatory and equitable access to basic and protective services in coordination and cooperation with the government of the to the partners Philippines and key protection organisations under the direct leadership of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. (DSWD). The cluster co-lead explained the following five specific objectives and priority activities: 1. Physical security is ensured through state protection mechanisms with the support of the Protection Cluster and other actors 2. Ensure rapid and non-discriminatory access to aid, information and national, provincial and local services, for adequate provision of food, education, water and sanitation, health, shelter, livelihood and employment opportunities and other form of assistance such as psychosocial support and family reunification, as well as civil documentation 3. Girls and boys are protected from violence, exploitation (including trafficking), abuse and neglect; and the existing national, provincial and local mechanisms for child protection are strengthened. 4. Minimise risks associated to gender based violence, and ensure provision and safe access to multi-sectoral response to Gender based violence through survivor-centered services 5. Support implementation of government policies in the disaster response management of displacement and durable solutions