DAVAO City -“In coordination with the local government units, we will continue to look into the status or conditions of the typhoon-affected families in camps or evacuation centers and those who are back in their communities,” said Raquel E. Nunez, Policy and Plans Division Chief of DSWD and Head of TS Pablo Protection Cluster.

Nunez said the Cluster will sustain the child- and women-friendly spaces and will continue to build the capacity of local structures like the councils for the protection of children and anti-trafficking in persons.

The TS Pablo Protection Cluster is tasked to ensure access of typhoon-affected communities to basic social services and assistance. It also supports these communities in preventing and responding to violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect.

Further, it conducts systematic monitoring and reporting of protection issues especially among persons requiring special attention and persons with specific needs through community-based, gender-responsive, age-appropriate and culture-sensitive mechanisms.

The Cluster is composed of children and women-centered agencies like Save the Children, United Nations Population Fund, Plan International, local government units, UNICEF, DSWD, DOJ, PNP, Hope Worldwide, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and Community and Family Services International.

Nunez said the Cluster was able to install 44 Child-Friendly Spaces and 3 Women-Friendly Spaces and a Referral Pathway System for Child Protection and Gender-Based Violence, and provided as well Child-Friendly Kits and Psychosocial Support to 499 children and 700 adults.

“We have trained 100 Caregivers and Service Providers on Psychosocial Support, 44 Local Facilitators on Child-Friendly Space, 40 Local Implementers on Gender Sensitivity, and over 20 LGU Social Workers and Facilitators on Women-Friendly Space.”

Further, the Cluster conducted Child Protection Rapid Assessment, Data Monitoring on Protection Concerns, Launch of Municipal Protection Profile and Free Registration for Civil Documentations. It has also published Protection Advisories which focused on Children Begging along highways, Indigenous Communities, and Anti-Trafficking in Persons.

Also vital is the organization of Protection Cluster at the provincial and municipal levels and the organization of 10 Disaster Coordinating Teams focused on Child Protection and Gender-Based Violence, Nunez added.

Meanwhile, according to Anna Charis Galaraga of the International Organization for Migration and TS Pablo Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster, they were able to organize 88 camps and CCCM Clusters at the provincial and municipal levels in Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley.

“We deployed 47 camp management support staff, installed Displacement Tracking Matrix, conducted CCCM training for 210 LGU personnel as we continue coordinating with the local government units and with other TS Pablo Clusters especially with the Shelter Cluster for families in need of either shelter materials, transitional shelter or permanent shelter,” Galaraga said. DSWD