MANILA, Philippines - International child welfare organizations urged the government yesterday to give priority to the construction of school buildings destroyed by typhoon “Pablo†in Mindanao last year.
In a joint statement, Plan International, Save the Children, United Nations Children’s’ Fund and World Vision Development Foundation said education should be a primary component of an initial humanitarian response, along with other emergency response interventions.
“Schools should only be used as evacuation centers as a last resort and for the shortest possible time,†the agencies said.
“In situations when schools have been destroyed or damaged, or when schools are used as evacuation centers for longer periods of time, children’s right to education should be promoted by setting up temporary learning spaces, which includes training teachers on how to run these spaces, providing back-to-school kits and teaching-learning kits,†the groups said.
Apart from relief assistance, the groups said immediate psychosocial support services for displaced and affected education workers would also help them recover from stress.
“As the effects of the typhoon continue to become more apparent, threats to education of the affected populations are high. Children’s right to education should not be given any lower priority compared with other critical needs in the aftermath of typhoon Pablo in view of its life-saving and life-sustaining nature,†they said.
Of the total 6.2 million people affected by Pablo, 2.3 million are estimated to be children under 18 years old.
Of the 700,000 people most affected in the three provinces hardest hit by Pablo – Davao Oriental, Compostela Valley and Agusan del Sur – an estimated 294,000 are children.
“In any emergency, children are one of the most vulnerable groups. They are highly vulnerable to dropping out of school or discontinuing attendance of day care sessions,†the groups said.