REOI-PH-2019-011: Contingency Program: Cross-Sectoral Humanitarian Program for UNICEF Philippine Country Office

Please note that all interested CSOs need to register and complete a profile on the UN Partner Portal. The UN Partner Portal is an online platform designed to simplify and harmonize UN processes for working with civil society partners, including national and international NGOs, community-based organizations, and academic institutions. Please register through this link:  https://www.unpartnerportal.org/landing/

You may find additional guides through the following links:

• Registration Guide: https://unpartnerportalcso.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360004110374-Registration
• All User Guides: https://unpartnerportalcso.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360003892733-UNPP-Quick-Guides-

 

Once registered, you may apply and find all the relevant information re: this opportunity through this link: https://www.unpartnerportal.org/cfei/open/217/overview

 

Project Background

The Philippines is at a high risk for disaster due to its vulnerability and exposure to different hazards such as typhoons, earthquakes, volcanic eruption, and drought. In 2018 alone, the country experienced several typhoons of varying intensities, volcanic eruptions, rain-induced landslides and flooding. Prolonged evacuation and displacement is still being experienced due to the impact of the Marawi armed conflict.

 

Children are disproportionately affected by these emergency situations. For instance, there is a need to regularly monitor the nutritional status of children – especially infants and young children – and pregnant and lactating women because they are mainly at risk of malnutrition during emergency. Due to displacement or inadequate access to food and health services, the nutritional status particularly of vulnerable groups can deteriorate and lead to disease and death.  This is most problematic in areas where malnutrition rates are high which are also frequently hit by emergencies and disasters. Existing preventive, curative, and rehabilitative health and nutrition services need to be immediately re-established and/or continued in support of the resulting compromised condition of the victims and subnormal environmental situation.

 

Public health risks increase if WASH services are disrupted. When water services do not function properly, people look for water supply elsewhere leaving the uncertainty of the quality of water, and incidence of water-borne diseases could easily rise. With no or limited access to sanitation facilities due to the disaster, people often result to open defecation further exposing to WASH related diseases and protection issues.  Often, when houses, including handwashing facilities and bathing facilities are damaged, this poses additional threat if families have nowhere to practice proper hygiene behavior.

 

Disasters and emergencies compromise child protection systems, weaken protective family and community structures and exacerbate pre-existing vulnerabilities. During disasters, the provision of basic services – including access to health care, nutrition, education and social services – becomes weak and inadequate; making children vulnerable to different forms of abuses.

 

Furthermore, several schools are damaged and are deemed unsafe during emergencies, so there is a need for temporary learning spaces and identification of flexible learning options. School supplies and learning materials were also destroyed and needed replacement. The displacement and loss of livelihoods of many families meant several children were at risk of dropping out of schools.

 

In anticipation of a sudden onset emergency and its impact to children, UNICEF is soliciting proposals/interest from existing or prospective partners to participate in the development of an emergency response plan that can be quickly activated if an emergency occurs. The CSO applicant may choose to submit a single-sector or multi-sector proposal.

 

 

Expected Results

 

Goal: Fulfill the rights of children affected by humanitarian crisis through effective and timely collective humanitarian action.

 

Expected Results

1. Nutrition – the nutritional status of girls, boys, and women is protected from the effects of humanitarian crisis
2. Health – excess mortality among girls, boys, and women in humanitarian crisis is prevented
3. WASH – girls, boys, and women have protected and reliable access to sufficient, safe water and sanitation, and hygiene facilities
4. Child protection – girls’ and boys’ right to protection from violence, abuse, and exploitation are sustained and promoted
5. Education – Girls and boys access safe and secure education and critical information for their own well-being

 

The selected partner will be responsible for planning, organizing and implementing the response activities. Specifically:

 

Nutrition

In line with the Nutrition Cluster’s Minimum Service Package for Emergencies, the set of priority response activities reflected below have been identified to support and provide for the needs of affected populations while facilitating immediate restoration of their access to both preventive and life-saving nutrition interventions.

• Support government in leading and providing a predictable, timely, coordinated and effective nutrition response to affected population (evacuation/IDP camps or host communities).
  • Establishment and maintaining of national and sub-national capacities for nutrition cluster coordination and information management
  • Data collection and monitoring of the nutrition situation at the national and local level at the onset of an emergency, including through use Nutrition Cluster Information Management Tools and the monitoring system based on targeted results.

 

• Protect, promote, and support optimal IYCF practices of girls and boys aged between 0-23 and pregnant/lactating women (PLW).
  • Provision of breastfeeding (BF) and IYCF-E support to pregnant women and lactating mothers/caregivers of girls and boys 0-23 months through establishment of Mother Baby Friendly Spaces for breastfeeding, communication, counselling, mentoring supervision by peer support groups, barangay nutrition scholars and health workers and promotion of appropriate complementary feeding (CF)
  • Supportive supervision of barangay nutrition and health workers (BNS, BHWs, midwives, nurses) to deliver community-based Nutrition in Emergencies (NiE) interventions, including IYCF counselling, nutrition screening, referral for acute malnutrition, monitoring and evaluation
  • Vigilant monitoring and reporting of Milk Code Violations to protect, promote and support optimal breastfeeding

 

• Integrated management of acute malnutrition services, including identification, treatment and prevention acute malnutrition among boys and girls between 0-59 months
  • Conduct of blanket supplementary feeding for prevention of acute malnutrition in children 6-59 months and PLW
  • Regular screening of boys and girls 0-59 months and referral of identified cases to appropriate care in line with national standards
  • Establishment of new community-based programs for management of acute malnutrition in children under-5 and PLW in areas without PIMAM capacity
  • Support existing community-based programs for management of acute malnutrition in children under-5 and PLW in areas with PIMAM capacity

 

• Prevent and control micronutrient deficiencies (Anaemia, Vit. A and other micronutrient deficiencies) among children aged between 6-59 months and PLW
  • Distribution of micronutrient supplements to vulnerable populations (boys and girls 6-59 months, and PLW)
  • Coordination and advocacy to Food Security Cluster to ensure that adequate standard food rations for vulnerable groups are provided on time

 

Health

• Restoration and provision of immunization services focusing on evacuation camps and priority communities
• Provision of maternal, newborn and child healthcare services including emergency obstetric and newborn care
• Establishment of temporary health facilities/ mobile clinics for those severely affected
• Capacity building support to health workers and community volunteers in primary health care (IMCI, EPI/Cold Chain etc.)

 

WASH

Effective leadership is established for WASH cluster/inter-agency coordination, with links to other cluster/ sector coordination mechanisms on critical inter-sectoral issues.

• Support to Cluster Coordination and Information Management
• Development of a cluster strategy/action plan which is adopted for implementation at the community/evacuation center level
• Support to WASH Cluster Operation at Provinces/Municipalities

 

Children and women access sufficient water of appropriate quality and quantity for drinking, cooking, and maintaining personal hygiene.

• Provision of safe water through water trucking and setting up of storage bladders, distribution of water kits
• Rehabilitation/construction of water facilities
• Conduct water quality testing and monitoring

 

Children and women access toilets and washing facilities that are culturally appropriate, secure, and sanitary, and are user friendly and gender appropriate.

• Provision of sanitation facilities through portable toilets and/or construction of appropriately designed toilets and handwashing facilities
• Distribution of toilet repair kits
• Provision of bathing facility

 

Children and women receive critical WASH related information and hygiene supplies to prevent child illness, especially diarrhea.

• Provision of family hygiene and dignity kits and replenishment supplies
• Conduct of hygiene promotion sessions

 

Children access safe water, sanitation and hygiene facilities in their learning environment and in child friendly spaces

• Provision of access to drinking water in schools/learning/child friendly spaces
• Provision of access to handwashing facilities in schools/learning/child friendly spaces
• Provision of access to appropriately designed toilets in schools/learning/child friendly spaces
• Distribution of hygiene kits or key hygiene items in schools/learning/child friendly spaces
• Conduct of age-appropriate hygiene promotion activities

 

Child Protection

• Support local authorities/ LCPC to convene and lead the Child Protection Working Group (CPWG), including support for mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) coordination mechanism.
• Technical assistance to support the operations on Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) on grave violations and other serious protection concerns and systematically trigger/ facilitate response (including advocacy).
• Strengthening of key child protection mechanisms in emergency-affected areas. Violence, exploitation and abuse of children (i.e. trafficking, child labour, arbitrary detention, CICL concerns) are prevented and addressed.  This includes scale up of advocacy, communications and awareness raising activities around prevention and response to abuse, exploitation, violence and neglect, including GBV in the areas badly hit by the emergency. This includes increased advocacy on the identification, registration, referral, and follow up for other extremely vulnerable children
• Prevention and response for separation of children from families (i.e. through FTR, from registration to case management, etc.), and promotion of family-based care. This includes coordination with DSWD and PNP, among other agencies, for the Identification, registration, family tracing and reunification of missing, separated and unaccompanied children and provision of interim care arrangements
• Provision of psychosocial support for children and their caregivers, in line with the IASC MHPSS guidelines. This may include setting up of Child Friendly Spaces, safe play areas for the most vulnerable children and other forms of community-based interventions.  as may be needed.
• Advocacy for the prevention and response for child recruitment and use, as well as illegal and arbitrary detention, for conflict affected children.
• Advocacy for the prevention and response to cases of use of landmines and other indiscriminate or illicit weapons by state and non-state actors (i.e. through MRE).
• Data collection and monitoring of the child protection situation at the national and local level at the onset of an emergency, including through use of the Child Protection Rapid Assessment (CPRA) tool and the monitoring system based on targeted results.

 

Education

Ensure immediate access of all children in affected areas to quality education in a safe and secure environment and facilitate a return to normalcy as soon as the disasters and emergencies have stabilized.

• Monitor the SitRep regularly sent by DepEd.
• Coordinate implementation of EiE programs and interventions in affected areas with the Education Cluster to minimize the duplication of efforts and ensure that needs of all affected groups are adequately and equitably responded to.
• Facilitate the provision of UNICEF emergency kits as requested by DepEd.
• Document and report bottlenecks and challenges in the response and recovery implementation.
• Enhance information management system and maintain database on DRRM, CCA, and conflict-related data and information relevant to the education sector.