8 November 2023 – The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Philippines and Good Neighbors International Philippines (GNIP) recently signed an Implementing Partner (IP) Agreement for a project that ensures women, girls and other vulnerable groups are able to access life-saving services in Eastern Samar amid disasters.

As the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA highlights the fact that women and girls fleeing typhoon damage are disproportionately at risk because they lose access to essential sexual and reproductive health services, face increased risk for unintended pregnancies, gender-based violence, sexually transmitted infections and maternal mortality.

“Our work with Good Neighbors International Philippines is crucial in ensuring that sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and rights are upheld and gender-based violence (GBV) risks are mitigated even before typhoons hit the province,” said UNFPA Philippines Assistant Country Representative Jose Roi Avena. “This aims to build resilience in vulnerable women and girls, helping them maintain their dignity, health, and protection during emergencies.”

Meanwhile, GNIP Country Director Jae Choon Lee expressed that this partnership is a good opportunity to protect vulnerable sectors of the community.

He stated, “This program is focusing not only on the general community but also focusing drastically on the vulnerable group which is the women, and also pregnant women.” 

“We believe that if we work together we can make a good example in terms of Anticipatory Action and we would like to highlight and protect the vulnerable during the disaster,” he added.

Avena said UNFPA was eager to work with GNIP as it already has a track record when it comes to disaster risk reduction and anticipatory action, as well as adolescent sexual and reproductive health, WASH (water, sanitation, hygiene), and child protection.

”We saw that you are capacitated in those areas. We are really banking on the work that you do in SRH, GBV, and even the involvement of men and boys,” he told GNIP during the signing ceremony.

Likewise, Mr. Avena expressed his hope for a continued partnership with GNIP.

Good Neighbors is an international humanitarian development NGO founded in Korea in 1991 and started its Philippine operation in 2008. GNIP has over 11 community development project sites and three special project sites in the Philippines focusing on child protection, economic development, social development, green development, sponsorship services, and other community support programs, projects, and advocacies.

Among the intervention included in the anticipatory action programme supported by the UN Central Emergency Response Fund, UNFPA and its implementing partner GNIP, are the:

• Activation of SRH and GBV coordination groups;
• Deployment of surge teams composed of doctors, nurses, and midwives to support continuity of life-saving SRH services, as well as social workers and community volunteers addressing GBV in target LGUs and health facilities;
• Deployment of alternative service delivery models (Women’s Health on Wheels), Maternity Tents and other forms of maternal health services support to affected areas;
• Distribution of emergency reproductive health kits, maternity packs and dignity kits to target populations;
• Distribution of sectoral cash assistance under Cash for Health where the targets are pregnant women, especially those on their last trimester and Cash for Protection to vulnerable women, especially the GBV survivors, women with disabilities, people living with HIV (PLHIV);
• Transportation and distribution of GBV commodities (dignity kits, radios and protection desk supplies) to women and girls prior to landfall;
• Deployment of women-friendly spaces/tents to support GBV and those activities on prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA).

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