THE world will be listening intently when the Philippines presents its report on how it addressed the issues, following the onslaught of Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) in November 2013 at the Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction to be held in Sendai, Japan, from March 14 to 18.
The global issue of climate change received a human face when the super typhoon battered central Philippines, taking with it thousands of lives and reducing to rubble entire cities and communities in its wake. Within days of the calamity, the world sent aid and pledged donations to help the government and survivors, both in the short term and in the long term rebuilding of their lives and properties. For many observers, the resilience of Filipinos and their ability to overcome a disaster of this magnitude, the strongest ever recorded in history, offered an example on how governments should address future calamities.
Terence D. Jones, UN resident and humanitarian coordinator and UN Development Programme (UNDP) resident representative, admitted that there are “many lessons” to be learned from the Philippines’s experience.
A wake-up call
“The reality is, Haiyan was a wake-up call,” Jones admitted in an interview with the BusinessMirror. “Before Haiyan, the Philippine government with some international support was able to cope with many disasters. It was able to provide relief and save lives, and it has happened a number of times in the recent past.”
“But Haiyan was of a different magnitude that was not fully anticipated. There was a strong lesson to be learned here. I was impressed with the way the government and its partners responded. The lesson learned was to build into the capacity for preparedness: The government should put more investment to be better prepared in order to reduce the impact. But it also means that there should be more investment going in mitigation, to try to avoid the worse impact, by changing the agricultural system, with proper land use and planning at the local level, where to locate facilities within local communities to minimize exposure to dangers,” the UN envoy said.
Before Yolanda, the response to natural calamities was purely after the fact, with governments and aid workers addressing the needs of survivors. With natural calamities expected to worsen in impact with the effects of climate change, much more needs to be done to safeguard lives and properties ahead of disasters.
Investment in preparedness
“At the global level, preparedness is underinvested compared to response. There is a need to emphasize investment in preparedness, in mitigation and adaptation. We also need to look at how effective recovery efforts are. While the government had to allocate resources to Haiyan, we see that it is not easy to respond fully to needs of all people. We need to continually check back on the people displaced by the typhoon. We have to show them that we support them as much as we can to help them integrate and be part of community.”
Jones said the rest of the world could learn from the Philippine experience, as well as learn from the experiences of other countries, too.
“The Philippine participation is important,” he explained. “The government is sending a delegation, but also delegations from civil society, business, Congress and the Senate. The whole Philippines will be represented, and not just the government.”
No stranger to the Philippines
The UN representative is no stranger to the Philippine experience. He was first assigned to the country in 1999, but with a lighter load than he has now. When he assumed his post on November 21, 2014, he was taking on five positions for the UN community in the country. Aside from being the resident UN coordinator, coordinating the work of 18 UN agencies in the Philippines, he is also the resident UNDP representative. He is the UN humanitarian coordinator, coordinating the work not just of UN agencies, but also of a number of international non-governmental organizations and bilateral development partners, as well as some other international organizations, of which the Red Cross is one.
He is also the director of the UN Information Center, the only post which he considers to not be a “heavy responsibility.”
Although he is now retired from the UN, when the offer to return to the Philippines was made to him, he didn’t hesitate saying yes.
“For my wife and myself, one of our favorite memories is the four years we spend here from 1999 to 2003 as a family. While my daughter was staying at boarding school in London, my son lived with us in Dasmariñas Village. We had a very pleasant time over the years,” he shared.
“My wife also had an interesting time here because she was the chairman for the UN women’s organization. They raised money for charity, visited orphanages and old peoples’ homes in Manila, helping them in a modest way,” he said.
“Of course, we had a chance to go to beaches, play gold every now and then, and welcomed family members coming from England. All in all, it was a pleasant experience,” he added.
Peace negotiations
Apart from heavy involvement in matters affecting climate change and disaster-risk reduction, Jones said the UN is now heavily involved in the ongoing peace negotiations between the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
During his first term in the country, he was in close touch with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) with the setting up of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. About 200 MNLF communities were provided with livelihood training to assist them in their reintegration with the local community.
With the ongoing negotiations with the MILF, he said work is still on the preparatory stage, until such time the Bangsamoro basic law (BBL) is enacted and implemented.
But there is more to than passing the BBL to bring about genuine peace in Mindanao.
“It appears to be a complex issue,” he explained. “We have to address more fundamental issues, covering more areas of concern of the Muslim population. We need more intensive support to look into issues, such as transitional justice, which is being supported by Swiss government. A study is being made on this issue until about September to look at some of the fundamental concerns of people in region, on the issues that have impacting them for decades, to address fundamental issues of injustice, feelings of discrimination, whatever they feel. This is a deep process, and it would take many years to address them sufficiently. What is important is to address the root cause of whatever concerns they may have. The peace process needs more investments and more time.”
Development goals
In assessing a country’s development vis-à-vis other nations in the world, the UN drew up its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) during the turn of the century to guide governments in areas that need to be addressed to attain sustainability and development. These goals are up for reassessment this year, as governments worldwide are expected to use their achievements as benchmarks for establishing their own Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Philippines is among the countries being monitored for achievements in MDGs.
Jones said the Philippines posted successes in terms of its MDGs, although a number of issues affecting the welfare and well-being of its people are a cause for some concern.
“In general, success can be seen in many areas, but there are a few where we have concerns, that more need to be done, and we are working with the government to find ways to address these,” he explained.
Among areas that are of concern are in the area of maternal health and reproductive health, including maternal mortality and issues of nutrition of both the mother and child.
“In these issues, there are some worrying statistics in areas of the Philippines, where much more is needed to address those concerns,” he said.
The issue of HIV/AIDS is also another area of concern.
“In the matter of HIV/AIDS, the government has always been active in trying to make sure there was awareness,” he said. “But now we are beginning to see indicators that show the spread of the disease in the general population and its dangers if we do not become practical at the local government level on how to implement programs. That might be an area of concern.”
One planet to live in
Issues of climate change and health are important to achieving sustainability and development, since any development in these areas point to how future generations will benefit from their attainment.
“We have to realize this planet is the only place we have to live in,” Jones said. “If we don not address climate issues and disaster risk reduction and more sustainable forms of production and consumption, which are all issues the UN is looking at in terms of SDGs; if we do not address these, we may have many reasons to fear the type of society our children will inherit from us. It will be different from what we experienced, and those challenges that they will be facing will be difficult ones.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano