This month, the Philippines marked the anniversary of Super Typhoon Haiyan — known locally as Yolanda — with the expected progress reports on reconstruction and recovery efforts. It also shone a renewed spotlight on the challenges that Haiyan victims continue to face after the early response period.
Devex covered these issues on the ground, reporting on the lessons stakeholders have learned about conducting disaster operations not just in the Philippines but elsewhere, the essential skills needed to carry out humanitarian work in these settings, and the tough road ahead for the typhoon victims and everyone involved in the reconstruction and recovery efforts.
That last point is echoed by various government and development officials who have spent time in the disaster-struck areas, including the assistant secretary-general of the United Nations. At a press briefing held two days after the anniversary, Haoliang Xu, who is also the director of the U.N. Development Program’s regional bureau for Asia and the Pacific, stressed the need to involve the typhoon victims themselves in their own recovery process.