Donations for women and girls hit by Typhoon Odette sought

UNFPA Philippines, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, is seeking urgent donations to help provide life-saving supplies and services to communities hard hit by Super Typhoon Odette (Rai).

During natural disasters, sexual and reproductive health needs are often overlooked. Pregnant women  risk life-threatening complications without access to delivery and emergency obstetric care services. Women and girls may lose access to family planning services, exposing them to unintended pregnancy, and women and girls are also more vulnerable to sexual violence.

According to UNFPA Philippines estimates, the disaster has impacted some 4 million women and girls of reproductive age in 13 provinces. Among them, an estimated 162,000 are believed to be pregnant currently, of whom 24,000 might experience complications. An estimated 470,000 women living in the affected areas have an unmet need for family planning information and services, including contraceptives. The long-running challenge of gender-based violence, including intimate partner violence and sexual violence, escalates further.

Addressing gender-based violence and meeting the sexual and reproductive health needs of women and girls is a key pillar of UNFPA Philippine’s humanitarian response, as seen in previous crises, including Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in 2013.

Supporting the efforts of the Government of the Philippines and partner organizations, UNFPA Philippines is calling for donations as part of the Typhoon Odette emergency response to raise funds to help the most vulnerable women and girls, pregnant women, lactating mothers and their newborns, adolescents and young people, and women with disabilities who are currently at risk.

 

Donations raised will help support UNFPA’s three transformative results:

• No woman should die during pregnancy and childbirth
• No women and adolescent girls should have an unmet need for sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning.
• No sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls.

How can people of goodwill help? Support the efforts of UNFPA Philippines for survivors of Typhoon Odette (Rai), by visiting the UNFPA Philippines Donation Page, or donate via the Giving Hero app at UNFPA-Giving Hero Donation Page, through Paymaya at UNFPA-PayMaya Typhoon #OdettePH Response or the UNFPA-Lazada Charity Store, where people who would like to help can choose to donate through vouchers for items such as emergency birth kits, dignity kits, (Mama) Nanay kits and Go Bags for adolescents.