Standard Project Report 2016
Household income in real terms continuously grew.
However, armed conflicts and natural calamities including the highest number of typhoons ever witnessed during the period of 2013-2015 have muted some welfare gains. The same trend was observed in 2016 alongside the persisting global economic uncertainty combined with the effects of El Niño and the waning pre-election spending. This was never more apparent than the country ' s failing to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Before adopting the new Sustainable Development Goals introduced in September 2015, the Philippines only managed to achieve those targets relating to food poverty, school participation, women empowerment, mortality of infant and children aged 6-23 months, malaria morbidity, tuberculosis, and access to safe water as reported by the National Economic and Development Authority.
Nevertheless, the country has made remarkable progress towards addressing food insecurity and nutrition as shown by the 2016 Global Hunger Index wherein the Philippines was ranked 68 out of 118 countries, narrowly moving from its“ serious” status last year to a“ moderate” hunger level.
Based on the 2015 National Nutrition Survey, the prevalence of children aged 6-23 months eating the Minimum Acceptable Diet( MAD) was extremely low at barely 19 percent, but tripled from a previous rate of 6.4 percent( 2013). The percentage of pregnant women, by weight-for-height, who were nutritionally at risk remained unchanged at 25 percent. Meanwhile the percentage of nursing mothers who were nutritionally at risk, using the body mass index, worsened from 11 to 14 percent. Further, maternal undernutrition has contributed significantly to an increased number of low birth-weight babies( 14.4 percent) and resulted in an increased stunting prevalence of 33.4 percent among children aged 0-59 months. The increasing trend in teenage pregnancy, 1 in 10 women according to the 2013 National Demographic and Health Survey, has also significantly affected poor pregnancy outcome contributing to stunting.
As for peace and security, the Philippines has long been mired by conflict and insecurity especially in Mindanao where separatist and revolutionary groups have been waging war with the Government. Decades of peace talks among parties have yielded immature results, and just before a new government took office halfway into the year, the most recent peace agreement was shelved.
The new administration, however, was quick to salvage the peace talks by approving a comprehensive peace roadmap that envisioned a consolidation of various peace agreements already entered into by the Government with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Moro National Liberation Front, and the resumption of peace talks with the communist group— National Democratic Front.
The recent change in the national leadership has created uncertainties on the level of engagement between the international humanitarian organizations and the national government due to some unusual statements against international organizations, including the United Nations( UN). In spite of this, the UN and other members of the international community are committed to continue engaging the Government in its efforts towards eradicating hunger and malnutrition.
Response of the Government and Strategic Coordination
In support of the efforts of the Government of the Philippines, WFP has progressively expanded the scope of its operation in the country to focus its response on the displaced populations in Mindanao and those affected by frequent natural calamities throughout the country. PRRO 200743 includes components on capacity strengthening and policy development, as agreed with the Government, especially for food security and nutrition policies, while the special operation 200706 aims to address the challenges identified during the Typhoon Haiyan response in 2013 and enhance the disaster response capabilities of the Government.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development( DSWD) continued to be WFP ' s main government partner for both the PRRO and special operation. It is through the DSWD that WFP continues to align its mandate to help improve food and nutrition security through the building of community assets and promotion of self-reliance of the poor, and to bridge humanitarian interventions with development activities. WFP augmented DSWD ' s response efforts with foods such as rice, high energy biscuits, and specialized nutritious food during emergencies. Following on the successful cooperation between DSWD and WFP in providing cash-based assistance to hundreds of thousands of people affected by Super Typhoon Haiyan using the country ' s largest social safety net— the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program— DSWD, the World Bank and WFP started discussions towards the possible development of a national framework for emergency cash transfers.
In the framework of special operation 200706, WFP and DSWD implemented a capacity development programme to improve government response capabilities, particularly in the area of supply-chain management including production, storage and delivery of in-kind food assistance. WFP also assisted in optimising the operations of the National Resource Operations Center in Manila in order to increase the production capacity of family food packs.
Philippines, Republic of the( PH) 4 Single Country PRRO- 200743