Round-up: Updates from Philippines and Guinea

The Round-up offers a weekly sample of what our sister Red Cross Societies are working on around the world.

PHILIPPINES: In the marshlands of Barangay Butilen, Datu Salibo municipality, Maguindanao, in ICRC installed four hand pumps and 13 toilets in identified evacuation centers in Maguindanaosouthern Philippines, about 2,000 people are taking refuge due to renewed fighting.  Finding access to water and sanitation, among other basic necessities, is often difficult for displaced people. In response, the ICRC installed four hand pumps and 13 toilets in identified evacuation centers in Maguindanao including Barangay Butilen, late last year.  The facilities, which were handed over to the barangay (village) also in December, are being used by over 2,000 people who fled to safety nearly two months ago. With the clashes still ongoing, they do not know when they will be able to go back home.

GUINEA: When the Ebola outbreak was confirmed in Guinea two years ago, one of the reasons the virus spread so quickly was due to the high amount of people traffic across the borders of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. To mitigate the introduction of new Ebola cases or other diseases by cross border travellers, the Red Cross has introduced a community event-based surveillance system. It is successful, in large part, due to the engagement of community members.  The community event-based surveillance system began in January 2016 to comply with the 90 day period of heightened surveillance and is conducted in collaboration with other partners involved in the Ebola response operation. Activities are focused in the areas of Forécariah, Boke, and Guekédou bordering Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, and Liberia respectively.

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