25 June 2013 – A joint high-level humanitarian mission to Mindanao was recently conducted by the Philippine Government, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) from June 16 to 20.

The mission undertook field visits to Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental, Cotobato City and Maguindanao to "gather first-hand information and witness the value of multilateral humanitarian activities; to raise international awareness of the humanitarian requirements in the Philippines, in particular in Mindanao; to explore the role of the humanitarian multilateral system in supporting national and local efforts to respond to humanitarian needs; and demonstrate the importance of humanitarian preparedness to recurring natural disasters" in the context of Typhoon Pablo/Bopha and other recent calamities, and overall peace and development efforts in the Southern Philippines.

The team met with local government and international organization officials, donor representatives, civil society leaders and the affected communities themselves. Mission members were impressed by the strong sense of "bayanihan spirit" among all stakeholders in the localities visited, and left "with a better picture of real humanitarian needs and challenges facing the people of these affected areas."

The mission concluded that there is a need to:

1.Continue to strengthen partnership for greater collaboration between the PHL Government, UN, OIC, Member States and non-governmental organizations for response, early recovery efforts and disaster risk reduction at all levels;

2. Engage with a wider range of national, international, governmental, non-governmental organizations and civil societies, including from OIC Member States, to ensure their inclusion in all relevant community-level coordination structures;

3.Continue and increase concrete ways in which humanitarian, early recovery and sustainable development programming can be better linked;

4.Identify and implement activities which support resilience approaches for vulnerable communities and households; and

5.Explore practical ways to support response to, preparedness for and resilience to the recurring natural disasters, including through technical or financial support to meet the needs of the affected people.

The mission was jointly led by National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Executive Director Eduardo del Rosario, OIC Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Atta El Manan Bakhit, and OCHA Director Rashid Khalikov. UN-OCHA included participants from the Alliance of Civilizations, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, International Islamic Charity Organization (IICO), Kuwait, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. Coordinating the mission were Ms. Luiza Carvalho, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Philippines, and Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Jesus Domingo. END