This report summarizes achievements, challenges, and plans of the UNFPA Country Office in the Philippines covering 01 January to 31 March 2020 to respond to the unique needs of Filipino women and girls.
The first quarter of 2020, the beginning of the last decade towards the achievement of Agenda 2030 including the SDGs, witnessed significant game-changing developments in the Philippines and in the world. While the country office just began implementing its response to the series of earthquakes in Mindanao, the Taal Volcano erupted in January 2020, affecting nearly 460,000 people within the 14-km radius from the island. In the same month, the country announced its first case of COVID-19. As WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic and as the number of confirmed cases in the Philippines quickly escalated from just 3 cases on 01 March to 2,311 cases on 31 March 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte declared a National State of Health Emergency and eventually called for an "Enhanced Community Quarantine" in several areas across the country in March 2020, including Metro Manila.
With these developments, UNFPA in the Philippines continues to support the unique needs of Filipino women and girls through a humanitarian-development-peacebuilding nexus approach and adjusts its activities to respond to the demands of the pandemic while minimizing the health risks of its staff, partners, and communities. More than ever, the Country Office aims to strengthen its partnership with 13 organizations and government agencies to realize UNFPA’s core mandate of delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.
