Monday 13 January 2014

Typhoon Haiyan: How UNICEF is responding to children’s health needs

A volunteer measures a child’s upper arm circumference – a gauge of nutritional status
© UNICEF/Dianan Valcarcel Silvela

I have just returned from Tacloban. I am a UNICEF health specialist and travelled there as part of UNICEF’s global support to help colleagues working to restore health systems that protect children in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan (known locally as Yolande).

Even after my return home to Bangkok, I am still awed by the fury of the Typhoon, its massive destruction. I am also struck by the strength and the spirit of the people whose lives it decimated. Among the heaps of debris, there are signs that announce “we will rise again” and “homeless, roofless but not hopeless”.