DOHA: Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) is implementing a development project in the Philippines worth QR8.2m.
Under Qatar Alliance for Relief of the Peoples of Somalia and the Philippines, the project includes housing units, classrooms and a depot.
It follows a memorandum of understanding signed in June 2014 by QRCS and Philippine Red Cross Society (PRCS) as a framework for cooperation.
Under it, QRCS provided nonfood aid, including 594 tents, 4,488 mattresses, 3,510 blankets, 3,390 water tanks and 592 tarpaulins, serving 1,548 affected families in Leyte Province.
Last September, the project’s agreement was signed, with subsequent amendments this March to adapt to changes on the ground. It involved building 650 housing units, seven classrooms, and a depot in Tacloban.
Seven classrooms will be built at the central school of northern Burauen, Leyte, at a cost of $150,000. A public tender was conducted in February, followed by another which is in the process of awarding.
A readymade depot will be built near PRCS branch in Leyte. QRCS is building 650 housing units in northern Tacloban, in cooperation with PRCS. Houses are being built with wood and cement, each with a separate toilet and sewerage chamber. So far, 112 houses have been completed.
The 650 targeted families were selected based on case studies among families whose homes were completely destroyed; people with special needs; families whose breadwinners are children, women or elderly; and chronic patients.
Beneficiaries are trained in safe shelter standards and emergency measures.
Qatar Alliance was formed as a result of Qatar Day of Solidarity with the Peoples of Somalia and the Philippines observed on November, 19, 2013 in response to a call by Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Apart from QRCS, which was assigned to implement the executive work of the campaign, the alliance involves Qatar Charity, Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah Foundation for Humanitarian Services (RAF), Sheikh Eid bin Mohammad Al Thani Charitable Association, and Al Asmakh Charity Foundation.
The Peninsula
