DSWD starts feeding program in conflict-hit Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has initiated supplemental feeding program for some 23,627 children affected by the ongoing conflict in Mindanao. An article on the DSWD website said the children beneficiaries area staying in four evacuation centers in Regions X, XI, and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. "These children who are zero to six years old are from the evacuation centers in Maguindanao, Shariff Kabunsuan, North Cotabato, and Lanao del Norte. The supplemental feeding will boost the energy and resistance of these children to prevent them from getting sick while inside the evacuation centers," said DSWD secretary Esperanza Cabral. Cabral said there are some 62,317 families displaced by the armed conflict, with some 13,836 families being served inside the 146 evacuation centers in the three regions. SHe added the DSWD has conducted supplemental feeding for the 126 pregnant and lactating mothers in the evacuation centers in Kolambugan, Munai and Tangkal in Lanao del Norte. Likewise, the 326 children who are six to 12 years old in the same evacuation centers in Lanao del Norte were provided with supervised neighborhood play by the social workers. Meanwhile, the construction of three units bunk houses with 42 rooms in Tangkal and Munai were completed. This will serve as temporary shelters of the internally displaced persons (IDPs). Cabral said the DSWD has partnered with the local government unit of Maguindanao for the construction of bunk houses in Datu Piang, Datu Saudi, Shariff Aguak, Talayan, and Mamasapano. "We are fast tracking the construction of bunk houses in order to decongest the evacuation centers. Likewise, classrooms will be used so that classes will resume as soon as possible," she said. Also, she said the DSWD conducts master listing and profiling of the IDPs through the use of Disaster Assistance Family Access Cards for the efficient and effective provision of appropriate services and interventions for the affected families. - GMANews.TV