Women and girls staying at JFE Sports Complex in Zamboanga City now benefit from the additional 52 emergency pit latrines and ten bathing stations constructed by the ACF International.

The additional latrines and bathing

stations are committed by the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Cluster to improve the overall cleanliness inside the largest evacuation center set-up in the city following the clash between government troops and the Moro National Liberation Front-Misuari faction.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will continue to provide food-for-work for the identified marshalls who will take turns in guarding the facilities.  Assigned cleaners will also be provided with food packs.

According to Maffy Sibul, ACF International Hygiene Promotion Officer, the emergency pit latrines can serve up to 50 persons a day.

Highlighting the attention they put on keeping the facility clean, she said, “The extraction of the wastes from the latrines shall be done three times a week to ensure the cleanliness of the temporary facility.”

They have coordinated with the City General Services Office of Zamboanga for the extraction of the waste.

“Some 34 emergency pit latrines were also constructed for the use of the men-evacuees in a separate area,” she added.

The WASH Cluster is composed of Department of Health (DOH) as lead agency, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)) as co-lead, DSWD, Save the Children, ACF Foundation, International Organization for Migration (IOM),  Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Human Development Empowerment Services (HDES), Catholic Relief Services (CRS), International Committee Disaster Network (ICDN), and Muslim Human Rights Commission (MHRC).

Said Cluster is doing improvements in sanitation facilities in the different zones of the JFE Sports Complex, which still houses 3,423 families.

Similar initiatives are also being done by ACF and other local and international organizations in the other evacuation centers. ###