Thousands of Families in the Philippines are Starving, so Who’s Helping Them?

By: Will Concepcion

Thousands of Families in the Philippines are Starving, so Who’s Helping Them?
Jomar Fleras, executive director of Rise Against Hunger in the Philippines, said, "I've never seen hunger at this level before. If you go out there, everybody will tell you that they're more afraid of dying from hunger than dying from Covid. They don't care about Covid anymore." As of 2020, almost one-third of all families in the Philippines didn't have sufficient food to eat at least once in the previous three months, as stated in a September 2020 survey. This equates to 7.6 million households, with 2.2 million experiencing "severe hunger," the highest form of hunger. Before Covid, the percentage of people experiencing hunger was on a decline, starting in 2012. Now, numbers are higher than ever, going up ever since the severe lockdown it went through. In 2019, the Global Hunger Index ranked the Philippines with a 20.1 score, which shows that hunger is a serious and significant issue. Since hunger has been a problem in this country, who is helping them, and how?
Action Against Hunger
Action Against Hunger is an organization that has been working in the Philippines since 2000. They are an organization that has many programs that help those struggling to improve those aspects in their lives. So far, they have aided a total of 663,396 Filipinos as of 2020, and the number continues to grow. They help those especially who have been affected by natural disasters such as typhoons and other internal crises such as migration away from violence.
World Food Programme
The World Food Programme (WFP) is the largest humanitarian organization. It focuses on saving lives in emergencies and utilizing food assistance to provide peace, prosperity, and stability to those recovering from disasters and conflicts. One thing the WFP does is help communities rebuild and grow through exchanging food and cash for their participation in asset-creating activities. They also provide school-aged children with piping hot meals for their school so that these children can "concentrate on their studies, rather than the stomachs."
Rise Against Hunger Philippines
Rise Against Hunger is an organization that works internationally to distribute food and relief aid. In the Philippines, many of the meals they create are sent to areas affected by natural disasters. In the shortest possible time, they send relief aid by mobilizing and utilizing their various networks countrywide, which primarily consists of partners. Furthermore, they provide meals and distribute donated products such as medical supplies, water, and food. Thanks to the cooperation of staff, volunteers, and nonprofit partners, the combined efforts have made their progress a growing success in their journey to end hunger.
Many of these organizations are diligently working around the clock to fight against hunger in the Philippines. Although the number of people starving continues to increase, especially in the Covid-19 times, the number also decreases. This is thanks to the work of these organizations and many more. The question now is, how will you help them?

References:
“Record Hunger in the Philippines as Covid Restrictions Bite.” France 24, 9 Dec. 2020, www.france24.com/en/live-news/20201209-record-hunger-in-the-philippines-as-covid-restrictions-bite.
“Our Impact - Rise against Hunger.” Rise against Hunger, 2016, riseagainsthungerphilippines.org/our-impact/.
Powers, Kiana. “5 Organizations Battling Hunger in the Philippines.” The Borgen Project, 24 July 2020, borgenproject.org/hunger-in-the-philippines/.
“Philippines | World Food Programme.” Wfp.org, 8 Aug. 2019, www.wfp.org/countries/philippines.
“Philippines | Hunger Relief in Asia.” Action against Hunger, 7 July 2011, www.actionagainsthunger.org/countries/asia/philippines.

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