Dear Supporter,
We hope this update report finds you safe and well.
We are writing to share with you our updated COVID-19 Response Report that covers our main activities and efforts throughout June and July. You will find the complete activity report attached to this email. We encourage you to peruse at your convenience to understand the impact your generous donation has had and continues to have on some of the most vulnerable people across the Philippines.
At the time of writing the report, FundLife and it's local partners have reached over 27,500 people living in poverty and who have been put into poverty since COVID-19. Many of these people have been helped through on-going support and assistance. Full details of our on-going community efforts can be seen in the full report.
The situation in the Philippines remains extremely precarious as quarantine measures are still in effect across all parts of the country. While we are very pleased to report extreme lockdowns have eased somewhat in Cebu City, the economic impact very real with millions of people out of work and struggling to put food on their tables. A survey carried out in July showed that unemployment has passed 45% and Ibon Foundation, a think-tank NGO based in Manila estimates that out of the 18.7 million people the government earmarked for support, less than half have been reached, leaving over 8 million people out of work and out of any government-led help.
In addition to responding to the primary needs of families and children, FundLife has been working to ensure education is not forgotten. At the time of writing, it has already been 160 days that children have been out of any learning and last week the Government announced that education won't resume until October at the earliest. The prospect of children returning to school this year is highly unlikely.
For the 250,000 children living in poverty across Cebu, this means they will almost certainly lose an entire year of education if they are not helped. Without access to learning online and with the backdrop of the dire financial situation at home, children as young as 10 risk dropping out of school completely. The risk for girls is even more pronounced as even before COVID-19, girls in poverty faced increased odds of being asked to give up education in order to look after siblings or take over house chores as parents are forced to work.
One example of this new threat is 16-year old Enerstina, who our team met to better understand how COVID-19 has impacted her life. She is just one adolescent girl of the thousands whose education has been ravaged by COVID-19.
In response to this new reality for so many children and especially girls, FundLife will look to prioritise education for children and will start to reach children with special stay-at-home education packs.
We will share more about this in the coming weeks and also the impact your donations continue to have. As always, we remain grateful for the support you continue to provide and invite you to get in touch if you have any questions about our current work.
With gratitude,
Marko
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Project Reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
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