At least $4 million spent by ICRC to help people in Marawi fighting

October 6, 2017

At least $4,396,000 were spent to protect and assist civilians from the fighting of the government against the Maute-ISIS group in Marawi City, said International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

ICRC said in a statement Friday they spent $2,837,000 for assistance of the evacuees, $547,000 for evacuees protection , $267,000 for coordination with the Philippine Red Cross, $396,000 for water and sanitation of the displaced families and $349,000 for health care since the start of the Marawi crisis on May 23.

There were 53,654 displaced families due to the war where 10,247 individuals are staying in the evacuation centers. Some 209,062 individuals are home-based evacuees, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Humanitarian and Emergency Action Response Team (HEART) said in a Facebook post.

Around 34,960 displaced individuals in Marawi City and in five municipalities of Lanao del Sur received food good for 15 days, ICRC said.

It said at least 63,205 displaced people received essential household and hygiene items in Marawi City and in eight other municipalities of Lanao del Sur.

The organization said they "maintained dialogue with parties to the conflict and monitored respect of humanitarian norms related to the conduct of hostilities, and to protection of civilians, health facilities and staff, wounded and arrested people".

The ICRC said 860 civilians from Marawi safely evacuated with the help of the PRC while around 150 people returned to their families.

The organization provided 460 body bags and other material that can be used for retrieval. They had 125 personnel trained on proper handling of human remains to help in retrieving the bodies of the victims of the war.

It said the ICRC provided medical supplies to nine health facilities in the which helped more than 500 patients, 15 rural health units received 20 emergency health kits and 140 health workers were trained to prevent the diarrhea.

ICRC provided mobile water-treatment units and empowered two pumping stations which provided water to 15, 000 dispaced individuals. The organization built water and and sanitation facilities, and delivered of water with the help of the PRC which serviced around 5,500 individuals.

ICRC supported the PRC response team in Iligan and Lanao Del Norte on on first aid, basic health care units, blood provisions, water and sanitation, psychosocial support, reuniting families, mobilizing volunteers. Alanna Ambi/DMS