28 January 2014

New Zealander to Help with Philippines Recovery Effort

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Photo credit: New Zealand Red Cross.

New Zealand Red Cross recovery advisor Elizabeth McNaughton has travelled to the Philippines to help with the recovery from Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated parts of the country in November.

The typhoon killed more than six thousand people, and almost 1800 are still missing. More than a million houses were damaged, and two months after the disaster four million people are still displaced.

Ms McNaughton has been seconded to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in the position of Interim Recovery Coordinator.

She will be responsible for helping the Philippine Red Cross finalise a recovery strategy, and draft a plan of action for the next two years.

The IFRC plans to support 500,000 people in the coming two years, and still needs to raise half of the estimated 126 million Swiss francs (171 million NZD) needed.

Ms McNaughton has previously worked as the New Zealand Red Cross National Recovery Manager, leading the development of a recovery strategy for Christchurch after the February 2011 earthquake.

She says she will be drawing on the lessons learned in Canterbury.

“The global Red Cross Movement was here for Cantabrians when they needed it. It’s a privilege to be able to share lessons from Christchurch, especially when we think of all the Filipino workers contributing in a very hands on way to the Christchurch rebuild.”

Ms McNaughton is an experienced aid worker whose past assignments include working on recovery programmes in south Asia after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. In 2012 she completed a Winston Churchill Fellowship studying the leadership challenges faced by those who led the recovery from disasters such as Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, the Black Saturday bushfires in Australia and earthquakes in San Francisco and L’Aquila, Italy.

You can read her report on her blog at http://elizabethmcnaughton.com/

Elizabeth is the 10th New Zealand Red Cross aid worker to travel to the Philippines to help in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan.

Her current role is Principal Advisor, Strategy and Planning, to New Zealand Red Cross secretary general Tony Paine.

To donate to the Typhoon Haiyan appeal go to www.redcross.org.nz/donate/typhoon-haiyan-appeal/

ENDS

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