Labour campaigns matter. And in development they change the world

The Philippines is a long way from home, and for many British families understandably it’s not top of our every day list of priorities. In saying that, British people have been amongst the most generous in the world to the emergency appeal. And from what I can see it’s being well spent.

One big advantage loomed large over the meetings I had today with charities like Cafod and Oxfam, British officials from the Department of International Development, and the United Nations.

Nature has made the Philippines one of the five most dangerous countries on earth and they are now recovering from four different natural disasters from the past year; and the typhoon season isn’t over yet. The crucial advantage the Philippines holds over many other countries that have suffered natural disasters in the last decade is the sheer capacity of its government and civil society. The truth is the strength of those institutions has made a real difference to the relief effort. It’s perhaps too early to tell what the lessons will be from Haiyan but people are already talking about how other countries should learn from the strength and speed of the Filipino government’s response

The issues facing a disaster zone interact like any part of life. So problems with food supply will hold back a local economy, a lack of access will hinder the arrival of water and sanitation support, and a lack of shelter can make safeguarding harder.

The UN confirmed that 204,000 people have been forced into emergency shelter by Hurricane Typhoon. These facilities provide vital respite from the elements in a region and time of year where any day can see torrential rain lasting hours upon hours. But these centres aren’t immune from the storm either. Some are flooded, almost all are over subscribed thanks to the devastating ferocity of Haiyan.

Many of those now huddled in cramped municipal buildings are poor fishermen, agricultural workers and their families who used to live by the sea. They haven’t just lost their homes and their livelihood’s but new government rules aimed at preventing people from moving back so close to the sea and the storm surges mean they’ve lost their old land as well. From a resilience point of view these rules make sense, but for thousands already living in poverty it makes the aftermath of Haiyan even tougher.

What came across throughout today was the sheer complexity of a relief effort. Even with government and local leadership as good as here, the picture in the Philippines is impossibly complicated. The sheer number of agencies, governments, local leaders and charities would make coordination difficult at the best of times but in a disaster zone it can feel almost impossible. Things will never be perfect but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t seek to improve.

Here’s an example. At the UN’s makeshift office close to the airport, staff there told me that it’s vital we get the money in now to buy seeds so that local people who want to get back to work and get on have something to plant in time for the harvest. The UN flash appeal is still only 49% funded, but that right now some money simply isn’t getting through. That’s not just about helping people to feed themselves, but supporting themselves in the future too, and that’s something that has got to be resolved. Time is an enemy on this as the rice seeds need to be planted within weeks if the crop is to be harvested next year.

And it’s not just coordination and funding, sometimes there’s a real problem with conflicting priorities. With so many people made homeless, new accommodation is an urgent necessity, but there’s a tension between speed and durability.

Obviously people need short-term relief but we cannot lose sight of an opportunity to improve resilience for the long-term.

Labour have always said that at least a tenth of the aid we donate for disaster relief should be pointed towards future disasters – building back better in the jargon of humanitarian aid. This government has allocated £5million for exactly that, but I’d like to see them make a commitment to follow Labour’s lead and commit to 10% every time.

But even if we do ensure that money goes on sturdier more long-term buildings the problems don’t end there. Those in emergency shelter will need to be housed for the medium term whilst construction takes place, but a plan to put up thousands of displaced families in communal accommodation opens up questions about safeguarding women and children.

The truth is in a disaster zone coordination is not easy. And after a couple of days in Tacloban I don’t have all the answers,. But I’ll leave here with this thought. This crisis might understandably be falling off the news agenda in the UK but here in the Philippines it has changed lives forever.

No-one who has been here would deny the Filipinos are a resilient nation – because of the way nature treats them they have to be, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need our help. Things might be messy, but aid works, aid saves lives, protects the vulnerable and gets communities back on their feet.

So this is another example of where the government does the right thing on development we’ll support them. And Labour members shouldn’t be squeamish about why. Tony Blair and Gordon Brown led the world after 1997, but it was the campaigning of labour members that helped shape our national debate – and as a consequence the Tories are dong the right thing on their commitment to 0.7% of GNI. Labour campaigns matter. And in development they change the world.

Jim Murphy is the Shadow Secretary of State for International Development