This thesis investigates the ways in which children were included in the disaster management efforts of four major humanitarian aid organizations following the 2013 typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. Central concepts are resilience, vulnerability and participation, and the study builds on how these concepts relates to one another. The study examines both the prevalence of efforts addressing children as active participants, as well as the specific forms of active participation that they constitute. Program evaluation reports by Oxfam, UNICEF, IFRC and Save the Children were examined through a qualitative content analysis. The results indicate that contrary to suggestions of previous studies, humanitarian organizations did include children as active participants in their disaster management efforts following typhoon Haiyan. Additional findings include the dominance of school-based participatory efforts, as well as limitations in addressing power structures potentially preventing the long-term resilience-building of children.

My starting point was to gain an understanding of how humanitarian aid was organized in Tacloban City after the disaster of typhoon Haiyan. Two specific sectors has been studied; Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) and Emergency Shelter. As basic parameters the Sphere Handbook (The Sphere Project) served as a guideline, a set of minimum standards of humanitarian response compiled by different humanitarian agencies with the aim to improve the quality of humanitarian assistance. Large parts of the city's urban land area is currently located in a geographic location that poses a significant risk in terms of vulnerability to floods, landslides and storm winds. A summary of risk analysis indicates that a specific area of land south-west of today's city center are more suited as a development site in terms of reduced vulnerability. The strategies of resistance against the forces of nature for the city of Tacloban are divided into four different scales from macro to micro; City, Barangay (the smallest administrative division within the Philippine municipality system), Sitio (territorial enclave inside a barangay) and the private home. / Min utgångspunkt har varit att få en uppfattning kring hur det humanitära biståndet anordnades i staden Tacloban efter naturkatastrofen Haiyan. Två specifika sektorer har undersökts; ”Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM)” och ”Emergency Shelter”. Som riktlinje och grundläggande parameter har jag använt ”The Sphere Handbook” (The Sphere Project), en uppsättning grundläggande standarder som sammanställts av olika humanitära organisationer med målet att förbättra kvaliteten på det humanitära biståndet.Stora delar av Taclobans urbana landområde befinner sig inom ett geografiskt område som utgör en betydande risk vad gäller sårbarhet för översvämningar, jordskred och stormvindar. En sammanställning av riskanalyser visar att ett specifikt landområde sydväst om dagens centrum är mer lämpat som en framtida plats för stadsutveckling. I mitt arbete har jag utvecklat strategier för att staden skall kunna motstå naturens krafter inför ett liknande framtida scenario. Tacloban har delats in i fyra olika skalor från makro till mikro;Staden, Barangay-området (den minsta administrativa divisionen inom det filippinskakommun- systemet), Sitio (territoriell enklav inom ett barangay-område) och det enskilda hemmet.