Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator a.i., Ramesh Rajasingham, Member States briefing on the humanitarian situation in the Philippines, 2 February 2022

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues,

Thank you for joining today’s briefing on the humanitarian situation in the Philippines one and a half months after Super Typhoon Rai – locally known as Odette – made landfall on 16 December last year.

We are here to show our support to the people of the Philippines and stand with them as they continue to grieve the loss of their loved ones, their homes, and their livelihoods.

We are privileged to have with us via video link from Manila His Excellency Mr. Teodoro Locsin Jr., Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Philippines, who will give an overview of the humanitarian situation and the Government’s response to the typhoon.

We also have Mr. Gustavo González, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in the Philippines, who will brief us on the current humanitarian priorities and status of the response.

We have three distinguished panellists who will provide their own perspectives on the response: Ms. Sarah Charles, Assistant to the Administrator of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance; Ms. Regina “Nanette” S.-Antequisa, Executive Director of Ecosystems Work for Essential Benefits, or EcoWEB; and Ms. Veronica Gabaldon,
Executive Director of the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation. Thank you all for joining us today.

Six weeks ago, the world saw the horrific images and heard the heart-breaking accounts of the tremendous devastation caused by Super Typhoon Rai.

Soon after, on 24 December, we launched the Humanitarian Needs and Priorities Plan to support the Government’s efforts. Following a consolidated inter-agency assessment over the past six weeks, today we are launching a revised plan which reflects our greater understanding of the extent of the super typhoon’s damage.

We now know 9.9 million people were affected as the typhoon tore through 11 of the Philippines’ 17 regions.
The scale of destruction and loss evokes memories of Super Typhoon Haiyan – called Yolanda in the Philippines – that struck eight years ago. In some ways Super Typhoon Rai dealt an even worse blow. It destroyed an estimated 1.7 million homes – that is over half a million more than Typhoon Haiyan and it affected people across a far wider geographical area. Some 144,000 people remain displaced, half of whom are in Evacuation Centres with no homes or communities to return to.

Within hours of Typhoon Rai making landfall, humanitarian organizations mobilized in support of the Government’s response. The UN Central Emergency Response Fund swiftly released US$12 million to scale up operations. Since then, many donors have stepped up.

United Nations agencies, the Red Cross family and hundreds of non-governmental organizations and partners – more than half of them local organizations – are working to save lives and livelihoods.

I commend the Government for its remarkable efforts in coping with a disaster of this scale and for its emergency preparedness measures which saved countless lives. The Government is leading to provide food, shelter, essential items, healthcare, and other urgent assistance to affected people.

I thank Member States and partners for generously providing over $51 million against our original $107 million ask.
But as time has passed, our understanding of needs has become clear.

More than 300 health clinics and hospitals have been destroyed or damaged, disrupting routine vaccination programmes and COVID-19 containment measures.

Tens of thousands of families have lost access to essential services such as power or clean water.

Over 710,000 children are unable to attend school due to damaged classrooms and lost materials.

And more than half a million members of the farming and fishing communities have lost their livelihoods.

The revised plan, in line with Government priorities, increases the number of people targeted from 530,000 to 840,000, and to expand our areas of operation to the worstaffected areas of Bohol and Cebu, in addition to ongoing work in Caraga and Region VIII.

To do this, it is calling for $169 million over the next six months.

The Humanitarian Coordinator will elaborate on the plan in more detail.

We will continue to support the Government to ensure that women, children, older people, and people with disabilities are protected.

Super Typhoon Rai is a reminder to us all that vulnerable countries face an urgent and increasing threat from climate change.

We need to help rebuild the affected communities and support them becoming more resilient to similar shocks in the years to come.

The people and the Government of the Philippines deserve our unwavering solidarity and support.

END