Funds needed now for relief to typhoon devastated Philippines

(Manila, 23 January 2007): In December, the United Nations and partners launched a Consolidated Appeal for assistance for the people affected by typhoons Durian and Utor, after which over 1,400 people were reported dead or missing. The number of people affected by the last four typhoons since September has risen to more than seven million.

However, apart from donations from Canada and the Central Emergency Response Fund, so far only seven per cent (7%) of the total needed has been received.

Funds are needed immediately to implement urgently needed assistance and to kickstart crucial early recovery measures. After nearly two months, around half a million people in the Bicol region alone are still in need of emergency shelter kits so that they can leave crowded evacuation centres or overburdened host families to repair their homes. Government figures estimate that close to 300,000 people in Albay province, and a further 170,000 in Camarines Sur and Catanduanes, also need food aid for the next few months, clean water and sanitation facilities, and strengthened health systems to keep disease at bay.

"Hundreds of thousands of people in the Bicol region and others devastated by the typhoons will receive assistance more quickly and be able to start rebuilding their lives if the humanitarian community receives the necessary funding to provide emergency aid" said Nileema Noble, the UN Resident Coordinator in the Philippines.

Working in close coordination with the Government of the Philippines, local and international NGOs and organizations such as the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC), UN agencies are providing emergency relief as well as assessing the needs of society's most vulnerable as communities begin to recover from the impact of the typhoons. With adequate funding, these agencies can ensure those most in need receive assistance urgently.

WFP and partners including Care, the Philippine National Red Cross, and Plan, are providing food aid to some 95,000 people in three affected provinces. They plan to boost Government food rations to the many more - especially farming and fishing families - who have lost their livelihoods over the coming months, before the harvest.

Led by IFRC, partners in the Emergency Shelter sector are working closely with provincial government counterparts to identify practicable and locally available materials and tools to supply families with emergency repair kits. The Shelter cluster, which is co-chaired by the Provincial Planning and Development Office, has developed a strategic framework for emergency shelter provision for the coming three months.

While incidences of diarrhoea and other diseases spread by crowded conditions and poor hygiene facilities are currently under control, the health sector urgently needs to strengthen its disease surveillance system, as well as rehabilitating damaged hospitals and clinics. WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, Medecins Sans Frontieres and the health ministries of Indonesia and Malaysia, among others, have already provided the Philippines Department of Health (DoH) with emergency health kits, medical supplies, maternal health kits, and roving health care teams. Another key area of support is a coordinated approach to providing affected people with vital messages on issues like hygiene, food safety, communicable disease and nutrition, as well as the promotion of breastfeeding.

Ensuring a supply of clean water and safe sanitation, especially for people living in overcrowded evacuation centres is a key priority for UNICEF, Oxfam, and other partners. Since early December, 60 large water tanks, thousands of water purification packs and water containers have been provided by UNICEF, while Oxfam has constructed emergency latrines in a number of evacuation centres, as well as supplying treated bottled water, water containers for hospitals and built bath houses and washing areas for affected communities.

Other key assistance, such as logistics support to delivery of food and other supplies by land and sea (IOM); provision of school tents to ensure classes can be held in damaged schools (UNICEF) and setting up of child-friendly spaces (World Vision) is also underway. With additional funds, further humanitarian relief, as envisaged in the Appeal, could be implemented, including the installation of community water tanks, the deployment of a psychosocial assessment team, and the distribution of materials to upgrade temporary shelters.

For further information, please contact: Agnes Aliman at UNIC Manila, at alimana@unicmanila.org or tel. +63 2 3385520. In Bangkok, please contact Amanda Pitt at OCHA ROAP, at pitta@un.org or tel +66 2288 1195.