The UN has launched an appeal for USD 301 M to help relief efforts in typhoon-hit areas of the Philippines, the BBC reports. At least 10,000 people are feared to have been killed by Typhoon Haiyan, which struck the central Philippines on Friday.
The UN says more than 11 million people are believed to have been affected by the storm and some 673,000 displaced. Several countries have deployed ships to help the relief effort, but bad weather is hampering aid distribution.
Valerie Amos, the UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief, has arrived in Manila to head the aid operation.She told the BBC that people in the affected regions were “absolutely desperate”.
“They need food, they need water, they need shelter. People need to be protected,” she said. Launching the appeal, she said the UN would work alongside the Philippines government, and that efforts would focus on “food, health, sanitation, shelter, debris removal and also protection of the most vulnerable”. “I very much hope our donors will be generous,” she told reporters.
The UN had already released USD 25m to address the immediate needs of survivors, with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon describing the situation as “heartbreaking”.
previous post
