In a news briefing in New York, the Director of the Operation Division for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, John Ging, said the funds were released from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) “to enable humanitarian agencies to mobilize their response quickly.”
Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, is the biggest typhoon recorded in almost a century, and according to OCHA, it has affected nearly 9.8 million people and displaced an estimated 660,000 people. Local officials estimate that some 10,000 people were killed in one city alone, and the overall number is expected to increase as aid workers reach more affected communities.
“The devastation has been huge […] all of our efforts are on mobilizing very quickly and on responding on an equally massive scale,” Mr. Ging said.
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos is set to arrive to the country tomorrow to launch a flash appeal in Manila, the capital.
“We are very much in support and we are focused, first and foremost, on the requirements for food, shelter support and medical support, to prevent the outbreak of public health disasters,” Mr. Ging said, adding that it is a priority to bury the bodies of those that perished in the deluge.
Overcoming logistical constraints is also a challenge due to the damage to infrastructure, roads, and airports. “The scale of devastation also impacts the capacity to get aid to the people where they most need it. Clean drinking water is a very big priority right now,” Mr. Ging said.
Click on graphic for a larger detailed versionIn a news release, Ms Amos said: “UN agencies and humanitarian partners are working hard to support the Government and local authorities in their efforts to help people. We have deployed specialist teams, vital logistics support and dispatched critical supplies - but we have to do more and faster.”
According to OCHA, UN agencies and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) will use CERF funding to provide emergency food assistance, supply emergency shelter materials and household items, assist with the provision of emergency health services, safe water supplies and sanitation facilities for the most vulnerable.
The funding will also be used for critical protection, nutrition and emergency activities, camp coordination and management, and logistics to enable a coordinated rapid relief response.
In a telephone conversation with the Foreign Minister of the Philippines this morning, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon offered his condolences for all those who have suffered as a result of the disaster and re-affirmed the support and solidarity of the UN.
un.org
11/11/13
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US sends water, generators, and troops to aid deadly typhoon survivors...
ReplyDeleteThe U.S. military has dispatched aid and troops to some of the areas of the Philippines that were hardest-hit by a deadly typhoon Friday, providing the first outside help of what is expected to be a major aid mission in the coming days and weeks.
Two U.S. C-130 transport planes containing water, generators, and a contingent of Marines flew from Manila's Vilamor air base to the city of Tacloban, where officials fear that Typhoon Haiyan may have killed as many as 10,000 people.
A U.S. Marine brigadier general who took a helicopter flight over Tacloban says "every single building" was destroyed or severely damaged. Paul Kennedy spoke as supplies were unloaded from the two Marine C-130 planes.
The Philippine military says it has confirmed 942 people have died in the aftermath of the storm, with 275 others confirmed missing. The death toll is expected to rise considerably as officials and aid workers access the worst-hit areas and discover more bodies.
Disrupted transportation and communications links have made it difficult to count the dead and distribute relief goods. Destruction from the typhoon, which slammed into the central Philippines on Friday, was extensive, with debris blocking roads and trapping decomposing bodies.
Meanwhile, the Philippine National Red Cross said Monday its search and rescue efforts are being hampered by looters, including some who attacked trucks of food and other relief supplies the agency was shipping from a port city.
Rescuers also faced blocked roads and damaged airports on Monday as they raced to deliver desperately needed tents, food and medicines to the eastern Philippines.
Police guarded stores to prevent people from hauling off food, water and such non-essentials as TVs and treadmills, but there was often no one to carry away the dead -- not even those seen along the main road from the airport to Tacloban, the worst-hit city along the country's remote eastern seaboard......http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/11/11/us-sends-water-generators-and-troops-to-aid-storm-survivors/
11/11/13
U.S. sends aircraft carrier to aid disaster-stricken Philippines...
ReplyDeleteWASHINGTON, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has ordered the aircraft carrier USS George Washington and other U.S. Navy ships to make best speed for the Philippines to aid disaster relief efforts there, the Pentagon said Monday.
Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said in a statement that the aircraft carrier, which carries 5,000 sailors and more than 80 aircraft, is currently in Hong Kong for a port visit. The crew is being recalled early from shore leave and the ship is expected to be underway later Monday evening.
In company with the carrier will be the cruisers USS Antietam and USS Cowpens, and the destroyer USS Mustin. The supply ship USNS Charles Drew is already underway and will rendezvous with the group as they get closer. USS Lassen got underway Sunday for the region.
Embarked on board USS George Washington is Carrier Air Wing Five, which has a collection of aircraft designed to perform various functions including disaster relief and includes Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 12 flying the MH-60S Seahawk; and Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 77 flying the MH-60R Seahawk.
The Pentagon said these ships and aircraft will be able to provide humanitarian assistance, supplies, and medical care in support of the ongoing efforts led by the government and military of the Philippines. The ships should be on station within 48-72 hours.
Super Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines on Friday and Saturday. An estimated 10,000 people in central Philippine province of Leyte might have been killed.
http://english.cntv.cn/20131112/100952.shtml
12/11/13
Russia Sends 2 Planes to Support Philippines Relief Efforts...
ReplyDeleteMOSCOW, November 12 (RIA Novosti) – Russia has sent two planes carrying medical aid to the Philippines as the world acts to help the typhoon-ravaged Southeast Asian nation.
The Ilyushin-76 planes are carrying doctors, rescuers and psychologists to support relief efforts in the Philippines, said Oleg Voronov, deputy head of Russia’s Emergencies Ministry’s crisis center.
The UN will send $25 million in aid to help the country deal with the aftermath of the typhoon, one of the strongest storms on record, the organization’s head said Monday.
A total of 23 countries, including the US, China and EU states, have offered humanitarian assistance and financial aid, the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs said Monday.
The Philippines has declared a state of national disaster after Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, swept across the country Friday, devastating towns and cities.
According to the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the typhoon has affected nearly 9.8 million people and displaced an estimated 660,000 people. Local officials say some 10,000 people might have been killed on the hardest-hit Leyte island......http://en.ria.ru/russia/20131112/184658416/Russia-Sends-2-Planes-to-Support-Philippines-Relief-Efforts.html
12/11/13