philippines

United Nations agencies stepped up relief efforts in the Philippines today to help survivors of tropical storm Washi, which the country’s authorities say has killed nearly 1,000 people and left hundreds of thousands of residents of the island of Mindanao in need of humanitarian assistance.

United Nations officials today sent their sympathies to the people of the Philippines after a tropical storm slammed the south of the country at the weekend, causing devastating floods that left more than 500 people dead and hundreds of others missing.

A senior United Nations relief official today voiced concern over the plight of hundreds of thousands of people uprooted from their homes by conflict in the island of Mindanao in the Philippines, saying that many are also enduring the effects of natural disasters, including floods.

The deputy United Nations emergency relief coordinator today embarked on a five-day mission to the Philippines to review humanitarian needs of people affected by conflict and natural disasters.

United Nations humanitarian officials are working with authorities in the Philippines to prepare for what scientists believe to be the imminent eruption of Mount Mayon, an active volcano within close reach of tens of thousands of people.

The recent killing of 57 people in the southern Philippines, including some 30 journalists, must be seen as a watershed moment for the country, two independent United Nations human rights experts said today, stressing the need to bring the perpetrators to justice and take measures to prevent such crimes in the future.

The head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending press freedom today urged the Government of the Philippines to investigate the 23 November attack on a convoy in the province of Minguindanao that left over 55 people, including at least 27 journalists, dead.

Nearly a month after back-to-back typhoons submerged villages across the Philippines, hundreds of thousands of people displaced or still living in flooded areas are in need of safe water, sanitation facilities and hygiene items, the United Nations humanitarian wing said today.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today deplored the recent violence in the southern Philippines, in which more than 40 civilians have been killed in the context of a local election campaign, and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

International aid agencies are seeking nearly $144 million in a revised appeal to support humanitarian efforts in the Philippines, which was hit by a series of storms since September, the United Nations said today.