philippines

The United Nations humanitarian wing said today that relief efforts following the recent storms that battered the Philippines are being hampered by funding shortages, noting that only $26 million of the $74 million appeal launched last month has been received so far.

United Nations aid workers are taking part in a rapid assessment mission in three provinces of central Viet Nam, among the areas hit hardest by Typhoon Mirinae, which has killed at least 98 people and left a trail of destruction worth more than $56 million.

United Nations aid agencies are at work in the Philippines and Viet Nam after yet another typhoon pummelled the region, bringing heavy rains, causing power outages and communication problems and raising the threat of renewed floods.

Helping farmers rebuild their livelihoods has become one of the priorities of relief and recovery efforts in the wake of the recent deadly typhoons that pummelled the Philippines, the United Nations humanitarian wing reported today as it called on donors to step up funding for its appeal.

The top United Nations official in Asia and the Pacific and the leader of the Philippines today discussed how the country is coping in the aftermath of a series of deadly storms, as well as the region’s response to the ongoing financial crisis.

The head of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) begins a three-day visit to the Philippines tomorrow to get a first-hand look at the impact of the devastating floods that have affected more than seven million people.

The crisis in the Philippines in the aftermath of two devastating storms that recently hit the country is not over, the United Nations humanitarian chief said today, as he appealed once again to donors to support the relief and recovery efforts.

The top United Nations emergency relief official arrived in the Philippines today, pledging full cooperation after two successive storms affected over 6 million people, killing more than 500 and displacing scores of thousands of others, and caused crop damage estimated at over $160 million.

United Nations agencies are mobilizing to provide longer-term recovery aid to a raft of countries in Asia and the Pacific, where a relentless barrage of tropical storms, earthquakes and tsunamis have hit millions of people in recent days.

The United Nations is ramping up its relief operations in flood-stricken South-East Asia, appealing for donor support and rushing food to southern Laos where some 250,000 people have been hit by typhoon-spawned rain that have already affected an estimated 3 million in the Philippines.