US$48-M more needed for Pablo survivors

MORE than US$48-million international aid is needed to help the nearly million Filipinos to fully recover from the catastrophe of Typhoon Pablo, according to the United Nations (UN) and the Philippine government.

The revised action plan for recovery that was launched by UN humanitarian coordinator Luiza Carvalho and Social Welfare and Development Secretary Dinky Soliman seeks US$48 million more to cover the funding gap for the US$76-million appeal intended for the life-saving aid to survivors of Pablo.

Eva Modvig, public information officer for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha), said they increased the amount of their appeal from $65 million to $76 million on December 10, 2012 to cover wider humanitarian areas.

Modvig said $27 million of the $76 million was raised, 70 percent from the non-government organizations (NGOs) and 30 percent from the UN agencies.

DAVAO. Eva Modvig, of the United Nations, says they are just filling in the gaps to help the government address the concerns needed for the areas affected by Typhoon Pablo in a press conference on Tuesday at the Pinnacle Hotel. (King Rodriguez)

She said rehabilitation appeal starts on Friday and covers the period of six months until June this year.

"As I said before, it's very important to recognize that we're working in support of the government of this response. So we are supporting in filling gaps in a response to the government also," Modvig said.

In a statement, Ocha said the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (Cerf) has allocated $10 million to provide immediate life-saving assistance.

Ocha said that pledges, commitments, and contributions from donors, including United States, Australia, Japan, the European Union, Canda, Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland and others, have provided an additional $17 million.

The appeal will cover 46 projects in 12 humanitarian sectors. The Ocha identified the durable shelters and identification of resettlement sites for communities vulnerable to floods and landslides, food security and agriculture, access to water, sanitation and hygiene services, recovery and reestablishment of livelihoods, protection, health, nutrition and education as the priority humanitarian needs.

The organization said a combined total of $17 million is requested for the early recovery and livelihood clusters; $10 million for food security and agriculture; shelter cluster needs $11.5 million; and $4 million is requested for water, sanitation, and hygiene (Wash).

The Ocha said the funding requested per person is $82.

Typhoon Pablo affected 6.2-million individuals with 1,067 died and more than 800 people missing when it battered the provinces of Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley in December 4.