Press centre

Joint press release

UN Flash Appeal of nearly $75 million for assistance to victims of Ketsana/Ondoy

MANILA, 7 October 2009 - The United Nations and the Government of the Philippines presented today in Manila a joint appeal seeking $74,021,809 to meet the urgent needs of one million of those affected by Tropical Storm Ondoy (international codename Ketsana). The appeal is for six months.

The sudden storm dropped a month’s rainfall on Metro Manila and surrounding areas in around six hours, affecting almost four million people. More than a week after, around 335,000 people still remain in temporary evacuation centers, while many more continue to depend on humanitarian assistance from the government, and the national and international humanitarian community.

“The Flash Appeal seeks to generate funds in key sectors including food, shelter, water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency telecommunications and logistics, child protection, coordination and camp management,” said UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman who participated in the announcement. “It also provides for time-critical agricultural and early recovery programs.”

The UN has delivered food and non-food items and is committed in supporting the relief and recovery efforts of the government as long as it is needed.

“Families have lost their loved ones as well as their homes and livelihoods,” said Veneman. “Children have also been severely traumatized by the effects of the storms and getting them back into their daily routines is critical.”

The United Nations Resident Coordinator in the Philippines, Ms. Jacqui Badcock, noted that “While normalcy may have returned to many parts of the capital, over a million people in affected areas continue to be in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. A major response from the international donor community is now absolutely essential if the current operation is to be scaled up to meet the needs on the ground.”

Notes: A Flash Appeal is a request for funds by UN agencies responding to a sudden humanitarian crisis coordinate their response. It presents a unified set of funding needs to donors. It provides a concise overview of urgent life-saving needs and a plan to address acute needs for up to six months based on the best available information at the time of writing.

The partnership between the UN and the Philippines began in 1945 when the Philippines joined 49 other nations in signing the United Nations Charter in San Francisco, USA. This partnership has progressed since then into a number of development initiatives, activities and programmes. Technical, financial and other forms of assistance to the Philippines began in the late 1940s, as the country recovered from the ravages of World War II.

For more information, please contact:
Ms. Marge Francia, Communication Officer, UNICEF,
Tel + 632 901.0173, ++632 917.858.9447,
E-mail: mfrancia@unicef.org

Mr. Danton Remoto, Communication Officer, UNDP ,
Tel + 632 901.0239, ++632 918.979.3665,
E-mail: danton.remoto@undp.org

Patrick McCormick, UNICEF NY,
Tel + 1 212 326 7426,
E-mail: pmccormick@unicef.org