United Nations doubles aid

To help storm-ravaged Philippines:

PHILIPPINES: The United Nations on Wednesday nearly doubled its appeal for funds to help the Philippines cope with the effects of back-to-back storms that left over 1,100 people dead and 1.7 million homeless.

The office of the UN’s resident coordinator in Manila said the agency had revised upward its appeal to 143.7 million dollars, almost twice the 74 million dollars it had initially requested in October.

Of the original appeal only 26 million dollars, or just 18.6 percent, has so far been raised, limiting the ability of aid agencies to effectively help those still in dire need of assistance, the UN said.

“The emergency response is being hampered by low levels of funding, particularly in areas such as agriculture, protection, shelter and education of children,” UN resident coordinator Jacqueline Badcock said in a statement.

“We are presenting this revised appeal today, in the hope that the international community will do all they can to further assist the millions of Filipinos still affected today by the impact of multiple typhoons that have ravaged the country,” she said.

She added that if the funding shortfall continued, approximately 1.7 million people in areas still flooded face serious health and protection risks and some 1.2 million school children may not be able to resume their education.

Tropical storm Ketsana dumped a month’s worth of rain on Manila and outlying provinces on September 26, inundating more than 80 percent of the capital and washing away entire lakeshore and riverside communities.

A week later, typhoon Parma ravaged areas further north on the Philippines’ main Luzon island, triggering floods and landslides and destroying large agriculture lands.

The UN said that the November planting season may also be missed, adding to the longer-term implications for food security, if no additional funds are raised.

The storms claimed more than 1,100 lives, including deaths from an outbreak of a flood-borne disease.

Of the more than nine million people affected, over 85,000 still remain in crowded evacuation centres, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said, while many others have been taken in by relatives or are staying with friends. MANILA, Wednesday, AFP