Children and families in deeper trouble as Philippines aid appeal doubles

Children and families who survived the deadly storms and typhoons in the Philippines now face hunger and health problems, the United Nations said nearly doubling its appeal for funds to help people cope. Back-to-back storms pummelled the islands and left more than 1,100 people dead and 1.7 million homeless. Millions of families were affected and more than 40,000 homes destroyed in late September and early October when storm Ketsana and typhoons Parma and Mirinae struck.

Soon after the disaster in October, the UN made a flash appeal was for 74 million dollars in aid. So far, only 26 million dollars have been received. The organisation said today it needed extra cash because aid agencies were struggling to carry out recovery efforts with limited resources. More than 520,000 children below the age of 5 are among the 4.2 million people still in need of humanitarian aid, revealed the latest assessment by UN agencies and non-governmental organizations. "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," said Jacqueline Badcock, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Philippines.

Without extra funding, she said about 1.7 million people in areas still flooded face serious health risks, some 1.2 million schoolchildren may not be able to carry on their education and 350,000 people may not be able to return to or rebuild their home."Of particular concern for humanitarian agencies are the estimated 1.7 million people still displaced or living in areas that remain flooded," Ms Badcock said, adding that "the urgent needs remain the people who live in evacuation centres, who need continuing assistance with food and shelter."  

The UN said that the disasters badly affected the critical November planting season, which may now be missed, adding to the longer-term implications for food security, if no more funds are raised. Early estimates in the revised appeal showed some 100,000-120,000 farming households had lost 100 per cent of their production and assets. In a separate interview, Badcock told the United Nations News service, IRIN that donors had been waiting for more news about the scale of damage caused, and that the first appeal had not fully taken in the true extent of the devastation. "The extent of the appeal and the damage was not really well understood by everybody until all the assessments were done," she said.