Ban calls for more funds for
typhoon-hit Philippines
REUTERS
Published — Sunday 22 December 2013
TACLOBAN
CITY, Philippines: UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stepped up an appeal for funds to help
the Philippines
recover from a devastating typhoon last month after visiting stricken areas on
Saturday.
“I was very saddened by what I have seen
in Tacloban — total destruction, and an enormous number of people have been
lost, we need to support them,” Ban told Reuters after driving miles past
flattened and damaged houses.
Haiyan reduced almost everything in its
path to rubble when it swept ashore in the central Philippines on Nov. 8, killing at
least 6,102 people, with nearly 1800 missing, and 4 million either homeless or
with damaged homes.
The United Nations announced an appeal
this week for $800 million of funding to provide 12 months of assistance for 14
million people affected by Haiyan, the strongest typhoon to ever hit land. The
funds would be used to provide access to food, shelter, water, health and
sanitation services.
The call for funding was part of the
highest UN annual appeal ever of $12.9 billion for 2014, with more than half
going to Syria
and its neighbors. So far, the United Nations has received only 30 percent of
targeted amount for the Philippines.
“Of course, there are many other areas
where we need the resources like supporting the Syrian refugees and Syrian
people,” Ban said. “But this time, this cannot be done alone. I appeal to the
international community to support the Filipino people.”
Inspecting repairs at an elementary school
wrecked by the typhoon, Ban was greeted by dozens of school children singing
Christmas carols.
On Wednesday, President Benigno Aquino
unveiled the government’s 361 billion pesos ($8.2 billion) reconstruction plan,
appealing for help from donors and the international humanitarian community as
he promised corruption-free use of aid.
“My message to the Filipino is that never
despair, the United Nations is behind you, the world is behind you” Ban said as
he surveyed the mountain of debris and what little was left of a coastal
village in Tacloban
City.
Ban Ki-Moon
Ban Ki-Moon
is the secretary general for the United Nations,
and an honorary chair at the International Peace
Institute (think tank).
Note: Mortimer
B. Zuckerman is a director at the International Peace
Institute (think tank), a
life trustee at the Urban Institute (think
tank), and was a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think
tank).
Rita E.
Hauser is a director at the International Peace
Institute (think tank), a
director at the New America
Foundation (think tank), and a director at the Atlantic
Council of the United States
(think tank).
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Urban
Institute (think tank), the Aspen Institute (think
tank), the New America
Foundation (think tank), the Committee for Economic
Development, Refugees International,
and the Brookings Institution (think tank).
George Soros
is the chairman for the Foundation to Promote
Open Society, a board member at the International
Crisis Group, founder & chairman for the Open Society
Foundations.
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic
Council of the United States
(think tank).
Fidel V.
Ramos was a board member for the International Crisis Group,
and the president for the Philippines.
Stephen
W. Bosworth is a trustee at the Committee for Economic
Development, and was a U.S.
ambassador for the Philippines.
Stuart
E. Eizenstat is a trustee at the Committee for Economic
Development, a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and a lobbyist
for the Philippines.
Frank G.
Wisner is a director emeritus for Refugees International,
and was a U.S. ambassador
for the Philippines.
Michael
H. Armacost was the president of the Brookings Institution
(think tank), and a U.S.
ambassador for the Philippines.
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