Philippines: UN campaign to raise $107.2 million for Typhoon Rai victims

The United Nations kicked off a campaign Friday to raise $107.2 million in aid for victims of Typhoon Rai, which ravaged the Philippines last week.

The money will be targeted towards 530,000 people in the worst-affected areas, who are in dire need of drinking water, sanitation facilities, food and emergency shelter, the organization said.

“There is momentum for full support,” UN Resident Coordinator in the Philippines Gustavo Gonzalez told a virtual press conference earlier.

“Now the challenge is that all of this announcement and solidarity is rapidly translated into concrete actions.”

Rai devastated swathes of the southern and central regions of the archipelago when it hit as a super typhoon, leaving at least 375 people dead and hundreds of thousands homeless.

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It destroyed houses, uprooted trees, wiped out crops, shattered fishing boats and knocked out power across entire islands.

The military, coast guard and humanitarian organizations are racing to get food, drinking water and temporary shelter to the hardest-hit regions.

But the scale of the destruction, lack of mobile phone signal or internet in many areas, and depleted government coffers after the Covid-19 response has hampered efforts to distribute aid.