UN to raise P2.7B for rehabilitation of areas devastated by typhoon Pablo

Luiza Carvalho, country officer for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs announces the launch of a $65-million (P2.7-billion) global aid appeal to help survivors of Typhoon Pablo (Bopha) in Davao City on Monday, Dec. 10, 2012. AFP PHOTO/JASON GUTIERREZ

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—The United Nations on Monday unveiled in Davao City an action plan to rehabilitate areas devastated by typhoon Pablo (international name: Bopha) in Mindanao—particularly the provinces of Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental—and launched a global campaign to raise some P2.7 billion to back it up.

Luiza Carvalho, UN humanitarian coordinator, who visited the affected areas, said she had seen the total devastation of areas hit by Pablo (international code name: Bopha) and called the destruction “beyond imagination.”

“Areas have been completely devastated, only a few damaged buildings still standing,” Carvalho said.

Carvalho said while Pablo’s death toll was shocking—with one town alone losing more than 400 lives—the plight of those who survived the onslaught has been worrisome.

“Entire communities, including pregnant women and children, have no shelter,” she said in a press release sent to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Carvalho said the UN would work closely with Manila “as long as it takes to get everyone back on their feet,” adding that livelihood has been erased and the victims would have no means of immediately supporting themselves.

She said in areas she visited, she saw farms wiped out and plantations very different from what they previously looked like and could not even be mistaken for plantations anymore.

“This devastation cannot be erased overnight,” she said.

Carvalho said under the short-term stage of the UN action plan, the immediate needs of the victims would be fulfilled.

She said these would include food, water, medicine and shelter.

Carvalho said under the long-term component of the UN action plan, survivors would undergo psycho-social therapy sessions to help them recover emotionally.