UN food agency launches campaign to raise $21.6M for ‘Pablo’ victims

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—The UN’s World Food Programme on Tuesday launched a separate campaign to raise $21.6 million in funds as hunger continues to threaten areas devastated by Typhoon Pablo.

The WFP’s fund drive is part of the $65-million global fund-raising campaign that the UN launched here Monday.

Stephen Anderson, WFP Philippines country director, said the WFP fund drive was aimed at boosting the humanitarian agency’s efforts to provide of “life-saving food and nutrition assistance, as well as logistics support for 400,000 people” who have been most affected by Pablo in “the worst-hit areas of  Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental, the Caraga region, and Lanao del Sur.”

Anderson said the WFP’s food assistance for Pablo victims will run until May next year.

“(It) complements the government’s ongoing relief and early recovery operations through a single food supply pipeline, jointly managed with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), to ensure an efficient and coordinated response to food needs on the ground,” he said.