$5.5M for disaster-prone areas in PH

MANILA, Philippines—The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance, has allocated $5.5 million (about P184 million) to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) intended for Philippine provinces threatened by natural disasters and climate change related risks.

The new grant will support the rollout of the third phase of WFP’s Disaster Preparedness and Response/Climate Change Adaptation Program, which was piloted in 2011 in the highly disaster-prone provinces of Benguet, Cagayan, Laguna, and Sorsogon.

In a statement, WFP-Philippines said the phase would expand WFP’s activities to five new provinces, namely Batangas, Misamis Oriental, and Iloilo, as well as in the Typhoon Pablo-affected areas of Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley.

Also to be incorporated in the program are climate change activities.

“The US grant will be used to support projects to be identified and proposed by the communities themselves. The projects will help communities to prepare for and respond to natural hazards that are most likely to affect their areas—therefore benefiting tens of thousands of Filipinos across different provinces throughout the country,” the WFP said.

WPF-Philippines representative and country director Praveen Agrawal thanked the US government for the donation and the “continued support to and confidence” in WFP’s disaster preparedness and climate change adaption programs.

“The feedback from the first two phases has been very positive, and through this generous grant from the US, we will be able to expand efforts and assist more communities in building their resilience to natural hazards, including the impact of climate change. We believe this work can help create a more food secure Philippines,” he said. Jerome Aning