Japan grants $2 million aid for Zamboanga

These children and their families, who have taken refuge in makeshift shelters along RT Lim Boulevard, are among the tens of thousands who have fled the fighting.  INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Japanese government announced Wednesday night a $2 million emergency grant aid to support relief and rehabilitation efforts in conflict-stricken Zamboanga City.

In a statement, the Japanese Embassy in Manila said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made the commitment to President Benigno Aquino during bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Asean meeting in Brunei earlier Wednesday.

The amount will be funneled through the International Organization for Migration (IOM), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and World Food Programme (WFP) in support of relief operations.

“On October 9, in a meeting with President Benigno Aquino in Brunei, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that the Government of Japan would extend Emergency Grant Aid of two million US dollars (approximately 164 million Japanese yen)… to support relief operations in the sectors of food, water and sanitation, etc., for the displaced people from the fighting in the island of Mindanao, Philippines,” the Japanese Embassy said.

The emergency aid was allocated in heed of the United Nations’ call for the international community to fill a $21 million funding gap for urgent aid requirements in Zamboanga City for the next six months.

The UN had earlier announced a $3-million emergency allocation for Zamboanga City, where some 117,000 are crammed in evacuation centers, and Basilan, where 8,000 were displaced by conflict.