Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 5) – The United Nations and its humanitarian partners announced on Tuesday a ₱6-billion humanitarian response aid plan for the marginalized sector of the country direly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) COVID-19 Response Plan is the largest humanitarian aid plan given by the UN to the country since the onslaught of Super Typhoon Yolanda in 2013.
In a statement, the UN said the response plan aims to provide “critical health interventions and multi-sectoral humanitarian assistance” to 5.4 million marginalized Filipinos living in poor, urban areas. The program will also target the safety of women and girls.
The HCT response plan will also support the national government in addressing the most immediate challenges related to health, food security, water and sanitation, and risk communication among others.
“The pandemic is challenging the capacity of response of any single country in the world. Our role is to make best use of our global knowledge and resources to join Government’s efforts to contribute to the safety and well-being of the Filipino people,” said Gustavo Gonzalez, UN resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator in the Philippines.
Around 50 country-based UN and non-governmental partners are contributing to the HCT response plan. Some 23 percent of the response plan has been mobilized so far, according to the UN.
The UN-initiated COVID-19 response plan will be implemented until the end of the year, but it will be “updated as needs resulting from the pandemic change.”
“As we work together to support government efforts to contain the virus against the demand to restore the economy, the UN and humanitarian partners will continue to seize opportunities to build greater resiliency, equity and inclusivity, in short, to build forward better,” Gonzalez emphasized.
The country is also part of the $10.3 billion UN Global Humanitarian Response Plan which supports 63 of the most vulnerable countries to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last July, the Bureau of Treasury announced the country’s debt soared past the ₱9-trillion mark in June as the national government borrowed more for its pandemic response measures. The government has so far secured program loans worth ₱216.3 billion for coronavirus response, with ₱130.5 billion from the Asian Development Bank and ₱85.8 billion from the World Bank.
