By Judith Ugwumadu | 13 November 2013

The Asian Development Bank has handed over a $23m grant to the Philippines to help speed up relief efforts following typhoon Haiyan.

A further $500m has been set aside as an emergency loan to help reconstruct communities devastated by the by the storm. The bank said it would work with both bilateral and multilateral development partners for timely and effective reconstruction.

It added that ways of mobilising resources would also be explored. This would include the establishment of an ADB-administered multi-donor trust fund.

ADB President Takehiko Nakao said the bank would be working closely with the Philippines government and all other international agencies.

‘ADB will provide full support to the people and the government of the Philippines together with other development partners to speedily implement both needed relief and reconstruction – especially as the Philippines is our home,’ he added.

The aim, he said, was to ‘provide hope and rebuild the lives of more than 11 million people affected by what is being described as one of the Philippines’ worst ever natural disasters’.

In addition, the bank said it had formed a typhoon response team, made up of 40 senior staff with experience in post-disaster situations, to work with the government and development partners.

The team will soon be engaged in a comprehensive damage and needs assessment for recovery and rehabilitation.

Of the $23m being provided, $3m would come from the Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund, ADB’s emergency assistance facility and $20m from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, a trust fund financed by the government of Japan.

Yesterday, the United Nations announced an emergency allocation of $25m to fund critical relief efforts.