By Judith Ugwumadu | 11 November 2013
European relief efforts have been set in motion following the Philippine authorities’ request for international assistance to deal with the aftermath of typhoon Haiyan.
The European Union Civil Protection Mechanism has been activated to respond to the country’s most urgent priorities. Several member states are expected to send material support to the Philippines.
Kristalina Georgieva, commissioner for international cooperation, humanitarian aid and crisis response, said she was ‘deeply shocked by the devastation caused by tropical cyclone Haiyan’.
The priority was to restore access to remote areas hit by the storm, she said.
As a matter of urgency, humanitarian aid will be delivered ‘to the hundreds of thousands of people who have been left homeless and ensure that they have clean water to drink, emergency food supplies and shelter,’ said Georgieva.
‘This is what we are all working on right now through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.’
According to the European Commission, Sweden will provide a base camp with communication equipment to support the international coordination effort.
Belgium has shipped a medical team and a water purification unit to help address the acute need for clean drinking water. Hungary has committed a search and rescue team and medical doctors will be sent shortly, while the UK and France will send shelter kits. Germany has deployed needs -assessment experts.
Further in-kind contributions are expected to be delivered through the EUCP within the coming days.
The EC’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre, which has been monitoring the situation in the Philippines, has already deployed an advanced assessment team of two experts.
The commission said a team of around eight civil protection experts would be dispatched within the next few days to coordinate the rescue efforts with the Philippine authorities and humanitarian organisations.
Meanwhile, on Sunday the EC said it would make available €3m of emergency funds available for immediate humanitarian needs.
The storm struck the Phillippines on Friday morning with sustained winds of 315kph (195mph) and gusts as strong as 380kph (235mph). An estimated 10 million people, or over 10% of the Philippine population, have being directly affected.
The death toll continues to rise and is expected to exceed 10,000 victims. National and international relief efforts are ongoing, but are expected to be further complicated by a new approaching storm, the EC said.
The full extent of destruction is still being assessed.
