ADB extends $23M in grants to survivors

A house is engulfed by the storm surge brought about by powerful typhoon Haiyan that hit Legazpi city, Albay province Friday Nov.8, 2013. AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced that $23 million in grants will be provided for the immediate relief of the survivors of supertyphoon “Yolanda”, according to the ADB website.

An additional $500 million worth of emergency loans is ready to help reconstruct communities ravaged by the supertyphoon.

“We are working in close collaboration with the government and all other international agencies to provide hope and rebuild the lives of more than 11 million people affected by what is being described as on of the Philippines’ worst ever disaster,” said ADB president Takehiko Nakao in the statement.

From the $23 million, $20 million came from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, a trust fund financed by the Japanese government. The remaining $3 million came from the Asia-Pacific Disaster Response Fund, ADB’s emergency assistance facility.

To further improve in the relief efforts, ADB held a coordination meeting today, Wednesday, with the World Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

In addition, ADB formed the Typhoon Yolanda Response Team made up of 40 senior staff members with experience in post-disaster situations to coordinate with the local governments and development partners.

“ADB will provide full support 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,” Nakao said.

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