Statement on Typhoon Haiyan,
Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade
Wednesday, 13 November 2013
Typhoon Haiyan which made landfall across the Philippines on Friday, 8 November was the strongest typhoon in the world this year and one of the most powerful storms ever recorded. Haiyan left a trail of devastation through the Philippines’ central islands. Withpower and telecommunications lines down and vital infrastructure destroyed, the impact of the typhoon extends beyond those areas which were in the immediate eye of the storm.
This Monday, the Government of the Philippines declared a State of Calamity in Samar, Leyte, Cebu, Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan and Palawan provinces. As with all natural disasters, local authorities and communities, as well as the Philippine Red Cross society, have led the initial response. However, yesterday (12 November), the approach of a further tropical depression and anticipated heavy rainfall forced the suspension of the delivery of relief supplies to victims of the Typhoon in certain areas (the barangays of Carles and Concepsion).
While the media is reporting unconfirmed estimates of up to 10,000 deaths, the official estimated loss of lifestands between 2,000 – 2,500 people (as of 12 November). An estimated 11.3 million people across 41 provinces have been affected (representing over 10% of the country’s population), with up to800,000 people displaced.
As a nation prone to natural disasters, the Philippines has a relatively strong National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and it is worth emphasising that the Government’s proactive evacuation of hundreds of thousands of citizens before the storm struck the coast is likely to have resulted in fewer deaths than may otherwise have been the case.
The response of the international community to this disaster has been rapid, with a large UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team and a team of experts from the European Commission’s Directorate for Humanitarian Assistance and Civil Protection (ECHO) being deployed to assist the national authorities to assess the impact of the disaster as early as Friday, 8 November.
These assessment missions have fed into the development of a UN Flash Appeal, launched yesterday (Tuesday, 12 November). This appeal calls for funding of US $301million to cover immediate emergency relief, and continued support to the affected populations over the coming six months. Lack of safe drinking water has been identified as the most immediate threat to life, with supplies having been cut off in many areas. Other high priorities include: provision of shelter; health care, particularly for trauma injuries; provision of food; and, sanitation and hygiene.
In terms of response to date, on Monday, the United Nations announced an emergency allocation of US$25 million to fund critical relief efforts. This allocation from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), a pooled fund from which financing can be made rapidly available in the event of disasters such as these, will allow agencies to respond quickly to the needs of communities across the affected region. Ireland was one of the founding donors to this Fund on its establishment in 2006 and is consistently ranked amongst its top ten donors. We most recently contributed €10 million in 2012.
For our part, Irish Aid closely monitored the progress of Typhoon Haiyan over the course of the last week and had put in place preliminary arrangements for response prior to the storm making landfall on Friday. As a result of this preparatory action, Ireland was one of the first countries to react to this terrible disaster and our announced funding is the 7th highest stated national commitment to date.
As the scale of the destruction wreaked by this storm became evident over the weekend, the airlifting of essential relief items to the value of €510,000 from our stocks in Dubai was activated and an urgent call for proposals was issued to our trusted NGO partners. It is expected that, on the basis of the proposals received, at least one million euro will be released to support our NGO partners’ relief operations, bringing the value of our overall contribution to just over €1.5 million. In addition, we have approved the release of €300,000 in funds pre-positioned with NGO partners for sudden emergencies such as these, and expect to approve the release of a further €125,000 by the end of the week. We arealso actively considering a further airlift of essential shelter items in the coming days on the basis of forthcoming needs assessments.
In addition, members of Ireland's Rapid Response Corps, a roster of experienced humanitarian experts available to deploy at short notice, are on standby to assist with, and fill critical gaps in, the relief effort, at the request of our key UN partners. We fully expect that a number of members will be deployed in the coming days.
Before closing and taking any questions you may have, I would just like to highlight the many challenging facets of the response to this disaster. Evidently, the damage caused to vital infrastructures, including roads, airports and telecommunications, is a critical challenge to the rapid delivery of relief items. The very geography of the Philippines, a large archipelago, will also complicate the delivery of relief.
And last but not least, it is important to recognise the immense strain placed upon humanitarian agencies in terms of their staff capacity and on donors’ humanitarian budgets by the unprecedented requirements of the response to the Syria crisis.
That said, the international community has learned many lessons from previous crises, such as the 2004 Tsunami and the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Under the leadership of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, clear systems have been put in place to ensure the most effective, efficient and rapid delivery of aid possible. Ireland has and will continue to make every effort to ensure our response is timely and effective, and meets the most critical, immediate needs.
Thank you.