THE UNITED States Agency for International Development (USAID) is set to donate P70 million worth of humanitarian aid in response to the needs of communities affected by severe flooding and landslides in Davao de Oro, Davao del Norte, and Davao City on March 11.
The organization also partnered with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Philippines and Action
Against Hunger to ensure that life-saving assistance reaches the most vulnerable groups, including single-parent households, persons with disabilities, pregnant and lactating women, the elderly, low-income families, and indigenous peoples.
Ben Hemmingway, USAID Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) regional humanitarian director, said the additional funding that they provided to their humanitarian partners is to ensure that affected families will get the help they need.
“Affected families should have access to food, water, sanitation facilities, livelihood restoration, and emergency shelter to get them through those immediate, most challenging, dire circumstances that they were facing during and after the flooding and landslides,” he said.
USAID-BHA also visited some parts of the Davao Region intervened by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Philippines and Action Against Hunger and assessed the impact of the recent flooding incidents and to further explore potential response and recovery efforts, together with partner communities.
Funded by USAID-BHA and implemented by CRS Philippines, along with Caritas Philippines and the Diocese of Tagum Social Action Apostolate, the three-month distribution of the multi-purpose cash assistance (MPCA) aims to help at least 2,000 households in Davao del Norte, particularly in the municipalities of Carmen, Dujali, and New Corella.
This initiative also allowed households particularly those severely affected by the disaster to receive P10,000 each household, which they can use to buy essential shelter, WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene), food, livelihoods, and other critical items according to their needs and priorities.
Initially, CRS Philippines distributed MPCA to 200 households in the Municipality of Dujali and a total of 2,000 households in Carmen. CRS also targets to give more households in the same municipality, such as in New Corella, until May 12, 2024.
Davao del Norte Governor Edwin Jubahib also said USAID aims “to support not only food packs but also agriculture rehabilitation and infrastructure of the provinces.”
