Spanish Humanitarian Aid to Sendong Victims

The Embassy of Spain announced that the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID, Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo) has granted 1,410,000 Euros in humanitarian aid to provide emergency and early recovery relief to victims of tropical Storm “Sendong”.

The Spanish Humanitarian Office of AECID has allocated 400,000 Euros of bilateral aid to provide emergency assistance. As of date, the AECID Regional Technical Office in Caraga has purchased locally and delivered at Cagayan de Oro 200,000 Euros worth of Food, Water and Non Food Items, which are currently stored in the warehouse of Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Region X and are available for distribution among affected families.

AECID has also financed the deployment by Albay Provincial Government of a water treatment plant previously donated to Albay public safety and emergency management office to Cagayan de Oro which is already operational.

Additionally, 200,000 Euros have been earmarked to address temporary housing for evacuees in relocation sites, as well as water and sanitation in those areas. With this amount, the Spanish Technical Cooperation Office, in coordination with DSWD, intends to build semi-permanent-shelters units and provide beneficiaries with water infrastructures.

Likewise, in partnership with Spanish NGOS and on the basis of existing emergency agreements, AECID has released 510,000 Euros to the following three NGOS: Action against Hunger (100,000 Euros to tackle food Security and WASH); Save the Children (270,000 Euros for rehabilitation of affected schools and hygiene promotion) and Spanish Red Cross (140,000 Euros to supply safe drinking water through the operation of three water treatment plants). These NGOs are fully active both in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City.

Through multilateral agencies, AECID has committed 500,000 Euros to UNICEF for WASH support including cluster coordination efforts, construction of sanitation facilities, hygiene promotion, sewage disposal and distribution/storage of safe drinking water through the provision of tanks and trucks.

The Embassy of Spain and its Technical Cooperation Office in Manila continue to work in permanent coordination with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the DSWD as well as with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations (OCHA) and the UN Humanitarian Coordinator within the framework of the Humanitarian clusters.