MANILA | December 29, 2021—The United States government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is allocating an additional P950 million ($19 million) in humanitarian assistance to help communities affected by Typhoon Odette, bringing total U.S. support for this response to more than P1 billion ($20.2 million).

The U.S. Embassy in Manila said in a statement that with this assistance, USAID will provide food aid; water, sanitation, and hygiene programs to help keep people healthy; and shelter assistance to meet emergency needs and help affected communities start rebuilding their homes.

U.S. Embassy in the Philippines Chargé d’Affaires (CDA) ad interim Heather Variava announced the additional assistance on Dec. 27, saying the additional assistance “will help deliver food and hygiene supplies, and provide life-saving support to those most in need.”

This new funding is in addition to the P50 million ($1 million) announced earlier this week to support emergency logistics efforts to ensure aid is delivered to those in hard-to-reach areas.  This assistance also builds on the P10 million ($200,000) that USAID provided immediately after the storm for food, water, and hygiene supplies; to restore water supply services and sanitation facilities; and to support hygiene promotion activities.

To show U.S. support on behalf of the American people, CDA Variava plans to visit communities affected by Typhoon Odette and see ongoing U.S. relief activities.

USAID works year-round to help communities in the Philippines prepare for natural disasters.  Through existing programs, USAID’s partners are transporting relief supplies, including enough food provided by the Philippine government to feed nearly 103,000 families.  

USAID partners are also helping manage evacuation shelters, deploy mobile operations vehicles to support emergency telecommunications, and provide heavy-duty plastic sheeting to meet the shelter needs of 4,800 families.

The Embassy also said the United States will continue to partner with the Philippines to respond to natural disasters and support Filipinos in their recovery efforts.  

Since 2010, USAID has provided more than Php17 billion ($340 million) in disaster relief and recovery aid, and boosted the disaster risk reduction capacity of over 100 cities and municipalities in the Philippines, it added. ~