Geneva, 23 December 2021 – The private sector in the Philippines is providing critical emergency assistance to communities affected by Typhoon Rai. The Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), a business network supported by the United Nations Connecting Business initiative (CBi), is mobilizing the private sector in coordination with the Humanitarian Country Team.
Super Typhoon Rai, locally known as Odette, made landfall on Siargo Island in the Philippines on 16 December, after quickly intensifying into a super typhoon. PDRF’s Business-led Emergency Operations Centre was already on red alert, with staff and volunteers monitoring the situation 24/7 and ready to deploy.
The latest assessment conducted by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) shows that at least 2.6 million people are affected. Around 662,000 people have been displaced, with about 418,000 people still in evacuation centres. A total of 159,000 houses have been damaged, out of which 61,900 completely destroyed.
“This typhoon exceeded all predictions. Millions of people are affected and it severely damaged infrastructure, said Veronica Gabaldon, PDRF Executive Director. Beyond immediate relief, recovery efforts will be needed for the local businesses in the touristic islands that are the most affected.”
PDRF is contributing to the emergency response led by the Government in close collaboration with the Humanitarian Country Team. The network has deployed teams to the most affected provinces to assess needs and distribute the donations provided by its member companies. This includes food rations, medical support, air transport for humanitarian personnel and cargo, repairs of evacuation shelters and communication services. The network has also collected more than US$6 million of financial and in-kind donations.
CBi, a joint UNDP – OCHA initiative engaging the private sector before, during and after disasters, is supporting PDRF coordination efforts.
Kareem Elbayar, CBi Programme Coordinator, explained that “PDRF is a model for other private sector networks in the world that CBi is supporting, because of their response capacity and the way they work hand in hand with the Government and the Humanitarian Country Team in the Philippines.”
More details can be found on the Typhoon’s emergency page. PDRF is still collecting donations from businesses and individuals, see more on their fundraising page.
For more information on the private sector response to the ongoing emergency, please contact CBi Philippines focal point Tiina Turunen tiina.turunen@undp.org or CBi Program Coordinator Kareem Elbayar at elbayar@un.org. For media inquiries, contact CBi Communications Specialist Priscilla Lecomte at lecomte@un.org