OFDA by Carol Han
USAID Issues Holiday Plea: Donate Cash for Philippines, as Military Withdraws
As the U.S. military mission shrinks and winter sets in, the head of USAID is urging Americans to donate money to typhoon victims in the Philippines. By Kevin Baron
The Obama administration’s top aid official issued an urgent plea on Friday asking Americans to donate cash to humanitarian organizations helping typhoon victims in the Philippines survive the coming winter.
“Today we’re launching a public service campaign asking Americans to do what they can to provide support to families in the Philippines that are looking at a very difficult winter,” said U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Raj Shah, in an interview with Defense One. “Now that the cameras are going away it’s even more important that Americans do everything they can.”
USAID has set up a website -- http://philippinesrelief.adcouncil.org -- where Americans can donate cash to 50 American humanitarian organizations, including the American Red Cross, CARE, and Oxfam, “that have been carefully vetted,” Shah said. “Its far more effective and efficient and quick to send financial support to professional humanitarian organizations,” he said, rather than in-kind gifts like blankets, food and water. “These humanitarian organizations will need sustained support.”
Post-typhoon relief efforts in the Philippines are moving beyond the initial response phase, he explained, which involved U.S. Navy and Marine Corps assets from the U.S.S. George Washington aircraft carrier group. “More than 4,000 people have already died, including so many children,” Shah said. “We know that 700,000 homes have been damaged or completely destroyed.” Additionally, he estimated 2.5 million people urgently need food.
“We’ve had a team on the ground working with our military,” Shah said, with troops helping evacuate families before and after the storm struck and airlifting in food, water and plastic sheeting.
“The military’s capabilities are critical, especially in the first moments of response.
What you saw was an extraordinary response, where there were more than 1,000 Marines on the ground” clearing rubble and making way for humanitarian aid groups to get in, he said. Now that roads are passable and a humanitarian system has been established, Shah said the short-term military assistance is less necessary. U.S. troops now will remain involved in helping restart water systems, energy systems, provide medical care and food distribution.
But more than anything, the Philippines needs “large-scale cash donations.”
To donate, visit: http://philippinesrelief.adcouncil.org.