5 October 2009 – United Nations agencies are mobilizing to provide longer-term recovery aid to a raft of countries in Asia and the Pacific, where a relentless barrage of tropical storms, earthquakes and tsunamis have hit millions of people in recent days.
“Within hours after the catastrophes hit, UN agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) began working in support of national authorities to respond to the immediate humanitarian needs in these countries,” said UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark in Bangkok, where she is holding meetings.
“UNDP is now preparing to support countries’ plans for longer-term recovery after waters recede and rubble is cleared,” she added, noting that with rapid support teams had already been sent to Cambodia, Laos and the Philippines, which have been inundated by typhoon-spawned flood waters, and Bhutan, Indonesia, Samoa and Tonga, which were hit by earthquakes and/or subsequent tsunamis. Read More
