THE United Nations (UN) and its local partners have launched a humanitarian response plan against the coronavirus that will benefit about 5.4 million poor Filipinos.

In a statement, the UN said the P6-billion Humanitarian Country Team COVID-19 Response Plan will provide critical health services to the poor.

The plan also prioritizes women and girls, and will provide health, food security, water and sanitation, protection, and risk communication services to its beneficiaries.

“The pandemic is challenging the capacity of response of any single country in the world,” UN resident coordinator Gustavo Gonzalez said in the statement. “Our role is to make best use of our global knowledge and resources to join government efforts to contribute to the safety and well-being of the Filipino people.”

UN said this is the largest international humanitarian response plan in the Philippines since Typhoon Yolanda in 2013.

The plan, about a fourth of which has been mobilized, will run until year-end but will be updated based on needs.

Around 50 country-based UN and nongovernmental partners contributed to the plan.

UN said this is a “stepping stone” to the support of the body to the recovery from the pandemic, which will be developed in the upcoming UN socioeconomic and peacebuilding framework.

The Philippines was also included in the $10.3-billion global humanitarian response plan covering 63 hardest hit and most vulnerable countries. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

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