ERC to build 10 schools in Philippine typhoon-ravaged areas

MANILA: Emirates Red Crescent, ERC, has signed three memorandums of understanding with the Philippine government whereby the U.A.E.'s humanitarian major will build ten schools destroyed by typhoon Haiyan in two provinces of the Philippines in November last year. ERC says the new agreements represent the first stage of ERC's development efforts in the Philippine areas ravaged by the tropical cyclone, and follow its 2013 emergency relief operation to help the affected population. The ERC team is supervising the construction of the ten schools which will serve some 7738 students of the two Philippine provinces in coordination with the Philippine government. Secretary-General of ERC, Mohammed Ateeq Al Falahi, signed the three MoUs with Governor of Western Samar, Sharee Ann Tan, and representatives of the provincial government of Eastern Samar, in presence of U.A.E. Ambassador to the Philippines, Musa Abdulwahed Al Khaja, and members of ERC delegation and Philippine officials. Al Falahi emphasised that ERC is making efforts to assist the victims of the destructive typhoon in response to the wise U.A.E. leadership's directives followed up by H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler's Representative in the Western Region and President of ERC. The Red Crescent, he added, has plans in place to implement its healthcare and educational projects in the affected areas. Catbalogan City, the capital of Samar Province, bore the brunt of Typhoon Haiyan, also known as Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, leaving several thousands killed and hundreds of thousands homeless. – Emirates News Agency, WAM – http://www.wam.ae/en/news/international/1395270187322.html