Rescuers pull a rubber boat carrying residents through a flooded street after a powerful typhoon hit the Philippines on November 12, 2020. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines will receive a P111.5 million grant from the United States and South Korea to improve its climate change and natural disaster resiliency programs.
In a statement on Wednesday, the US Embassy in the Philippines said the grant deal was signed between the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) on March 22.
The KOICA will be supporting the implementation of the USAID’s five-year, P836.5 million Climate Resilient Cities Project that would assist partner cities of Batangas, Borongan, Cotabato, Iloilo, Legazpi, and Zamboanga.
“As the United States and Korea are among the largest bilateral donors in the Philippines, this momentous partnership of USAID, KOICA, and the Philippine government will bring together our accumulated experience and technical expertise to build climate change and disaster resilience in the country,” KOICA Country Director Eunsub Kim said, as quoted by the embassy.
The technical assistance of KOICA, according to the embassy, will boost the capacity of local government units to develop guidelines in using climate adaptation technology.
Some 180 Philippine officials and stakeholders will be invited to take part in the capacity building programs organized in the Philippines and Korea, it added.
The embassy noted that the grant aims “to more effectively disseminate climate-related information to local communities, increase access to climate financing for economic and social development, and promote natural climate solutions that strengthen cities’ resilience to climate change.”
It further said that the US and South Korean governments will soon set in motion a partnership to nip in the bud and reduce marine pollution in Manila Bay. (Aliah Gumasing, INQUIRER.net trainee)