Typhoon victims get help via food-for-work projects

MANILA, Philippines - The United Nations World Food Program (WFP), in partnership with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), has embarked on a project that will benefit some 95,000 families in Luzon affected by the destructive typhoons that hit the country last year.

The WFP said it will assist the communities in rebuilding their homes through a food-for-work scheme wherein the participants will contribute their labor to community-chosen rehabilitation and reconstruction projects in exchange for food.

Under the first round of the food-for-work projects, the WFP said 3,475 metric tons of rice will be dispatched this month to Regions 1, 2, 3 and 4-A, the National Capital Region and Cordillera Administrative Region for those working on 450 community projects.

These include the rehabilitation of 300 damaged shelters and the maintenance of some 200 kilometers of roads as well as projects to unclog canals, environmental cleanup campaigns and training of communities in disaster preparedness, the WFP said.

The WFP said the second round of typhoon recovery and mitigation projects will be rolled out in June.

The government, through the DSWD, has relocated thousands of families living in disaster-prone areas in Metro Manila to Laguna.