Norwegian minister coming to check ‘Yolanda’ rehab effort

Japanese Self Defense Force personnel arrive to coordinate relief efforts on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2013 at Tacloban City. AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Børge Brende will visit from Jan. 7 to 9 the areas worst hit by Supertyphoon “Yolanda,” according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in the Philippines.

Brende, who will be on an official visit, wants to get a firsthand look at the progress of recovery efforts to which Norway was one of the first responders with emergency funds.

He is expected to visit Leyte and meet with representatives of the UN, including FAO Philippines officials.

Oslo has committed P1.45 billion toward relief efforts and long-term disaster response related to Yolanda.

The amount is on top of the P180 million Norwegian NGOs raised through a charity concert in November and the P178 million the Filipino community in Norway raised through a similar event in December.

Norway was among the first nations to respond to appeals for aid in the immediate aftermath of Yolanda.

On Nov. 19, less than two weeks after the typhoon’s onslaught, the Norwegian parliament increased the nation’s P450 million donation by P1 billion.

Back then, Prime Minister Erna Solberg said in a statement her government wanted “to help alleviate the suffering that children, women and men are now undergoing in the affected areas in the Philippines.”

Solberg said Norway’s donations were to go to food, water, sanitation, health care and shelter facilities and other needs Philippine authorities and the UN would identify.

“Brende will go to Tacloban on Jan. 8,” said Rajendra Aryal, the FAO acting representative in the Philippines.

“We’d like him to meet some of the farmer beneficiaries and see the paddies that were planted to Norway-donated rice seeds,” Aryal told the Inquirer.

Brende’s visit follows that of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who flew to Tacloban City on Dec. 22.