Minister for Foreign Affairs Giulio Terzi instructed the Italian Cooperation to arrange for the dispatch of emergency humanitarian aid to the Philippines, hard hit by tropical storm Washi over the night of 16 December. To date, the natural disaster has left over 1000 people dead, 1600 injured and 309,000 homeless.
Thanks to the collaboration of the UNHRD in Subang (Malaysia) and the Italian staff at the UN depot in Brindisi, a cargo plane left Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for Davao on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines, the epicenter of the damage, carrying blankets, tents, materials to erect emergency shelters and water purifiers and containers.
The 40-tonne load, valued at approximately €500,000, consisted of supplies donated by the personnel of the Embassy of Italy in Manila to the representatives of the local Ministry of Welfare and Development, which will see to their distribution to the hardest hit areas.