United Nations Radio

Teams from the World Food Programme (WFP) are in Asia and the Pacific following a wave of devastation which has killed thousands.

Southeastern Asian nations struck by natural disasters

The region has been hit by three different natural disasters in less than a week: a tropical storm which battered The Philippines; a tsunami that struck Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga, and two earthquakes which hit the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

On Thursday WFP announced that it is boosting its relief operations in the Philippines. The agency is aiming to provide food rations to one million people this month, which is expected to be the peak of its three-month emergency response. More than two million people have been affected by severe flooding in the wake of the storm.

WFP teams are also on the ground in Indonesia, where thousands are believed to be buried under ruins, and hospitals are overloaded with the injured.

Josette Sheran, Executive Director of the agency notes, "When nature strikes with such force, the world must come together."

Dianne Penn, United Nations Radio
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