UN seeks 46 mln dollars for Philippines typhoon aid

GENEVA, Dec 15 (Reuters) The United Nations today asked for 46 million dollars to help hundreds of thousands of people affected by a series of devastating typhoons in the Philippines.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the assistance would be used to help meet urgent needs in areas whose homes, medical facilities and government offices were wrecked by typhoons Durian and Utor.

UNICEF, the UN children's agency, said the lives of half a million students in the Philippines were disrupted by the storms, which destroyed up to 9 out of 10 schools in some areas. Textbooks, computers and other supplies were heavily damaged.

Some 100,000 people are in need of food assistance in the wake of the storms, the UN World Food Programme said, saying it is providing emergency aid to 50,000 people and the government of the Philippines is supplying the other half.

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