MANILA, Philippines — The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund said it has prepositioned supplies good for 10,000 families as the Philippines braced for Typhoon Betty (international name: Mawar).
These emergency supplies include schools-in-a-box kits, family hygiene and dignity kits, tents, water purification tablets, as well as ready-to-use therapeutic food, among others.
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The UN agency said these can be distributed on short notice via its partners.
“UNICEF expresses its concern for children and families who continue to pay the price for extreme weather brought about by climate change,” it said in a statement.
UNICEF last week released a study showing that Filipino children are among the most vulnerable to exposure to overlapping climate and environmental shocks as the Philippines remains to be one of the countries that are most affected by climate change.
PAGASA’s 11 a.m. bulletin on Monday showed Betty slowing down while moving over waters 470 kilometers off the east of Cagayan in Aparri at 15 kilometers per hour going northwest.
Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 2 is hoisted over Batanes as well as over Sta. Ana, Gonzaga, and Babuyan Islands in Cagayan, while 16 areas in northern Luzon are under Wind Signal No. 1.
The country’s second cyclone of the year is forecast to enhance the southwest monsoon in the next three days, according to PAGASA. Occasional to monsoon rains are expected in the western portions of Southern Luzon and most of Visayas. — Kaycee Valmonte with reports from Gaea Katreena Cabico and Cristina Chi