PH government sets up website for monitoring foreign aid for Yolanda survivors

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The government has launched a website that allows the public to monitor the status of foreign aid for relief operations in super typhoon Yolanda-hit areas.

Department of Budget and Management Undersecretary and Chief Information Officer Richard Moya said the initiative, called Foreign Aid Transparency Hub (FAiTH), may be accessed through www.gov.ph/faith.

“There’s an urgent call now for us to monitor the movement of foreign aid funds for Yolanda so they will go exactly where they’re supposed to: to the survivors of the typhoon… FAiTH is the Aquino administration’s pioneering response to this growing need for transparency and accountability in the management of humanitarian donations,” Moya said.

Moya said the Department of Foreign Affairs, the main resource for information on foreign aid, is the primary data source for FAiTH.

“Counter to what most people think, foreign aid isn’t given to the Philippine government in hard cash. Instead, these arrive in the form of pledges, which are released to aid groups or their corresponding organizations in the Philippines, such as USAID and Red Cross. In cases like this, FAiTH doesn’t monitor these funds; instead, it tracks foreign aid that is coursed through Philippine government agencies,” Moya said.

He added the portal will contain information on calamity aid and assistance — both in cash and in kind — received by the Philippines from other countries, multilateral organizations, and also those sent through Philippine embassies abroad. (PNA)

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