U.S. Embassy News Release                                   

April 20, 2007

 

U.S. Government Assists Displaced Sulu Families and Pledges Continued Support for Peace and Development Efforts

 

            The U.S. Government today granted US$75,000 to the Save the Children Federation (SCF) to provide immediate relief assistance to families in Sulu Province affected by attacks on the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) by unlawful elements.  Relief items to be provided include temporary shelter materials, water containers, cooking utensils and hygiene kits.  The commodities will be distributed through the Mindanao Emergency Response Network (MERN) composed of local NGOs and community-based groups organized by SCF.

 

            The people of Sulu Province, provincial and local government authorities, the AFP, NGO’s and other donors working in that region have been strong and reliable partners as we have worked together on projects to create livelihood opportunities, increase access to health care, improve education and build key infrastructure.  We share a common goal, which is to foster peace and security in Sulu as well as elsewhere in Mindanao and throughout the Philippines, in order to unleash the creative and productive energies of the people and create brighter prospects now, and for future generations.  We are dismayed, but not discouraged, by the recent outbreak of fighting started by rogue elements opposed to progress.   The people of Sulu Province know that we stand by them now, as we have in the past, in our mutual efforts to bring peace and prosperity to their beautiful islands.

 

 

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