As you will all recall, on 8 November the Philippines were hit by the terrible tragedy of Typhoon Haiyan, the severest natural calamity to date.

A collection that was organized by the UNOG Staff Coordinating Council together with our colleagues from the Philippines, and your fantastic generosity collected the amount of CHF 23’511.50,  which following tradition the Council then matched bringing the total to CHF 47’435.

Funds were transferred to the World Food Programme (CHF 15’145), the Philippine Red Cross (CHF 15’145) and UNICEF (CHF 15’145), with a final payment of the remaining CHF 2’000 being sent to UNICEF shortly. The Council has received encouraging thank you letters from some of these Organizations which you can find hereby attached.

Along with the Filipino community and their friends and families, we would like to express our gratitude for the enormous generosity.