The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will continue effortsto provide more support for post-disaster recovery and rehabilitationneeds of communities affected by typhoon Haiyan (locally called Yolanda)last November, ASEAN Secretary General Le Luong Minh has said.

Duringthe ASEAN High-Level Conference on Assistance for the Recovery ofYolanda-Affected Areas (ARYA) held in Taguig city of the Philippineson August 14, Minh called on the international community to join handswith the association in assisting the Philippines Government inrecovering regions that were hard hit by the disaster.

Philippinemedia quoted the ASEAN leader as saying that the grouping will con tinue to work with governments, United Nations institutions and privatesectors on mobilising assistance for the country’s recovery efforts.

Hecalled on the bloc’s partner countries and relevant sides to join itsinitiative, which aims to mobilise financial and technical assistancefor the Philippines .

Panfilo Lacson, the PhilippineGovernment’s Presidential Assistant for Recovery and Rehabilitation,also called for more support from the international community, sayingthat multilateral assistance is a key to the recovery of Haiyan-affectedareas.

In November 2013, super typhoon Haiyan hit seven regionsof the Philippines , killing 6,300 people and severely affecting 1.4million families.

According to Lacson, his government needs 171 billion peso (nearly 4 billion USD) to overcome the aftermaths of the disaster.-VNA