Catherine Bragg, the United Nations assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said she was struck by the recurring nature of the violence on the island of Mindanao.
"I am deeply concerned by the impact of cycles of displacement, particularly those caused by armed confrontations between government forces and armed groups, and clan fighting," she told reporters after a visit there.
She said the UN is to call for US$37.9 million in humanitarian aid next year to Mindanao, where Muslim rebellion, banditry and Islamist militant attacks have left tens of thousands dead and left many others leading precarious lives.
The UN and its aid partners have managed to deliver US$17.98 million to Mindanao this year, well short of the US$33.3 million target for 2011, Bragg said.
President Benigno Aquino resumed a ceasefire and peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country's largest guerrilla group, after he was elected last year.
However, Bragg said frequent fighting by armed Muslim clans continue to cause evacuations.
Widespread floods in June meanwhile swelled the numbers of those needing help, with some communities suffering from both the conflict and the floods, she said.
"In Mindanao... nearly 700,000 people are still in dire need of humanitarian relief, protection and livelihoods support," she said.
Bragg said she expects the number of UN aid workers and staff from more than a dozen other aid agencies that are working in the region to rise as aid is ramped up next year, but said she did not have exact figures.
"A major way by which the UN can offer protection is by its presence -- simply being somewhere and making sure that those who want to perpetrate actions of violence would not be able to do so unseen by outsiders."
- AFP/ck
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