<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
UN's Myanmar appeal only 44 percent funded
World Vision urges donations as Myanmar match deadline nears
BURMA:  One Million Survivors Not Yet Reached - U.N.
Myanmar releases relief critics, ASEAN team to have full access in the country
U.N. wary of Myanmar guidelines
Minister admits concerns over aid supplies to Burma
Myanmar: Ayeyarwady’s anguish
Aid Team Head Says Team Will Have Full Access in Myan
Burma Red Tape Delays Cyclone Aid, Agencies S
35,000 pregnant Myanmar cyclone victims in urgent need of care: UN
Myanmar's Already Risky Childbirth Conditions ince Cyclone's Destruction Of Birthing Facilities
Volunteers send aid through Burma's (Myanmar's) back door
ASEAN head says team to have full access in Myanmar
RI running out of time to play key role in Myanmar
Five weeks after cyclone strikes Myanmar, UN appeal remains under-funded
MAP International provides medical aid to devastated Myanmar
Suu Kyi should be beaten like a child, says junta
Burma: Torture and false allegations
Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis OCHA Situation Report No. 30
Myanmar to build first storm-resistant model village

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UN's Myanmar appeal only 44 percent funded
12 June, 2008
1 hour, 16 minutes ago

The United Nations says it has raised less than half of its goal for relief operations in Myanmar more than five weeks after a cyclone devastated the country.

The U.N. says it set out to raise $201 million but so far has gotten just $113 million from donors.

The U.N. says areas like economic recovery and health have been well funded, but emergency food operations and logistics have received only about 20 percent of the funding they need. Education has received nothing.

Amanda Pitt, a spokeswoman for the U.N. relief operations, says she expects funding will increase after results from a needs assessment in the hard-hit Irrawaddy delta is finished June 20.

The U.N. estimates the cyclone affected 2.4 million people. The government says at least 78,000 people died.

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World Vision urges donations as Myanmar match deadline nears

MISSISSAUGA, ON, June 12 /CNW/ - As the government's June 13 deadline for matching donations approaches, World Vision is encouraging Canadians not to miss this opportunity to double their generosity to Cyclone Nargis survivors in Myanmar where aid is still urgently needed.

The relief fund, for which the Canadian government will match private, individual donations to humanitarian organizations, will end on Friday, June 13. Thanks to the generosity of Canadians, World Vision has raised more than $4 million so far for Myanmar relief efforts.

"The lives of children and families affected by the disaster are improving, but there is still a lot more work that needs to be done," said Dave Toycen, President and CEO of World Vision Canada. "The extent of the damage means relief and recovery could possibly continue into next year," said
Toycen.

World Vision has helped more than 400,000 people with food and other supplies. World Vision Canada has received $1 million from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to provide clean water and sanitation and increase the number of emergency shelters. Children are extremely vulnerable to disease outbreaks, and these kinds of projects help to minimize the risk of illness.

Many farmers in Myanmar are especially in need of assistance. They have not yet been able to plant their vital rice crops, and may not be able to produce crops until next year. Specifically in the Irrawaddy Delta, World Vision is providing 30 hand-held tractors and working to distribute seeds and other tools to help plant and ensure the spring crop is not lost.

In Myanmar, World Vision has been operating since 1961 and its donors currently sponsor 42,000 children there. Community development programs funded by the child sponsorship program include food assistance, agriculture, health, clean water, education, income generation and nutrition projects.

World Vision is accepting donations to assist those affected by the cyclone. Those wishing to help can visit WorldVision. ca or call 1-800-268-5528.

World Vision is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice. World Vision serves all people regardless of religion, race, ethnicity or gender.

For further information: To interview Dave Toycen, World Vision Canada president and CEO, or regional staff, please contact: Yoko Kobayashi, (905) 565-6200 ext. 2151, (416) 671-0086 (cell), yoko_kobayashi@ WorldVision. ca; Britt Hamilton, (905) 565-6200 ext. 3973, (416) 275-1057 (cell), britt_hamilton@ WorldVision. ca

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BURMA: One Million Survivors Not Yet Reached - U.N.
By Marwaan Macan-Markar

BANGKOK, Jun 12 (IPS) - U.N. officials are giving the impression that the world body is making headway in helping the millions of survivors in Burma’s cyclone-hit Irrawaddy Delta.

Yet, according to the U.N., so far more than one million survivors have not been reached. Cyclone Nargis killed 130,000 to possibly 300,000 people and affected 2.5 million to 5.5 million people.

Since the Cyclone Nargis struck on May 3 the military regime in Burma, or Myanmar, has issued 180 visas for U.N. staffers to enter the South-east Asian country to help in the relief efforts, according to the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

"There has been some progress," Amanda Pitt, spokesperson for OCHA, said at a press conference this week in the Thai capital. "But international staff need more sustained access to the delta."

Others, such as Paul Risley, spokesperson for the World Food Programme’s (WFP) Asia division, confirmed that more food is getting into the affected part of the delta. "The WFP has dispatched 11,046 tons of food to Myanmar, of which 60 percent has reached the people." In addition, a hurdle that had been placed by the Burmese junta -- preventing the U.N. food relief agency’s helicopters ferrying supplies -- has finally been surmounted. "There are 10 WFP helicopters working in Myanmar. One helicopter does three or four rotations," according to Risley.

But away from the weekly press conferences that offer a progress report on the U.N.’s work in the cyclone-hit areas, a different face of the world body emerges. It is one of frustration at the bureaucratic roadblocks placed in the way of the U.N.’s humanitarian mission.

"It could be described as red tape in the day-to-day operations under normal circumstances. But in the post-cyclone environment, that red tape becomes a roadblock in providing aid to people in desperate need," one disgruntled U.N. official told IPS on condition of anonymity. "It is intolerable, creating days of unnecessary delays."

This confirms a departure from the commitment Senior General Than Shwe, the junta’s strongman, made to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon -- to permit the world body greater access to the delta.

"I have been much encouraged by my discussions with Myanmar’s authorities in recent days," Ban said at a press conference in Bangkok soon after he finished his first official visit to Burma in late May. "Senior General Than Shwe agreed to allow all international aid workers to operate freely and without hindrance."

Yet, the days since that May 25 disclosure have been anything but what was promised. It appears the junta intends to grind the on-going international humanitarian mission down to an even slower pace. A high-level meeting held in the country Tuesday between the junta’s representatives and U.N. officials saw new rules of operation released.

Now the U.N. and international humanitarian agencies involved in cyclone relief have to get clearance from two to three additional ministries. Among the new ministries roped in to fortify the junta’s bureaucratic wall is the Commerce Ministry.

These additional hindrances could not have come at a worst time for the desperate survivors -- already a waterlogged area the size of Austria is being battered by the first wave of the seasonal monsoon rains.

Among those who will be doubly burdened by the delays in aid delivery are pregnant women in the delta, raising the fear of more cases of maternal mortality.

"Many pregnant women have no place to go for delivery," says William Ryan, spokesperson for the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA). "There are nearly 35,000 women pregnant in the delta, and at least 100 give birth daily."

"These women now have insufficient access to skilled birth attendants, they face more delays in getting to hospitals or health facilities and they cannot be sure how long it will be before they are treated even when they get to such a facility," Ryan said in an interview. "The facilities have been damaged and access has become more difficult."

"On top of that, their health could have been compromised due to lack of good nutrition in the past few weeks and the trauma of escaping the cyclone," he added. "All these will add to the risk when giving birth."

Even before the cyclone, Burma’s maternal mortality rates were grim, some 380 women dying per 100,000 births. "Globally speaking, that is a very high figure," says Ryan. "One in seven deliveries can be life-threatening if there are no health facilities."

UNFPA is hoping that a clearer picture of the number of pregnant women who need help will emerge once an assessment of the affected area is completed later this month.

The junta, in a concession to international pressure to help the cyclone survivors, has permitted a team of 250 people -- of which 50 are from the U.N. -- to spend 10 days visiting the entire affected area to gauge the extent of damage in order to shape a coordinated relief and reconstruction response.

This arrangement also includes the participation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a 10-member regional bloc, of which Burma is a member. ASEAN, the U.N. and representatives from the junta are part of a tripartite group formed to direct the post-cyclone aid effort.

(END/2008)

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Myanmar releases relief critics, ASEAN team to have full access in the country
06-12-2008, 07h15
SINGAPORE (AFP)

Sixteen survivors of Myanmar's deadly cyclone have been released one day after they were arrested for complaining about delays in delivering aid, an official said on Thursday.

Most of the group were women, accompanied by their young children, who on Tuesday went with two interpreters to the offices of the UN Development Programme to complain about the slow pace of the relief operation.

News of the release comes as a team of aid experts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have gained full access to parts of cyclone-devastated Myanmar, ASEAN's secretary general said on Thursday.

"Now we have 250-plus of our, what we call our post-Nargis assessment teams, in the Delta, in the Yangon division, in the south and they will be doing the full assessment and they will have full access to the affected region," Surin Pitsuwan told reporters in Singapore.

"I think if we look at that, it's already a great achievement and we will try to maintain that momentum", he said.

Cyclone Nargis pounded the southwest Irrawaddy Delta and the main city of Yangon on May 2-3 leaving more than 133,000 people dead or missing.

ASEAN said one week ago that the Emergency Rapid Assessment Team had begun to deploy in the delta region to start a long-awaited examination of the needs of millions of people affected by the storm.

It said then that its advance teams, ferried by UN World Food Programme helicopter, would compile a first-hand "progress report" for an ASEAN Roundtable meeting in Yangon on June 24.

Surin said there were no doubts that the team would be able to do its job adequately and with credibility, "coming up with a report that would be taken up by all parties in order to be the basis of rehabilitation and reconstruction later on."

Inciting international outrage, Myanmar's isolated military regime had largely barred foreign aid workers from gaining access to the delta, which bore the brunt of the cyclone.

Relief workers slowly moved into the region in late May after the junta started to ease restrictions on access, and asked fellow ASEAN nations to coordinate the international relief effort

But the United Nations estimates that while 2.4 million people need emergency aid, about one million have not yet received any foreign assistance.

The ASEAN team is working under a tripartite arrangement with the United Nations and the Myanmar government.

One Southeast Asian diplomat in Yangon said last week that the team would finish its work by month's end, although ASEAN says its findings will only be released in mid-July.

"We expect them to meet a lot of difficulties, with many parts of the delta remaining physically difficult to reach by road or boats," the diplomat said.

"We are hoping we may be able to fill in the gaps, although we realise there is a big void in terms of aid to be filled."

Surin said things had been going "very well" on the ground.

"Certainly there are rooms for improvement but we are working on that and we have been assured that, yes, we will work together until the mission is accomplished," he said on the sidelines of a meeting about human rights in ASEAN.

The deployment of the ASEAN team last week came a day after the United States gave up trying to convince the junta to allow aid-laden warships stationed off the delta to deliver their vital supplies.

ASEAN has often been criticised for failing to act firmly against its member Myanmar, which has frequently embarrassed its neighbours with its refusal to shift towards democracy.

AFP

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U.N. wary of Myanmar guidelines
Experts: Some areas may still lack necessities
By Moni Basu
The Atlanta Journal-Constitutio n
Published on: 06/12/08

Hundreds of U.N. experts are finally headed into Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta this week to make their first close-up assessment of the Cyclone Nargis disaster.

Myanmar's ruling junta is allowing about 250 to undertake a village-by-village survey of the devastation over the next 10 days.

Chris Northey is ahead of them.

Northey, 39, is the emergency team leader in Myanmar for CARE International, whose U.S. office is headquartered in Atlanta. She was one of the first international aid workers permitted by the junta to enter the delta, pummeled by the cyclone in early May.

International aid agencies expressed concern Wednesday over new and complicated guidelines established by Myanmar's government for carrying out assistance programs to victims of last month's cyclone.

The guidelines, distributed Tuesday by the government at a meeting with U.N. agencies and private humanitarian organizations, would require a large amount of paperwork and repeated contacts with government agencies.

It was not immediately clear what impact the new guidelines would have on Northey's efforts.

The U.N. estimates that Nargis affected 2.4 million people and that more than 1 million of them, mostly in the hardest-hit Irrawaddy Delta, still need help. The cyclone killed at least 78,000 people, according to the government.

Although the government said the relief operations have now reached the recovery phase, aid agencies are concerned that many people still are lacking necessities.

"What we're concerned about is premature returns to areas where the services are not yet in a position to be used," said Amanda Pitt, a spokeswoman for the U.N. Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Northey has made the treacherous journey from Yangon to isolated islands on the Irrawaddy River to distribute critical food and aid.

She visited suffering villages with locals —- CARE has been working in Myanmar for 14 years and employs 550 national staff.

Northey spoke by phone recently with The Atlanta Journal-Constitutio n.

She said CARE workers unload aid coming in on flights to Yangon. Then it's put on a truck, then onto long, narrow wooden boats traditional to the Irrawaddy. Sometimes, she said, the aid is carried on motorcycles, and it can take hours or days to reach isolated communities.

Northey said she feels privileged as a foreigner to serve among the people of Myanmar, without whom this crisis would be insurmountable. Cyclone survivors are helping other survivors.

"These are people who themselves have suffered," she said. "Yet, they are working ridiculous hours to help their friends, help their neighbors."

Some villagers approached CARE and said that all they needed was a bit of diesel to run the pump they borrowed to get the salinated water out of their wells for drinking water.

"It's never easy to see people who are distressed and who have suffered so much," Northey said.

"As human beings, if you are not moved in some way or you do not have some sort of empathy for that, then perhaps you should not be in this sort of role. It is very challenging," she added.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Minister admits concerns over aid supplies to Burma
12/06/2008 - 07:45:11

The Minister for Overseas Development has voiced concerns that Irish aid being sent to Burma might not reach the correct people.

Water, toilets, shelter and sanitation supplies worth €120,000 are being flown out of Dublin Airport today to help the victims of Cyclone Nargis.

However, there have been widespread reports that Burma's military government is withholding aid from certain areas.

Overseas Development Minister Peter Power says the Government is working closely with NGOs on the ground, but admits that there is no 100% guarantee that the Irish aid will reach the most needy recipients.

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Myanmar: Ayeyarwady’s anguish
Source: International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
Date: 11 Jun 2008 / By John Sparrow in Yangon

More than five weeks after Cyclone Nargis, the anguish of the Ayeyarwady delta is overwhelming. Long after the bodies have gone from the landscape, homes have been rebuilt, livelihoods restored, and the physical wounds have healed, emotional ones will remain.

The little boy sat alone in a corner of the monastery. His eyes were focused on the ground. He said nothing, unaware of the hubbub around him, locked into a world of his own.

Sandar Aung, a 28-year-old Myanmar Red Cross volunteer, was scanning a crowd of cyclone survivors who had arrived in the town of Maubin. Some had been directed to the monastery and, as they settled down, she looked for people whose needs were most urgent.

‘What’s your name?’ she said as she knelt beside him. ‘Where are you from? Is anybody with you?’

He looked up. ‘Don’t remember,’ he mumbled. ‘Don’t know.’

She held him in her arms and he started to cry. Sandar Aungr cried with him. He did not need to tell her his story. She had read it in his eyes.

‘I’ll stay with you,’ she said. ‘Don’t worry.’

More than five weeks after Cyclone Nargis, the anguish of the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) delta is overwhelming. Long after the bodies have gone from the landscape, homes have been rebuilt, livelihoods restored, and the physical wounds have healed, emotional ones will remain. The harm may be less visible but it is no less real for that, and the pain will never ease for many. The best they will do is learn to cope with it.

For the boy with no name, coping may be a long journey. What happened to him, what he saw, he does not wish to remember. Perhaps his parents survived, perhaps brothers and sisters did, but his eyes suggest that they were swept away by the sea surge that came with the cyclone. Efforts will be made to find out. In the meantime, Sandar Aungr works to bring him out of his nightmare.

She calls him Thar-nge, which roughly translated means My Little One. She hugs him a lot, shows him love and care, and asks other children to come over. Sometimes they do and he joins them in play. She is there in the evening to put him to bed.

He talks to her now, but only to her, and when her work takes her elsewhere he goes back to his corner.

The boy’s story, and those of countless others now emerging in the delta, reflect enormous need for emotional support, and show why the Red Cross Red Crescent systematically integrates it into relief operations today. Having someone to turn to - someone who will listen, share the grief and offer hope - is of immense importance to disaster survivors. Early and adequate psychosocial support – in relief delivery as well as in structured programmes – can help affected people cope better and prevent distress from developing into more serious conditions.

It isn’t just the young who are especially vulnerable. Sandar Aungr is helping another anonymous survivor - a woman, perhaps in her seventies, who is paralyzed down one side and has lost her power of speech.

‘She is alone and she cannot tell me her name, where she is from or whether she still has family,’ the volunteer said. ‘Someone found her somewhere and put her in one of the vehicles that brought survivors to my town. She must have spent many days in the wind and rain. She is very distressed.’

Although the woman cannot speak, Aungr is beginning to gain some information. She asks her questions to which she can nod or shake her head.

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Aid Team Head Says Team Will Have Full Access in Myanmar
By BERNICE HAN
Published: June 13, 2008

SINGAPORE, June 12, 2008 (AFP) — A team of aid experts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the UN will have full access to parts of cyclone-devastated Myanmar, ASEAN's secretary general said Thursday.

"Now we have 250-plus of our, what we call our post-Nargis assessment teams, in the Delta, in the Yangon division, in the south and they will be doing the full assessment and they will have full access to the affected region," Surin Pitsuwan told reporters in Singapore.

"I think if we look at that, it's already a great achievement and we will try to maintain that momentum", he said.

Cyclone Nargis pounded the southwest Irrawaddy Delta and the main city of Yangon on May 2-3 leaving more than 133,000 people dead or missing.

ASEAN said one week ago that the Emergency Rapid Assessment Team had begun to deploy in the delta region to start a long-awaited examination of the needs of millions of people affected by the storm.

It said then that its advance teams, ferried by UN World Food Programme helicopter, would compile a first-hand "progress report" for an ASEAN Roundtable meeting in Yangon on June 24.

Surin said there were no doubts that the team would be able to do its job adequately and with credibility, "coming up with a report that would be taken up by all parties in order to be the basis of rehabilitation and reconstruction later on."

Inciting international outrage, Myanmar's isolated military regime had largely barred foreign aid workers from gaining access to the delta, which bore the brunt of the cyclone.

Relief workers slowly moved into the region in late May after the junta started to ease restrictions on access, and asked fellow ASEAN nations to coordinate the international relief effort

But the United Nations estimates that while 2.4 million people need emergency aid, about one million have not yet received any foreign assistance.

The ASEAN team is working under a tripartite arrangement with the United Nations and the Myanmar government.

One Southeast Asian diplomat in Yangon said last week that the team would finish its work by month's end, although ASEAN says its findings will only be released in mid-July.

"We expect them to meet a lot of difficulties, with many parts of the delta remaining physically difficult to reach by road or boats," the diplomat said.

"We are hoping we may be able to fill in the gaps, although we realise there is a big void in terms of aid to be filled."

Surin said things had been going "very well" on the ground.

"Certainly there are rooms for improvement but we are working on that and we have been assured that, yes, we will work together until the mission is accomplished," he said on the sidelines of a meeting about human rights in ASEAN.

The deployment of the ASEAN team last week came a day after the United States gave up trying to convince the junta to allow aid-laden warships stationed off the delta to deliver their vital supplies.

ASEAN has often been criticised for failing to act firmly against its member Myanmar, which has frequently embarrassed its neighbours with its refusal to shift towards democracy.

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Burma Red Tape Delays Cyclone Aid, Agencies
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS / RANGOON
Thursday, June 12, 2008

Ten thousand pregnant women among Burma's estimated 2.4 million cyclone survivors are in urgent need of proper care, a UN official said Wednesday, as fresh questions were raised about the government's willingness to accept foreign assistance.

International aid agencies are expressing concern over new and complicated guidelines established by Burma's government for carrying out assistance programs to victims of last month's cyclone.

The guidelines, distributed Tuesday by the government at a meeting with UN agencies and private humanitarian organization, would require a large amount of paperwork and repeated contacts with national and local government agencies.

The new guidelines require most activities by the foreign agencies to be cleared with not only the relevant government ministry and local authorities concerned, but also with the so-called Tripartite Core Group, comprising representatives of the government, UN agencies and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Burma is a member.

In response, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said the humanitarian community was expressing concerns that "additional steps for seeking approval may unnecessarily delay the relief response."

"The meeting was assured by the concerned ministries that this would not be the case and that delays would definitely not be a consequence of the approval process outlined," the IFRC said in a report issued Wednesday.

Amanda Pitt, a spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said at a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, that UN agencies were currently assessing the new guidelines.

At the same press conference, a spokesman for the United Nations Population Fund said pregnant women in the cyclone-affected areas of Burma were facing increased health risks.

The maternal mortality rate in Burma even before the storm was 380 per 100,000 births—almost four times the rate in neighboring Thailand and 60 times the rate in Japan, said William A. Ryan.

More than 100 women give birth every day in the area affected by the cyclone, he said.

"The destruction of health centers and loss of midwives have greatly increased the risks," said Ryan. "It is clear that many pregnant women do not have anywhere to go to deliver with skilled assistance."

He said the wrecked health facilities need to be rebuilt, with the capacity to handle emergency obstetrics.

Ryan said that compared to many other countries, Burma has a fairly high number of births attended by midwives—but the comparison is to other countries that are desperately poor.

Foreign aid organizations have faced a series of hurdles in trying to provide help for victims of the May 2-3 storm, starting with the government's reluctance to grant anything but a handful of visas to foreign helpers.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last month traveled to Burma to meet with the chief of the ruling junta, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, who agreed to allow aid workers into the affected area "regardless of nationality," according to Ban. The general also agreed to allow the UN to bring in 10 helicopters to fly supplies to the hard-hit Irrawaddy delta.

Although the helicopters have been allowed in—with some delay—aid agencies say the government has continued dragging its feet over visa applications and allowing foreigners access to the most devastated areas.

The UN estimates that Cyclone Nargis affected 2.4 million people and that more than 1 million of them, mostly in the Irrawaddy delta, still need help. The cyclone killed at least 78,000 people, according to the government.

Although the government says the relief operations have now reached the post-emergency, recovery phase, aid agencies are concerned that many people still are lacking necessities.

"What we're concerned about is premature returns to areas where the services are not yet in a position to be used, to try and make sure we can reach people the best we can no matter where they are," said the UN's Pitt.

France Hurtubise of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said providing shelter remains a priority. According to the organization, only 107,000 of some 341,000 households had received shelter kits, which are supposed to include two tarpaulins each.

Aid agencies project that tarpaulin supplies will fall short of demand in the coming weeks, in part because of the competing need for such supplies for victims of China's May 12 earthquake.

Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy. org

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35,000 pregnant Myanmar cyclone victims in urgent need of care: UN
June 12, 2008

BANGKOK - THE cyclone in Myanmar devastated the country's health sector, leaving as many as 35,000 pregnant women in urgent need of proper medical care, a United Nations (UN) family planning expert said.
More than 100 women give birth every day in the area affected by the cyclone, William A. Ryan, a spokesman for the United Nations Population Fund, and 35,000 of the estimated 2.4 million cyclone survivors are pregnant women.

Pregnancy and childbirth were already relatively risky in Myanmar, one of Asia's poorest countries, even before the May 2 to 3 Cyclone Nargis, Mr Ryan said at a news conference Wednesday.

The maternal mortality rate in Myanmar before the storm was 380 per 100,000 births - almost four times the rate in neighboring Thailand and 60 times the rate in Japan, he said.

'The destruction of health centres and loss of midwives have greatly increased the risks,' said Mr Ryan. 'It is clear that many pregnant women do not have anywhere to go to deliver with skilled assistance.'

He said that the wrecked health facilities need to be rebuilt, with the capacity to handle emergency obstetrics.

His agency set up two mobile clinics in Myanmar last week, staffed by doctors from the Myanmar Medical Association, to provide prenatal care and safe delivery to women in two townships affected by the cyclone.

But there is also a need for trained midwives who can handle emergency treatment, he said.

Mr Ryan said that compared to many other countries, Myanmar has a fairly high number of births attended by midwives - but the comparison is to other countries that are desperately poor.

He said that the UN Population Fund has provided supplies to Myanmar's Health Ministry for distribution to community health clinics in 10 affected townships, including rubber gloves for midwives and hospital equipment for safe child delivery.

Two shipments, enough to serve approximately 450,000 pregnant women, have been delivered so far, and a third, for an additional 500,000, is due this week.

The UN agency has also provided women displaced by the cyclone with 'dignity kits' containing soap, clothing and sanitary supplies, packed in buckets that are meant for collecting water.

More than 1,000 kits are assembled by volunteers everyday.

AP

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10,000 Pregnant Cyclone Victims Await Help
Myanmar's Already Risky Childbirth Conditions Become More Difficult Since Cyclone's Destruction Of Birthing Facilities
YANGON, Myanmar, June 11, 2008

(AP) Ten thousand pregnant cyclone survivors are in urgent need of proper care in Myanmar, a U.N. expert said Wednesday, as relief agencies again raised concerns about the junta's willingness to accept foreign aid.

Pregnancy and childbirth were already relatively risky before Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar, one of Asia's poorest countries, said William A. Ryan, a spokesman for the U.N. Population Fund.

More than 100 women give birth every day in the area affected by the cyclone, he told reporters in Bangkok, Thailand.

"The destruction of health centers and loss of midwives have greatly increased the risks," he said. "It is clear that many pregnant women do not have anywhere to go to deliver with skilled assistance."

Ryan said that wrecked health facilities should be rebuilt and there is also a need for trained midwives.

The maternal mortality rate in Myanmar before the May 2-3 storm was 380 per 100,000 births - almost four times the rate in Thailand and 60 times the rate in Japan, Ryan said.

He said the U.N. Population Fund has provided supplies to Myanmar's Health Ministry for distribution to health clinics in 10 affected townships, including hospital equipment and rubber gloves.

Meanwhile, international aid agencies said the government's new guidelines for delivering relief to cyclone survivors could slow their response.

The rules, distributed Tuesday by the government at a meeting with U.N. agencies and private humanitarian organizations, would require a large amount of paperwork and repeated contacts with government agencies.

"Additional steps for seeking approval may unnecessarily delay the relief response," the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in a report.

U.N. agencies were assessing the new guidelines, said Amanda Pitt of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The guidelines require most activities by the foreign agencies to be cleared by a government ministry and local authorities. It also requires approval from the so-called Tripartite Core Group, comprising representatives of the government, U.N. agencies and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nation, of which Myanmar is a member.

The U.N. estimates that Nargis affected 2.4 million people and that more than 1 million of them, mostly in the Irrawaddy delta, still need help. The cyclone killed at least 78,000 people, according to the government.

Foreign aid organizations have faced a series of hurdles in trying to provide help for victims of the storm, starting with the government's reluctance to grant anything but a handful of visas to foreigners.

Although helicopters have been allowed - with some delay - to fly supplies to the delta, aid agencies say the government has continued to stall visa applications and delayed allowing foreigners access to the most devastated areas.

Also Wednesday, a state-controlled newspaper, the New Light of Myanmar, said the military rulers were breaking no laws by holding democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for a sixth straight year.

The junta's recent decision to extend her detention by one year sparked international outrage, with the Nobel Peace laureate's party and foreign defense lawyers arguing she could legally be held for only five years.

A commentary in the newspaper said detentions are permissible for as long as six years under a 1975 law.

Suu Kyi has been detained for more than 12 of the last 18 years at her home in Myanmar.

© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Volunteers send aid through Burma's (Myanmar's) back door
Source: The Christian Science Monitor
Date: 12 Jun 2008
They are channeling supplies across the Thai-Burmese border to existing underground networks spread across the disaster zone.
By Simon Montlake | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

BANGKOK, THAILAND - When the call came, Samantha Finke was in South Dakota. Like other staffers for Sen. Hillary Clinton, she wondered what the future held as primary season finished up.

Five minutes later, she had an answer. Switch to Sen. Barack Obama? No, Ms. Finke elected to fly here June 11 to join a grassroots effort for cyclone relief and civil empowerment for Burma (Myanmar), run by the father of her friend who was calling to urge her to come.

For most volunteers hoping to help, Burma seems like a bust. Five weeks after cyclone Nargis killed 134,000 and uprooted 2.4 million, military rulers continue to keep foreign aid workers at arm's length.

But not all roads to the disaster zone go through Rangoon, where relief groups are based. Aid is also trickling over the Thai-Burmese border, a hotbed of activism against Burma's regime. It's a backdoor channel for aid groups unwilling or unable to go through the front. By tapping an existing underground network in Burma, they try to bypass official channels and put aid directly in the hands of the most needy.

'It was Thailand all the way. I never questioned it. If you know what's going on in Burma, I don't know how you could not do it,' says Ms. Finke, one of several enthusiastic, young volunteers who have joined this underground aid effort.

AID BLOCKS AT THE FRONT DOOR

A few weeks after United Nations chief Ban Ki Moon won a promise from Burma's leader, Senior General Than Shwe, that the government would lift restrictions on foreign aid workers, the junta continues to impede their access.

Many have been restricted from entering Burma or, once inside, have been confined to working in Rangoon, which they need permits to leave.

In another possible hurdle, on Tuesday the government issued guidelines requiring relief workers to secure a large amount of paperwork and make repeated contacts with national and local government agencies and a committee called the Tripartite Core Group. The group includes representatives from the UN and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Burma is a member.

The government did, however, allow 250 experts from the Tripartite Core Group to enter the Irrawaddy Delta, where the cyclone hit, on Tuesday to conduct a 10-day assessment of needs. The UN currently estimates that, of the 2.4 million people affected, more than 1 million still need regular aid.

Humanitarian agencies that are trying to gain access for their own aid specialists say they need money to support their efforts, but fundraising has been a challenge: Private donations have lagged behind those given for earthquake relief in Sichuan, China, a shortfall that some blame on Burma's grudging attitude toward outside help and foreign media.

Mercy Corps has raised $5.4 million for its Sichuan quake appeal, compared to $1.7 million for Burma, says spokeswoman Susan Laarman.

The restrictions on movement that relief workers in Burma face has compounded the problem for fundraisers, as the issue of international access, and not the vital aid that does get through, usually dominates media coverage, says James East, a media officer for World Vision.

BRINGING HELP THROUGH THE BACK

Backdoor efforts include sending money to purchase local food and materials, says Tim Heinemann, who runs Worldwide Impact Now ( www.worldwide- impact-now. org), the US-registered nonprofit that Finke is joining.

These supplies are then distributed by ethnic and faith-based networks in far-flung cyclone-hit villages in the Irrawaddy Delta that have received little international aid. About 100,000 villagers have been reached, he says.

As well as delivering humanitarian aid, many groups along the border also have a political goal: to expose human-rights abuses in Burma and keep the world's gaze on cyclone relief.

Steve Gumaer, the founder of Partners Relief & Development ( www.partnersworld. org), a Christian-based charity that is working covertly in the disaster zone, says the military is extorting money from aid groups and forcing displaced villagers to farm on state land.

He says his group has raised $150,000 for its relief work and doesn't want to see it siphoned off by corrupt officials. Like Mr. Heinemann and other activists, he wants relief teams to double as human-rights monitors armed with video cameras. 'We equip people to go in and help their kin and to document what's happening so we can get that out,' he says.

This flurry of activity by groups straddling the Thai-Burma border may run foul of Thailand's government, which has commercial and strategic ties with Burma's military rulers.

Activists say Thai authorities are putting pressure on Burmese dissidents to keep a low profile, though it's unclear if this is a policy shift, as such pressure isn't new.

'AN EYE TO FUTURE POLITICAL CHANGE'

Heinemann, a retired US Special Forces colonel, began working in Burma's border areas in 2004, running an ethnic leadership training program largely funded out of his own pocket.

When the cyclone hit, he began mobilizing to support cross-border relief efforts, knowing that international aid would be slow to arrive through formal channels.

As the urgency became clear, Heinemann felt overwhelmed. On May 9 he got a string of encouraging text messages from his daughter Malina in the US. 'Ask the Creator and He will provide,' she wrote in one. Within minutes he got a text from a friend confirming a large donation, enough to move his planning 'from conceptual to operational, ' he says.

While Western relief organizations have sought to gain access by stressing their detachment from Burma's tangled politics, Heinemann takes a different tack. His long-term goals include supporting leadership development and conflict resolution among ethnic communities in Burma, with an eye to future political change. 'Our position is uncompromising [with the regime]. To do what the other NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] are not doing,' he says.

Having got funding, Heinemann's next goal was adding Generation X manpower. 'I called him and said what do you need?' recalls Malina Heinemann. 'He said, 'I need a team of young people over here.' '

Ms. Heinemann, a theater costumier currently working on a Shakespeare festival in Westcliffe, Colo., began calling on her friends, including Finke. Several said they would quit their jobs and join Mr. Heinemann, or volunteer their time for fundraising and using new media for political advocacy with covert footage from Burma. Ms. Heinemman says she will fly to Thailand next month after her festival contract ends.

The timing was perfect for Finke, a native of Ellsworth, Kan., who gets to use her networking and organizational skills in a new field.

'I love a challenge. Hillary's campaign was a challenge, and this is an entirely different challenge,' she says.

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ASEAN head says team to have full access in Myanmar
Source: Agence France-Presse (AFP)
Date: 12 Jun 2008

SINGAPORE, June 12, 2008 (AFP) - A team of aid experts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the UN will have full access to parts of cyclone-devastated Myanmar, ASEAN's secretary general said Thursday.

'Now we have 250 plus of our, what we call our post-Nargis assessment teams, in the Delta, in the Yangon division, in the south and they will be doing the full assessment and they will have full access to the affected region,' Surin Pitsuwan told reporters in Singapore.

Cyclone Nargis pounded into Myanmar's southwest Irrawaddy Delta and parts of the main city of Yangon on May 2-3 leaving more than 133,000 people dead or missing and thousands more homeless.

bh-it/tha

Copyright (c) 2008 Agence France-Presse
Received by NewsEdge Insight: 06/12/2008 00:23:12

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RI running out of time to play key role in Myanmar
Jared Genser , Washington, D.C. | Thu, 06/12/2008 10:18 AM | Opinion

A month after Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar, more than one million people severely affected by the storm have yet to receive any food, water, or shelter, and the so-called "second wave" of dying from disease, thirst, and hunger has begun in earnest.

The international community is wondering if Indonesia, with its key role as the only ASEAN member of the UN Security Council and its strong relationship with the Burmese junta will help avert an even greater disaster or be left along with ASEAN being blamed for it.

In the aftermath of the cyclone, some 134,000 Burmese are now dead or missing -- over 40 percent of which are believed to be children. And the United Nations reported last Tuesday that only 49 percent of the storm's 2.4 million affected victims have received any humanitarian relief.

The junta refuses to allow the use of any foreign military helicopters to deliver aid, even from such friendly countries as Thailand and Singapore. Meanwhile, French, British, and American ships just offshore have been turned away with food, water, and personnel capable of helping hundreds of thousands. More than 10 days after junta leader Gen. Than Shwe promised UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon that he would immediately allow in "all aid workers," to the affected areas, few have regular access.

This is no surprise to long-time observers of Myanmar. Over the years the junta has made countless promises to the UN, labeled "breakthroughs" contemporaneously by diplomats, that the junta later breaks.

For example, under immense pressure after last fall's Saffron Revolution, Myanmar committed to engage in meaningful negotiations with democracy-leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party and its allies won more than 80 percent of the vote in the country's 1990 democratic parliamentary elections.

After a series of meetings with a regime interlocutor, Than Shwe imposed unworkable conditions as a prerequisite for direct talks. By then the world's attention had waned and the talks fizzled, both because the regime has no desire to engage in talks and it feels no pressure to make real concessions.

While the UN secretary general, the Burmese regime, and allies of the junta have urged that the question of humanitarian aid not be "politicized," the regime itself is taking every advantage of the cyclone to make permanent its grip on power to the exclusion of helping its own people. As is often the case, distraction and delay in discussing the fundamental issues in Myanmar only serve the interests of the regime.

The recent extension of Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest is perhaps the most high-profile example of this phenomenon. Notwithstanding the UN's four prior findings that her detention is illegal and that Myanmar law itself does not permit house arrest beyond five years, the junta decided to give her a sixth year under house arrest.

Further, in the days following the cyclone, the junta saw no need to delay its sham constitutional referendum. Postponing the vote only in the two areas hit hardest by the storm, the results obviated the need for those in the cyclone-ravaged regions to also cast ballots.

Nevertheless, the junta rescheduled the vote in those other areas. The junta has now made the extraordinary claim that 98.1 percent of the population had turned out to vote, with 92.48 percent endorsing the junta's proposal. According to the state-run New Light of Myanmar, this patently fraudulent outcome has "washed away" the 1990 election result.

It is deeply regrettable that both Ban Ki-moon and ASEAN chief Surin Pitsuwan declined to raise the fraudulent election result or Suu Kyi's expiring house arrest in their meetings with the junta, both of which occurred after Cyclone Nargis hit the country.

In so doing, they sent a clear signal to the junta that as long as they held their own people hostage, it could press ahead with their campaign to consolidate power and be assured the United Nations and ASEAN would relax any pressure for political reform. Their fundamental error was to focus exclusively on the suffering of the Burmese victims of Cyclone Nargis and to fail to recognize the political situation is equally unconscionable.

There is no doubt Indonesia has important experience to help explain to Myanmar's junta how a transition from military to civilian rule can be effectively managed. And even more relevant to current circumstances, of course, it did an exceptional job collaborating with the international community in responding to the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.

As a result, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Indonesia have a key role to play, but time is running out for the exercise of leadership. While a lot more could be done, at a minimum, Indonesia should make clear to the Burmese junta that while ASEAN wants to help, this help will not include shielding Myanmar from further intervention should it persist in its callous disregard of its own people's welfare.

The writer is an attorney with Freedom Now in Washington, D.C., and represents Aung San Suu Kyi. He can be reached at jgenser@freedom- now.org

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5 Weeks After Nargis, UN Appeal Still Under-Funded
Thursday, 12 June 2008, 12:53 pm
Press Release: United Nations
Five weeks after cyclone strikes Myanmar, UN appeal remains under-funded

11 June 2008 - United Nations aid agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have received just 40 per cent of the funding needed to meet their flash appeal launched after Cyclone Nargis battered Myanmar, more than five weeks after the catastrophe struck the Asian nation.

As of Monday this week, there have been firm contributions of $82 million - far short of the total $201 million sought - and there have been another $51 million of uncommitted pledges.

Amanda Pitt, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told journalists today in Bangkok that humanitarian agencies are concerned that there could be shortages of food relief, shelter and other supplies in the coming weeks unless more money is provided.

"We need some half a million tarpaulins to help with shelter, and funding is urgently needed to sustain the pipeline for food assistance," she said.

"Of course the overall concern is to continue to try to get systematic assistance to those most in need, and particularly to those most vulnerable to disease, malnutrition and exposure."

More than 134,000 people are dead or missing as a result of Cyclone Nargis and the subsequent tidal wave, which struck Myanmar on 2-3 May, causing the greatest damage to Ayeyarwady Delta area and Yangon, the country's most populous city. As many as 2.4 million people were affected and need humanitarian assistance.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has now dispatched 11,000 tons of food assistance to affected areas, but with food prices rising due to the scarcity of many commodities, the agency is distributing cash in lieu of food in some areas.

In a joint operation by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the national health ministry, three mobile health teams will conduct a one-week mission to trace tuberculosis patients whose treatment has been disrupted.

Meanwhile, a joint relief and early recovery assessment team, involving 250 staff from UN agencies, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and 18 Government ministries, will spend 10 days travelling the affected region to determine both immediate needs and longer-term issues.

Ms. Pitt said the preliminary findings of the assessment are expected to be released by 25 June.

ENDS

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MAP International provides medical aid to devastated Myanmar - 11 Jun 2008
MAP Myanmar response no. 8
Source: Medical Assistance Programs International (MAP)
Date: 11 Jun 2008

Updating MAP's shipments of medical supplies, Program Officer, Susan Lee in the region

MAP International is shipping more than a half million dollars in emergency aid and medical supplies to Myanmar, where a cyclone in early May left thousands of people sick or injured and nearly 2.5 million homeless.

As part of the Global Relief Alliance, a consortium of aid agencies with specialties in areas such as food distribution, agriculture, education and medical care, MAP International has provided bulk and hand-carried medical supplies to people in some of the country’s most devastated areas. MAP program officer Susan Lee is in Bangkok, Thailand to help coordinate MAP’s response, which to date includes more than $350,000 in medicines and medical supplies; another $210,000 in medicines will be on its way soon, with more to follow.

MAP has airlifted into the area a Johnson & Johnson Emergency Relief Module, which includes more than $50,000 in essential medical items such as sutures, dressings and antibiotics. MAP has also shipped two Emergency Health Kits, each of which will stock a field medical clinic with enough medicines and medical supplies to treat 10,000 people for three months. The kit contains anti-malarial medicines, oral rehydration salts, surgical supplies and other materials specifically designed to address infectious diseases and other medical emergencies among large populations during disasters.

In addition, MAP has equipped emergency medical teams with more than 70 medical packs, each filled with supplies such as antibiotics, oral rehydration salts and bandages. MAP has also purchased medicines from local sources to distribute among medical clinics in disaster areas. All of MAP’s donated medicines are being used and distributed by nonprofit partners and volunteer teams in Myanmar.

As the relief effort continues to unfold, MAP is planning to provide several million dollars in aid, including assistance to help provide clean water. MAP also plans to provide agricultural and fishing equipment to help cultivate and harvest food sources.

Cyclone Nargis made landfall in Myanmar May 2, flattening entire villages and leaving much of the country in ruin. Myanmar’s government has estimated the damage at $11 billion. It is the worst disaster to strike Asia since the 2004 tsunami, which left 225,000 people dead in 11 countries.

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is one of the poorest countries in Asia. According to the World Food Program, about five million people in Myanmar lack sufficient access to food and essential medicines. About one in 10 of Myanmar’s children die before age five due to preventable diseases.

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Suu Kyi should be beaten like a child, says junta
Thursday June 12 2008

Thomas Bell in Bangkok

THE Burmese junta has justified its detention of the democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, comparing its laws to anti-terrorism legislation in countries such as Britain and America.

According to the government newspaper, 'The New Light of Myanmar', which is thought to reflect the views of the ruling generals, Ms Suu Kyi (62) threatened state security and deserves to be beaten like a "naughty child''.

"Myanmar is not the only country that promulgates the laws to prevent those who pose a danger to the state,'' the newspaper said, listing Britain, America, Malaysia and Singapore as other examples.

"If necessary to guard the motherland and safeguard the lives and prosperity of the people, every government has to promulgate laws and impose restrictions, '' it said.

Terrorism

The regime changed the name of the country from Burma to Myanmar in 1989.

The remarks came as British MPs voted to approve a Bill to extend to 42 days the period in which terrorism suspects can be held without charge. Critics say the measure will undermine the country's global moral standing.

The article accused Mrs Suu Kyi and other detainees of receiving money from foreign governments and ethnic rebel groups. "They well deserve flogging punishment as in the case of naughty children,'' the article said, characterising the regime as a "parent of the people'' which exercises "great patience''.

Ms Suu Kyi, the world's only imprisoned Nobel peace laureate, won 80pc of seats in the country's last general election in 1990. However, the regime ignored the result. (Daily Telegraph, London)

- THOMAS BELL

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Burma: Torture and false allegations
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Source: Kaladan Press Network Please visit and show your support and appreciation

Maungdaw, Arakan State: Two Rohingya Muslims were tortured by Burma's Border Security Force, or Nasaka on false allegations of being human traffickers on June 6 evening, said a local from Lake Ya ( Kumir Kali) village.

A section of Nasaka personnel from sector No. 3, arrested Ahmed Ullah 27, son of Mohamed Zawshim Alam 55 and Osman 28, son of Nurul Haque 55, hailing from Lake Ya village, in Maungdaw Township, he added.

Both Rohingya Muslim youths were using Bangladeshi mobile phones which the Nasaka personnel found on them, he added.

The Nasaka checked the mobile phones and found they had communicated with people in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. Armed with the information, Nasaka labeled them human traffickers who were sending people from Arakan to Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. The Nasaka alleged that they frequently traveled to Bangladesh. The Nasaka detained them in their camp and tortured them, said a relative of one of the victims.

After torturing them severely on June 7 the Nasaka told their families that they would have to report everyday to the Nasaka camp and asked for 800,000 Kyat from each family. After receiving the money on June 8, the two Rohingyas were released and ordered not to go to the government hospital or any NGO's clinic, he added.

According to the villagers, the camp-in-charge is Major Thu Rain Kyaw who always makes false allegations to extort money from people by torture.

Mike Hitchen, Mike Hitchen Consulting Publisher of i On Global Trends Sydney Irresistible The Jeremy Young Files and The Jill Havern

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Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis OCHA Situation Report No. 30
Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Date: 11 Jun 2008

SITUATION OVERVIEW

1. Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar on 2 and 3 May 2008, making landfall in the Ayeyarwady Division and hitting the former capital, Yangon. Of 37 townships affected by the cyclone, 15 are considered to be ‘worst-affected’ . Current estimates suggest that 2.4 million people were affected and 1.3 million people are estimated to have been reached so far by International NGOs, the Red Cross and the UN. Official figures as of 16 May state that 77,738 people have been killed and 55,917 are missing.

2. A Tripartite Core Group (TCG), consisting of high-level representative of the Government of Myanmar, ASEAN and the UN, was established at the donor conference on 25 May to oversee the coordination of relief assistance. The group’s fourth meeting took place on 11 June.

3. A joint relief and early recovery assessment (Post-Nargis Joint Assessment/PONJA) commenced on 5 June with training, an official launch on 9 June and deployment of assessment teams on 10 June. 160 assessment personnel in 32 teams were dispatched to Yangon Division and 15 personnel from three hub coordination teams to Pathein, Bogale and Pyapon on 10 June. On 11 June 35 personnel in 7 teams departed to villages in Yangon Division, 125 personnel in 25 teams departed for Ayeyarwady Division and 10 personnel from two hub coordination teams left for Labuta and Wakema. The assessment involves humanitarian needs and damage components: a Village Tract Assessment (VTA) and a Damage and Loss Assessment (DaLA), for which field surveys in the 30 affected townships are planned between 10-19 June. Results from the VTA are expected before the end of June and will feed into a PONJA report and the revised Appeal. The assessment involves personnel from the Government of Myanmar, ASEAN member states, the UN, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, I/NGOs, the Myanmar Red Cross, the private sector and individual volunteers.

4. UN agencies report no major issues with obtaining visas, though in some cases delays of up to ten days have been reported. Overall, 195 visas have been issued to UN staff involved in the ongoing operation as of 10 June. Visas are being extended by the authorities without major obstacles. International NGOs are experiencing greater difficulties, with visa requests in some cases pending for up to three weeks. Despite some problems, it should be noted that several NGOs that have not worked in Myanmar before and do not have a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Myanmar have still been issued with visas. NGO Merlin has received 16 travel authorisations for presence in the affected areas until the end of August. UN staff have been travelling to the Ayeyarwady delta in increasing numbers with Government approval and more than 90 international UN staff have visited the affected-areas as of 9 June (excluding the visit of the UN Secretary General). Some International NGOs report problems in accessing the affected areas, with reports of organizations being turned away at police checkpoints despite proper authorization and, at times, unexplained withdrawals of authorization.

5. The Government of Myanmar’s New Light of Myanmar newspaper reports that 911 foreign aid workers were provided with visas between 5 May and 5 June 2008. 569 people have been authorized to work in the cyclone-affected areas during the same period. 458 visas were reportedly provided to staff from the UN and NGOs, 357 for nationals of ASEAN and neighbouring countries to provide medical assistance and 96 visas for meeting attendees. The newspaper reports that 342 people provided with visas have left Myanmar during this time.

6. The Government of Myanmar’s Minister of Planning briefed UN agencies, Inter-Governmental Organizations and I/NGOS on ‘Guiding Principles for carrying out aid and assistance activities for the cyclone victims’ on 10 June. IASC members have expressed concern that, if followed, it will negatively affect ongoing emergency relief operations. Organizations are to seek approval for their activities from the relevant line Ministry and the Tripartite Core Group (TCG). Visas and importation of relief items are to be authorized by line Ministries and the TCG. Detailed listings of relief supplies and distribution plans are to be shared with line Ministries and Township Coordination Committees. Supplies are to be ‘temporarily kept in Yangon’. Domestic travel arrangements are to be shared with line Ministries and Township Coordination Committees are to be informed of travel arrangements.

7. The Myanmar Cyclone Flash Appeal is appealing for US$201 million for UN agencies and NGOs to meet the most urgent needs. The appeal is 42.6% funded as of 11 June, with firm contributions of US$85 million and a further US$51 million in uncommitted pledges. According to the OCHA Financial Tracking System (FTS) US$168 million has been committed for all relief operations as of 11 June, with a further US$108 million in uncommitted pledges. For updated information on financial contributions please visit the OCHA Financial Tracking System (FTS) website at http://reliefweb. int/fts/. Donors are encouraged to verify contributions and inform FTS of corrections and additional information at fts@reliefweb. int

NATIONAL RESPONSE

8. The New Light of Myanmar newspaper reports that Prime Minister General Thein Sein, who is also the Chairman of the National Disaster Preparedness Central Committee (NDPCC), continues with visits to cyclone-affected areas, visiting Twantay, Kawhmu and Kungyangon townships on 10 June. This follows visits to the Delta by helicopter earlier this week.

9. IFRC reports that the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement has reached more than 250,000 beneficiaries with water, food and other relief items as of 9 June. More than 189,950 of the beneficiaries are located in the Ayeyarwady delta. Approximately 10,000 people per day are being reached. Some 11,000 families in Ayeyarwady division and the four worst-affected townships in the Yangon division have received shelter materials, family kits and hygiene kits in the last week. Distribution of shelter materials is a priority and distribution of more than 7,500 tarpaulins is planned in Kyaiklat, Labutta, Mawlamyinegyun, Nagapudaw and Kungyangon. A total of 915 tonnes of Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement relief supplies have arrived in Yangon by air as of 8 June. There are currently four MRCS warehouses in Yangon and four logistics bases are currently being established at MRCS hubs in Labutta, Bogale, Pathein and Pyapon.

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE

10. The following information is provided by the clusters, which meet regularly to coordinate the humanitarian response of national and international NGOs, the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement and UN agencies. For more detailed up-to-date information relating to cluster activities please visit the Humanitarian Information Centre (HIC) website: http://myanmar. humanitarianinfo .org. For the latest maps please visit: http://www.reliefwe b.int/rw/ rwb.nsf/doc404? OpenForm&emid=TC-2008- 000057-MMR&rc=3

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Myanmar to build first storm-resistant model village
Source: Xinhua News Agency
Date: 12 Jun 2008

YANGON, Jun 12, 2008 (Xinhua via COMTEX News Network) -- Myanmar will build a first-ever storm-resistant model village in cooperation with international experts, the leading local weekly Yangon Times reported Thursday, quoting Myanmar Engineers' Association.

With the assistance of experts from the Tokyo University of Japan and with the combination of technical knowhow applied in most cyclone-hit Bangladesh, Pakistan and India, and that of Myanmar's local regions, such cyclone-resistant model village will be constructed, the report said.

Such model village will be initially built in suitable location in Yangon division, one of two cyclone-hardest- hit divisions after Ayeyawaddy delta, by taking two years' time and is targeted to be completed by February 2010, it said.

According to the report, coordination is being made between the Tokyo University and the Myanmar engineers' association for the move.

The 40-house model village will comprise storm shelter, water distribution system using natural gravity, solar-energy power supply system and cyclone-resistant apartments, it added.

Deadly tropical cyclone Nargis, which occurred over the Bay of Bengal, hit five divisions and states -- Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on last May 2 and 3, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructure damage.

Villages in some townships such as Ngaputaw, Laputta, Bogalay, Dedaye, Phyapon, Mawlamyinegyun and Haigyigyun in Ayeyawaddy delta and Kungyangon, Kawmu and Kyauktan in Yangon division were almost totally destroyed and some even erased.

The storm has killed 77,738 people and left 55,917 missing and 19,359 injured according to official-released death toll.

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