NCGUB: News Reports on Cyclone-hit Burma [Friday, 13 June, 2008]
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Myanmar: Health cluster situation report no. 25, 13 Jun 2008
Diesel urgently needed for Myanmar farmers to plant rice: UN
Foreign Doctors Leave Cyclone-Hit Myanmar
Storm survivors face disease risk
Local citizens help out in Burma
Burma Still Refuses Aid
Burma Gives 'Cronies' Slice of Storm Relief
Burma landslide kills 12 ruby miners
Landslides hit Myanmar's 'Valley of Rubies': state media
Myanmar says US aid can't be trusted
Providing refuge after the storm: Cyclone survivors in Myanmar receive temporary shelter and water
Myanmar: A journey into the heart of the cyclone-hit delta
UN warns Myanmar funds appeal short of target
Junta's aid rules delay Myanmar cyclone relief: HRW
Report: Junta in Myanmar let tycoons handle aid
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Myanmar: Health cluster situation report no. 25, 13 Jun 2008
Source: World Health Organization (WHO)
Date: 13 Jun 2008
HIGHLIGHTS
- Dengue prevention and control activities will focus on eleven priority townships in the affected divisions as well as rural areas in the Ayeyarwady.
- All teams for the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) are in the field and have started collecting information. They will move to the most badly affected areas on 14 June
- Three Ministry of Health and WHO teams are in the field to track tuberculosis patients, provide curative services as well as to assess the health situation, in Labutta and Bogale.
HEALTH ASSESSMENT AND SITUATION UPDATE
- All teams for the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) are in the field and have started collecting information. They will move to the most badly affected areas on 14 June
- The six teams involved in the Damage and Loss Assessment as part of PONJA went to the field on Wednesday and will return on Sunday.
- A 23-member Japanese medical team was in Labutta for ten days and reported on their experience:
They treated patients with injuries, acute respiratory infection (ARI), Malaria, Measles, Dengue Fever and Mental Disorders.
They referred all TB cases and emergency cases to Labutta Township hospital for treatment.
They received continuous guidance from a liaison medical officer for adapting local norms and guidelines for treatment.
- Government medical teams have treated more than 1600 patients in Pyapon, Labutta and Bogale townships in the past two days according to state media reports.
HEALTH CLUSTER RESPONSE
1. Disease Surveillance
- EWAR and Surveillance system established in the aftermath of cyclone Nargis will be integrated in the national health care system.
- Two disease rumors have been reported so far this week and are being verified.
2. Health Action
WHO
- The WHO Regional Director for the South-East Asia Region, Dr Samlee Plianbangchang, has arrived in Myanmar. He will survey the affected areas as well as meet His Excellency the Myanmar Minister of Health, and the UN Resident Coordinator, to discuss cyclone-related issues.
- A situation analysis was made of the dengue situation in cyclone affected areas of Ayeyarwady and Yangon Divisions.
- WHO has established a Plan of Action for dengue prevention and control in cyclone affected areas. Objectives of the plan are to (a) reduce the risk and/or intensity of dengue transmission during the current transmission season; (b) suppress or contain local outbreaks; (c) minimize Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever (DHF) case fatality rates; (d) strengthen national capacity for the prevention and control of DF/DHF. The estimated budget is US$695 000.
- WHO has established a technical working group to support implementation of the Plan of Action on dengue. Organizations with extensive community networks such as The Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association, the Myanmar Red Cross Society and the Myanmar Women's Affairs Federation could play a key role.
- MOH, WHO and UNICEF discussed the dengue Plan of Action and agreed that:
Implementation will begin next week using WHO and UNICEF resources
Yangon division, where more cases occur, should get first priority
Eleven townships will be the priority townships for action
Three townships will be covered for surveillance and case management and 11 townships for larviciding.
Rural areas in Ayeyarwady division will be included since more than half the cases this year are from such areas.
IEC materials focusing on the implementation on larviciding will be developed
The MOH unit for vector-borne disease control (VBDC) will conduct training on fogging and spraying in Pathein on 19 - 20 June.
VBDC and WHO drafted the guide for larviciding and calibrated the tool (teaspoon) for application of larvicide.
- WHO has drafted and presented a Framework for malaria prevention.
- WHO has provided psychotropic drugs in the WHO Essential Drugs list to all in need in the affected areas.
UNICEF
- In partnership with Myanmar Health Assistant Association and Myanmar Nurses and Midwife Association, UNICEF deployed 32 health assistants in Laputta, Bogale and Pyapon, and have additional 39 health assistants, 16 nurses and 24 midwives waiting for deployment to strengthen and revitalize primary health care, both curative and preventive.
IFRC/Myanmar Red Cross
- Myanmar Red Cross Society has provided 1500 plastic toilet pans as part of its sanitation initiatives.
3. Supplies and Funds
- WHO has secured supplies and equipment for prevention and control of dengue worth around US$1.4 million, including US$30,000 from Danish Embassy in Thailand.
HEALTH COORDINATION
1. UNICEF informed the cluster that they are coordinating the health cluster at township level in several townships, these meetings have been taking place 1-2 times a week.
2. The technical working groups provided the following reports:
Early Recovery:
The working group lead is currently in the field
HIV/AIDS
UNFPA and UNAIDS co-chaired a meeting last week on integrating sexual and reproductive health issues into the Nargis response
Tuberculosis
Three MOH/WHO teams are currently in the field in Bogale and Labutta
The teams will be following up on TB services, tracking TB patients, providing curative services as well as assessing the health situation.
Psychosocial Support
The working plan has been finalized
Translation to Myanmar language is expected to be completed by next week
The key agenda item is to promote education in the treatment of the patients
There are presently many training manuals which are being checked to ensure that they are socially appropriate.
NEXT STEPS
- WHO and partners will assist MoH in restoring EPI services and TB services.
- WHO and health cluster partners will support development of comprehensive mental health services in Myanmar based on general duty medical officer training and nurses training that are taking place as part of the Nargis relief operations.
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -----
Diesel urgently needed for Myanmar farmers to plant rice: UN
The Economic Times
13 Jun, 2008, 1435 hrs IST, AGENCIES
BANGKOK: Myanmar's farmers urgently need one million gallons (4.5 million litres) of diesel fuel to plough their rice paddies and help feed cyclone victims in coming months, the United Nations said on Friday.
Noeleen Heyzer, executive secretary of the UN Asian economic body ESCAP, called on neighbouring countries, donors and oil suppliers to help as the rising price of oil affects fuel supplies to the impoverished nation.
Diesel was needed to assist with urgent planting of rice seed, without which the critical monsoon harvest will be lost across the cyclone-ravaged Irrawaddy Delta the country's rice-bowl.
"The window of opportunity is very short, and the need is of the utmost urgency," Heyzer said."The planting season in the delta is June to July, after which it will be too late, with disastrous consequences for food security in Myanmar and the region."
The United Nations said Heyzer had learned of the fuel shortage during her visit to Myanmar over three days earlier this week, in a meeting with agriculture minister Major General Htay Oo.
One million gallons of diesel would operate some 5,000 tillers donated by Thailand, China and others, each covering 100 acres of paddy fields over 50 days and requiring two gallons of diesel per acre, the UN said.
Cyclone Nargis struck May 2-3, leaving 133,000 dead or missing and 2.4 million people in need. The storm killed livestock and buffaloes, the traditional animals used for ploughing fields.
Hundreds of thousands of people are going hungry due to ruined rice stocks and soaring food prices, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation, which said the cyclone-hit region accounts for 65 percent of the country's rice.
But on Wednesday, Myanmar minister for national planning Soe Tha denied there were any problems in the state-run newspaper.
"The rice output in the storm-affected areas in (Irrawaddy) and Yangon divisions made up only 2.3 percent of the nation's total rice output. The uncultivable acreage is barely one percent of that of the whole nation," he said.
Copyright © 2008 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -------
Foreign Doctors Leave Cyclone-Hit Myanmar
June 13, 2008
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Foreign doctors have started leaving cyclone-hit Myanmar as the junta has closed down many relief camps in the affected areas, a senior Thai health ministry official said on Friday.
The military government had told Thailand not to send a third batch of medics, meant to leave for Yangon on Monday, as most of the camps in the Irrawaddy delta town of Myaungmya had been closed, Surachet Satitniramai, a coordinator for the Thai team, said.
"Doctors from India, Japan and the Philippines have already left Myanmar as many camps have been closed down," he told Reuters, adding that the only doctors left at the few camps remaining in the area were all Myanmar locals.
"They said they had enough doctors to deal with the situation now and will call out for help if they need more," he said.
Cyclone Nargis hit the densely populated delta last month, killing up to 134,000 people and leaving 2.4 million destitute. Despite the magnitude of the disaster, the junta has been reluctant to admit outside aid operations.
The United Nations called Myanmar's neighbors in Southeast Asia and other donors to give more than one million gallons of emergency diesel supplies to help farmers in the devastated delta replant rice crops before the end of July.
"The window of opportunity is very short, and the need is of the utmost urgency," U.N. official Noeleen Heyzer said.
"The planting season in the Delta is June to July, after which it will be too late -- with disastrous consequences for food security in Myanmar and the region."
(Reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan; Editing by Ed Cropley)
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --
Storm survivors face disease risk
Anthony Jaffee THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Friday, June 13, 2008
Doctors and relief officials warned Thursday that time is running out to stop outbreaks of tropical diseases that could kill millions of survivors of a cyclone in Burma.
"This is a major complex humanitarian crisis and it is not over," Thomas Tighe, president of Direct Relief International, told reporters during a telephone news conference hosted by private aid groups.
Paul Anthony, medical director for Global Health Progress, said, "If people act now, there is an opportunity to save the lives of millions of people."
"There is no question that diseases and various types of infections are already on the rise," Dr. Anthony said. "This epidemic ... has already started."
An estimated 134,000 people are dead or missing as a result of Cyclone Nargis, which struck Burma on May 2-3. Up to 3 million more might be vulnerable to starvation, malnutrition and disease.
The U.N. World Health Organization warned that limited access to clean water, shelter and sanitary conditions in Burma's cyclone-affected areas has led to conditions ripe for water and mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue, especially with the coming monsoon season.
The United States has contributed over $35 million in disaster relief to Burma since the cyclone, yet aid efforts have been hampered by the reluctance of the military regime to grant access to the country.
Four U.S. Navy ships loaded with helicopters sailed away from the Burmese coast last week, after being refused permission for three weeks to deliver much-needed relief and medical supplies.
Agence France-Presse/ Getty Images More than a month after Cyclone Nargis struck Burma, villages remain in dire shape. An estimated 134,000 people are dead or missing.
The United Nations set a goal of $201.6 million for its relief efforts but has received only $113.2 million, or 56 percent, from government donors, it said. Some $51 million in pledges has yet to be delivered, the world body said in a separate news conference Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
"Funding is clearly not coming in at the rate we would hope," said Amanda Pitt, a U.N. spokeswoman in Bangkok. "Funding is urgently needed to sustain the pipeline for food and assistance."
Mr. Tighe, of Direct Relief International, told reporters the Burmese government continues to impede relief efforts.
"A lot of the [disease] surveillance that we know ought to be done in situations like this has not been done for over a month at the scale which one would expect," he said. "It took so long to sort through some of the [political] issues that it limited the response that was possible."
However, Mr. Tighe stressed that the situation is improving and that it's important to continue aid efforts, primarily by providing medicine and supplies and rebuilding Burma's public health system, which was 50 percent destroyed in the cyclone-affected regions.
"We're trying to keep this in the eyes of the public because important things are going to be going on in the coming months with these diseases," said Dr. Anthony. "And if people don't continue to invest in trying to help these people then there are going to be a lot of unnecessary deaths."
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------
Local citizens help out in Burma
By Ian Boydon
TONNES of vital equipment and supplies have reached thousands of Burmese people left devastated by Cyclone Nargis - thanks to a woman from South Lakeland.
Jacqui Gavin, 42, who grew up in Windermere and is a former pupil of the Lakes School, has recently returned from the stricken South East Asian country where she oversaw the arrival of almost 1,000 tonnes of crucial aid.
Cyclone Nargis struck at the beginning of May leaving a trail of devastation during which an estimated 70,000 people lost their lives, and a further million lost their homes.
Miss Gavin had visited Myanmar (Burma) earlier this year on holiday. However, when she arrived this time, working for the Department of International Development - the Government department responsible for Britain's aid to developing countries, she noticed an instant difference.
"When you see it during the day there are large, mature trees just ripped out of the ground. You can still see all the damage around the capital. Roofs have been ripped off, windows blown out. It was a stark difference to what I was used to."
Sights were a shock...
THE plight of children affected by the cyclone has been witnessed by Rupert Miller, 38, a consultant for Impact, which is based in Windermere, who is helping Save the Children liaise with corporations who want to help the aid effort.
Mr Miller arrived in the stricken South East Asian country on Friday and, despite having visited problematic countries like Sudan and Somalia, the scale of the destruction caught him off guard.
"It was a real shock to the system," he said. "I didn't realise just how catastrophic it really is. Being here and breathing it brings it home. "The area is flattened, there is nothing left there other than a few small brick buildings. Life was flattened for everyone. "But stuff is getting through. At the moment Save the Children is concentrating on taking in food, material for shelters and mosquito nets." Despite being restricted in where he can visit, Mr Miller has been able to begin his job of working to build relations between Save the Children and the corporate sector.
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ------
Burma Still Refuses Aid
VOICE OF AMERICA
13 June 2008
The United States is committed to bringing relief assistance to the victims of Cyclone Nargis. To date, the U.S. has provided more than thirty-five million dollars in humanitarian assistance to the people of Burma. The U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of Defense, as part of an ongoing airlift, have completed over one-hundred- thirty-six airlifts of emergency relief aid that will benefit well over four-hundred- forty-five- thousand people.
But many more Burmese are in desperate need of assistance. According to the United Nations, there are still over one million people who have not yet been reached.
That's why it is unfortunate that the Burmese military junta continues to limit access to the cyclone-affected areas, despite their commitment to do so. Over a month after the cyclone hit the shores of the Burmese Delta, killing an estimated one-hundred- thirty-thousand, hunger and disease remain serious threats due in part to insufficient access for relief.
U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the Burmese regime's restrictions on assistance have put cyclone survivors at greater risk:
"Our difference regarding politics and the Burmese regime are well-known. That said, we put those aside in the interest of trying to save people's lives. We continue that effort. We think that, to the extent that there has been significant loss of life, that we as well as others could have reduced that number had we been allowed to more quickly act with a large-scale intervention."
"The Burmese regime," said White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, "must permit all international aid workers the access necessary to provide the urgently-needed assistance. There is no time to waste."
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------
Burma Gives 'Cronies' Slice of Storm Relief
On Magazine's List of Junta's Chosen Tycoons Are Some Facing U.S. Sanctions
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 13, 2008; A16
Just seven days after Cyclone Nargis devastated Burma last month, the ruling military junta parceled out key sections of the affected Irrawaddy Delta to favored tycoons and companies, including several facing sanctions from the U.S. Treasury, according to a Burmese magazine with close ties to the government.
Some of the most notorious business executives in Burma, including Tay Za and Steven Law, also known as Tun Myint Naing, were given control of "reconstruction and relief" in critical townships, under the leadership of top generals. Tay Za was identified by Treasury as a "regime henchman" this year when it slapped economic sanctions on hotel enterprises and other businesses he owns.
All told, more than 30 companies and 30 executives are to divide up the business in 11 townships in areas affected by Nargis, according to the report.
The document in the magazine is dated May 9, a time when the United Nations, aid groups and many countries were pleading with the Burmese government to allow access to affected areas in the aftermath of the storm, which killed as many as 130,000 people and left 2.5 million without homes. Despite promises of greater openness, the Burmese rulers have continued to impose restrictions on aid relief, including new and onerous identification requirements for aid workers, according to reports from the region.
The document, which includes the cellphone numbers for many of the executives, was published in the Voice, a weekly journal published by Nay Win Maung. A translation was provided by BIT Team, a group of India-based Burmese who try to promote information technology in the xenophobic country.
Nay Win Maung is a son of a military officer and was brought up among Burma's military elites, giving him good connections to military insiders. His magazines can access government-related news and exclusive information.
"The Treasury is targeting the regime's cronies, and the regime wants its cronies to get the money," said Tom Malinowski, Washington advocacy director for Human Rights Watch. "They see it as an opportunity to profit from the international community's compassion. But these are not experts in providing relief; they are experts in running guns and drugs and making a lot of money."
Efforts to reach Burmese representatives in Washington last night were unsuccessful. The cellphone number listed for Steven Law in the Voice was answered by an associate who said he was not available.
While some of the executives awarded contracts are well known to human rights activists and financial-crime experts, others are less prominent, potentially making the document a guide to the individuals currently in favor with the military leadership.
The government estimated it needed more than $11 billion in reconstruction aid shortly after the May 2-3 cyclone, a figure that met with a cool reception at an international donors conference in Rangoon three weeks ago. Burma, also known as Myanmar, is rich in natural resources, but much of the country is desperately poor. The junta has enriched itself with natural gas fields that bring in about $2 billion in annual revenue, as well as trade in jewels, heroin, amphetamines, timber and small arms.
Some of the conglomerates given business in the delta, such as Law's Asia World and Tay Za's Htoo Trading, were also tasked with building the country's new capital at Naypyidaw, more than 200 miles from the old capital of Rangoon. With little notice three years ago, the junta uprooted the capital to a remote area, requiring massive construction of new government buildings, hotels and housing for civil servants.
Much of the country, in fact, is a forced labor camp, with more than 60 prisons, labor camps and detention centers, according to a report this year by the Burma Fund, an anti-government activist group. People forced into construction are paid minimal wages, if at all.
Hlaing Sein, an officer with the London-based Burma Campaign UK, said that Htoo Trading, which was given control of Heingigyum and Ngaopudaw townships, forced cyclone victims to work for 800 kyat a day, roughly 70 cents, in order to meet a government order to reopen schools by June 2. But a quart of water in the delta now costs the equivalent of $1.50, she said.
The Treasury sanctions against Tay Za, Law and other junta cronies -- and some of their companies -- freezes their assets and prohibits all financial and commercial transactions by U.S. entities with the designated companies and individuals, as part of an effort to break up their financial networks. The Treasury has released detailed charts about the financial links among the junta and Tay Za, Law and related associates.
Tay Za, whose businesses include timber, palm oil and aviation, is said to be close to Senior Gen. Than Shwe, the junta leader, in part because of his habit of hiring the children of powerful generals. The Bangkok Post recently reported that though no public warnings were made about the approaching cyclone, air force fighters and private passenger planes from Bagan Air -- believed to be a joint venture between Tay Za and Than Shwe's family -- were moved the evening before the storm from Rangoon airport to Mandalay, which was not in its path.
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -------
Burma landslide kills 12 ruby miners
Jun 13, 2008 07:41 AM
Reuters
Rangoon–Torrential rains caused a landslide that killed 12 miners in Mogok, military-ruled Burma's "Valley of Rubies" gem zone, a source with relatives living in the area said on Friday.
"At least a dozen ruby miners died in the landslide," the source said, adding that four members of one family were also swept away in flooding caused by Thursday's monsoon season downpour in the foothills of the Shan Plateau.
Mogok, about 1,000 kilometres north of Rangoon, is the source of the former Burma's famed "pigeon's blood" rubies, said to be the world's finest.
Experts estimate that 90 per cent of all rubies come from Burma although since September's bloody crackdown on protests led by Buddhist monks, anti-junta campaigners have been lobbying for tighter sanctions to stop their international trade.
Rubies, sapphires and jade are important sources of foreign exchange for the military, which has ruled with an iron fist since seizing power in a 1962 coup. The United States said the junta made about $300 million from the gem trade in 2007.
Conditions in the mines around Mogok, which is off-limits to foreigners, are said to be horrendous, with workers toiling for a pittance at the bottom of make-shift pits hewn out of the hillside.
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
Landslides hit Myanmar's 'Valley of Rubies': state media
June 13, 2008
YANGON - LANDSLIDES caused by heavy rains have pounded Myanmar's famed 'Valley of Rubies,' source of some of the world's most prized precious stones, state media said on Friday.
The landslides struck just six weeks after deadly Cyclone Nargis devastated Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta and the main city of Yangon, leaving more than 133,000 dead and 2.4 million in need of humanitarian aid.
The latest natural disaster hit far from the cyclone zone, near the northern town of Mogok, 420 miles (675 kilometres) north of Yangon.
The landslides caused some injuries and property damage, but the government mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar newspaper gave no details.
'Yeni creek of Mogok overflowed and that caused landslide. There were injured and damages on account of the landslide,' the newspaper said.
Authorities in the central city of Mandalay said they had not received any details on the landslides, citing the difficulties of communication in the remote region.
The paper said torrential rains had soaked Mogok town overnight Wednesday and into Thursday morning.
For the past 700 years, Mogok's 'Valley of Rubies' has been mined for 'pigeon blood' rubies - considered the finest in the world - sapphires and other rare gems.
A top-notch ruby can cost more per-carat than a diamond, and Myanmar's ruling junta is increasingly exploiting the gems as a key source of income, auctioning them off several times a year.
Despite Western sanctions on Myanmar over the regime's failure to introduce democratic reforms, the auctions attract buyers from China, Thailand and other Asian nations, who reportedly spend upwards of 100 million dollars at each sale. – AFP
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --
Myanmar says US aid can't be trusted
The Associated Press
Article Created: 06/13/2008 12:22:16 AM PDT
Click photo to enlargeLocals gather in front of a damaged monastery in Laputta, Myanmar, Monday, June 9,... ((AP Photo))«1»YANGON, Myanmar—As individuals and aid agencies around the world dig into their pockets for funds to help Myanmar's cyclone victims, the country's ruling junta said Friday that such assistance from the United States could not be trusted.
State media has previously said Myanmar feared Washington was using the cover of humanitarian aid to invade the country and steal its oil reserves.
The suspicion continued Friday, when a media mouthpiece for the regime warned that "the goodwill of a big Western nation that wants to help Myanmar with its warships was not genuine"—a clear reference to the U.S.
Myanmar rejected humanitarian aid aboard naval vessels from the U.S., Britain and France, which sailed toward the Southeast Asian nation after Cyclone Nargis struck May 2-3.
The New Light of Myanmar newspaper said Friday that aid from nations who impose economic sanctions against Myanmar and push the United Nations Security Council to take actions against it come "with strings attached."
Despite the junta's regular attacks on Western donor countries, celebrities, ordinary people and aid groups there have donated generously to help the cyclone victims.
However, the U.N. said Thursday it has received about half the money it requested for cyclone relief, with some nations apparently delaying their donations because of concerns about restrictions imposed by the military government on foreign aid workers.
The U.N. set a goal of $202 million for its relief efforts but so far has received only $89 million, or 44 percent, from government donors, it said. Some $51 million in pledges has not yet been delivered, the U.N. said.
Funding shortfalls were particularly great for emergency food operations and education, the world body said.
"Funding is clearly not coming in at the rate we would hope," said Amanda Pitt, a spokeswoman in Bangkok for the U.N. relief operations. "Funding is urgently needed to sustain the pipeline for food and assistance."
Other agencies are faring better. The private, Christian-oriented group World Vision, a major international relief agency, says it already has $19 million of the $25 million or $26 million it needs to enable operations for six months.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies says it has raised 96 percent of the $51 million it is seeking.
Private agencies—which play a large part in relief operations—raise much of their funds from individuals.
Aid donors met late last month in Yangon and agreed to provide some cyclone aid, but many of them warned the ruling junta they would not fully open their wallets until international aid workers are provided access to the hardest-hit areas. The generals promised to allow foreign workers into the Irrawaddy delta, but have continued to hinder access to the devastated area.
Humanitarian and rights groups said the government distributed a new set of guidelines for relief operations at a meeting of U.S. agencies and private aid groups Tuesday that could further complicate and delay recovery efforts.
The guidelines require repeated contact with national and local government agencies and large amounts of paperwork.
"The government should be streamlining aid efforts to cyclone victims, not slowing down aid with these new rules," Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement Friday.
Britain's Disasters Emergency Committee—a consortium of 13 humanitarian aid agencies—says Queen Elizabeth II and Harry Potter series author J.K. Rowling both contributed "significant donations" to Myanmar relief.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated $3 million and offered software to help reunite family members separated in the cyclone.
In Hollywood, the nonprofit organization Not On Our Watch—founded by actors George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and others—awarded $250,000 to Save the Children and offered to match every additional dollar given to the aid group up to $250,000.
The U.N. estimates more than 1 million survivors, mostly in the delta, still need help. The storm killed more than 78,000 people and left 56,000 missing, according to the government.
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------
Providing refuge after the storm: Cyclone survivors in Myanmar receive temporary shelter and Source: Church World Service (CWS)
Date: 12 Jun 2008
water
*Names have been changed to protect identities of the cyclone survivors
Yangon/Bangkok – The two sisters, Na Chu and Hnin, clung to coconut trees as they swayed with the ferocious winds that swept through their neighborhood. With her four-month-old baby in one hand and the coconut palm in the other, and with the help of her husband, Na Chu held on for dear life.
The tree didn't offer respite for long. The sisters watched in horror as their house collapsed and drifted down the Irrawaddy Delta, and rising water forced them to float amid the debris that was once their home.
"At 4 AM, when the water level started to decrease, we were able to start walking to higher ground," Hnin said through tears. In the hopes of reaching safety, Tin Sien struggled to walk while carrying his wife and baby girl. "After about 15 minutes of walking, my sister could no longer keep going. She died in her husband's arms," said Hnin.
Nargis slammed into the coastal nation the evening of May 2, killing as many as 200,000 people and displacing more than two million. Survivors are beginning to find some relief, and with it harrowing tales are shared.
Like many in Myanmar (Burma), the road to recovery will be long and arduous for Hnin, Tin Sien, his baby girl and the 240 people in their village who also lost their homes and livelihoods.
"It took a week for any aid to arrive," Hnin said. "We had to drink coconut juice before the rain started again. For food, we ate snacks which drifted along the river and walked to other villages to ask for rice."
Church World Service and Action by Churches Together International have been on the ground providing emergency relief with help from local partners since the early days following the cyclone. More than 700,000 cyclone survivors have received assistance from CWS and ACT thusfar.
CWS helps provide plastic sheets or tarpaulins, which can be used quickly and easily by people like Hnin for shelter in the critical first six months following a disaster. Hnin's village received 37 tarpaulins, which are commonly supported by a bamboo frame to create a makeshift hut.
The CWS/ACT local partner has provided tarpaulins for 142,050 people (28,410 households) in 332 villages throughout the cyclone-affected area.
The same CWS/ACT local partner distributed water baskets, so Hnin and Tin Sien could have a means to harvest rainwater. As of early June, the ACT/CWS implementing partner provided a total of 3,116 water baskets (with a capacity of 200 gallons each), along with water purification supplies. A steady source of potable water and a shelter mean Hnin's family can begin the process of recovery.
"Now, at least we can now keep our belongings under one roof, and we can now start our work again since we do not need to worry about shelter," Hnin said.
Contributions to CWS Cyclone Nargis response may be made by telephone at (800) 297-1516 ; by mailing a check to Church World Service, 28606 Phillips Street, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN, 46515; or through secure online contribution at: www.myanmarrecovery .org
Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676 ; lcrosson@churchworl dservice. org
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526 ; jdragin@gis. net
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ------
Myanmar: A journey into the heart of the cyclone-hit delta
Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
Date: 13 Jun 2008
BOGALE, 13 June 2008 (IRIN) - A month after Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar, access to the worst-affected Ayeyarwady Delta for foreigners, whether aid workers or journalists, remains a challenge. A photo-journalist recalls his struggle to reach the southern area of Bogale.
"On 4 June, heavy rains started in Yangon, the former capital, resulting in a major traffic jam as floodwaters stopped decades-old vehicles and forced commuters to wade through knee-deep water. At my guesthouse, I immediately sought information from a colleague on the situation in the delta area and how he had managed to get past several military checkpoints.
"I had a chance to visit the northern part of the delta region, the town of Kong Yangon. The only way to make it even to the tip of the delta was to blend in. So I wore my longyi, a traditional men's outfit, and headed off to the other side of the Yangon River to take a public bus to the affected areas.
"We passed several checkpoints coming out of the main city of Yangon. The road had a moon-like surface and was covered in the debris of uprooted trees and demolished houses.
"Getting around Kong Yangon was tougher than I'd imagined. It was crawling with soldiers clearing debris from roadsides and hanging around in blue tents watching medical workers conduct check-ups and provide first aid to cyclone survivors. Trying to be as local as possible, I and another 'tourist' cautiously walked to the town's port, hoping to catch a boat to some of the more isolated villages that had yet to receive help.
"We arrived in Pazumchaun, a village an hour-and-a-half away by boat. It was already raining hard when we arrived and the wind was blowing again. We talked to the village elder through an interpreter. He said it had all happened so fast, the villagers hadn't realised the intensity of the cyclone until the next day. At least 100 people died in that village alone, including an eight-year-old monk.
"We then travelled to the village of Kyuan Manul, home to about 1,800 people, which had lost approximately 300 inhabitants. A timid 13-year-old boy named Kyawthu began talking about his experience: 'It was dark, but I heard loud grumbling noises and the wind was very hard. The next thing I knew I was alone and could not find my family, I know they are dead,' he said."
Battle for survival
"But the people of Myanmar are resilient. Everywhere you go, people are busy getting back on their feet. They have no time for grieving but the sorrow and fatigue, as well as the lack of food, are etched into their faces. Soldiers are visible on the whole stretch of the main highway, clearing the road. But the people living in secluded areas have to do most of the clearing on their own, with limited access to basic supplies.
"The next day, we attempted to go farther south into the delta but twice we were asked to vacate our seats and return our tickets because the bus attendants feared we would be caught at military checkpoints and their operations would be suspended or they would be put in jail.
"Finally, after much travelling, doing our best to remain under the radar of the authorities, I had made it to ground zero, Bogale town, where Nargis had unleashed its full force.
"There I saw foreign NGOs distributing rice and other supplies. I also saw medical teams making their rounds to the neighbouring islands to conduct check-ups and bring first aid to the survivors.
"The problem remains, however, in the ability of people to rebuild their lives. They have lost their loved ones - and their livelihoods.
"Their fate lies not only in the government's ability to repair whatever damage Cyclone Nargis has brought them, but in how prepared they will be when another cyclone wreaks its destruction."
ds/mw
[END] A selection of IRIN reports are posted on ReliefWeb. Find more IRIN news and analysis at http://www.irinnews .org
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ----
UN warns Myanmar funds appeal short of target
13 June, 2008
YANGON, Myanmar - Queen Elizabeth II, Bill Gates, J.K. Rowling and a clutch of Hollywood stars have all given generously to help Myanmar's cyclone victims, but the United Natinons says government donations for its relief effort are falling short.
The United Nations said Thursday it has received just over half the money it requested for cyclone relief in Myanmar, with some nations apparently delaying their donations because of concerns about the junta's restrictions on foreign aid workers.
The U.N. set a goal of $201.6 million for its relief efforts but has received only $88.5 million, or 44 percent, from government donors, it said. Some $51 million in pledges has yet to delivered, the U.N. said.
Funding shortfalls were particularly great for emergency food operations and education, said the world body.
"Funding is clearly not coming in at the rate we would hope," said Amanda Pitt, a U.N. spokeswoman in Bangkok, Thailand. "Funding is urgently needed to sustain the pipeline for food and assistance."
Aid donors representing dozens of countries and regional organizations met last month in Yangon and agreed to provide some cyclone aid, but warned the junta they would not fully open their wallets until international aid workers are provided access to the hardest-hit areas.
The junta promised to allow foreign workers into the Irrawaddy delta, but continued to hinder access to the area.
Humanitarian and rights groups said the government distributed a new set of guidelines for relief operations at a meeting of U.S. agencies and private aid groups Tuesday that could further complicate and delay recovery efforts.
The guidelines require repeated contact with national and local government agencies and large amounts of paperwork.
"The government should be streamlining aid efforts to cyclone victims, not slowing down aid with these new rules," Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement Friday.
Other agencies are faring better. The private, Christian-oriented group World Vision says it has raised over $19 million and expects to get at least $6 million more.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies says it has raised 96 percent of the $50.8 million it is currently seeking, largely because it is able to tap a network of national agencies in 186 countries.
Private agencies — which play a large part in relief operations — raise much of their funds from individuals.
"Obviously people see images on television of people in great need. I think there's a natural desire to give in that situation," said World Vision spokesman James East.
He noted that the U.N. has different sources for its funds, primarily governments. "What governments are interested in is access and accountability — they want to be sure that their money is going to be spent wisely and that the aid can be monitored."
Celebrities have also played a part in raising money.
Britain's Disasters Emergency Committee — a consortium of 13 humanitarian aid agencies — says Queen Elizabeth II and Harry Potter author Rowling both contributed "significant donations" to Myanmar relief.
The committee, which says it has raised $20.8 million, would not reveal the size of their donations.
In the United States, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated $3 million for relief efforts and offered software to help reunite family members separated in the cyclone.
The donations were given to the private groups Mercy Corps, World Vision and Care "so they can go in there and help as quickly as possible," according to Gates.
Hollywood is doing its part, most notably through the nonprofit humanitarian organization Not On Our Watch — founded by actors Don Cheadle, George Clooney, Matt Damon and Brad Pitt, producer Jerry Weintraub and human rights lawyer David Pressman.
The group awarded $250,000 to Save the Children, and offered to match every additional dollar given to the aid group up to $250,000.
The U.N. hopes that funding will increase after June 20, when it finishes a comprehensive assessment of the needs of the estimated 2.4 million cyclone survivors.
It estimates more than 1 million survivors, mostly in the delta, still need help more than five weeks after the cyclone. The May 2-3 storm killed more than 78,000 people and left 56,000 missing, according to the government.
(This version CORRECTS that Gates Foundation is donating $3 million, instead of $3 billion.)
............ ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ...
Junta's aid rules delay Myanmar cyclone relief: HRW
13 June, 2008
BANGKOK (AFP) - New guidelines adopted by Myanmar's ruling generals are further delaying emergency efforts to deliver aid to regions ravaged by the cyclone, human rights experts said Thursday.
The rules, issued on Monday, require UN and other aid groups to receive formal permission from Myanmar authorities to travel and to distribute aid.
Bureaucratic delays in the issuing of humanitarian visas and official roadblocks across the worst-hit Irrawaddy delta region have already led to criticisms the Myanmar government was obstructing relief.
It had been hoped that assurances given to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon three weeks ago had eased the passage of aid.
"The government should be streamlining aid efforts to cyclone victims, not slowing down aid with these new rules," Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
"Once again the generals are placing control of the population over the needs of the population."
Human Rights Watch says the new rules require humanitarian workers to obtain permission from both Myanmar government ministries and the core group -- including the United Nations, the regional bloc ASEAN and Myanmar governent -- coordinating the aid effort.
The local authorities, known as Township Coordination Committees, must also be kept informed, it said.
The watchdog said its sources in the former capital Yangon also claimed that further permissions are necessary from regional and local military commanders, and that government officials must accompany all travel by foreign aid workers to the delta.
Six weeks after Cyclone Nargis hit, leaving more than 133,000 dead or missing, more than one million survivors have still not been reached by foreign assistance, according to the United Nations.
"Clearly international staff do require much more sustained access to the delta areas, particularly for key skilled technical staff so they can really establish more systematic operations," said Amanda Pitt, spokeswoman for the UN's emergency relief arm.
"The reality on the ground often differs sharply from government promises to allow aid," Adams said. "Diplomats, the UN, and ASEAN need to keep a close eye on aid delivery and sound the alarm if the government improperly interferes."
Copyright © 2008 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AFP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Agence France Presse.
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -------
Report: Junta in Myanmar let tycoons handle aid
June 12, 2008, 10:34PM
By GLENN KESSLER
Washington Post
WASHINGTON — Just seven days after Cyclone Nargis devastated Myanmar last month, the ruling military junta parceled out key sections of the affected Irrawaddy Delta to favored tycoons and companies, including several facing sanctions from the U.S. Treasury, according to a Myanmar magazine with close ties to the government.
Some of the most notorious business executives in Myanmar — including Tay Za and Steven Law, also known as Tun Myint Naing — were given control of "reconstruction and relief" in critical townships, under the leadership of top generals.
Tay Za was identified by Treasury as a "regime henchman" earlier this year when it slapped economic sanctions on hotel enterprises and other businesses he owns.
All told, more than 30 companies and 30 executives are to divide up the business in 11 townships in areas affected by Nargis, according to the report.
The document is dated May 9, a time when the United Nations, aid groups and many countries were pleading with the Myanmar government to allow access to affected areas in the aftermath of the storm, which killed as many as 130,000 people and left 2.5 million without homes.
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
http://www.reliefwe b.int/rw/ RWB.NSF/db900SID /KKAA-7FK2FX? OpenDocument
