UN and Burma

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[UN, may 16, New York] - On Myanmar, the Secretary-General said he has asked Special Coordinator John Holmes to visit Myanmar this weekend. Holmes, he said, will deliver a third letter from the Secretary-General and attempt to establish contact with the Myanmar leadership, with a view towards discussing how the UN can assist the Government’s immediate and longer-term relief effort.
He added that he hopes that the meeting of ASEAN [Association of South-East Asian Nations] Foreign Ministers on 19 May and a further high-level pledging conference that he has suggested for 24-25 May will help to mobilize resources in response to this unprecedented crisis for Myanmar, as was the case in response to the tsunami in 2004
On Myanmar, two weeks since Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar, active humanitarian assistance continues by the United Nations, but the current estimate is that somewhere between 1.6 and 2.5 million people have been affected.
The International Telecommunication Union has deployed 100 satellite terminals to help restore vital communication links. With the restoration of communication links, designated Government officials and other humanitarian agencies are able to more efficiently coordinate relief operations and the mobile terminals are easily transported by road and air to be used both by humanitarian workers and the disaster victims.
A UNICEF [United Nations Children’s Fund] team, meanwhile, has reached the remote areas of Myanmar, where the situation is dire for children. More than 70 UNICEF assessment and relief missions are in the region, distributing essential survival kits, including plastic sheeting for shelter, water purification materials, medicines and mosquito nets, as well as cooking materials. The agency warns that children who survived the cyclone are now at increasing risk of disease and of consequences of not receiving timely assistance.
A third plane of the UN refugee agency reached Yangon yesterday, carrying 40 tons of assistance supplies from its stock in Dubai. The goods were distributed late Thursday evening and continued Friday to partners, NGOs and community-based organizations. Those groups are now continuing the distribution of the supplies to help as many as 5,000 families in the Irrawaddy Delta.
Medical care is now being focused on the survivors staying in the relief shelters. Local NGOs told us their volunteers are now accessing remote parts of the affected areas as well. The hospital in Maubin has become the referral hospital for townships in the Irrawaddy area.

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Filed under Birma, Burma, Derde Wereld, Mondialisering, Myanmar, Natuurfenomenen, United Nations, Verenigde Naties