One year after Cyclone Nargis devastated a swathe of Myanmar, and with the monsoon rains setting in once more, survivors need increased international aid to prevent more deaths. -- PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
GENEVA - ONE year after Cyclone Nargis devastated a swathe of Myanmar, and with the monsoon rains setting in once more, survivors need increased international aid to prevent more deaths, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
Cyclone Nargis swept across Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta and southern Yangon on May 2, 2008, killing nearly 140,000 people and displacing 2.4 million.
MIRED IN POVERTY
Because many countries impose sanctions on Myanmar in protest at its military junta's policies, the country receives the lowest level per head of overseas development aid - US$2.88 - of any country, said Bishow Parajuli, UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar.
'If you visit the people of Myanmar and look into the various development and humanitarian challenges I think it is important that the level of support is increased,' he said.
'With the monsoon coming we are facing the humanitarian crisis again,' Mariko Sato, rapid response coordinator for the UN human settlements programme UN-HABITAT, told a media conference.
'Tarpaulins and thatch are being torn and dilapidated and destroyed so that needs to be replaced immediately before the monsoon comes,' she said.
The world community donated US$315 million (S$458 million) to the army-ruled former Burma in the aftermath of the disaster, said Bishow Parajuli, UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar.
That money went on food, livelihood assistance, shelter, agriculture, medical care and schools. But with rice paddy fields inundated with sea water and many people still living in temporary shelter, more is needed.
The UN, Myanmar and its southeast Asian neighbours launched a three-year US$691 million recovery plan in February. So far about US$100 million has come in, he said.
Following the cyclone, Myanmar families received US$23 on average to repair thatched roofs, Ms Sato said. That compares with an average of US$10,000 per family in Sri Lanka for shelter after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
As a result, many survivors are still living in poorly covered shelters vulnerable to bad weather. -- REUTERS
