IRIN
MYANMAR: Jemilah Mahmood: "Worse than the tsunami"
28 May 2008


BANGKOK, 28 May 2008 (IRIN) - Jemilah Mahmood, an obstetrician and 
member of the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team - and 
one of the first international aid workers to access Myanmar's 
cyclone-devastated Ayeyarwady Delta - is no stranger to disasters.

After her 12-day visit to the country, the veteran aid worker shared 
with IRIN her assessment of the situation.

"Arriving in Yangon, you don't really see the full extent of the 
destruction. Of course there are damaged buildings and uprooted trees, 
but it's not until you reach the delta that you see the true scale of 
the disaster.

"Flying over the affected area, I couldn't help but think this is worse 
than the 2004 Asian tsunami; so many deaths and displacement over such a 
large area. The flood surge was certainly much wider - up to 35km in 
some areas compared with 5km or 6km in the tsunami.

"But a lot of the areas I could visit in the delta, including Labutta 
and Mawlamyinegyun townships, were obviously not the worst.

"Although hospitals were badly affected, the hospitals I visited in both 
areas were up and running.

"Both Labutta and Mawlamyinegyun were badly hit and you could see a lot 
of damaged homes and displaced people in camps, but the worst affected 
areas were farther south.

"It's here in the rural and more isolated parts of the delta - much of 
which remains inaccessible - that the real challenge lies."

Makeshift homes

"International assistance is still just reaching a small percentage of 
the affected population and that's not good enough.

"At this point, shelter is the primary need. The rains have already 
started and soon the monsoon will begin. People are still living in 
tents, while others are in makeshift homes or taking refuge in schools.

"And with schools reopening in June, there is of course a lot of 
pressure for them to find alternative places to stay.

"Added to this are issues of access to clean drinking water, sanitation, 
food and healthcare, coupled with pressure on local communities to get 
back to their farms and begin replanting.

"Once the monsoon hits, it will be hard to replant. That could mean no 
crop for the next season. In fact, there is a fear that there will be no 
harvest should they fail to replant in time."

Partnerships

"Access to the cyclone-affected area remains a challenge, but it's 
improving. More and more NGOs are getting visas to Yangon at least, as 
are a number of UN staff.

"Given that reality, I cannot underestimate the importance of building 
partnerships with local communities and organisations on the ground, 
many of whom are having a real impact.

"Relief is reaching people through these local channels. Additionally, 
although we can't deny that the government is involved, there is great 
need for more information and transparency.

"What's important is finding which of these different channels to 
deliver aid is working and use them.

"Critically we need to ensure there is a clear logistics pipeline where 
assistance can be channelled to the people. It's happening, but we need 
to make it more regular.

"This is why we need more flights coming in and more boats.

"People need more relief, more shelter, as well as more food and water. 
Although it's increased tremendously over the past few weeks, we need to 
do much more.

"One of the more frustrating things about this particular disaster is 
that the humanitarian aspect of what we are trying to do is so often 
being blurred. We need to have both the government and aid community 
looking at things purely through the humanitarian lens.

"Not doing so has resulted in a huge information gap that we cannot 
afford.

"I feel the media has been very one-sided in reporting on what is being 
done. At the same time, I wish there was more openness on the part of 
the government to share with the media what they are doing.

"This would allow us all to be very clear where the gaps are. It would 
also reduce the need to keep pointing out what the government hadn't 
done, but rather highlight what they had and what the additional needs 
were.

"Any assistance is good assistance at this point and the sooner we get 
it in the better."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Appropriate Donations for International Disaster/Humanitarian Needs
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Center for International              web: www.cidi.org
.  Disaster Information          listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm
.                              guidelines: www.cidi.org/donate.htm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis           www.cidi.org/incident/myanmar-08e