OCHA Situation Report No. 35
Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis
26 June 2008


Source:
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

SITUATION OVERVIEW

1. Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar on 2 and 3 May 2008, affecting 37 
townships across Ayeyarwady and Yangon divisions. Official figures show 
number of dead or missing at 130,000. 1.3 million out of estimated 2.4 
million affected people have been reached so far by International NGOs, 
the Red Cross and the UN.

2. A Tripartite Core Group (TCG), consisting of high-level representatives 
of the Government of Myanmar, ASEAN and the UN, was established at a donor 
conference in Yangon on 25 May to oversee the coordination of relief 
assistance. Following the meeting, the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment 
(PONJA) was initiated to produce a common assessment report that covers 
humanitarian needs (Village Tract Assessment/VTA) and damage components 
(Damage and Loss Assessment/DaLA) with support from the Government of 
Myanmar, ASEAN members states and the United Nations. The preliminary 
findings were presented at the ASEAN Roundtable meeting in Yangon on 24 
June. For example: 45% of households have received food through 
humanitarian assistance, while 56% obtaining food from the markets; 60% of 
households admitted that access to clean water is inadequate; 22% of 
households have suffered from psychological stress; 59% of houses were 
severely damaged; 60% of village leaders suggest that there are not enough 
seeds for the next planting season; and 78% of households have reported 
the lack of access to credit.

3. As a result of the TCG-meeting on 20 June, requests for visas related 
to the Nargis response, from UN agencies and NGOs, will be handled by the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Requests for domestic travel authorizations 
also related to Nargis will be handled by the Ministry of Social Welfare, 
Relief and Resettlement.

NATIONAL RESPONSE

4. The Government of Myanmar's New Light of Myanmar newspaper reports that 
the Myanmar Port Authority has repaired six jetties along Yangon River, 
while two heavily damaged jetties have been removed. This enables better 
flow of vessels transporting commodities from the delta region to Yangon 
and other regions.

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE

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

Attachments:
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/retrieveattachments?openagent&docid=A576B4170E929A238525747400756844&file=Full_Report.pdf



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