OCHA Situation Report No. 45
Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis
14 August 2008


Source:
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

KEY DEVELOPMENTS

1. The logistics cluster officially ended its function as of 10 August. 
Coordination related to logistics matters is now taken over by user 
groups at the hub level in five field locations. The Government has 
granted permission for two helicopters to operate for three months 
starting 15 August, which will help continuing facilitation of air 
movements of humanitarian workers and light cargo to the affected areas. 
The helicopter operation will be managed by WFP aviation.

2. At the request of the Department of Social Welfare, UNFPA and the 
Women's Protection Technical Working Group (part of the overall 
Protection of Children and Women Cluster) carried out a mission during 
4-9 August to assess the situation of women and livelihoods in Labutta 
Township. The methodology adopted included focus group discussions in 
camps and the villages of return, and surveys with Ministry and 
municipality representatives. The focus group discussions all indicate 
that women separated from their families and widows are the most 
vulnerable, and that women's livelihood options are viewed as either 
non-existent or very limited. The importance of the link between 
livelihood activities employing women and those employing men were 
highlighted. All focus group discussions identified the need for 
injections of startup cash or facilities in order to resume their 
livelihoods. The main and immediate concerns were the access to food and 
safe shelter.

3. The emergency food assistance operation is now experiencing a rice 
pipeline break, causing the distribution of reduced rations throughout 
August. It is expected that the pipeline will be restored in September, 
following the arrival of regional purchases.

4. Tripartite Core Group (TCG) issued a press release on 14 August 
regarding the ways to solve the issue of the loss in values of aid money 
due to foreign exchange. Humanitarian agencies are now invited to 
transfer payments to US dollar accounts of vendors for supplies and 
services.

CLUSTER UPDATE

The following information is provided by the clusters, which coordinate 
the humanitarian response of national and international NGOs, the Red 
Cross/Red Crescent Movement and United Nations agencies. More detailed 
information on cluster coordination, maps, events, meeting schedules, 
contact lists and press releases are available at: 
http://myanmar.humanitarianinfo.org.

AGRICULTURE

Needs Assessments & Analysis

- Data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (MOAI) of 4 
August indicates that against a planned sowing area of 931,308 acres in 
ten cyclone-affected townships in Yangon and Ayeyarwady Divisions, 
720,682 acres have been cultivated for the monsoon planting season. Of 
the reported townships, Labutta registers the least area cultivated in 
terms of planned area sown (61%), followed by Ngapudaw (68%).

- MOAI data also indicates that significant progress has been made in 
terms of monsoon rice seed delivery to affected areas. The townships 
included in the above MOAI calculations include: Ngapudaw, Labutta, 
Mawlamyinegyun, Pyapon, Bogale, Kyaiklat and Dedaye of Ayeyarwady 
Division; and Kungyangon, Kawhmu and Kyauktan of Yangon Division.

Attachments:
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