OCHA Situation Report No. 46
Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis
22 August 2008


Source:
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

OVERVIEW & KEY DEVELOPMENTS

- Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar on 2-3 May 2008, affecting some 2.4 million 
people living in Ayeyarwady and Yangon Divisions. Almost 140,000 people 
were killed or remain missing. Three and half months into the post 
disaster response, life saving emergency relief and humanitarian 
assistance continue whilst the focus is shifting towards early recovery 
efforts in parallel so as to provide urgent livelihoods support to the 
affected population. Some areas are moving to early recovery at a faster 
pace than others. For instance, several agencies and NGOs are now shifting 
their operations from Pyapon to Bogale since the former is increasingly 
phasing into early recovery while unmet emergency humanitarian remain in 
Bogale. Villages in remote locations continue to require urgent 
humanitarian assistance. In Mawlamyangyun, the emergency phase in all 
sectors is considered as over by the Township Coordination Committee and 
the focus is now shifting on early recovery activities prioritizing 
health, education, food and livelihoods.

- The Revised Appeal, launched on 10 July, is requesting a total of US$ 
481.8 million until end-April 2009. To date, the Appeal is 41% funded, 
according to OCHA's Financial Tracking Services (FTS). The Central 
Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has provided close to US$25 million for the 
Cyclone Nargis response. A second allocation of CERF funding is being 
approved in the range of US$4 million, mainly for food, shelter & NFIs, 
logistics and health. Agriculture and early recovery continue to be the 
least funded whilst these activities are increasingly critical, notably in 
view of the planting season.

- The Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PoNJA) was released on 21 July. The 
PoNJA aimed at providing a comprehensive multisectoral assessment of the 
situation in areas of Myanmar affected by Cyclone Nargis and was conducted 
jointly by the Government of Myanmar, ASEAN and the United Nations. The 
PoNJA report estimated that at least US$1 billion is needed for 
humanitarian, recovery and reconstruction needs over the next three years. 
The Tripartite Core Group (TCG), consisting of highlevel representatives 
of the Government of Myanmar, ASEAN and the United Nations, is now 
reviewing modalities and technical aspects for a proposed Periodic Review 
of the Village Tract Assessment (VTA), a monitoring mechanism developed as 
a component of PoNJA. The first review is anticipated in November 2008 to 
further inform humanitarian relief, recovery and reconstruction planning.

- Coordination between the Government, ASEAN and the UN continues through 
the TCG, providing an important forum to discuss policy and regulatory 
issues to facilitate humanitarian activities as well as a framework for 
cooperation for relief to recovery. The UN Special Advisor on Myanmar, 
Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, met with the TCG and the UNCT on 18 August to be 
briefed on the work of the Group and the UN. Prof. Gambari expressed 
satisfaction at the spirit of cooperation and expressed the hope that this 
could serve as a model for addressing other pressing humanitarian 
challenges and issues in non-Nargis areas of Myanmar. He visited a 
cyclone-affected township on 19 August. Prof. Gambari is on a five-day 
mission to the country since 18 August.

CLUSTER UPDATE

The Nargis response is implementing the Cluster Approach. Currently, 10 
clusters are operational at the Yangon level, involving UN agencies, local 
and international NGOs (Agriculture, Early Recovery, Education, Emergency 
Telecommunication, Food, Health, Nutrition, Protection of Children and 
Women, Shelter, WASH). The clusters are now being rolled out to the field 
level "hubs," and are supported by OCHA sub-offices established in six 
locations. Most clusters have now shifted to biweekly meetings. Following 
updates are provided by the cluster lead agencies. (For more information, 
visit: http://myanmar.humanitarianinfo.org).

AGRICULTURE

Needs Assessments & Analysis

- An assessment has been carried out by the Myanmar Fisheries Federation, 
in collaboration with the Department of Fisheries, on the socio-economic 
situation of the fisheries sector in the delta and will be published in 
the coming week.

- According to the PoNJA report, earnings and jobs lost as a result of 
Nargis largely fall under the category of the informal sector, which 
include seasonal jobs in agriculture, short-term jobs in community works, 
small-scale fishing, rice mills, fish processing, salt production, wood 
cutting, and other resource-based economic activities. In terms of 
agriculture [crop], PoNJA estimates that cyclone damage caused a total 
loss of 76 million working days, equivalent to a loss of earning of Kyatt 
415 billion, which includes projections for future yield losses. For the 
fisheries sector, estimated employment losses amount to 10 million working 
days, with income losses approximated at Kyatt 26 million.

Attachments: 
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/retrieveattachments?openagent&docid=1595EEF7A66A08A8492574AD00031997&file=Full_Report.pdf


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