Eighteen months after Cyclone Nargis devastated communities in the Irrawaddy Delta, there are critical needs that still haven't been addressed.
International donors pledged $88 million at an ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) conference in Bangkok last week to support the recovery effort, but more funding is needed to help the most vulnerable - particularly women and children living in some of the most hard to reach areas.
While three out of four households even now have no access to improved water sources and nine out of ten babies are still delivered at home, the UN has estimated that a further $483m is required over the next three years to meet the needs of the whole recovery programme.
Yet many organisations are downsizing their operations and some are even pulling out of the country, due to lack of funds.
In a speech to leaders at the conference, Dr Paul Sender, Merlin's Country Director in Myanmar said:
"The scale of humanitarian operations across the cyclone-affected Delta region is reducing month by month. From the time the cyclone hit in May 2008 to the end of that year, $74m was made available to international NGOs to provide humanitarian assistance. This figure fell to $64m available for 2009, and the figure for 2010 could be half that. The levels of funding currently available will not allow us to match assistance and actions to where even the most critical needs have been identified."
Merlin is co-leading the UN's post-Nargis recovery plan (PONREPP) for the health sector and advocating for greater funding from international donors.
At the conference, which was chaired by the ASEAN Secretary General and UN Under Secretary General, Dr Sender presented the PONREPP Prioritised Action Plan on behalf of international aid agencies on the ground, outlining minimum needs to be addressed by July 2010.
Recovery will take more than two years, but Merlin is calling for international donors to support the Action Plan to meet the most pressing needs in the next seven months.
Dr Ashok, Merlin's Senior Project Medical Coordinator based in Laputta, said:
"Merlin has made significant progress in meeting the health needs since the cyclone. We have rebuilt or refurbished 22 health centres that were damaged or destroyed in the cyclone. And our network of over 534 community health workers have provided frontline health care to over 185,000 people. But with more funding, we could reach many more people affected by the cyclone who are still in need of assistance."
