$US 690 million needed to rebuild devastated Delta region
Hundreds of thousands of people who survived Myanmar's worst-ever cyclone are facing the prospect of being trapped in debt with little prospect of securing further credit or loans and need urgent help from the international community, international aid agency Oxfam said today.
"One of the many impacts of Cyclone Nargis was that it destroyed almost an entire harvest that farmers and fishermen had already borrowed against before the cyclone hit," Oxfam Myanmar Country Director Claire Light said.
"That has meant many families defaulted on those loans, and haven't been able to access enough credit ever since to get back on their feet,"
"Urgent international assistance is needed before June so that farming and fishing families can kick-start their upcoming harvest, repay their loans, and avoid losing any more to this devastating cyclone and its aftermath," Ms Light said.
Cyclone Nargis, which hit Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Delta and Yangon Division on May 2 – 3, 2008, as well as killing 140 000 people and destroying homes and schools, demolished farmland, cattle, fishing ponds and equipment leaving the vast majority of survivors who rely on these for an income struggling to make ends meet, Oxfam said today.
A recovery plan prepared by the Association of South East Nations (ASEAN), the United Nations in Myanmar and the Government of the Union of Myanmar, says that $US 690 million is needed from the international community over the next three years to restore people's lives back to what they were before the cyclone.
Of that it states $US 189 million dollars is needed to restore people's livelihoods, through activities such as generating jobs and supporting agricultural production for fishing and farming communities.
The United Nations Flash Appeal opened soon after the cyclone, will draw to a close only 67 per cent funded, and has a $US 42 million shortfall in the amount requested for agricultural projects. That appeal closes tomorrow.
Ms Light said aid agencies do not want to see funding end after the first anniversary of the cyclone, and they have not seen enough pledges from the international community for long-term aid.
"There was a generous response in the wake of the storm that allowed the largest ever relief effort in Myanmar, and because of that almost all cyclone-survivors have been reached with some level of assistance," Ms Light said.
"But Cyclone Nargis caused a level of destruction similar to the worst-hit areas of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. The 2.4 million people affected will continue to feel its impact unless aid keeps flowing for the next three years," Ms Ireland said.
Oxfam has reached approximately half a million people with aid in the cyclone-affected regions. The aid agency has been directly operational in the country since August 2008, and continues to fund partner organisations that assisted in the immediate relief efforts. Prior to Cyclone Nargis, Myanmar received among the lowest levels of aid per capita in the world.
Oxfam GB's Myanmar Country Director Claire Light, based in Yangon, and Oxfam GB's Regional Director, Sarah Ireland, based in Bangkok are available for interview. To interview them or for more information please contact: Sunita Bose in Bangkok on +66 84 527 3636 or on Australian number +61 407 555 960 or Uamdao Noikorn in Bangkok on +66 818 553 196. In the UK contact Sean Kenny +44 7766 443 506, skenny@oxfam.org.uk
