PRESS CONFERENCE on myanmar humanitarian situation

 

Assistance was ready to go into Myanmar to help address the needs of the people affected in wake of Cyclone Nargis, which struck the country on 2 and 3 May, Rashid Khalikov, Director of the New York office of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told correspondents today.

Briefing at Headquarters on the United Nations response, Mr. Khalikov said that United Nations agencies, particularly the World Food Programme (WFP), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), were stepping up their stockpiles in the country and in the region and were shipping assistance to the country and to the affected areas.

It was a critical moment for the affected population, he said.  He hoped that an assessment would be carried out in the next few days and that would help alleviate suffering and help save a lot of lives.

A group of experts, including the United Nations Disaster Assessment Team managed by OCHA, had already been assembled in Bangkok to go to Myanmar, he went on.  The group had applied for visas today and it was hoped that the members would be able to proceed as quickly as possible.  The United Nations hoped that the Government would understand the requirements of international assistance, in terms of easing up regulations for visa applications, as well as for relief supplies to cross the customs borders of the country.

He said that the United Nations had been in constant dialogue with the Government on the issue of visas for the group of experts and that the leader of the country team was discussing it with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and other relevant ministries.  There was also an ongoing dialogue that had started Sunday with the Myanmar Mission to the United Nations in New York, including a meeting yesterday between the ambassador and the Chef de Cabinet of the Secretary-General.

The Secretary-General had written a letter to the Government to express support to the Government and offer United Nations assistance, he stated.  It was not clear whether that letter included any reference to the request for visas.

The Secretary-General had made the Myanmar disaster one of his priorities, continued Mr. Khalikov.  The United Nations country team in Myanmar had indicated that it considered the critical need, at present, to be plastic sheeting, water purification equipment, cooking sets, mosquito nets, emergency health kits, and food.  There had also been reports of a water and fuel shortage, as well as hikes in the prices of commodities.  It was clear that emergency food assistance would be headed for the affected population.

He stated that fives states had been declared disaster zones by the Government.  As more information came in, it was becoming clear that the devastation was significant and that the delta region appeared to have suffered the most damage, with whole villages wiped out.  Reports had put the death toll at more than 22,000 at present, with more than 40,000 missing.

OCHA had not determined how many people were in need of assistance, but estimated that the number would probably be in the hundreds of thousands, he stated.  Access was very difficult outside the capital, because of logistical and other issues.  As such, it had been difficult to verify the exact number of people affected and those in need of assistance.

The Government had said that it would accept international aid, he continued.  In that regard, the country team on the ground was working closely with the various line ministries and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs on arrangements for the assistance to be provided.  So far, there had been an understanding of the United Nations role, but there needed to be many explanations to the Government, as had been the case in the past, where the country concerned did not have experience dealing with such disasters.

The United Nations was also working very closely with non-governmental organization partners, he said.  There was quite a large non-governmental organization community in Myanmar and they were also developing programmes for immediate reaction on the basis of whatever assessment had been done.  They also had some stockpiles inside the country.

The United Nations country team was working on developing a flash appeal, which it hoped to launch by Friday, he went on.  The delay in launching it was to ensure that the appeal was credible and that it was based on assessments that had been properly conducted.

UNICEF was working together with some non-governmental organization partners, including the Myanmar Red Cross, which had sent five assessment missions to evaluate the needs of children and families, he said.  The WFP had been able to distribute food assistance in Yangon, in cooperation with Médecins Sans Frontières Holland.  One of the acute issues was communication and OCHA had had difficulty in communicating with its office there.  The WFP was doing whatever it could to procure medium-term communications support.

He said that the Secretary-General had announced that the Central Emergency Response Fund, established by the General Assembly in 2005, was available for the disaster.  As soon as projects were received from the country team, resources would be released from the Fund.  At a meeting with United Nations agencies today, OCHA had informed the country team that the CERF was available.

He appealed to the international community to support the relief efforts and noted that, so far, indications of support for multilateral action under the leadership of the United Nations had been received from several Governments.  Those included Australia, New Zealand, Finland, Canada and Norway.  Pledges had also already been made by the European Union, while bilateral assistance was being provided by India, Thailand and China.  In addition, the Secretary-General of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) had appealed to ASEAN member countries to support the effort.

He said that he did not know if there had been any early warning about the cyclone, but noted that that would be part of the lessons learned.

On the United Nations presence on the ground, he said that it currently consisted of the people that were in the country to deal with normal situations, which was not enough to handle the challenge that had been created by the cyclone.  All the key agencies were on the ground.  There were five OCHA staff on the team that had applied for visas to go to Myanmar, but a lot of other humanitarian partners had also done the same and were ready to move.

Mr. Khalikov said that he did not believe that there had been any special bureaucratic difficulties created as a result of this particular disaster.  There had been certain regulations relating to movement of United Nations staff in the normal days, but the Government was being urged to change and adapt them to the emergency.

He added that a resident humanitarian coordinator for Myanmar had been approved by the Secretary-General and that he must already be on his way there.  The current Humanitarian Resident Coordinator ad interim, who had been out of the country when the cyclone hit, was on his way back.  In the meantime, the country team was being led by an acting Resident Humanitarian Coordinator, who was the Country Director of WFP.

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For information media • not an official record