Cyclone Nargis - Myanmar OCHA Situation Report Number 18

Description: 

HIGHLIGHTS: 1. The UN Secretary General today arrived in Myanmar. He was able to witness cyclone-devastated areas and visited temporary relief tented camps. He met with the Prime Minister of Myanmar, the Foreign Minister and the UN Country Team. He also paid his respects at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon.... 2. An independent source estimates that 110,000 persons are living in temporary settlements in 14 townships. Of these, 70% are sheltering in monasteries, 28% in public buildings and 2% in tented camps. The highest numbers of homeless people in temporary settlements are in Labutta (34,000), Bogale (15,500), Myaungmya (12,000) and Pyapon (9,700) townships in Ayeyarwady, and Kungyangon township (20,000) in Yangon Division.... 3. Five international medical teams are now providing medical care to those in need and support to national health-care staff in the affected areas of Ayeyarwady and Yangon Divisions. The Thai team is in Myaungmya, the Indian team in Bogale and Pyapon, the Chinese team in Kungyangon and Dedaye, the Bangladeshi team in Wakema and the Lao team in Kyauktan. The sixth team, from Singapore, is expected to arrive today.... 4. The Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement ? which is spearheading the national relief response ? approved the Food Cluster Response Plan that delineates the geographical coverage and beneficiary numbers for cluster partners.... 5. The Director General of the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) invited representatives from UNICEF, Save the Children and World Vision on 21 May to discuss Child Protection issues in response to the impact of Cyclone Nargis. All partners agreed that the principle of family unity and community-based care and support for all children, should be the foundation for any strategy and action plan for children. The Department asked UNICEF to lead a national action plan for child protection in emergencies in partnership and with the direct involvement of DSW. A taskforce has been formed with representatives from DSW, UNICEF, Save the Children and World Vision. DSW will liaise with the Minister and higher officials in this regard.... 6. The logistics cluster is now operating a 4,000 square metre warehouse in Yangon (managed by DHL), along with a fleet of 30 trucks, four barges (200-800 MT) with four barge pushers, and two boats (300 and 600 MT). In five local hubs, (Pyapon, Bogale, Mawlamyinegyun, Labutta and Pathein) six Mobile Storage Units have been or are being constructed.... 7. There has been no update to the official figures for dead and missing. 77,738 are reported dead and 55,917 missing.

Source/publisher: 

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

Date of Publication: 

2008-05-22

Date of entry: 

2008-06-03

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  • Individual Documents

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Language: 

English

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pdf

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47.42 KB