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	USAID Responds to Cyclone Nargis USAID's Guide to Effective Giving Center for International Disaster Information ReliefWeb
	05/11/08: USAID Administrator Visits Southeast Asia to Support Relief Efforts in Burma 05/09/08: Burma Cyclone Fact Sheet #4 (pdf, 48kb) 05/08/08: Briefing by USAID Administrator and Director of Foreign Assistance Henrietta H. Fore and Director of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance Ky Luu - "U.S. Preparations for Relief Efforts for Burma" 05/08/08: Burma Cyclone Fact Sheet #3 (pdf, 44kb) 05/07/08: USAID Partners with American Red Cross to Help the Burmese People RSS Feed for Cyclone Nargis Updates
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USAID Responds to Cyclone Nargis

KEY DEVELOPMENTS

May 9, 2008

• The 10-person USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team (USAID/DART) has not received Government of Burma (GOB) permission to enter Burma. The USAID/DART is coordinating U.S. Government (USG) humanitarian efforts from Bangkok, Thailand, including plans for an airlift of relief supplies to Burma on May 12, pending clearances.
• On May 9, the U.N. launched a Flash Appeal for $187 million to provide humanitarian assistance to more than 1.5 million cyclone-affected individuals in Burma during the coming six months. The U.N. noted that the lack of access, difficulties bringing in supplies and personnel, and uncertainty about local capacity complicated planning efforts.
• On May 9, GOB officials refused to release two planeloads of U.N. World Food Program (WFP) high-energy biscuits for 95,000 beneficiaries. WFP is in discussions with GOB officials regarding distributions of the high-energy biscuits and plans to resume flights on May 10, according to a press release from the agency.

Humanitarian Assistance Fact Sheets

05/09/08: Fact Sheet #4 (pdf, 70kb)
05/09/08: Map #4 (pdf, 2.2mb )

FY 2008 HUMANITARIAN FUNDING PROVIDED TO DATE

USAID/OFDA Assistance to Burma Cyclone:    $3,250,000

CURRENT SITUATION

• GOB state media reported that Cyclone Nargis killed an estimated 23,000 people, with an additional 42,000 others still missing. Various estimates that the death toll may be much higher remain unconfirmed.
• GOB state media noted that the cyclone affected 47 townships countrywide and destroyed as much as 95 percent of buildings and houses in 7 townships in the Ayeyarwady Delta. On May 6, the GOB reduced the number of states and divisions categorized as disaster areas from five to two. Ayeyarwady and Rangoon divisions appear to be the mostaffected areas and have a combined population of approximately 13 million, according to the U.N. Flash Appeal.
• The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) estimates that there are 700 camps in Rangoon alone. The Myanmar (Burma) Red Cross Society (MRC) has conducted assessments in Kungyangon, Kayan, and Thone Kaa townships, Rangoon Division. In Kungyangon township, the cyclone killed approximately 1,000 people, while 2,000 others remain missing, according to the MRC. In Kayan township, the cyclone displaced more than 50,000 people and few shelters remain. In Thone Kaa township, the cyclone destroyed 3,700 houses and damaged 101 schools. Approximately 23,000 people are displaced in 11 camps.
• The GOB Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Burma has prioritized receiving emergency relief supplies for delivery by the GOB to affected areas. The GOB Foreign Ministry also stated the GOB was not ready to accept foreign search and rescue or media teams.

  Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene

• According to the U.N. World Health Organization (WHO), the provision of safe drinking water and the prevention of water- and vector-borne disease is the top priority. An increase in vector breeding sites due to flooding in nonendemic areas is expected to result in increased malaria and dengue fever incidence within three to four weeks, WHO reported on May 8.
• As of May 8, the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) had distributed: 15,000 bottles of chlorine for household water disinfection; 16 drums of bleaching powder; family water kits; latrine pans; 30,000 oral rehydration salts; 71 drug kits; 93 first aid kits; 1,000 tarpaulins; and 8 early childhood development kits in 11 townships in Rangoon, Ayeyarwady, and Bago divisions.

  Food Security

• According to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has obtained clearance from the GOB Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries and is proceeding with the preparation of impact assessments.
• Food security is a major concern for relief organizations. According to the U.N. Flash Appeal, in the affected areas more than 30 percent of children under five years old are malnourished. The Flash Appeal noted that high chronic malnutrition rates result from a combination of factors, including insufficient nutritious food, poor health care access, inadequate water and sanitation facilities, poor maternal and child care, and few livelihoods opportunities.

  Emergency Relief Supplies

• An IFRC-chartered flight with 300 emergency shelter kits arrived in Rangoon on May 9. IFRC is planning an airlift of 1,000 tarpaulins and 3,750 water containers on May 10.
• On May 9, a relief flight from China arrived in Rangoon with emergency relief commodities valued at approximately $500,000, according to OCHA.

  Health and Nutrition

• WHO has deployed teams of national polio surveillance officers already in-country to assess the risk of disease outbreaks. WHO epidemiologists are Bangkok, Thailand, waiting for visas to assist with disease surveillance.
• UNICEF and Action Against Hunger plan to assess three affected townships in Ayeyarwady Division, according to OCHA. UNICEF is providing education and communication materials on nutrition to affected populations.

USAID HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE

• On May 5, U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Shari Villarosa declared a disaster in Burma due to the effects of Cyclone Nargis. In response, USAID/OFDA immediately provided $250,000 to UNICEF, WFP, and the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for emergency food, water and sanitation, and shelter assistance.
• On May 6, an additional $3 million from USAID/OFDA was allocated for the provision of emergency relief assistance to cyclone-affected populations, including $1 million to the American Red Cross and $2 million to be allocated by the USAID/DART to other humanitarian assistance organizations operating in the affected areas.
• U.S. Navy ships currently remain in the vicinity of the affected areas of Burma for training exercises and could be redirected, if necessary to support relief efforts. The U.S. Military continues to make plans to support potential relief operations to Burma.

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