http://www.e-ir.info/?p=1266
Written by Sean Turnell on May 12, 2009 – 7:26 am
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One year ago Cyclone Nargis struck southern Burma. This ‘natural’ disaster brought about the death of at least 140,000 people, made homeless 800,000 more, and caused severe hardship for the inhabitants of much of the Irrawaddy Delta.[1] The land of the Delta is Burma’s (and once the world’s) ‘rice bowl’, and so the destruction wrought here a year ago has been greatly damaging to food security amongst the poor throughout the country.
Of course, the people of Burma are not unused to suffering. For nearly fifty years, however, this suffering has been almost entirely man (sic) made, the product of a military regime that has ruled the country since 1962 and whose brutality is matched only by its ineptitude in managing the economy.[2] This regime now styles itself the ‘State Peace and Development Council’ (SPDC), but its appetite for undermining the institutions necessary for a vibrant market economy, while at the same time embarking upon ill-informed and irrational economic policy-making, remains little diminished.
Cyclone Nargis brought with it then a different type of suffering from Burma’s traditional government-induced variety, but the latter did not take long to reassert its primacy. Infamously, this included the refusal by the SPDC to allow foreign relief into the country in the first crucial weeks following the cyclone. Shamed before the world, the regime later relented, but up to the present it continues to make life difficult for aid and relief workers. For foreign aid workers this largely amounts to restrictions upon their movements and a certain routine harassment. For local aid respondents the punishment for good deeds rendered have been much more serious, and at the time of writing some 21 local aid volunteers languish in prison for having the temerity to distribute aid from outside the channels determined by the SPDC, and/or for letting the world know something of the pitiful state of their fellow citizens.
The difficulties of aid delivery in Burma is not a story, alas, that (many) international aid agencies and NGOs that operate in the country are anxious to share publicly, even if in private they mostly acknowledge the problem. It’s a reluctance familiar to long-time observers of Burma and the ‘politics’ that pervades the discourse on the country, but the vehemence of the response to critics of post-Nargis reconstruction has been surprising nonetheless. Special umbrage seems to have been taken, in particular, to a recent joint report into human rights abuses after the Cyclone by the Emergency Assistance Team (EAT, a Thailand-based NGO) and the Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health and Human Rights (hereafter EAT/JHU Report), which was described (in somewhat blustering and hysterical terms) as being both ‘inaccurate’ and ‘a disservice to the courageous and resilient survivors of Cyclone Nargis’. [3]
The motivation of the international aid ‘industry’ in Burma in striking out against an organisation such as EAT/JHU is perhaps easy to understand. International aid agencies need to maintain relations with the Burmese authorities to undertake their work, and (as the behaviour of the SPDC in the first weeks following Nargis and beyond amply illustrates) they are well aware of the suspicions that the SPDC attaches to their activities. Nevertheless, the response to the EAT/JHU report is overdone and overwrought. International agencies have a duty to be true to their mandate, but so do others, unconstrained by the self-censorship of vested interest, to truth and to calling the situation as they see it. For too long have Burma’s military rulers been allowed to lurk in the darkness, and for too long have the Burmese people suffered in silence.
Twelve months on from Nargis, and it is apparent that the Cyclone’s economic impact has been more in the way that it has revealed some of Burma’s most intractable problems, rather than in being a cause of them. Prime amongst these problems, however, is growing household indebtedness. The lack of financial capital is clear at all levels and sectors of Burma’s economy, but it is at its most critical in agriculture and rural areas, the source and location of the activities through which most Burmese attempt to eke out a living. Burma’s agriculture sector is now devoid of new and affordable credit, while the cash economy more broadly is collapsing under the weight of existing debt and the near-total absence of wage employment.[4] The lack of affordable credit in rural areas will have dire consequences which, in the short-term, include the phenomenon of cultivators being forced to sell the entirety of their crop immediately at harvest (and at fire-sale prices that barely cover costs) in order to meet debt and other obligations, only to ‘buy back’ food for their own consumption at exorbitant prices later. Longer-term, the absence of rural credit means that few small cultivators in Burma now use fertilizer or other inputs critical to improving yields. The productivity of Burmese agriculture is falling, and its rich alluvial lands are being degraded and despoiled. In the wake of these short and long run trends, in 2009 Burma - once the world’s largest rice exporter - faces the real prospect of widespread food shortages.
The absence of a functioning system of rural credit is the direct result of the policies and practices of the country’s military regime (commercial banks are forbidden to lend to farmers, for instance), and of their wilful indifference to providing a solution. Any long-run and sustainable fix to Burma’s credit system (and many other areas of its economy) will only come with the application of plausible rights to property, commerce, and the retreat of the state from its present suffocating dominion, but in the short-run great relief could be provided via the simple infusion of cash into existing institutions. Burma currently receives between $1 and $2 billion a year from its sales of natural gas to Thailand, but these funds are kept far from the country’s public accounts. Squirreled away offshore and in local banks accessible only to the top leadership of the SPDC, Burma’s gas earnings are today employed in constructing the country’s new jungle capital of Naypyidaw, in buying military equipment from China, and in funding other schemes and proclivities that have long characterised the oftentimes bizarre aspects of the country’s policy-making processes.[5]
Burma’s people need money, but Burma’s state apparatus does not. International aid agencies, as well as the UN and affiliated bodies, have been vocal in pressing the international community to provide more aid to Burma. In this, and of itself, they are right. Likewise, however, it is right to emphasise that prime responsibility for improving the lot of the people of Burma belongs to those who would claim to rule over them. Burma’s military rulers have long shirked their responsibilities even as their means for achieving them has grown. Holding the SPDC to the duties that must accompany their (violently) self-appointed reign might reasonably be the least of the responsibilities discharged to the rest of us.
Sean Turnell is Associate Professor of Economics at Macquarie University, Sydney, and an Editor of Burma Economic Watch. His work has been cited by media including the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Economist, New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, The Times, Australian Financial Review, The Australian and many others. He has made appearances in the electronic media for the BBC, ABC, SBS, Bloomberg Television, CNN, Al-Jazeera, Sky-News and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
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[1] These numbers are drawn from the ‘Post-Nargis Joint Assessment’ taskforce (PONJA), established under the Tripartite Core Group that comprises representatives of Burma’s government, ASEAN, the UN and its agencies. The PONJA report on the damage wrought by Cyclone Nargis can be downloaded at: http://www.aseansec.org/21765.pdf, accessed May 8, 2009.
[2] For a recent analysis of the unfortunate decline of Burma’s economy in recent decades, see this author’s recent book, Fiery Dragons: Banks, Moneylenders and Microfinance in Burma, NIAS Press.
[3] The EAT/JHU Report, After the Storm: Voices from the Delta, which was published in March 2009, can be found at: http://www.jhsph.edu/humanrights/locations/asia/BurmaCyclone.html, the collective response of 21 aid agencies to it at: http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs07/Joint_INGO_Response_to_After_theStorm.pdf, and a final rejoinder from the EAT/JHU team at: http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/RWST-7RBQVW?OpenDocument&rc=3&cc=mmr
[4] Some idea of the crisis in Burma’s rural sector, and especially that occasioned by credit problems, can be gleaned from the recent (January 2009) ‘Special Report’ of a joint food security assessment mission to Burma by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP). This report can be accessed at: ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/011/ai478e/ai478e00.pdf.
[5] For more on some of these issues, and especially on the SPDC’s larceny with respect to Burma’s gas earnings, see the author’s Burma’s Economy 2008: Current Situation and Prospects for Reform, available at: http://www.econ.mq.edu.au/Econ_docs/bew/BurmaEconomy2008.pdf.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Burma after Nargis
Sunday, May 10, 2009
International organizations help Myanmar improve weather forecasting
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-05/10/content_11345433.htm
By Feng Yingqiu
YANGON, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Several international organizations from the United Nations and Asian countries have been helping Myanmar in weather forecasting a year after severe cyclone Nargis hit the country.
These organizations include the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Thailand-based Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), China Meteorological Administration (CMA), China Earthquake Administration (CEA), Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) and Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), according to the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology Department (MHD).
Deadly tropical cyclone Nargis, which occurred over the Bay of Bengal, hit five divisions and states -- Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago,Mon and Kayin on last May 2 and 3, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructural damage.
The storm has killed 84,537 people, leaving 53,836 missing and 19,359 injured according to official death toll.
Following the cyclone onslaught, the WMO sent a team to Myanmarto study MHD's undertakings carried out soon after cyclone and provided needful weather-related materials and technical assistance.
Two months after storm, Thailand started to seek ways of establishing in Myanmar an early warning network system against cyclone and a delegation, led by Minister of Information, Communication and Technology Mun Patanotai, visited the country for the purpose, meeting with its Myanmar counterpart and the ASEAN-Myanmar-United Nations Tripartite Core Group.
In addition to weather forecasting, Myanmar is also cooperating with more Thai organizations in carrying out rehabilitation work in cyclone-hit areas. These organizations are International Development Cooperation Agency, National Institute of Emergency Medicine Service System and Weather Forecast Bureau.
Meanwhile, initiated by the Thailand-based Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), a regional assessment center for natural disaster is being set up in Yangon to reinforce the country's seismological facilities.
The UNESCAP also planned to set up two seismograph stations and two sea-level measurement stations on Thamihla Kyun (Diamond Island) in Ayeyawaddy division in the coming years.
Moreover, building of 10 seismological observatories during the present fiscal year of 2009-2010 in cooperation with CEA and the Asia Disaster Organization (ADO) is also being planned. Of them, three will be respectively set up in Nay Pyi Taw, Kengtung and Dawei by the government, four in Yangon, Mandalay, Myitkyina and Lashio with the assistance of the CEA and three in Sittwe, Kalaw and Taunggyi with the aid of the ADO.
In February this year, the Japanese company of Mitsubishi Cooperation donated some dozens of high-frequency transmitters and receivers to Myanmar for installation at weather forecasting stations in Rakhine, Kayin Mon, Ayeyawaddy, Yangon and Taninthayi states and divisions.
With the facilities, daily weather forecasts could be reported to Nay Pyi Taw and Yangon for taking precaution against natural disaster.
Other Japanese organization -- the Japan International Cooperation Agency has also been helping Myanmar establish an early earthquake warning system by setting up seismographic network and record center in the country.
Furthermore, Myanmar and India are also seeking cooperation in monitoring tsunami, saying that details of the warning projects for the natural disaster will be touched on later.
Editor: Chris
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Foreign aid continues flowing to Myanmar
http://enews.mcot.net/view.php?id=9842
Foreign aid continues flowing to Myanmar
Hanoi (VNA) – More foreign aid continue coming to Myanmar in order to help cyclone victims for the recovery of their livehood, according to news agencies.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has donated fishery equipment for cyclone survivors to use in fishery recovery work in storm-hit areas in the country, agencies said, citing the weekly 7-Day News in Myanmar on May 7.
The equipment worth 120,463 USD, which included water pumps and engines, refrigerators, fishing nets, oxygen bottles and other fishery-related materials, were handed over to the Myanmar Fishery Department recently by JICA.
The Japanese government will also provide 3 million USD more of aid through the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to rebuild the remaining damaged houses in the cyclone-hit regions.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will extend its aid supplies to Myanmar cyclone victims later this month.
The aid supplies for the survivors in four cyclone-hit townships include tractors, cattle, paddy seed and vegetables seedlings, Xinhua news agency reported, citing Myanmar’ Biweekly Eleven.
Earlier this year, FAO donated two batch of poultry and cattle to cyclone victims.
Deadly tropical cyclone Nargis, which occurred over the Bay of Bengal, hit five divisions and states -Ayeyawaddy, Yangon , Bago, Mon and Kayin on last May 2 and 3. The storm killed 84,537 people, injured 19,359 and left 53,836 people missing. (VNA)
Today In Asia : Last Update : 13:07:15 8 May 2009 (GMT+7:00)
Fw: [burmainfo] FW: ビルマ：サイクロンから1年 弾圧は続く(ヒューマン・ライツ・ウォッチ、2009年5月1日)
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報道発表（報告書発表） 日本語訳
ヒューマン・ライツ・ウォッチ www.hrw.org
ビルマ：サイクロンから1年 弾圧は続く
投獄された活動家と草の根の援助要員を釈放せよ
英語オリジナル：http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/04/30/burma-one-year-after-cyclone-repression-continues
(ニューヨーク、2009年5月1日) - サイクロン「ナルギス」がビルマに未曾有の
被害を引き起こして今月2日で1年が経つ。「ビルマ軍事政権は被災者に独自に人
道援助を提供した、あるいは政府の対応を批判としたとして投獄されている人々
をすべて釈放すべきだ」ヒューマン・ライツ・ウォッチは今日、このように述べ
た。サイクロン「ナルギス」は2008年5月2日にビルマのイラワジデルタ地域を襲っ
た。約14万人が亡くなったとされ、240万人が甚大な被害を受けた。
サイクロンの襲来直後、ビルマ政府は援助活動をなかなか本格実施せず、国際人
道機関に対しては被災地へのアクセスの許可を渋った。また今日までに、サイク
ロン被災者の救援活動を行おうとした国内の援助要員のうち、ビルマの超人気喜
劇俳優ザガナ氏など少なくとも21人に不当判決を下し、投獄している。
「サイクロン被災者の基本的自由は、サイクロン以前とほとんど変わらず制限さ
れたままだ。ドナー側、および中国などビルマ軍政の友好国は、軍政幹部に対し
て、ザガナ氏ら被災者支援を行った活動家を釈放するよう強く働きかけるべきだ」
ヒューマン・ライツ・ウォッチのアジア局長代理エレーン・ピアソンはこのよ
うに述べた。
ザガナ氏は草の根ボランティア数百人を組織し、援助物資の募集とサイクロン被
災地での配付を行っており、外国メディアの取材に対してビルマ軍事政権＝国家
平和発展評議会(SPDC)を批判した。当局は2008年6月に氏を「公序紊乱」などの
容疑で逮捕。氏は不当な裁判によって59年の刑を下され、その後に刑期は35年に
減刑された。現在カチン州ミッチーナの刑務所に収監されているが、これには明
らかに家族と引き離す意図がある。ザガナ氏の家族は、氏の健康がすぐれないに
も関わらず、十分な治療を与えられていないと訴えている。
ヒューマン・ライツ・ウォッチはまた、援助機関が忍耐強く援助活動を行う一方
で、ビルマ政府は、サイクロン復興のための支出を透明性が確保された形で大幅
に増やす必要があると述べた。
昨年のサイクロン「ナルギス」襲来後、ビルマ政府は、人道援助機関が援助物資
を輸送し、被災地で配付するのに必要なアクセスを得るための初期段階での努力
を妨害。軍政は緊急事態に対処する経験を積んだ外国の人道援助要員へのビザ発
給を拒否した。またアメリカ合衆国、イギリスとフランスの派遣した軍艦の援助
物資を最後まで陸揚げすることを許可せず、貴重な時間を浪費し、避けられたは
ずの被害を発生させた。
潘基文国連事務局長がデルタ地帯を訪問した5月末には状況は改善した。国連と
東南アジア諸国連合（ASEAN）はビルマ政府との協定を仲介。この三者は「三者
コア・グループ」（TCG）を設置し、援助とその後の復興事業を調整する上で中
心的な役割を果たした。同グループの設置以来、依然若干の規制は実施されてい
るが、支援要員と人道援助要員へのアクセスは徐々に改善されている。
投獄中の活動家の釈放を
サイクロンの直後から、ビルマ国内の民間団体や仏教僧、キリスト教系の慈善団
体、以前から活動していた国際組織の現地スタッフらが、きわめて困難な状況下
で、当局による移動や被災地へのアクセスの制限を何とかすりぬけつつ、被災地
で救援活動を行った。こうした人々の活動がなければ、救援は遅れ、死者の数は
もっと増えていたと思われる。
こうした努力に対し、政府は続く数ヵ月の間に、ザガナ氏ら、救援活動に関わっ
た少なくとも21人を逮捕した。
ザガナ氏以外にも、次の援助関係者が投獄されている
・エイカインウー氏（24)は『エコ・ヴィジョン・ジャーナル』誌記者で2年の刑、
チョーチョーテイン氏は『ウィークリー・ジャーナル』誌の元記者で7年の刑を
宣告されている。この2人のジャーナリストは2008年7月、サイクロン被災者をラ
ングーン（ヤンゴン）に案内し、被災者が赤十字国際委員会と国連開発計画に面
会した際に通訳を務めたあと逮捕された。
・ミンテイントゥン氏は2008年7月に逮捕され、非公開裁判を経て2009年3月に17
年の刑を宣告された。氏はマレーシアに住むビルマ人移民労働者だったが、サイ
クロン後にマレーシアで募った寄付を元手にして、援助物資を配付するためビル
マに帰国していた。
・医師のネイウィン氏は2008年6月14日に、サイクロン被災者の埋葬費カンパを
行ったとして、娘のピョーピョーアウン氏と共に逮捕・投獄された。この親子は
「死者埋葬グループ」を結成したところだった。ネイウィン氏は1989年～2005年
まで政治活動を理由に投獄されていた。二人は2009年2月に非合法結社法違反容
疑で起訴された。同法は「法と秩序、平和と安定、または安全で確実な通信・交
通を何らかの形で阻害するかもしれない行為を試み、扇動し、奨励し、あるいは
教唆するか……または……政府機構の秩序に影響を与えるか、それを破壊するか
もしれない行為を試み、扇動し、奨励し、あるいは教唆する組織」を全面的に禁
止している。ピョーピョーアウン氏はさらに「公序紊乱」を引き起こす文書を発
表したことでも有罪判決を受けた。
・現在も収監されており、既に判決が出ているか、まだ公判審理中の援助関係者
は次の通り（敬称略）である。チョーチョータン、テットゾー、アウンチョーサ
ン（いずれもジャーナリスト）、ミャットゥ（元政治囚）、ティンティンチョー、
インインウィン（両人とも「88世代学生」グループ）、リンテッナイン、ポンペ
イッチウェ、セインヤザートゥン、ウェイリンアウン（いずれも学生活動家）、
チョーチョティン、ニーミョフライン、テインジーウー（いずれも国民民主連盟
＝ＮＬＤ党員）、ゾーナイン（俳優）、ニャントゥン（現地の援助活動家）
「サイクロン「ナルギス」の被災者に対するビルマ政府の無関心さに光を当てた
として投獄された援助関係者や活動家の悲惨な境遇からは、ビルマ軍政の偽善ぶ
りがはっきり見てとれる。ビルマ政府は自分たちの手柄になるときは海外からの
支援金や援助を喜んで受け入れるが、過酷な状況にある被災者を自らの手で救お
うとする決意にあふれた人々は容赦なく弾圧している」 ピアソンはこのように
述べた。
ビルマ政府は自ら援助を行うべき
「三者コア・グループ」（TCG）は今年2月に「ナルギス後復興準備計画」
（PONREPP）を発表。この計画は、同グループによれば「生産的な生活、健康な
生活、安心の出来る生活を促進するための人間中心のアプローチ」である。この
計画は6億9千万ドル（690億円）の資金を必要としているが、現在までに集まっ
たのは3億ドル（300億円）である。計画によると、ビルマ政府は、10億ドル
（1000億円）を超すと推計される復興資金を確保するため、こうした国際社会の
支援額と同額を拠出することとされている。しかし、政府がこれまでに実際にど
れだけの額の拠出を約束したのか、あるいは実際に拠出したのかはまったく明ら
かにされていない。
ヒューマン・ライツ・ウォッチは、ビルマ政府は、復興事業に対して十分な額を
拠出することで、自らのコミットメントを示すべきであると述べた。ビルマ政府
は約35億ドル（3500億円）の外貨準備を有し、天然ガス輸出により毎月約1億
5000万ドル（150億円）の収入があると見られる。政府が実際にどれだけの額を
復興事業に用いたのかは定かではないが、ともかくビルマ政府は、国内のほかの
場所についてはインフラ事業を行っている。その一例は、ビルマの都市からはる
か遠くにつくられた、贅を尽くした仏教寺院、官庁街、複数車線の自動車専用道
路に修繕されたばかりの空港を備えた新首都ネーピドーである。
ビルマ軍事政権が、ビルマ国内の多くの貧困層のための食糧や保健、教育に資金
を使わず、軍事費や新首都ネピードーの建設などの貧困層の裨益しない大規模プ
ロジェクトに資金をつぎ込んでいることを、ビルマの活動家は長年批判をしてき
た。たとえば、ビルマ国内でHIV/AIDSが広範に流行しており、国際組織や地元の
コミュニティーグループがHIVと生きる人びとの予防サービスを行うために多大
な努力をしているにも拘わらず、最も最近の統計によると、ビルマ軍事政権は、
国内のHIV/AIDSプロジェクトに年に20万ドル(2000万円)以下しか使っていない。
「ビルマ軍政幹部は、政府資産を自国民の福祉に投入する代わりに、自分たちの
ポケットに押し込んでしまうことで悪名高い。ドナーたちは、サイクロン復興事
業を資金面で可能にするため、軍政は自らの資産の一部を用いるべきだと強く主
張すべきだ」 ピアソンはこのように述べた。
ドナー側は、援助が最も弱い立場の人々に確実に届くようしなければならない
ヒューマン・ライツ・ウォッチは、2008年7月に、詳細な書簡を発表した。そし
てドナー側に対し、人道援助機関が公平性、アカウンタビリティ、コミュニティ
参加という国際基準に従って援助を実施することができるよう、ビルマ軍事政権
に対し、人道援助機関が必要とするアクセスを許可するようはたらきかけること
を求めた。ヒューマン・ライツ・ウォッチは国際社会に対し、援助が、支援をもっ
とも必要とする人々に確実に届くようにした上で、復旧事業の成功に必要な資金
をプレッジするよう求めた。イラワジデルタの状況は確かに大きく改善している
が、これらの諸原則は現在も有効であり、支援活動の基準となるべきものである。
ヒューマン・ライツ・ウォッチは、連邦団結発展協会（USDA）のような政府を後
ろ盾とする組織や、軍政幹部と緊密な関係にある民間企業、とくに米・豪・EUの
制裁リストに載っている会社については、国際社会が資金提供して行われる復興
事業には絶対に関与させないよう求めた。
USDAはビルマ国内の政治弾圧と人権侵害に深く関与する官製大衆団体である。ビ
ルマ政府はこれまでも、繰り返し、同国内で活動する人道援助機関にUSDAとの協
力を強要しようとしてきた。ヒューマン・ライツ・ウォッチは、同協会が人権侵
害に関与していることに長年懸念を表明してきた。2007年9月のラングーンでの
大規模な抗議行動の際には、USDAの民兵部門と、関係する民兵組織である「スワ
ン・アシン」が各所で投入され、非暴力のデモ参加者の身柄の拘束や殴打、脅迫
を行っていた。国連機関は、USDAがこうした弾圧に加わっていることを踏まえて、
この団体と共同で開発事業を行うことを避けてきた。
ヒューマン・ライツ・ウォッチは、確かに大量の時間とお金がイラワジデルタに
使われているが、ビルマのほかの地域の人道状況はきわめて深刻なままである、
と述べた。『国連人間開発報告書』最新版では、ビルマは177の国・地域のうち
132位だった。深刻な貧困が引き続き重大な問題となっており援助の増額と開発
の振興が必要とされる地域は、アラカン州北西部、チン州、東部ビルマの紛争地
帯である。食糧農業機関(FAO)と世界食糧計画(WFP)が行った最近の調査によると、
これらの地域には厳しい貧困と栄養失調の問題が存在している。しかし、援助関
係者とその活動内容に関して政府が規制を加えているため、抑圧的な軍政が作り
出した衛生状態と生活条件の悪化という事態を解決するためにビルマが緊急に必
要としている援助活動の拡大が阻害されいてる。
2006年2月にビルマ政府が定めた移動と事業展開に関する規制によって、プロジェ
クトの承認にはかなり時間がかかるようになり、政府の役人が外国の援助要員の
行き先すべてについてくるようになった。赤十字国際委員会は、2006年の早い時
期から、刑務所を政府から独立して訪問して民族紛争地域をモニタリングすると
いう重要な事業の実施の許可を得られていない。
「現状を憂慮するドナー国政府やビルマの活動家は、サイクロンの被害が甚大だっ
た地域でのアクセスや政府の協力体制が改善されたことがビルマのそのほかの地
域についても状況の改善をもたらすことを、希望している。だが残念ながら、そ
のほかの地域では、こうした改善の兆候はない」 ピアソンはこのように述べた。
----
サイクロン・ナルギスから１年後のイラワジデルタで最近撮影された写真のスラ
イドショーは次のURLからご覧いただけます
http://www.hrw.org/en/features/burma-one-year-after-cyclone-nargis
ブラッド・アダムズ（アジア局長）によるビルマの人権状況についての解説付き
スライドショーは以下のURLからご覧いただけます
http://www.hrw.org/en/features/burma-cyclone-donors-should-ensure-transparency-and-accountability-0
クリスチャン・ホルストの写真とゲティ・イメージズのルポをお求めの方は、次
までご連絡ください
christina.cahill@gettyimages.com
+1-646-613-4187
ヒューマン・ライツ・ウォッチが2008年7月に支援国・機関に向けた発行した書
簡は次のURLを参照
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/07/22/letter-donors-reconstruction-after-cyclone-nargis
ヒューマン・ライツ・ウォッチの2009年版年次報告のビルマの章は以下のURLか
らご覧ください
http://www.hrw.org/en/node/79297
Friday, May 1, 2009
May 2- candlelight vigil and prayer services with Burmese monk U Tha Pa ka
Dear ALL
As I e-mailed you before, there will be vigils, prayer services and other events in remembrance happening around the world this weekend, in Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Mae Sot, Tokyo, Sydney, Melbourne, New York, Washington DC, and San Francisco.
In Tokyo, I got an information that JAC will have a candlelight vigil and prayer services with Burmese monk U Tha Pa ka on tomorrow, May 2nd (3:00pm-5:00pm, in front of UN building, Shibuya). And I also heard they are calling for many Burmese groups and friends to join the event.
Please join this Global event for Nargis Survivers !!
And After that event from 5pm , Japanese singers Mr.Seiko Ito , Tomoe Sawa will have a special event for the Nargis Survivers !!
As you remember...PFB, Burmainfo, AI-Japan and Burmese groups in Tokyo had a
carity concert for Nargis Survivers last year.
The Songs performed by Mr. Ito Siko, Ms. Tomoe Sawa and Dub Master X at the
concert was released as a charity CD on April 22, 2009 and it's now on SALE
!!
Part of the proceeds from this CD will be donated to the Nargis survivors
through PFB.
They will have an in-store live music performance on May 2, 5:00pm(at Tower
Records-Shibuya,Tokyo).
As you are all aware May 2nd-3rd will mark a year since Cyclone Nargis
struck Burma. So I am very glad that Japanese singers will have an event on
this day.
Please Please come to Sibuya Tower Records at 5pm !!!!(MAP:
http://www.towerrecords.jp/store/images/map_org/0000/0000/3.jpg)
Mr.Seiko Ito is a popular Japanese writer, rapper, and TV personality, and
Ms. Tomoe Sawa is a great singer, songwriter,
pianist(http://www.comoesta.co.jp/english/index.html).
Please read the following English translation of their poetry and song.
In this CD, they called on the Burmese military regime to stop killing
unarmed monks and to begin dialogue.
On the stege of the carity concert last year, Ms.Tomoe Sawa said that I
would like to dedicate this song "The Line" to my respected pro-democracy
leader DASSK .
Here is the official website of the CD.
http://freeaungsansuukyi.blogspot.com/
The performance by Mr. Ito Siko, Ms. Tomoe Sawa and Dub Master X at the
Carity Concert for Nargis Survivers ( 17,Oct. 2008, Tokyo)
-Organized by PFB, Supported by BurmaInfo, Amnesty International-Japan,
Joint Action Committee of Burmese Community ? Japan (JAC)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uu3VYyHeIM
Thank you.
Sayaka Miyazawa
Secretariat
People's Forum on Burma(PFB) Tel: +81-3-5312-4817
E-mail: pfb@izumibashi-law.net
http://pfbkatsudo.blogspot.com/
http://www1.jca.apc.org/pfb/
**************************************************
A Poetry Reading Protesting Against Myanmar Military Regime
1. A Poetry Reading Protesting Against Myanmar Military Regime
(Poetry; Seiko Ito, Piano; Tomoe Sawa／LIVE DUB MIX by Dub Master X）
2. The Line
Tomoe Sawa
3. A Poetry Reading Protesting Against Myanmar Military Regime
instrumental What we can do now REMIX
**************************************************
A Poetry Reading Protesting Against Myanmar Military Regime
Seiko Ito
Don't threaten the unresisting monks
Don't strike the unresisting monks
Don't imprison the unresisting monks
Don't kill the unresisting monks
They live beyond the power, following a totally different law
Threatening, striking, imprisoning and killing the monks means an
overwhelming lack of understanding and an overwhelming violence to 'those
who follow a different law'
In other words, these acts will destroy others
And so we are the others, too
Don't threaten us that don't resist
Don't strike us that don't resist
Don't imprison us that don't resist
Don't kill us that don't resist
We are beyond the power, and we always do have the freedom to live under a
totally different law
Threatening, beating, imprisoning and killing us means an overwhelming lack
of understanding and an overwhelming violence to 'those who keep the freedom
to follow a different law'
In other words, these acts will destroy others
Don't destroy others
Don't destroy us as well as them
No more threatening
No more striking
No more imprisoning
No more killing
Myanmar, the military regime
Free Aung San Suu Kyi
Free Aung San Suu Kyi
We are them, and they are us
Don't refuse the dialogue
Dialogue is the only way to bridge the gap between ones and others
If we fail to bridge with each other, that's when threatening, beating,
imprisoning and killing will start
So come and talk! Don't give up the dialogue!
Communicate for the dialogue!
Freedom of speech and freedom of press exist to guard us from threatening,
beating, imprisoning and killing
Asking for communication and dialogue means blocking off the threatening,
beating, imprisoning and killing
Myanmar, the military regime
Dialogue, and no more threatening
Dialogue, and no more beating
Dialogue, and no more imprisoning
Dialogue, and no more killing
Don't refuse the dialogue!
We are them, and they are us
translation by Tomoe Sawa
*************************************************
The Line
（Tomoe Sawa ）
Where's the line between love and hate
Where's the line between north and south
Where's the line between man and woman
Where's the line between you and me
There's a line, invisible line
Everywhere in this world, everyday of our lives
And it's you
To go over the line, it's easy if you try‘cause the line is you
Where's the line between war and peace
Where's the line between adult and child
Where's the line between black and white
Where's the line between life and death
There's a line, invisible line
Everywhere in this world, everyday of our lives
And it's you
To go over the line, it's easy if you try‘cause the line is you
The line is me, the line is you
There's no line, no line anymore, there's no line
***********************************************
Sunday, April 5, 2009
U.S. donates rice for Myanmar cyclone survivors
http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSBKK209031._CH_.2400
LABUTTA, Myanmar, April 2 (Reuters) - The United States has donated more than 16,000 tonnes of rice to help survivors of last year's devastating cyclone in military-ruled Myanmar, officials said.
The rice is part of a $28 million American food aid package distributed through the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) to survivors of Cyclone Nargis, which left 140,000 people dead or missing and 2.4 million people severely affected last May.
"The United States government is the WFP's single largest donor for the cyclone victims," said Chris Kaye, the U.N. agency's country director, speaking to Reuters on Wednesday at a WFP distribution camp near Labutta in the hardest-hit Irrawaddy Delta. Nearly a year after the cyclone struck, many people are still living in temporary shelters and access to food and clean water remains a challenge.
The U.S.-donated rice is expected to benefit 350,000 people. Some of it is being distributed under food-for-work projects managed by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to support the rebuilding of roads and dykes.
Larry Dinger, U.S. charge d'affaires in Myanmar, said Washington had provided a total of $74 million in humanitarian assistance to Nargis survivors "as part of America's commitment to the welfare of the Burmese people". Over the years Washington has tightened sanctions on the military, which has ruled the former Burma for more than four decades, to try to push the regime toward political reform and improving human rights.
But sanctions have not worked, and neither has a policy of engagement by Myanmar's regional neighbours.
The Obama administration announced in February that it was conducting a review of its policy towards Myanmar to find new ways to sway one of the world's most reclusive regimes. (Reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Editing by Darren Schuettler)
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Regime Stops Fast-Tracking Visas for Relief Workers
http://www.abitsu.org/?p=4243
March 21, 2009
Irrawaddy News: Foreigners involved in the Cyclone Nargis relief effort will no longer be given preferential treatment when applying for Burmese visas, according to diplomatic sources in Rangoon.
The sources said that shortly after agreeing to extend the mandate of the Tripartite Core Group (TCG) in late February, the Burmese junta ended a program to expedite visa applications for foreign aid workers involved in Nargis-related projects.
The TCG, which consists of representatives of the regime, the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is the main body responsible for coordinating Nargis-related relief efforts.
The move means that foreign employees of international NGOs must now follow the complicated and time-consuming visa application process that was in place before and immediately after Cyclone Nargis struck the Irrawaddy delta last May.
Permission for NGO staffers to work in Burma must come not only from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but also from other key ministries, including the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement.
Relief workers and diplomats said the visa fast-track program and other measures to streamline the relief effort were put in place by Deputy Foreign Minister Kyaw Thu, who was also the acting chairman of the TCG.
In early February, Kyaw Thu was reassigned to head the Civil Service Selection and Training Board, an inactive ministerial position.
At the recent Asean Summit in Thailand, Burmese Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein and Foreign Minister Nyan Win told delegates that the regime agreed to extend the TCG’s mandate for one more year, to July 2010.
The announcement was welcomed as a sign of improved cooperation between the junta and the international community. But aid workers said the decision to tighten visa restrictions on foreign experts was a serious setback for the relief effort.
Topics: Daily News |
Friday, March 20, 2009
Untimely rain suspends salt production in Myanmar cyclone-hit areas
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/6617697.html
Salt production in some Myanmar's cyclone-hit areas has been suspended as salt fields in the areas were destroyed by the rain starting from the last weekend to Monday, the local Biweekly Eleven News reported Thursday.
Quoting local salt producers, the report said salt production work had to be stopped in the areas including Laputta, Haigyigyun and a number of villages in Ayeyawaddy division hit by the untimely rain and the production could only restore if there is no more rain to come.
The temporary suspension of salt production has prompted the soaring of salt prices which were once dropping before the mishap.
Local salt producers are distressed over the climate change although they could once resettle their work after last May storm with the loan assistance provided by the government.
Deadly cyclone Nargis, which occurred over the Bay of Bengal, hit five divisions and states -- Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on May 2 and 3 last year, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructure damage.
The storm has killed 84,537 people and left 53,836 missing and 19,359 injured, according to official death toll.
Source:Xinhua
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Off to help kids in Burma
Bon voyage: Katie Andersen and Angela Colson left for Burma yesterday to begin improving the quality of early childhood education. Picture: Helen Nezdropa.
http://stgeorge.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/off-to-help-kids-in-burma/1457833.aspx
BY ALICIA WOOD
12/03/2009 5:08:00 PM
REBUILDING a community after a natural disaster is no easy task. Gymea businesswoman Angela Colson said Burmese residents are still reeling from Cyclone Nargis that devastated the region in May last year.
Ms Colson has worked with the Burmese community for five years, and co-ordinated an emergency relief collection after the cyclone struck.
She travelled on March 4 back to the cyclone-ravaged region with her friend, Katie Andersen, to help improve the quality of early childhood education.
Ms Andersen, an early childhood educator, and Ms Colson will meet with staff from orphanages and day-care centres to assess their level of training. "We want it to be a collaborative effort,'' Ms Colson said.
"We are hoping to create a program that empowers them to use their existing knowledge in an educational way,'' Ms Andersen said.
After the 10-day trip, the pair plan to return to Australia to create a training program for staff in orphanages and day- care centres. They will then travel back to Burma to work with staff to develop it, with their goal being an overall improvement in the quality of education for young children.
"The context is very complicated politically, and we are hearing there is an ongoing need, and ongoing health concerns, but we are just working in small areas and doing what we can,'' Ms Colson said.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Norway NGO plans to build 6,000 houses in Myanmar cyclone-hit areas
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90856/6610945.html
A non-governmental social organization of Norway has planned to build 6,000 houses for cyclone victims in Laputta township, Myanmar's Ayeyawaddy division,the local Weekly Eleven News reported Tuesday.
The organization will start to build 300 houses as well as 10 basic education schools in the first phase as agreed with the government, the report said.
The report also quoted a post-Nargis joint assessment report of Myanmar, ASEAN and the United Nations as saying that the Myanmar government has arranged to build 20,847 houses in cyclone-hit regions.
Meanwhile, the Japanese government will provide 3 million U.S. dollars more of aid through the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to rebuild the remaining damaged houses in the cyclone-hit regions following its aid of 2 million dollars throughthe Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) earlier to help in agricultural restoration work in the Ayeyawaddy delta after storm,according to the Japanese embassy.
Besides, the European Union (EU) will also give Myanmar humanitarian assistance of 40.5 million euros (52 million USD) this year, earlier report said.
Moreover, another Malaysian humanitarian organization, the Mercy Malaysia, will also provide help to rebuild a dozen healthcare facilities in Dedaye in the same Ayeyawaddy delta.
Statisitcs show that cyclone Nargis, which swept Myanmar in Maylast year, destroyed a total of nearly 800,000 houses in Ayeyawaddy and Yangon divisions worth of 686 million U.S. dollars.
Deadly tropical cyclone Nargis hit five divisions and states - Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on May 2 and 3 last year, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructural damage.
The storm has killed 84,537 people, leaving 53,836 missing and 19,359 injured according to official death toll.
Source:Xinhua
Monday, March 9, 2009
Burmese junta should answer for crimes against humanity concerning cyclone victims
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=14630
This is the charge of an NGO, which accuses the military junta of exploiting labor - including that of minors - confiscating humanitarian aid, and forced evictions. The report is based on interviews with volunteers and victims involved in cyclone Nargis. In Laputta, there is a shortage of drinking water and the risk of disease is high.
Yangon (AsiaNews/Agencies) - The Burmese government should appear before the International Criminal Court to face human rights charges; the dictatorship committed abuses and crimes in the months following the tragedy of Nargis. This is the harsh condemnation from a humanitarian association that has documented the violations committed by the military toward victims of the cyclone.
"The charge of crimes against humanity is a very grave and serious one," says Chris Beyrer, director of the U.S.-based Center for Public Health and Human Rights, an NGO. "But in the context of a relief effort like this, where you have evidence of forced labour, forced relocation and confiscation of relief aid, these are documented violations that need to be taken seriously."
"After the Storm: Voices from the Delta" is the first independent report - free from censorship by the Burmese military dictatorship - recounting the drama of cyclone victims. It is based on material collected in 90 interviews with volunteers and survivors. It details obstacles and threats directed against volunteers, cases of the disappearance of humanitarian aid that was later resold, and the use of forced labor for reconstruction, including the exploitation of child labor.
For 20 villages in the area of Laputta, in the Irrawaddy delta, there is also the risk of a shortage of drinking water, because of contamination of collection basins and sources. The NGO Emergency Assistance Team says that many people are forced to use drinking water mixed with sea water. Families in the villages are allowed two bottles of drinking water a day - at fifty cents each - and about 4 liters of non-potable water for personal hygiene and laundry purposes. The arrival of summer and the lack of desalination facilities could lead to the deterioration of the situation; cases of diarrhea have emerged among children, and there are fears of widespread disease.
A recent report drafted by the UN and ASEAN - the association that unites 10 countries of Southeast Asia - estimates that 700 million dollars will be needed over the next three years to guarantee reconstruction work in the areas hit by Nargis. The cyclone caused the death of about 140,000 people, but it is estimated that more than 2.4 million Burmese suffered damages of various kinds, and the devastating effects of the cy
Monday, March 2, 2009
Burmese regime blocked international aid to cyclone victims, report says
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/27/regime-blocked-aid-to-burma-cyclone-victims
• First independent research into disaster details host of abuses
• Study urges junta be referred to international criminal court
Ian MacKinnon, South-east Asia correspondent guardian.co.uk, Friday 27 February 2009 12.43 GMT Article history
Burmese people beg for food in the rain as aid begins to arrive following cyclone Nargis. Photograph: Getty Images
International aid for cyclone victims in Burma was deliberately blocked by the military regime, the first independent report into the disaster has found.
The junta's wilful disregard for the welfare of the 3.4 million survivors of cyclone Nargis – which struck the Irrawaddy delta last May, killing 140,000 people – and a host of other abuses detailed by the research may amount to crimes against humanity under international law.
The teams of Burmese volunteers and experts from a US university that conducted the research urged the UN security council to refer the regime to the international criminal court.
The report After the Storm: Voices from the Delta outlined how the Burmese authorities failed to provide adequate food, shelter or water for the survivors.
The storm surge coupled with intense winds swept away homes, fields, livestock and rice stores, leaving little or nothing for survivors.
But the military regime, which was at the time preparing for a national referendum on its plans to hold elections in 2010, insisted it could cope with the disaster despite its scale and shunned most international relief for weeks.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University in the US and Burmese volunteers from the Emergency Assistance Team (Eat-Burma) spent months interviewing survivors and relief workers about the cyclone's aftermath.
Their study found that the Burmese army obstructed private cyclone relief efforts even among its own concerned citizens, setting up checkpoints and arresting some of those trying to provide help.
Supplies of overseas relief materials that were eventually allowed into Burma were confiscated by the military and sold in markets, the packaging easily identifiable.
"I went to some of the markets run by the military and authorities and saw supplies that had been donated being sold there," a former Burmese soldier who fled to Mae Sot across the border in Thailand told the researchers. "The materials were supposed to go to the victims. I could recognise them in the market."
The researchers were repeatedly told that surviving men, women and even children were used as forced labour on reconstruction projects for the military.
"[The army] did not help us, they threatened us," said one survivor from the town of Labutta. "Everyone in the village was required to work for five days, morning and evening without compensation. Children were required to work too. A boy got injured on his leg and got a fever. After two or three days he was taken to [Rangoon], but after a few days he died."
Professor Chris Beyrer, director of the centre for public health and human rights at Johns Hopkins, said the Burmese regime's response to the disaster violated humanitarian relief norms and legal frameworks for relief efforts.
The systematic abuses may amount to crimes against humanity under international law through the creation of conditions where basic survival needs of people are not met, "intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health", he said.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Burma cyclone response was 'crime against humanity'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/burmamyanmar/4839404/Burma-cyclone-response-was-crime-against-humanity.html
Burma's regime deliberately blocked international aid getting to victims of last year's cyclone, a report has claimed.
By Thomas Bell, South East Asia Correspondent
Last Updated: 11:33PM GMT 26 Feb 2009
Survivors of Cyclone Nargis in Burma did not receive donor money they were promised to rebuild their lives Photo: AFP/Getty
The first independent inquiry into the aftermath of the disaster has said the authorities should be referred to the International Criminal Court for stopping help getting through and persecuting survivors.
It found the Burmese leadership failed to provide adequate food, shelter and medical care in the wake of Cyclone Nargis which struck the Irrawaddy Delta on May 2 last year, killing at least 140 000 people.
Around 3.4 million people were effected by the disaster, which swept away homes, farms, granaries, livestock and wells.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University in America and an organisation of Burmese volunteers called the Emergency Assistance Team – Burma (EAT) have documented what happened in the following weeks.
Military checkpoints were set up across the delta as the regime treated the disaster not as a humanitarian emergency but as a security crisis.
The report claims some people who attempted to distribute private aid were arrested. It details allegations of aid being stolen and resold by the military authorities.
The researchers also claim the army used forced labour, including of children, in the aftermath of the disaster.
According to one survivor: "[The army] did not help us, they threatened us. Everyone in the village was required to work for five days, morning and evening, without compensation. Children were required to work too.
"A boy got injured in his leg and he got fever. After two or three days he was taken to Rangoon, but in a few [days] he died."
There were also anecdotal accounts of people dying in the aftermath of the cyclone due to the actions of the army.
But restrictions in the country mean no one has been able to estimate how many died in a supposed "second wave" of deaths in the period after the cyclone.
Under international law, creating conditions where the basic survival needs of civilians cannot be adequately met, "intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health," is considered a crime against humanity.
The report concludes that the United Nations Security Council should refer the junta for investigation by the International Criminal Court.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
TCG unveils three-year plan to rebuild livelihoods in delta
http://www.mmtimes.com/no458/n002.htm
By Thet Khaing
A THREE-YEAR recovery plan for cyclone-damaged areas in Ayeyarwady and Yangon divisions was launched last Monday and will focus on rebuilding the livelihoods of about 2.4 million people.
The government has welcomed the Post-Nargis Response and Preparedness Plan, which also provides for building houses and cyclone shelters before the start of the next cyclone season in May.
The plan, released in Bangkok, was compiled by the Tripartite Core Group and is based on a needs survey it conducted late last year.
The TCG was formed soon after Nargis hit last May to oversee relief and recovery work and comprises representatives of the Myanmar government, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the United Nations.
“The close collaboration between the government and the international community over the last nine months has been vital to the relief and early recovery efforts,” the chairman of TCG, U Kyaw Thu, who also heads the Civil Service Selection and Training Board, was quoted as saying in a statement released by the group after the launch.
He said the plan, which was commissioned by the group, was a result of the collaboration on all sides.
The group had also promoted complementarities between the government’s reconstruction plan and the Post-Nargis Response and Preparedness Plan (PONREPP), said U Kyaw Thu, who attended the launch along with ASEAN Secretary General Mr Surin Pitsuwan, other TCG members, and international aid donors and members of international NGOs working on cyclone relief in Myanmar.
The recovery plan outlined by the post-Nargis plan identifies eight areas of activity, including rebuilding houses, as well as educational and healthcare infrastructure, and providing microfinance and other income-generating schemes, until the end of 2011.
The plan says at least US$691 million would be needed for rebuilding work, which will be in addition to other funding appeals by the UN and international aid organisations.
“[PONREPP] underlines the importance of cash grants and micro-credit as components of recovery assistance. It highlights the urgent need to continue the construction of improved household and community shelters, as well as disaster risk reduction initiatives before the onset of the next cyclone season in May 2009,” the statement said.
The UN resident/humanitarian coordinator, Mr Bishow Parajuli, who represents the UN on the TCG, said education and healthcare were other major areas of recovery identified by the plan.
“The recovery strategy further aims at restoring the local education and health systems, through the repair of damaged and destroyed schools and health facilities, and improving household and community facilities and access to safe water and sanitation,” Mr Parajuli was quoted as saying in the statement.
“It addresses the specific needs of children, women, elderly and the disabled, as well as issues such as psychosocial support and return, resettlement and re-integration,” he said.
In an interview with The Myanmar Times last week, Mr Parajuli said the plan signals the continued smooth cooperation between the government and the international community in helping cyclone victims.
“The strategy proposed in the PONREPP has been embraced by the national authorities, humanitarian community and the donors,” Mr Parajuli said.
“I think the launch [of PONREPP] emphasised that there has been good cooperation with the government and also that huge needs exist, so there is still need for assistance and international support is necessary,” he said.
“It is important to note that the success of this plan can only be achieved if the stakeholders remain committed to support and implement the strategy proposed,” Mr Parajuli said.
He said the level of support from international aid donors so far was better than many had anticipated.
“Myanmar received good support, and the international donor community has been very generous,” Mr Parajuli said, adding that the UN had received 65 percent of the $477 million targeted in the UN Revised appeal launched last July.
He said managing the recovery effort would require the continued effective role of the TCG, the mandate of which expires in July.
“The whole coordination of the PONREPP will depend on the TCG, so it is definitely expected that TCG should continue its work,” Mr Parajuli said.
“Its role will continue to be to facilitate the delivery of relief effort and advocate on the need and to ensure transparency, accountability and efficiency,” Mr Parajuli said.
The government said it would consider on extension of the group’s mandate in June. The TCG’s continuation is also one of the conditions set by many international aid donors to provide further funding support.
The British ambassador to Myanmar, Mr Mark Canning, whose country is the largest single donor to the cyclone relief effort, has praised the role of the group.
“The TCG has demonstrated the value of a mechanism which is able to make rapid decisions and to cut through problems when they arise,” Mr Canning told The Myanmar Times last week.
“It has helped to promote understanding of how the development community works and, I hope, has also showcased to those that were perhaps unfamiliar with its excellent work what it can do,” he said.
Mr Canning said Britain was considering providing more assistance for rebuilding livelihoods, as well as for healthcare and education.
“Our role in the delta was consistent with what we have been doing in the humanitarian sector here for some time,” he said.
“We have never subscribed to the view that it is not possible to deliver humanitarian support in this country,” Mr Canning said.
He added that apart from $90 million for cyclone relief work, Britain has also contributed $40 million to the Three Diseases Fund, to combat tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria in Myanmar.
Mr Canning said he hoped the release of the post-Nargis plan would encourage more potential donors to provide funding.
“It has in effect a menu from which donors can choose, according to their resources and priorities but in the knowledge that their contribution will be in sync with what others are doing. It should therefore maximise the impact of every donor dollar,” Mr Canning said.
He said Britain would encourage other donors to increase their support to meet the growing need for humanitarian assistance in Myanmar.
“It may not always be the easiest place to operate but good work can, and is, being done,” Mr Canning said.
The plan has proposed the establishment of three bodies under the supervision of the TCG to ensure that the relief effort is efficient, accountable and effective.
They include a Recovery Forum, whose members will comprise representatives from the government, donors and the UN and other aid agencies. The RF’s role will include information sharing, minimising the duplication of tasks and fund mobilisation.
“The RF would be a deliberative, not an executive body, but its recommendations should carry considerable weight in related policy-setting bodies,” the plan said.
Another proposed body is a Recovery Coordination Centre, which will be based in Yangon and provide information to aid agencies on international funding support and areas where there are shortfalls.
The plan said the third proposed body is a Township Coordination Committee, to supervise field operations by aid agencies.
Friday, February 13, 2009
UN to help Myanmar replant forest in cyclone-hit area
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-02/12/content_10808823.htm
www.chinaview.cn 2009-02-12 17:23:59 Print
YANGON, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) will help Myanmar replant forest in Laputta, one of the cyclone-hard-hit areas in Ayeyawaddy division, the local Biweekly Eleven reported Thursday.
Of a total of 400 acres (162 hectares) covered by the project planned for the next tree-planting season, 300 acres are for forest plantation, while 100 acres are for kitchen crops.
Not long after the storm, the UNDP provided aid for cyclone survivors in Laputta to rebuild their storm-ravaged houses, offering each survivor with maintenance cost to rebuild their houses lost in the storm, according to earlier local report.
Laputta township suffered the biggest damage out of those in the Ayayawaddy delta, an assessment of a tripartite core group involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Myanmar and the U.N. said.
Due to the storm, over one million acres (405,000 hectares) of farmland in 7 townships in Ayeyawaddy division, 3 in Yangon division, 2 in Bago division and 3 in Mon state were flooded by sea water with more than 200,000 cows and cattle killed, according to the report.
Deadly tropical cyclone Nargis hit five divisions and states --Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on May 2 and 3 last year, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructural damage.
The storm killed 84,537 people, left 53,836 missing and injured 19,359 people, according to official death toll.
Editor: Fang Yang
Japan to provide more aid to rebuild houses in Myanmar cyclone-hit areas
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/6591399.html
The Japanese government will provide 3 million U.S. dollars more of aid through the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to rebuild the remaining damaged houses in Myanmar cyclone-hit regions, the Yangon Times weekly quoted the Japanese Embassy as reporting Thursday.
A total of 374,391 houses in Ayeyawaddy division and 371,373 in Yangon division were destroyed in the cyclone that hit Myanmar last year, the report said.
Early this month, the Japanese government had provided 2 million dollars through the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) to help in agricultural restoration work in the country's Ayeyawaddy delta after storm.
Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) will also give Myanmar humanitarian assistance of 40.5 million euros (52 million USD) this year, according to earlier report.
Of the total, 22 million euros will be spent for those who had suffered disastrous cyclone Nargis last year, while the rest 18.5 million euros will be used for people who have difficulties with their living.
Besides, another Malaysian humanitarian organization, the MercyMalaysia, will also provide help to rebuild a dozen healthcare facilities in Dedaye, one of Myanmar's cyclone-hit areas in the Ayeyawaddy delta, the earlier report said.
Deadly tropical cyclone Nargis hit five divisions and states - Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on May 2 and 3 last year, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructural damage.
The storm has killed 84,537 people, leaving 53,836 missing and 19,359 injured according to official death toll.
Source:Xinhua
Thursday, February 12, 2009
MYANMAR: NGOs cut smoother path in the delta, but challenges remain
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=82865
YANGON, 11 February 2009 (IRIN) - Last year's Cyclone Nargis dramatically altered the humanitarian landscape in Myanmar, with almost double the number of NGOs now operating in the Ayeyarwady Delta.
In the weeks and months following the 2 and 3 May disaster, about 40 international NGOs were given permission to operate in the Nargis-affected areas.
“That almost doubled the number of NGOs here, in a short space of time,” said Kerren Hedlund, the NGO liaison officer in Yangon, Myanmar’s commercial capital.
Much of this is credited to the Tripartite Core Group (TCG) comprising the government, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the UN, which has helped build trust between the various parties working to help those in need.
The experience of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), which runs a US$10 million programme building schools and shelters in Labutta Township, is typical.
"We came here after Nargis in June and made an assessment, came back in July and followed up, and then back in August and signed an agreement with the minister [of Social Welfare], ” NRC country director Joern Kristensen told IRIN. "It was a very smooth process," he said.
While most of the NGOs operating in Myanmar before the cyclone did so under agreements with the Ministry of Health, the new NGOs working in the delta liaise with the Ministry of Social Welfare, which has coordinated post-Nargis rehabilitation.
"We have been very impressed with the cooperation and support from the government," said Kristensen. "No stumbling blocks - it's been like this ever since we started."
Better access
Photo: Contributor/IRIN
Save the Children workers in front of a water catchment container, Ayeyarwady Delta (file photo)
Existing NGOs have also seen an easing of restrictions in the delta, the result of new arrangements negotiated within the TCG.
"The TCG has been critical in improving access," said Andrew Kirkwood, country director for Save the Children, which runs a recovery programme in the delta as well as health and education programmes across Myanmar, where it has operated for 14 years.
"International staff can travel alone to the delta, without a government liaison officer, and permission takes one week. In the rest of the country permission to travel takes four weeks and we still travel with a liaison officer," Kirkwood said.
In addition, some agencies without official permission to operate in Myanmar have channelled funds to a growing number of local NGOs that have been given greater freedom to operate under agreements reached by the TCG, say aid workers.
Challenges
"The infrastructure is poor. It is an aquatic environment and difficult to move goods and materials around there," said Kristensen. In addition, agencies often struggle to recruit qualified staff.
However, the number of people employed in the humanitarian sector has probably doubled since the cyclone struck, say aid workers.
Save the Children's staff numbers increased to 1,600 from 500 and dozens of international staff were relocated to Myanmar, both on long and short-term contracts.
"Most of our new staff had never worked for NGOs or done humanitarian work so there was a huge amount of learning and training," Kirkwood explained.
“One of the legacies of Nargis is a much broader base of humanitarian workers in the country," he added.
Outside the delta
One of the legacies of Nargis is a much broader base of humanitarian workers in the country.
The issue for many humanitarians is whether positive aspects of the Nargis response can bring a permanent improvement to the operating environment across Myanmar.
Expected donor funding for a three-year $691 million recovery plan for cyclone-affected communities, launched on 9 February, will be largely contingent on the extension of the TCG mechanism beyond June 2009 and possibly to other areas of the country.
"Donors will be concerned that the freedom to operate will shrink without the TCG, and they won't have the confidence that their donation would have the same impact," Hedlund noted.
Yet access is not the only factor marking out the delta from the rest of the Myanmar.
Other needy regions receive little development aid. "In money terms, a little over $100 per person per year is now being spent in the delta. That compares to $2.50 per head in the rest of the country," Kirkwood noted.
"While it's right and proper that we spend that money in the delta we also need to focus on increasing that $2.50 figure. The needs are overwhelming," he said.
rr/ds/mw
Theme(s): (IRIN) Aid Policy, (IRIN) Natural Disasters
[ENDS]
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
TCG work not to be affected by Kyaw Thu's transfer: UN
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/1677-tcg-work-not-to-be-affected-by-kyaw-thus-transfer-un.html
by Mizzima News
Tuesday, 10 February 2009 14:14
New Delhi (Mizzima) - The Burmese military junta's reshuffle of its ministry last week that saw Deputy Foreign Minister Kyaw Thu dumped to an inactive minister level portfolio will have no impact on the chairmanship and the work of the Tripartite Core Group, which he heads now, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Burma said on Monday.
Bishow Parajuli, during a press conference in Bangkok on Monday, said the transfer of Kyaw Thu, who leads the UN, Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Burmese government's Tripartite Core Group, will make no differences to the work of the TCG.
"I don't think this will seriously affect the work of TCG," Parajuli told Mizzima.
Last week, Burma's military regime secretly transferred Kyaw Thu from his post of Deputy Foreign Minister to the Civil Service Selection and Training Board, which is a minister level post with little to do.
While the junta made no official announcement regarding the reshuffle, its official mouthpiece the New Light of Myanmar on Thursday mentioned Kyaw Thu as the chairman of the Civil Service Selection and Training Board.
The New Light of Myanmar report showed photographs of Kyaw Thu at Wednesday's 61st anniversary of Sri Lanka's Independence Day in Rangoon.
Parajuli, however, believes that the changes will not impact TCG's work. Rather he believes it will help Kyaw Thu to be more dedicated to his responsibilities as the Chairman of the group.
"I hope he can put in more effort for TCG as he's been transfered to another position which will makes him less busy," Parajuli told Mizzima on the sidelines of a Press Conference held after the TCG's review meeting in Bangkok.
The TCG said it will require nearly US $ 700 million to reconstruct the damage caused by Cyclone Nargis that left about 140,000 dead or missing and 2.4 million lives devastated.
Kyaw Thu, on Monday was seen attending the TCG's work review but failed to make an appearance at the Press Conference held after the meeting.
Reporting by Zarni, writing by Mungpi
Myanmar: UN Launches Post-Cyclone Recovery Plan
Tuesday, 10 February 2009, 9:52 am
Press Release: United Nations
Myanmar: UN Launches Post-Cyclone Recovery Plan
Speaking at the launch of a plan to rebuild the lives of millions in Myanmar affected by last year’s Cyclone Nargis, the top United Nations official to the region today stressed that strong foundations need to be in place to move beyond emergency relief to restoring economies and social services.
The three-year Post-Nargis Response and Preparedness Plan (PONREPP) provides the blue-print for the reconstruction of communities devastated by the cyclone, which battered the country in early May, leaving around 140,000 dead or missing and displacing 800,000 from their homes.
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“Strong institutions, effective mechanisms and accountable processes are needed to plan and orchestrate the various components of the recovery effort,” said Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
Noting that the process of recovery, from humanitarian relief to economic development, would take several years, Ms. Heyzer said the importance of the right “architecture” could not be overemphasized.
“The PONREPP provides us with a framework for the medium- and long-term post-Nargis recovery effort, including the priorities of supporting food security and livelihood recovery, improving public health, restoring economic and social infrastructure, and integrating disaster risk reduction into the recovery process,” she said.
The recovery plan was developed by the Tripartite Core Group (TCG) which consists of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Government of Myanmar and the UN.
To ensure that the Plan translates into real support for the survivors of Cyclone Nargis, “the continued engagement of the international community is essential,” Ms. Heyzer stressed in her message delivered at ESCAP headquarters in Bangkok.
ENDS
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Japan helps Myanmar with agricultural restoration after storm
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-02/02/content_10750861.htm
www.chinaview.cn 2009-02-02 13:25:35 Print
YANGON, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese government has provided Myanmar with 2 million U.S. dollars through the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) to help in agricultural restoration work in the country's Ayeyawaddy delta after storm, the local Weekly Eleven reported Monday.
Under an agreement between the two countries on the aid signed by Japanese ambassador to Myanmar Yasuaki Nogawa and Myanmar Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, agro-based living and food security will be re-established, the report said, quoting the Japanese Embassy.
Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) will also give Myanmar humanitarian assistance of 40.5 million euros (52 million USD) this year, according to earlier report..
Of the total, 22 million euros will be spent for those who had suffered disastrous cyclone Nargis last year, while the rest 18.5 million euros will be used for people who have difficulties with their living.
Another Malaysian humanitarian organization, the Mercy Malaysia, will also provide help to rebuild a dozen healthcare facilities in Dedaye, one of Myanmar's cyclone-hit areas in the Ayeyawaddy delta, earlier reports said.
Deadly tropical cyclone Nargis hit five divisions and states - Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on May 2 and 3 last year, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructural damage.
The storm has killed 84,537 people, leaving 53,836 missing and 19,359 injured according to official death toll.
Editor: Zhang Xiang
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