International Aid Pledges Continue in Wake of Flood Crisis Skip to main content

International Aid Pledges Continue in Wake of Flood Crisis

By | Thursday, August 6, 2015 |
Displaced villagers line up for food rations in Pwintbyu, Pegu Division on Wednesday evening. (Photo: J Paing/The Irrawaddy)
RANGOON — Aid pledges for victims of Burma’s flooding emergency continued to pour in from overseas on Thursday, as water levels receded in the north of the country and downstream communities in the Irrawaddy Delta prepared for the worst.
The British government announced on Thursday that it would provide relief supplies and assist with recovery efforts. The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) has provided nearly 50,000 people with high-energy food supplies and another 20,000 people with hygiene kits and supplies to treat unclean water.
DFID said that US$780,000 in contingency funding would be made available to support further relief activities and to help existing programs adapt to meet the needs of flood-ravaged communities with the provision of emergency healthcare, shelter and repairs to damaged water supplies and sewerage systems.
“Our disaster planning meant that food and other emergency supplies were able to reach people very quickly,” said Baroness Verma, the UK Undersecretary of State for DFID, in a Thursday statement. “This latest funding will provide further assistance across the country and help those affected by the floods start to recover and rebuild their lives.”
Following a reported commitment for humanitarian aid by Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday, the US Embassy in Rangoon announced the provision of $600,000 through the USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance for immediate relief efforts.
After a request from the Burmese government, India’s Ministry of Home Affairs announced late on Wednesday that 100 tons of rice, 10,000 packets of noodles and 10 tons of medicine would be flown to Mandalay for distribution to flood victims.
The European Commission announced on Thursday it would provide $1.1 million for immediate humanitarian assistance, while the Singapore Red Cross pledged $100,000 in relief aid and emergency items to Burma.
On Wednesday, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced that it had delivered aid to 82,000 people in the most flood-affected parts of northern and western Myanmar, and was working to eventually supply 200,000 people with emergency rations.
“With so many areas cut off, we are still trying to get a clear picture of how these floods have affected people in Myanmar,” said WFP Country Director Dom Scalpelli in the statement. “Food security will be seriously affected. Thousands have lost homes, livelihoods, crops and existing food and seed stocks. We are acting quickly to provide emergency relief and prevent this disaster from exacerbating existing food insecurity and malnutrition.”
The government and local airlines are providing free transport of WFP supplies to areas inaccessible by road. The agency estimates that $3 million per month will be needed to meet the needs of flood-affected communities.
On Wednesday night, the death toll from the floods stood at 74 people, according to the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, with a further 330,000 people estimated to have been displaced or otherwise impacted by the disaster.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated that over 1 million acres of farmland had been inundated and predicted long-lasting disruptions to agricultural production across Burma.
Several other international commitments to flood relief were announced on Wednesday .
http://www.irrawaddy.org/burma/international-aid-pledges-continue-in-wake-of-flood-crisis.html
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sri Bhaddanta Chandramani Mahathera

The Life Story of A Distinguished And Outstanding Bhikkhu The Most Venerable Saradawpharagree Sri Bhaddanta Chandramani Mahathera The Buddhist missionary Saradaw Ashin U Chandramani was endowed with great gifts and led a famous and long life. He was a very well known, distinguished and outstanding Bhikkhu Mahathera. While living in the Kushinagar Monastery, a place close to where the Lord Buddha had passed away to Nirvana, the Government of India had offered, and he had accepted, the highest, most honourable and respected title "Guru Guru MahaGuru". He became the first ever President of all Buddhists in India.A World Buddhist Conference took place in Kathmandu during the reign of King Mahindra of Nepal. The Conference was very well attended by over one hundred thousand Buddhists from various parts of the world and it was opened by King Mahindra himself. As requested by the King, Saradawpharagree blessed all the participants with the power of Triple Gems...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do...
1 comment
Read more

Three Dead, Seven Injured by Artillery Shells in Two Incidents in Myanmar’s Mrauk-U

By MIN AUNG KHINE 2 December 2019 Sittwe, Rakhine State –Three Mrauk-U township residents died and four others were injured when an artillery shell struck their community in the Ale Zay quarter of Mrauk-U town on Monday afternoon after 4 p.m. A month-old girl, a 4-year-old boy and a 30-year-old woman died, according to Dr. Khin Maung Yin, the head of Mrauk-U hospital. He said, “A man and three other women were injured. One of the women sustained severe injures to her left leg and her right knee was dislocated. The injured will be operated on.” Details of what occurred were not yet known. A few hours earlier, three civilians were injured when an artillery shell fell on the village of Na Leik in Mrauk-U Township, Rakhine State, western Myanmar, on Monday at around 1 p.m., according to Yan Aung Pyin village-tract administrator U Sein Hla Aung. Two females, aged 13 and 27, and an 18-year-old male were injured in the incident, he said. Three people were hit by shrapnel and we have...
Post a Comment
Read more