Six months after Cyclone Nargis hits Myanmar: USD 37.3 million needed to restore livelihoods
By Elisabeth Diaz, External Relations Specialist, BCPR

On 2 May 2008, Cyclone Nargis slammed into Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon, affecting an estimated one-third of the population of 7.3 million people.

Approximately 140,000 people were reported killed or missing. According to the July 2008 post-Nargis Joint Assessment undertaken by the Government of the Union of Myanmar, the United Nations, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), 61 percent of those who died were women. In some severely affected villages, twice as many women aged 18-60 died as men.

Six months after Cyclone Nargis, UNDP continues to assist the people of the Ayeyarwady delta. The team has its eyes on the future – assessing damages to infrastructure, property, livelihoods and communities. As part of its two-year community-based early recovery action plan, UNDP has supported 250 villages, including those most severely affected by the cyclone. Assistance has focused on: 1) community activities such as clearing debris, creeks and ponds; 2) small conditional grants to the most vulnerable households, including women-headed households; and 3) provision of basic livelihood support packages, including agriculture tools, fishing boats and nets and duck rearing.

UNDP Myanmar’s ongoing early recovery efforts also encompass health, water and sanitation activities as well as environmental rehabilitation, in order reduce the vulnerability of affected communities to future natural hazards.

Donors have responded generously to the needs of affected populations by committing USD 14.9 million of the requested USD 52.3 million. However, USD 37.3 million is still needed to expand the current scope of early recovery activities and reach out to 750 villages over the next 18 months.CPR

Listen to an interview with Sanaka Samarasinha, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative talk UNDP's early recovery efforts in Myanmar (streaming audio or download mp3)

Photo caption: Village in Myanmar destroyed by Cyclone Nargis. Source: UNDP Myanmar

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> Six months after Cyclone Nargis
> Success story: Indonesia
> Lessons from Bangladesh
> Natural disasters in Kyrgystan
> Women and disaster recovery
> Natural disasters in Armenia
> Spotlight on Staff

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