Update on Myanmar
Update on UNDP's early recovery efforts in Myanmar
In 2008 Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar, leaving an estimated 130,000 dead or missing and 2.4 million affected. It particularly devastated the remote but heavily populated Delta Region.
Early recovery in Myanmar is about helping people and communities move forward as quickly as possible post-disaster, in ways that reduce their reliance on humanitarian relief, provide support for recovery and sustainable development, and protection from future disasters.
Current early recovery initiatives include:
Employment and livelihoods
• Seeds, fertilizers and tools are helping small-scale farmers resume their livelihoods and support their families. Distributions of fishing nets, small boats and supplies for fish and prawn ponds have enabled fishermen to return to work. Support is also being provided to communities involved in small-scale livestock breeding, including training and vaccination awareness campaigns; and
• Agro-forestry and environmental initiatives, including small grants and training for establishing nurseries, tree and bamboo planting along roads and riversides, efficient stove making (instead of burning wood for cooking), and embankment rehabilitation, are serving to generate employment and reduce exposure to risks in flood-prone communities. |
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©UNDP
Villagers from Tha byu Seik village which was affected by the 2008 Cyclone Nargis, rebuilding a house.
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Basic infrastructure and service delivery
• Working with local villages to plan and coordinate disaster-proof infrastructure and services, including schools, health and water facilities, roads, bridges and other transit structures;
• Training local health care providers and communities on self-care, malnutrition and promotion of HIV and AIDS awareness and prevention;
• Preventing water-borne diseases by emphasizing projects that develop safe and reliable water collection, storage and distribution. Examples include rain water collection and harvesting systems, renovation or construction of village ponds, drilling deep tube wells and building fly proof latrines;
• Training community members to promote water, sanitation and hygiene, and distributing earthen pots, jars and buckets for household water collection and storage; and
• Facilitating the resumption of education with supply of basic teaching and learning materials.
To coordinate these early recovery activities, UNDP helped establish Early Recovery Committees that oversee rehabilitation of community infrastructure and public works programmes. More than 250 committees were formed in five Delta townships. UNDP also revived over 700 Women's Self-Reliance Groups and established 500 new ones.
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