REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was also attended by Spokespersons for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, the International Organization for Migration, the World Health Organization, the UN Refugee Agency and the International Federation of the Red Cross.

Situation in Myanmar

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday said he was very saddened that the Myanmar people had been struck by Cyclone Nargis. Speaking to journalists, he said the United Nations would do whatever it could do to provide urgent humanitarian assistance. Because of the lack of communications and information, they were not quite sure what would be the total extent of damages and casualties. But he said he was very much alarmed by the incoming news that the casualties had risen to more than 10,000 people already, according to the Myanmar Foreign Ministry announcement. He said he had already mobilized the UNDAC – the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team – to find out what the United Nations could do. He stressed that the United Nations was very much committed to actively assisting the Myanmarese people. The Secretary-General’s comments were available in the press room.

Elizabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes said today that the United Nations was prepared to provide an initial grant from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to facilitate aid for survivors of Cyclone Nargis. He said the Government of Myanmar had indicated that they were open to international assistance. The United Nations appreciated the Government’s announcement that it was making available approximately $5 million from its own resources for emergency relief. Mr. Holmes said the United Nations was “ready to allocate a significant amount from the CERF as the most urgent needs become clear”. A press release with more details was available at the back of the room.

The United Nations was very worried about the situation in Myanmar as the magnitude of the disaster unfolded, and the number of people in need of assistance was expected to be considerable, Ms. Byrs said. The UN Country Team in Myanmar reported that urgent needs for those affected by this crisis included shelter, water purification tablets, cooking sets, mosquito nets, emergency health kits and food. A UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team, composed of disaster management professionals from the region, was being dispatched to Myanmar and was expected to begin work shortly. Obtaining information on the geographical impact of the storm and on populations affected had been a major challenge because of lack of communications. Roads had been blocked by debris or flooded and telephone lines cut. The combined total population of the declared disaster areas was estimated at 24 million. An estimated 6 million people lived in Yangon. Authorities in Myanmar reported that in Ayeyarwady Division alone, more than 3,000 people were missing. Authorities had declared five regions - Yangon, Ayeyarwady, Bago, Mon and Kayin – disaster areas. Villages there had been completely destructed by the 12-foot storm surge. The United Nations was being cautious about the reported figures of casualties and destruction.

Ms. Byrs said yesterday, the United Nations agencies in Yangon and the diplomatic corps had a briefing with Government officials in which the Government said it would accept international assistance. The Government had set up a Disaster Management Committee to deal with the crisis, headed by the Prime Minister. The United Nations was preparing a Flash Appeal; it was waiting for the preliminary assessment of the damages, but that was very difficult because communications were down, debris was blocking roads, and most of the regions affected were only accessible by helicopter. UNDP had a daily navette running between Yangon and the affected areas, but its capacity to carry relief aid was very limited. Available at the back of the room was OCHA’s situation report 2, a map of the affected areas and a press release with Mr. Holmes’ comments.

In response to questions, Ms. Byrs said the United Nations was in discussion with the Government since the disaster struck to see how best the UN could help. The UN was ready to supplement the efforts of the Government in responding to this disaster. So far, the Government said it was open to international assistance, which meant that they would welcome material assistance. There was a five-member disaster assessment and coordination team on standby in Bangkok, waiting for a visa.

A journalist said if the team was waiting for a visa, did that mean that there was no free movement of international humanitarian actors helping with this crisis, and how did this affect the work of the UN to help the people struck by the cyclone. Ms. Byrs said there was a UN country team inside Myanmar. The expert team waiting in Bangkok would be dealing with assessment and coordination and they were expected to be dispatched in the next hours if the visa was granted.

Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund said it was very difficult to get any assessment of the situation in Myanmar following the cyclone. She had put a briefing note at the back of the room with whatever information was available on the death toll, the missing, the affected areas and population and the homeless. According to the state media, the death toll stood at 15,000 today, with 3,000 missing. The official toll stood at 3,394 dead and 2,879 missing. UNICEF had sent five assessment teams to three areas. Three teams included national officers in the areas of health, education, water and protection. The other two teams were working with the Myanmar Red Cross Society. The key priorities were drinking water, tents, tarpaulins, family kits, health kits, bed nets and blankets. UNICEF had prepositioned family kits, health kits and water purification tablets in Yangon and Pathein. The population of Myanmar was very vulnerable to start with, and women and children made up more than 60 per cent of the population and were likely to be prominent among those affected.

In response to a question, Ms. Taveau said UNICEF staff members were waiting for visas to be delivered in Bangkok and other countries. UNICEF could dispatch staff members quickly providing that they had the visas.

Brigitte Leoni of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction recalled that early warning systems were very important and saved lives in the case of natural disasters. It was not immediately known if Myanmar had an early warning system, or if it was functional, but in view of the initial figures of the dead and missing, it was unlikely. Bangladesh was another country which was frequently affected by cyclones. Bangladesh now had a functioning early warning system. In 1970, 300,000 had been killed by a cyclone, and last November, only 3,000 were killed by a cyclone. This was an example of how important early warning systems were and how they could save lives.
In response to a question, Ms. Leoni said she did not know if an alert was launched by the Government of Myanmar. However, there were now satellites which could predict a cyclone almost 48 hours before it happened. Also, it was important to note that while the information might be received by officials, it had to be transmitted to the people to be effective and to ensure they were evacuated.

Jemini Pandya said IOM today dispatched emergency staff from Yangon to Mon State, where IOM had some 200 staff work on grass roots medical projects to combat malaria, TB, and HIV/AIDS. Communications with Mon were cut by the storm and IOM had no news of the staff or their families. The emergency team would re-establish communications with IOM’s staff, organize local staff and conduct an assessment of conditions on the ground in coordination with the Myanmar Red Cross Society and the Mon State health authorities. IOM’s Regional Representative for Southeast Asia, who was based in Bangkok, had flown into Yangon today to assess IOM’s possible role in responding to Cyclone Nargis.

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said WHO had 81 staffers in Myanmar, including 11 international staffers. In this kind of disaster, what was of concern was the emergence of water borne and vector borne diseases. Diarrhoea was one of the big killers of children under the age of five, so it was important to have access to potable water to avoid diseases. Malaria was also present in that part of the country, so there was a need to provide insecticide treated mosquito nets for the affected population. WHO also had a big team of polio volunteers working in Myanmar who could be mobilized quite quickly if there was a need to help the population. The infrastructure in the affected areas was badly damaged, and it was still unclear how many hospitals or clinics had been damaged.

Jennifer Pagonis of the UN Refugee Agency said UNHCR had responded immediately to the desperate needs of cyclone victims in Myanmar. Today, in Thailand, UNHCR was emptying its emergency shelter material stockpiles of plastic sheeting and tents for some 10,000 people for urgent dispatch to Yangon by the fastest available means as a first response to aid the thousands of people who had lost their homes. The supplies would be distributed through a Disaster Management Committee that had been established by the Myanmar Government. On Monday, as a first rapid response, UNHCR’s office in Myanmar purchased $ 50,000 worth of urgently needed basic supplies in the capital Yangon for distribution, including emergency tarpaulins, plastic sheeting and canned foot. UNHCR was participating in the joint UN emergency response effort in Myanmar with particular attention on the shelter sector, but a more complete assessment of the shelter needs was essential before launching a fuller response.

Eric Porterfierd of the International Federation of the Red Cross said the Myanmar Red Cross was currently on the ground, providing aid to victims. The Myanmar Red Cross had 62 staff in country, as well as 18,000 volunteers who were trained in first aid and distributing relief. They were currently distributing plastic sheeting, clean drinking water, insecticide treated bed nets, clothing, kitchen items etc. The Federation had the green light from the Government of Myanmar to ship goods into the country, and the first shipment was arriving today.

Other

Fadela Chaib of the World Health Organization said the consultation on revised recommendations on global influenza pandemic preparedness started this morning at the International Geneva Conference Centre. She had contact numbers in case journalists wanted more information. Since the recommendations were updated in 2005, H5N1 had spread geographically, antiviral stockpiles had been established and H5N1 vaccines had been developed. These and other developments had prompted a review of the existing guidance. She would be able to tell journalists at the Friday briefing whether there would be a closing press conference.

Jennifer Pagonis of the UN Refugee Agency said the number of people arriving on the coast of Yemen after being smuggled across the treacherous Gulf of Aden from the Horn of Africa had more than doubled this year. By 20 April, more than 15,300 people had been reported arriving in Aden on 324 boats and 361 people were reported killed or missing during the hazardous voyage. This surge was largely due to the continuing conflict in Somalia and the use of new smuggling routes from Somalia to Yemen and across the Red Sea from Djibouti.

Ms. Pagonis said in western Ethiopia, UNHCR had officially closed two of the four camps hosting refugees from South Sudan following a successful repatriation season in which some 23,000 refugees from the two camps went home.

Jemini Pandya of the International Organization for Migration said an IOM operation to provide repatriation assistance to thousands of Congolese refugees resumed over the weekend when more than 800 people left Kala and Mwange camps in Zambia’s Luapula and Northern provinces for a 600 kilometre overland journey to Mpulungu harbour, on the southern shores of Lake Tanganyika. In Pakistan, IOM had organized a two-day workshop in Lahore to strengthen the capacity of Pakistan’s legal establishment to combat human trafficking. And today in Belgrade, UNHCR was launching a free legal aid project for Roma in Serbia.