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Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar
Background
Usually when natural disasters occur, enormous earth-moving
and other heavy machinery roll out; helicopters and flotillas are launched on
search-and-rescue missions; medics and food supplies are parachuted in;
temporary water systems are laid down; and mobile clinic and food distribution
sites are established.
In Myanmar, after Cyclone Nargis, none of this happened.
Plagued by delays and obstacles, a comprehensive relief program has yet to reach hundreds of thousands of people who desperately need assistance. Displaced people are being forced to leave shelters and return to destroyed villages without adequate assistance.
The official number of people dead and missing is 134,000,
but the final number may reach 200,000. Although the Myanmar
government is now allowing in international aid workers, access to the
worst-affected areas is still tightly controlled. As each day passes, the situation
grows increasingly desperate and people continue to die.
» Read more about the background and ongoing impacts
UUSC's approach
Amid the delays that are slowing the deployment of
international aid for cyclone relief in Myanmar,
UUSC is disbursing relief funds to in-country partners working at the
grassroots level. Despite all obstacles, these groups are steadily moving aid
in the form of food, water-treatment supplies, and health care to affected
villages in the Irrawaddy Delta, an area hard hit by the cyclone. The most
vulnerable populations are the thousands of unaccompanied children and
villagers in areas not yet reached by aid.
UUSC is also developing a midterm response, building on our
experience assisting marginalized groups after the Indian Ocean
tsunami. Local organizations are always first to respond to disaster. Strengthening
their capacity to respond is crucial to ensuring sustainability. Given the
problems that international organizations continue to face in reaching affected
communities, our midterm and longer-term response will be rooted in
strengthening the capacity of local organizations for sustainable recovery in
the Irrawaddy Delta.
» Read more about UUSC's approach and the ongoing work
Featured stories about responding to Cyclone Nargis
 Usually when natural disasters occur, enormous earth-moving
and other heavy machinery roll out; helicopters and flotillas are
launched on search-and-rescue missions; medics and food supplies are
parachuted in; temporary water systems are laid down; and mobile
clinic and food distribution sites are established.
In Myanmar, none of this happened.
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 Two UUSC program staffpersons were in Myanmar just before the cyclone
on program development work and are now in communication with contacts
there to support vital relief efforts.
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