TCEO MyanmarCountry Brief

Reason for operation:Cyclone Nargis on 2 - 3 May 2008

FAO staff in Myanmar Country Office, Yangon, Myanmar

FAO Representative:Mr Leon Gouws, FAOR a.i./Mr Shin Imai, FAOR (from 20June 2008)

FAO Assistant FAORepresentative:Mr Saw Ler Wah

Emergencyand Rehabilitation Coordinator:Ms Mona Chaya (from 5 June 2008)

Needs Assessment Team Leader:Mr Albert Lieberg (from18 May -20 June 2008)

Number of international/national staff:15 directly involved inthe Cyclone Nargis response (8national and 7 international staff)

FAO staff at Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand

ADG/Regional Representative:Mr Chang Chui He

Deputy Regional Representative:Mr Hiroyuki Konuma

Emergency Operations Officer: Mr Karim Bah

Senior Regional Emergency Coordinator:Mr Rajendra Aryal, based in Colombo, Sri Lanka

FAO staff at Headquarters, Rome, Italy

Chief, Emergency Operations Service: Ms Fernanda Guerrieri

Senior Operations Officer:Ms Hilde Niggemann

Operations Officer/Budget Holder: Ms Victoria Sun

Operations Officer: Ms Dina Rahman

HIGHLIGHTS

United Nations (UN) Response Highlights

  • The UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination team was deployed to Myanmar on 8May 2008.
  • The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr John Holmes, met with senior Government officials and travelled toAyeyarwady delta (Irrawaddy) on 18 May.
  • The United Nations (UN) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) convened an ASEAN-UN International Pledging Conference on Sunday, 25 May 2008 in Yangon, Myanmar. The Conference was co-chaired by the UNand ASEAN. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) was represented by the Assistant Director-General from its Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.
  • The UN Secretary-General, Mr Ban Ki-Moon, visited Myanmar on 23 May and met with the Senior General, Than Shwe. This meeting resulted in the opening of Myanmar to all aid workers, regardless of nationalities, following the announcement made by ASEAN on 19 May that Myanmar had agreed to accept international aid agencies and medical workers from all ASEAN countries to help with the relief effort.

FAO Response Highlights

  • The UN Flash Appeal for Myanmar Cyclone Nargis was launched on 9 May 2008 and currently requests a total of USD201 million. FAO proposed USD10 million within the Appeal to meet immediate needs in the agriculture, livestock and fisheries sectors. A revision to the Appeal is expected in June 2008.
  • The FAO Senior Regional Emergency and Rehabilitation Coordinator, Mr Rajendra Aryal, visited Myanmar from 10 to 19 May to support the FAO Representation in preparing FAO’s component ofthe Flash Appealand tocoordinate with the Government, donors, UN agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other partners involved in the response effort.
  • The FAO Senior Logistics Officer, Mr Pedro Figuieredo, travelled to Myanmar from 22 to 26 May to provide logistical support for strengthened coordination with the Logistics Cluster, led by the World Food Programme (WFP), in planning input delivery to beneficiaries.
  • With funding advanced from the Special Fund for Emergency and Rehabilitation (SFERA), FAO has launched aneeds assessmentwith a team of 15 experts (7 international and 8 national) covering the agriculture, fisheries, livestock and forestry sectors. The needs assessment is expected to be completed by second week of June 2008 in time for the revision of the UN Flash Appeal.
  • An FAO Emergency and Rehabilitation Coordination Unit (ERCU) is being established in Myanmarwithin the FAO Representation to strengthen the coordination and implementation of the emergency and rehabilitation programme in response to Cyclone Nargis.
  • With approved funds from theGovernment of the Italian Republic, CERF and FAO’s Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP)of approximately USD3 millionup to 30 May 2008, FAO is providing immediate assistance to Cyclone Nargis-affected farmers and fishers through the procurement of rice seed, fertilizers, draft animals, water pumps and powertillers.Other priority inputs – such as agricultural tools, animal feed, veterinary supplies and fishing equipment – are also being sourced.
  • In addition, FAO is pursuing pipeline projects amounting to approximately USD 17 million from various donors.
  • FAO is active in the UN Cluster System for the Cyclone Nargis response. FAO is the cluster lead for the Agriculture Cluster, which has held several cluster meetings at regional and country levels. The Agriculture Cluster is coordinating closely with the Early Recovery Cluster, led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), on joint meetings and inter-agency assessments. FAO is currently in consultation with four possible implementing partners, including UNDP, the International Labour Organization and international NGOs.

COUNTRY BACKGROUND

Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar on 2 and 3 May 2008, sweeping through the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) delta region and the country’s largest city, Yangon. The authorities have declared five states and divisions (Yangon, Ayeyarwady, Bago, Mon and Kayin) to be disaster zones. Latest Government reports reveal 77738deaths and 55917 people missing (based on 16 May figures).

Three days after the disaster,the Government estimatedthat 975858 people were affected in the eight most severelyhit townships. The UN now estimates that some 2.4 million are affected, of whom more than half (1.4 million) are in severely affected areas requiring priority assistance.

Cyclone Nargis caused unprecedented devastation. Buildings, infrastructure and communications have been severely damaged and flooding is widespread. Access to many disaster-affected areas remains severely restricted, as certain parts of the delta can be reached only by boat. Critical needs include food, water purification supplies and receptacles, sanitation facilities for temporary camps, shelter materials, fuel and essential medicines and treatments. The food security situation in the country, which was already severe, is expected to become far more acute asthe cyclone hit the ‘food bowl’ in the southern part of the country.

A constitutional referendum took place in the country on 10 May 2008. This event was delayed in disaster-affected areas.

Figure 1: Map showing the areas and population affected by Cyclone Nargis (25 May 2008)

FAO RESPONSE IN MYANMAR

FAO is responding to the Cyclone Nargis disaster within the overall UN framework.A UN Flash Appeal was launched on 9 May 2008 and currently requests USD 201 million. FAO has appealed for USD10million within the Appealto address the time-critical needs in the agriculture, livestock and fisheries sectors. This initial requirement will only enable FAO to meet a small portion of the immediate requirements as the damage and needs for the three sectors are estimated at over USD 300 million, as reported by the Government of Myanmar.

The UN has activated the Cluster System for this emergency, as outlined in the Flash Appeal, as follows:

Cluster / Lead Organization
Water/Sanitation / UNICEF
Health / WHO
Emergency Shelter / UNHCR
Logistics / WFP
Emergency Telecommunications / WFP
Nutrition / UNICEF
Emergency Education / UNICEF
Child Protection / UNICEF and Save the Children
Agriculture / FAO
Food / WFP
Early Recovery / UNDP
Information Management and Coordination / OCHA and UNDSS

FAO is leading the Agriculture Cluster within the UN Cluster Systemfor Cyclone Nargis. An action plan for the cluster has been prepared. FAO has held several Agriculture Cluster meetings in Myanmar. The first meeting took place on 13 May and was attended by 50 people from Government ministries, UN agencies, donors and NGOs. The subsequent meetings were joined with UNDP’s Early Recovery Cluster with an increased number of participants.

FAO has offered assistance to three key line ministries, including the Ministry of Agricultureand Irrigation, the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries and the Ministry of Forestry. FAO seeks to support the above-mentioned Ministries in coordination, assessments, technical assistance and the formulation of recovery plans. Up to 15 May 2008, the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries and the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation have officially requested FAO assistance. FAO hasmobilized its own TCPfunding for initial support. A request from the Ministry of Forestry is forthcoming.

FAO’s Emergency Operations and Rehabilitation Division (TCE) at headquarters, Rome is coordinating the response closely with FAO’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP) inBangkok and the FAO Representation in Myanmar. FAO is participating in the daily Inter-agency Standing Committee Regional Cluster Meetings on Myanmar. This has been effective to ensure close coordination with all international and UN organizations in the formulation of FAO’s response.

Using the Organization’s own SFERAand TCP funding,FAO is building its response capacity in Myanmar. FAO’s Regional Emergency and Rehabilitation Coordinator and a senior staff member from FAO Bangkok travelled to Myanmarduring the week of 11 May to support the FAO Office in Myanmar in the coordination of the Agriculture Cluster and in launching the Organization’s immediate response. FAO staff has travelled to Bogale and Laputta to witness the devastation in preparation for a comprehensive needs assessment. A team of 15 international and national experts is conducting a needs assessment in the agriculture, livestock, fisheries and forestry sectors. FAO is also drawing upon its technical staff from headquarters and regional and country offices for all foursectors (crop, fisheries, livestock and forestry) to be covered by the needs assessment. The needs assessment report is expected by the second week of June.

An ERCUis being established for managing the FAO response programme for Cyclone Nargis.

CURRENT OPERATIONAL ISSUES

  • Owing to the extreme urgency to meet the seasonal deadline for the Monsoon rice planting season in July, FAO has initiated procurement arrangements for rice seed, fertilizers, power tillers and draft animals as the most urgent inputs while the input targeting plan is being finalized based onneeds assessment results. Other priority items include animal feed, veterinary medicines and supplies, vegetable seeds, agricultural tools and fishing gear.
  • Logistics is complex in the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) delta region and FAO is coordinating closely with the WFP-led Logistics Cluster for the receipt, storage and delivery of inputs.
  • FAO, as part of its Initiative on the Soaring Food Prices, is monitoring the impact of Cyclone Nargis on soaring food prices, particularly in view of the fact that Myanmar was an exporter of rice. Discussions are ongoing to formulate initiatives to address the impact of rising food prices caused by the cyclone.
  • Visa issuance for FAO international staff travelling to the country has been smoothso far, thanks to the good cooperation with key line ministries. Continued cooperation in this respect is important in order to ensure timely responses.

CURRENT PROJECT INFORMATION:

Project symbol / Donor / Project title / Startdate / Enddate / Total budget
OSRO/MYA/802/ITA / Italy / Emergency support to restore food security in cyclone Nargis-affected farmers through the provision of agricultural inputs and technical assistance / 2008-06 / 2008-11 / USD 500000
OSRO/MYA/806/CHA / UN OCHA Central Emergency Respond Fund / Emergency support to restore food security in cyclone Nargis-affected areas through the provision of agricultural inputs and technical assistance / 2008-06 / 2008-08 / USD2000000
TCP/MYA/3202
(Component 2) / FAO Technical Cooperation Programme / Damages and needs assessment and programme formulation mission for emergency and rehabilitation response to Cyclone Nargis / 2008-05 / 2008-07 / USD135000
TCP/MYA/3103 / FAO Technical Cooperation Programme / Emergency assistance to support the rehabilitation of the livelihoods of cyclone-affected families in Ayeyarwady and Yangondivisions / 2008-05 / 2008-12 / USD500000
TOTAL / USD3135000

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Updated 30 May 2008