IOM Cyclone Nargis - Update August 2008

Nargis Response IOM Response to Cyclone Nargis Emergency

Summary Three months after Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Delta, IOM’s emergency response and relief operations continue to assist survivors with medical aid and the delivery of emergency relief goods. At the same time, IOM is developing programmes in health, shelter and reconstruction to contribute to the recovery phase in the areas worst-hit by the cyclone.

The numbers 11 August

Villages Over 400 villages reached with emergency aid

Patients Treated

31,000 patients treated by IOM medical teams

Shelter Emergency shelter provided to more than people 30,000 households

Distribution Hygiene kits: 9,665

Mosquito Nets: 11,000

Jerrycans: 2,513

Raingear: 18,511

Blankets: 500

Water purifiers: 135

Donors and Partners

UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), Government of Japan, Government of United States (USAID/OFDA), UK Department for International Development (DFID), Swiss Agency for Development & Cooperation (SDC), Government of Denmark, AmeriCares Foundation, International Medical Corps (IMC), Humanitarian Medical Assistance (HUMA), Chevron Corporation.

Response & Relief Operations IOM’s cyclone response effort now comprises over 100 staff working from three sub-offices in the Delta townships of Bogale, Pyapon and Mawlamyinegyun. Another 200 IOM staff continue to work on pre-cyclone programming in Mon State and Yangon.

IOM mobile medical teams continue to deliver medical aid and distribute medical supplies to cyclone victims and affected communities in remote and often inaccessible areas. As of early August, the teams had treated some 31,000 patients in over 400 villages.

Five temporary, tented health clinics set up by IOM in remote areas where medical facilities were destroyed by the cyclone are also expected to be fully operational by the end of August.

IOM has distributed non-food relief items, including shelter kits, to more than 30,000 households, with funding and in-kind donations from the US, Switzerland, Denmark, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and Chevron Corporation. IOM’s warehouses in Bogale, Pyapon and Mawlamyinegyun are also open to partner agencies to support the ongoing distribution of non-food and shelter items.

The Government of Japan and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) have now stepped forward with pledges of significant new funding to support IOM’s shelter and health programmes in the cyclone-affected area.

IOM’s Cyclone Nargis Response operating budget now stands at USD 7.5 million.

Tonnes Delivered

192 MT of relief items received and delivered

2

IOM Cyclone Nargis - Update August 2008

For further information please contact: Emergency Coordinator

IOM Yangon,12th Floor, Traders Hotel, Yangon - +95 1 25 25 60 – iomyangon@iom-seasia.org

IOM has launched a major shelter reconstruction project funded by the Government of Japan focusing on urban and semi-urban areas.

The project will provide roofing, construction materials, tools, technical support and advice on how to build-back-better to some 6,000 highly vulnerable households in affected Delta townships over the next five months.

This project is being implemented in close cooperation with the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relocation & Resettlement, the Ministry of Construction, township local authorities and affected communities, who will help IOM to select vulnerable households most in need.

IOM will also conduct an assessment of shelter and non-food items needs, with funding from DFID and in collaboration with members of the IASC Shelter Cluster, in order to identify and fill current gaps.

It will also work with the Japanese NGO Humanitarian Medical Assistance (HUMA) and township medical authorities to rehabilitate seriously damaged health centres.

Shelter and Reconstruction

Health Services IOM’s mobile teams will continue to operate in the coming months, but some of the teams will be relocated to temporary tented IOM clinics set up in remote areas at locations agreed with the Myanmar Ministry of Health.

The temporary clinics are designed to return health infrastructure to pre-cyclone levels and encourage communities to continue to access health services where clinics will be permanently re-established in the coming months.

The mobile medical teams and temporary medical clinics were initially established with funding from the UN CERF.

A pledge of additional funding from DFID will enable IOM to continue to deliver these health services in Delta for the next six months.

IOM is also planning to establish a referral and medical evacuation system that will operate as a common service for government and relief health workers in the Delta.

The system will enable health service providers to contact IOM for the evacuation of patients to other health facilities, if treatment is not immediately available in their area. IOM also continues to chair the IASC Health Cluster Sub-Group on Mental Health and Psycho-Social Services - an area identified by the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PoNJA) as a priority in the health sector. The group meets every two weeks in Yangon and reports to the IASC Health Cluster.

Revised Flash A

ppeal

Under the Revised Flash Appeal, IOM is seeking funding for:

• “Repairing and Rebuilding Bamboo Housing in Bogale, Mawlamyinegyun and Pyapon” USD 4,652,000; funding gap USD 3,000,000

• “Repair, Rebuild and Rehabilitate Primary Health Centers, Maternity Homes and Capacity Enhancement in the Irrawaddy Delta” USD 1,937,828; not funded

• “Enhancing Health Care Service Delivery in Hard to Reach Areas of the Irrawaddy Delta” USD 443,245; funded by DFID

• “Delivering Mental Health Services and Strengthening Resilience among Affected Communities” USD 1,357,456; not funded

• “Let’s Reduce HIV Vulnerability Together! – A Safe Mobility Programme” USD 493, 922; not funded

• “Evaluations of Severely Destroyed Communities in Nine Affected Townships to Support Early Recovery” USD 114,500; not funded