Cyclone Nargis aid effort to cost one billion US$

Monday, July 21, 2008

According to a new report released jointly by the Government of the Myanmar, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United Nations (UN), the cost of providing aid and funding reconstruction after Cyclone Nargis will be US $1 billion over the next three years.

ASEAN said in a press release that Cyclone Nargis was the "most devastating natural disaster in Myanmar’s history". They also say that the cyclone had a "similar scale of impact to that of the Indian Ocean Tsunami in Indonesia in 2004". 84,530 died in the cyclone and 53,836 remain missing.

The study also reported that a high number of families are in need of shelter due to the destruction of their property by the cyclone. It says that 57% of people had their home completely destroyed by the cyclone, whilst only 2% of people had no damage to their home.

On May 9, the United Nations requested $187 million in aid for Myanmar, but this figure has increased as the full extent of the damage has been revealed. The amount of donations were several times bigger than the requested amount. By 15 June, around 12 billion kyat, or two billion dollars in donations had already been received by the government of Myanmar, according to the report.

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Sources

Press Release: "Comprehensive Assessment of Cyclone Nargis Impact Provides Clearer Picture of Relief and Recovery Needs" — Association of Southeast Asian Nations, July 21, 2008
Press Release: "Post-Nargis Joint Assessment" — Association of Southeast Asian Nations, July 21, 2008
"Myanmar cyclone recovery cost tops $1 bln--UN/ASEAN" — Reuters, July 21, 2008
"Burma aid effort 'requires $1bn'" — BBC News Online, July 21, 2008

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