May 16, 2008

Between 1.6 million and 2.5 million people in Myanmar are "severely affected" after the most devastating cyclone to hit Asia since 1991, according to the UN.

Photos: Reuters/Stringer, courtesy of www.alertnet.org

The official toll increased Friday to 77,738 dead and 55,917 missing. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies estimates the number of dead between 68,833 and 127,990.

Mercy Corps is accepting donations to bring relief to affected families.

Our top European official, Mervyn Lee, and three of our most experienced relief workers are now in Myanmar. They are working with partners to assess needs and deliver urgent aid, and continue to meet with government officials and UN agencies and working groups.

"Burma is a country that had great needs even before this emergency," said Lee, executive director of Mercy Corps' European headquarters, who visited the country last September. "Now those needs are magnified immensely, and it will require a response that's beyond the capacity of any one country to restore normalcy to people's lives."

Our team is led by Richard Jacquot, a French national who previously directed the agency's response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans (2005), flooding in northern Kenya (2006), conflicts and economic collapse in the Central African Republic (2007), and conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (2008).

Two additional staff members deploy to Bangkok this weekend to assist with coordinating relief shipments, UN coordination meetings and support for the field team in Burma. A water-and-sanitation specialist lands in Myanmar next week.

Our Material Aid team hopes to ship an assortment of safety, health, shelter and communications materials from Portland to Bangkok via DHL. The materials include thousands of pairs of work gloves and wind-up flashlights as well as dozens of tarps and Leatherman multi-tools.

Mercy Corps' longer-term plans in Myanmar include helping to reduce disease risks through improved sanitation and establishing Cash-for-Work programs that pay residents to clear debris, repair roads and rebuild homes. Cash-for-Work is a signature Mercy Corps approach to help communities transition from emergency aid to longer-term recovery. We've successfully used Cash-for-Work in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Somalia in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean Tsunami.

Mercy Corps is known for our ability to act quickly in times of crisis, addressing needs with nimbleness and innovation. The humanitarian situation in Myanmar remains a challenging one, yet we are confident that these qualities will nevertheless stand out as hallmarks of our response there.

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Where Most Needed Global Food Crisis Emergency Response Sudan Emergency Congo's Displaced Families Silent Disasters Gaza Crisis Myanmar Cyclone

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