Custom Search
More Than 1 Million Burmese REquire 'Urgent Humanitarian Assistance'
Photo: Reuters/Stringer, courtesy www.alertnet.org.
Photo: Reuters/Stringer, courtesy www.alertnet.org.
Photo: Reuters/Vivek Prakash, courtesy www.alertnet.org.
More than one million people in Myanmar are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance following the most devastating cyclone to hit Asia since 1991.
A U.S. official in Myanmar's capital said Wednesday that indications are the number of cyclone-related deaths could reach 100,000.
Mercy Corps is accepting donations to help partners on the ground bring relief to affected families.
"Burma is a country that had great needs even before this emergency," said Mervyn 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."
The UN reported Thursday that the situation is becoming "increasingly precarious," and that more than one million people are "now expected to be in need of urgent humanitarian assistance."
Humanitarian access remains difficult. But some relief supplies from the World Food Programme and the Red Cross/Red Crescent have been allowed in — a sign, we hope, that access is improving. We are working to secure visas for our emergency responders, and talking to partners with operations on the ground.
Please consider a gift to our Myanmar Cyclone Fund to speed relief to families in need.
From: galacticjoy@yahoo.com