New York, NY (BBN)– The top United Nations humanitarian official has allocated $9 million to help aid organizations rapidly scale up assistance in Burma in the wake of major flooding and monsoon rains that affected over 330,000 people and killed at least 88.
“These funds will help provide people with emergency shelter, safe water supply, sanitation, food, critical health care and other services, at a time when they are in desperate need,” Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien said in a press statement on Friday.
“However, additional funding sources continue to be urgently needed as aid operations in Myanmar remain critically underfunded,” he added.
The money released from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) will enable aid organizations to rapidly scale up their response and provide life-saving assistance to some 160,000 people in Rakhine and Chin states, and in the Sagaing and Magway regions.
Aid agencies estimate that at least $47 million is required for the emergency response, but the number of affected people and the needs are expected to rise as the situation evolves.
This funding requirement for the floods response is in addition to the $190 million Burma, officially known as Myanmar, Humanitarian Response Plan for this year, which has been 39 per cent funded so far.
The UN and its partners have been stepping up their support to the response being led by the Myanmar authorities, civil society groups, local organizations, and the Myanmar Red Cross Society. As of today, more than 387 metric tonnes of food for 103,000 people and 620,000 water treatment tablets have already been distributed, as well as other relief items.

BBN/SSR/AD