UNOCHA to provide US$333m to Cyclone Mocha victims in Myanmar

By Admin 24 May 2023

DMG Newsroom
24 May 2023, Sittwe

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) issued a statement on May 23 that it will provide US$333 million to help the people of Myanmar affected by the cyclone to restore their lives before the rainy season.

The UN agency has begun food distribution and social relief assistance in Arakan State after discussions with the regime in order to support the people affected by the storm, the UNOCHA statement said.

Hundreds of thousands of surviving storm victims in Arakan State are in need of food, medicine, shelters and clean drinking water, and will need substantial assistance for recovery.

“After the cyclonic storm made landfall in Arakan State on May 14, we have not been able to eat or sleep enough, and we are facing various problems. The donors have yet to come to us,” said Daw Sandar Win, a local woman from Sabahtar Village in Rathedaung Township.

Not enough aid has arrived in Sittwe and Rathedaung townships, which suffered the most damage, more than a week after the storm hit Arakan State, according to residents.

Wan Lark Foundation director U Khaing Kaung San said there is an urgent need for aid materials from international organisations to reach the public in a short period of time.

“When international organisations provide relief items to storm victims, they really need to reach the people in a short period of time,” he added.

The international groups and social aid groups that are mainly supporting those affected by the storm are not allowed to travel in a timely manner due to restrictions imposed by the regime, and there are delays in providing assistance to those in need.

A total of 1,156,796 people were affected by the cyclone and accompanying flooding in Arakan State, with financial losses totalling nearly K4.7 billion, the junta’s Arakan State Administration Council said on Friday.