Press Conference on Burma
Tuesday May 27 2008
Dr. Surin Pisuwan, Secretary General, ASEAN, reporting at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club in Bangkok Thailand on the donors’ conference Sunday with Gen. Than Shwe of Myanmar and UN chief Ban Ki Moon in Yangon. The key issue has been the loosening of strict controls on foreign aid workers pressing for unfettered access to the disaster zone. To counter Burmese fears of “hidden agendas” by Western workers, ASEAN has agreed to coordinate all relief efforts.
What has been achieved is far more than what was expected. A new humanitarian “space,” however limited, so that ASEAN with the support of the UN can engage with the Myanmar authorities. That humanitarian space needs political support because in and of itself it cannot be sustained. The secty general of the UN and ASEAN has asked for the full cooperation of the aid community.
The conference Sunday went smoothly. 50 plus countries and almost 500 participants agreed to only engage the humanitarian appeal. Other issues have been put on hold. We are responding as an international community to work on the task at hand for the time being. We were grateful that we were granted this opening.We want to gain some level of confidence from the international community about the way we have been permitted to proceed by Myanmar.
ASEAN is setting up a committee with two members for each country, headed by the secty general and that body will serve as the representative umbrella, coordinating, advising and supporting at the diplomatic, policy and international support levels. The 22 members will be on the ground 24/7.
A Tripartate Core Group has been established. One part chaired by a senior Myanmar official because it is on Myanmar ground, one from ASEAN and one from the UN. The chair of the Committee of ASEAN members will have a direct line to Gen. Than Shwe, the chair of the Tripartate Core Group.
The Core group will be on the ground 24/7, arm in arm with each other, removing obstacles, providing access and space for the international community to deliver aid to victims.
An Emergency Rapid Assessment Team will have a technical crash course in Jakarta and then go back to Rangoon and start working.
Assessment has to be done by June 10 with a report given by the 12th and then a new Flash Point Appeal will go out by the UN for immediate relief money.
ASEAN has opened a field office in Myanmar and will work with all parties to make sure all the commitments and agreements can be sustained with the aim to bring international relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation.
How much money was raised during the meeting Sunday? Answer: Many said they will give only if the core group can produce real achievements in the next few days. There was tremendous good will in that room.
How much was pledged?
50 million? 100 Million? Answer: Difficult to say how much was pledged in that room because each delegation did not go quite as far as giving a check or cash but expressed full readiness to help. Many said their support was conditional.My mandate is to work with the mechanism of the Core Group that will have access to Shwe, head of the military junta. The secty of the UN has established his own channel. He repeated it again in front of the ministers and 500 delegates sitting in that room, that there is an international social contract to implement the agreement. But we are not naive. We expect the chair of the core group from Myanmar to be the key.
Is there trust now between International community and Burma?
Answer: We have conditional cautious optimism. Many in the delegation said the window is not that big. The opportunity not wide. ASEAN must prove that yes even though the window is not that wide, the time frame not that long, that we can see changes clearly so that real trust and confidence will be restored.
After Dr. Surin Pisuwan’s remarks, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Food Programme, the UN Children’s Fund and the World Health Organization answered questions.
A helicoptor has gone in. Australia will provide a heavy transport plane arriving tonight. Will join the first helicopter on the ground.
There is one food hub…need more. Will set up field offices with communications for the food agencies to come pick up food. Food for over half a million people has been distributed. But significant, regular deliveries are still needed.
The health action plan for the next 6 months is in draft. Will brief ASEAN teams before they go in. Will provide an early warning system for disease or health events that need follow-up including rumors. Develop rapid health response teams.
Restore local health services. Focus on specific vulnerable groups like orphans and elders. Get existing facilities to function as well as they can. There is an issue of lodging for health staff. Appropriate psycho-social care is needed. We have a working group to ensure a coordinated approach using international standards. 250 metric tons of supplies have been deployed. Includes essential medicines list to ensure appropriate supplies going in and inappropriate supplies kept out.
One third of children before cyclone was malnourished and a third of babies born underweight. We are concerned with acute malnutrition. Levels of acute malnutrition was 9% before. Nutrition Cluster led by UNICEF has an action plan. Management of children with trained staff. Micronutrient insufficiencies eg. Vit A needed to fight water born diseases. Started Vit A with measles vaccine between 9 months to 5 years. Concerned about breast milk substitutes which pose an additional risk when there isn’t clean water.
Question about sending people out. Anything to stop this? Answer: Forced movements unacceptable and against international law. UN will look into the situation.
How much food will you be able to move into the Delta? How many of 2.4 million people are actually in need of emergency food and how many will need food over the next 6 months? Answer: That was the number for planning purposes. There are now 1.5 in dire need. Assessment still needs to be done to target food to the right areas. Yesterday a boat left carrying several tons of food in the Bogalay area. It has been very difficult. All actions have required agreement by the Myanmar government.
Is there an agreement about time limit of visas for aid workers? Are Burmese aid workers allowed into the delta? Answer: 7 visas issued yesterday…a record day. Limitations have been relaxed. WFP has always been allowed in…it has been the international aid staff (NGO’s) that were not allowed in. At present 27 international staff in Yangon and 1 or 2 allowed into the delta and to return.
What about reports of discrimination on the ground? Answer: WFP dispatches food. Clear challenge is that the NGO’s have to establish operations at the same time we do. They have resisted delivering it through the Burmese government.
UN Flash Appeal originally was 205 million for first 3 months. Will be adjusted after the ASEAN report. Recovery and rehabilitation effort will be expensive.
Number of dead bodies? Health concern? Who is in charge? Untouched? Answer: Early on there were some guidelines and personal protective equipment sent out. Bodies are not a big health risk except psycho-social trauma.
Is there a second wave of deaths? Is it too late for some people? Answer: There has not been a second wave of death but there is a high risk of water-borne diseases.
Later in the day the junta extended Aun San Suu Kyi’s house arrest for another six months. She has spent 12 years under house arrest since she was democratically elected. Eighteen of her supporters were arrested as they marched toward her home. By Myanmar law, she should have been released today or put on trial but the junta does what it wants.
Tags: Burma (Myanmar), Myanmar, Not Assigned To A Category, press conference on Burma, Secretary General ASEAN, World Watching And Politics
Zoe
Leave a Reply