BURMA RELATED NEWS – APRIL 30, 2011
Apr 30th, 2011
by Alex Delamare – Fri Apr 29, 10:42 pm ET
IRRAWADDY DELTA, Myanmar (AFP) – A tattered UN tarpaulin makes a shady awning for one of the huts dotting the emerald rice paddies of Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Delta, a reminder of the devastation wrought by Cyclone Nargis three years ago.
“We rebuilt everything ourselves — the government did nothing,” said Myo Tun, who came to the area with an international aid agency after the disaster struck and whose name AFP has changed to protect his identity.
Bodies were still floating in the area’s network of waterways weeks after the cyclone hit, he said, as the ruling junta failed to act to help the region.
Now there are signs that the new, nominally civilian government, which took power earlier this year after controversial November elections that excluded democracy icon Aung San
Suu Kyi, is striving to show a changed attitude.
President Thein Sein, a retired general who was prime minister during Nargis, has pledged to work more closely with humanitarian groups and responses to recent disasters suggest the approach has changed.
“They are more ready to give timely public information on details of these events, and to give access to international agencies,” said Myanmar analyst Richard Horsey.
But privately, many remain cautious.
“I would not say that any organisation operates with 100 percent confidence in this country,” said one senior international aid agency figure, asking not to be named.
Nargis smashed through the southern delta region on May 2, 2008 leaving an estimated 138,000 people dead or missing.
Myanmar’s rulers refused foreign assistance for weeks while 2.4 million people struggled desperately for survival.
“Nargis was a real humanitarian watershed,” said Chris Herink of World Vision, which took part in relief work after an earthquake hit eastern Myanmar in March.
Thousands are still sleeping in temporary shelters after the quake but, unlike when Nargis struck, those affected were helped quickly and by the army itself.
The United Nations said the earthquake, as well as Cyclone Giri, which affected an estimated 260,000 people in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state last October, represented “increased cooperation” between agencies and government.
“It’s an open question in terms of the new leadership and how they will regard humanitarian assistance and in particular international assistance,” said Herink, who added that the signs at the moment were “positive”.
Foreign aid has become crucial in filling the gaps left by a government that spent just 0.9 percent of its budget on health in 2007, according to the World Health Organisation — substantially lower than any other country that year.
According to Save the Children, at least a third of all children in Myanmar are malnourished and one in 10 dies before the age of five.
In the past, overseas governments have scaled down aid in protest at rights abuses in Myanmar, or felt forced to pull out because of the junta’s tight controls.
Sanctions have played a part, with major donors such as Europe restricting development assistance.
Overseas aid to Myanmar peaked in 2008 because of Nargis, but fell about 30 percent to $357 million — or around $6 per person — in 2009, according to figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Neighbouring Laos received 10 times more per person that year.
There are signs that foreign funding will rise, with increased donations from Britain and an expanded Australian aid programme, but local groups fear a lack of opportunity.
Horsey said that while the Myanmar government appeared more positive about international groups, it “still tends to be suspicious” of local organisations.
A representative from one Myanmar non-governmental group told AFP that overseas agencies “act as an umbrella for us, they are very important, but it is crucial that we build up local capacity”.
His group provides services from education to agriculture, many of which he said should be provided by the state, “but they don’t show any interest”.
Maung Zarni, of the London School of Economics, said there were fears that government-friendly local groups would become more dominant.
“The military doesn’t allow any entity to operate freely or show any receptivity towards any entity which doesn’t serve the regime’s interests and agendas,” he said.
He added that the funding capacity of foreign agencies meant “they, not the locals, set the agendas in terms of what communities feel or think they need”.
“Most international aid agencies have a certain amount of money to spend and then withdraw, but us civil society groups will stay even if there isn’t any funding,” said the head of another agency, who said he feared the role of local groups “will be very limited”.
“I am quite worried for the future,” he added.
JAKARTA (AFP) – Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Saturday Beijing wants to boost cooperation in trade and security with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
In a policy speech on the last day of a three-day visit to Indonesia, the current chair of ASEAN and its biggest member, Wen extolled the virtues of an ASEAN-China free trade agreement (FTA) that came into effect in January.
“China is committed to deepening practical cooperation with ASEAN,” Wen said.
He said China would accelerate the development of various areas from telecoms and electricity to infrastructure projects in the region, and would support efforts to boost transport links between ASEAN nations and China.
“Last year, China became ASEAN’s biggest trading partner. We launched the largest FTA among developing countries and we have set the target of $500 billion in two-way trade by 2015,” Wen said.
“China stands ready to work with ASEAN to maintain regional security and stability,” he added.
ASEAN is comprised of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Indonesian officials say Jakarta wants to renegotiate its part of the landmark free trade pact to protect vulnerable sectors from competition with Chinese manufacturers.
On Friday, Wen held talks with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and announced billions of dollars in loans for badly needed infrastructure projects in the archipelago.
‘In spite of everything, the army has treated me as well as they have because I am my father’s daughter’
Aung San Suu Kyi
The Guardian, Saturday 30 April 2011 My father is the most inspirational figure in my life, because my interest in politics came from him. I’ve always had great admiration for him, and great compassion too, because he was very young when he died. Perhaps this is one reason why I’m very much involved in this movement, because I feel it is mainly for young people.
I don’t really remember my father at all. I was two years and one month old when he died. But I have I suppose what might be called re-enforced memories – my mother would always tell me about how he would pick me up the moment he got home. And I seem to remember him picking me up, though I’m not sure whether that’s a genuine memory or not.
I think the army has empathy with me because of my father. In spite of everything, I think they have treated me as well as they have because I am my father’s daughter. I think it’s ingrained respect for him. Just before I was placed under house arrest for the third time, in between house arrests, I made a trip to the states of Rakhine and Chin in the west of Burma. I’d been told that the Chins were ethnocentric and not fond of the Burmese, but I received the warmest response I ever received anywhere in those two states. In both places, people would bring their children when they came to see me – quite often when my car was going by, they would be standing by the roadside, and parents would take their children up in their arms and say, “Look! This is Grandfather Aung San’s daughter”, which I found very touching.
I think all the ethnic nationalities agree that my father was honest with them, and I think they feel the same about me because I’ve never made easy promises.
Aung San Suu Kyi is guest director of the Brighton Festival, which runs from 7-29 May.
Chine Premier: China to speed up transport links with SE Asia
By News Desk in Jakarta/The China daily | ANN – Sat, Apr 30, 2011 6:20 PM MYT
Jakarta (China Daily/ANN) – China will speed up the development of transport connections with Southeast Asia, building roads, telecommunication and power links as it seeks to boost trade, Premier Wen Jiabao said on Saturday.
Wen, speaking in Jakarta during a two-day visit to Indonesia, said China would give financial support through credit aid and investment, to provide for better exchange of commodities, capital and people.
“In the next 10 years we will speed up the inauguration of land transport routes between China and ASEAN,” said Wen in a speech in Jakarta, adding it will also provide funds for air and sea transport. “Today we witness the rise of Asia.”
He said China would unconditionally help underdeveloped countries in the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
ASEAN has sought to highlight the potential for greater connections between its frontier markets and Asia’s biggest economic power, with the group’s foreign ministers heading on an unconventional road trip in January from Thailand to China.
Indonesia is seeking $100 billion of private investment to develop its own dilapidated infrastructure, seen as a hurdle to attracting foreign firms and to gaining a sovereign investment grade rating that would cut government borrowing costs and put it on a par with BRIC nations such as China and Brazil.
Wen promised Indonesia $9 billion worth of loans for infrastructure on Friday, after meeting his Indonesian counterpart, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
ASEAN’s plan to link new and existing rail, road and sea routes together with China and allow better travel within a free trade area of 1.9 billion people is ambitious.
But analysts say there is huge trade potential between Asean and China and better links could encourage Japan and South Korea to forge a closer relationship with ASEAN. Japan has already pledged more than $50 billion in infrastructure investment.
30 Apr 11 @ 07:00am by Shaun Turton
TWO activists are to share their insights into the Burmese people’s struggle with government oppression.
Jill Jameson and Denise Nichols, both of Warrandyte North, have gained a deep understanding of the country’s social and political ills over years of activism in Australia and the South-East Asian nation.
On their most recent trip, the pair helped Burmese teachers and organisations deal with problems such as land confiscation and the continuing effects of Cyclone Nargis, which hit in 2008.
Ms Jameson also met Burma’s revered pro-democracy figure Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who was recently released from house arrest imposed by the military government.
Friends of Warrandyte Burma Support Group will hold its community forum at St Stephen’s Anglican Church, Stiggant St, Warrandyte, from 7.30pm on Saturday.
By Mizan Rahman, Dhaka
Latest Update: Saturday30/4/2011April, 2011, 01:51 AM Doha Time
The newly-elected military government of Myanmar has expressed its keen interest to increase bilateral co-operation between the armed forces of Bangladesh and Myanmar through exchanging training and expertise.
This was stated yesterday by visiting Commander-in-Chief (Air) of Myanmar Air Force General Myat Hein while paying a courtesy call on President Zillur Rahman, who is also the supreme commander of the Bangladesh armed forces, at the president’s secretariat in Dhaka.
Noting that Chief of Army Staff of Bangladesh Gen Abdul Mubeen is expected to visit Myanmar next month, he said: “We’re interested to promote relations between the two armed forces.”
General Hein lauded the excellence of National Defence College (NDC) of Bangladesh and hoped that officials of Myanmar armed forces would get opportunities to get enrolled at the college in the coming days.
“We’ve a new government and its aim is to rapidly increase co-operation with Bangladesh,” the Myanmar Air Chief said.
President Zillur Rahman said Myanmar is the next door neighbour and Bangladesh government has taken initiatives to establish direct rail and road connectivity with Myanmar.
Saturday, 30 April 2011 By NNT
BANGKOK, 29 April 2011 – Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva will be attending the 18th ASEAN Summit organized in Jakarta, Indonesia from 7 to 8 May 2011.
According to ASEAN Affairs Department Deputy Director-General Dr Pornchai Danvivathana, ASEAN leaders will be signing a draft joint declaration on the ‘ASEAN Community in the Global Community’, affirming ASEAN visions in the face of new challenges in the 21st century.
ASEAN leaders will also sign a joint declaration on the establishment of the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation aimed at enhancing regional security and solving disputes among ASEAN members in peaceful manners.
Prime Minister Abhisit is expected to have bilateral discussions with leaders from Myanmar and Laos following the assumption of their new posts. It however remains unclear if the Thai-Cambodian border dispute will be raised in the summit or not.
Dr Pornchai noted that Thailand has been giving importance to the establishment of the ASEAN Community and has been trying to promote the issue among Thai people.
By Harold Reutter
harold.reutter@theindependent.com
Published: Thursday, April 28, 2011 11:17 PM CDT
If the past is any guide, Grand Island may one day be home to Burmese refugees.
That’s because Burma has sent more refugees to Nebraska than any other country during the past five years, said Karen Parde, refugee coordinator for the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. Parde spoke at a Thursday Lunch and Learn hosted by the Multicultural Coalition of Grand Island.
She said Omaha and Lincoln are Nebraska’s two official resettlement cities, but communities such as Grand Island, Lexington, South Sioux City and others are primary locations for secondary refugee migrants.
“Once refugees arrive in the United States, they have all the rights you and I do,” said Parde, who noted that the only exception is the right to vote.
One of those rights is the freedom to move to any city in the United States and not remain in the original resettlement city chosen for them, Parde said. As a result, refugees often move to a secondary city to be close to family members. They often move because the secondary city offers a better prospect of finding a job and a better chance of finding less expensive housing.
Parde noted that all refugees are immigrants, but not all immigrants are refugees.
A refugee is a person who has a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or for having a particular political opinion. Such a person is typically living outside his or her country of birth but is unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country.
Oftentimes, refugees still do not feel safe in the country they have fled to, so they want to go to a third country, such as the United States, for protection, Parde said.
Many people who flee their country end up living in unsafe conditions, Parde said. She said female Somali refugees find conditions in Somalia so intolerable that they will leave their country even though they know their decision means they may be raped, not just once, but multiple times.
In the United States, a presidential determination is made each October on the number of refugees allowed into the country, Parde said. The number has typically been capped at 75,000, but because of the international turmoil, it has risen to 80,000 refugees the past couple of years.
A total of 80,000 refugees can enter the United States in fiscal year 2010-11, with 15,000 people from Africa; 19,000 from East Asia; 2,000 from Europe and Central Asia; 5,500 from Latin American and Caribbean countries; 35,500 from the Near East and South Asia; and 3,000 refugees as an unallocated reserve with no designated region.
Refugees must undergo a security check before they are allowed into the United States, Parde said. Recently, one more security layer was added. Because security checks have expiration dates, some clearances have lapsed because of the time involved in doing the additional security check. Those initial security clearances must then be redone.
As a result, Parde estimated that between 60,000 and 65,000 refugees will enter the United States this year, even though 80,000 is the approved number.
Nebraska typically agrees to take about 720 immigrants annually, but Parde said it has agreed to take up to 800 refugees in a year. She said the decision to raise the number has been a balancing act, especially when the state economy has slowed.
But Parde said she decided it was foolish to stand firm at 720 people if refugees who originally wanted to settle in Nebraska end up moving to the state within 30 days. She said that is an especially foolish stand to take when transition aid for a refugee will not follow him or her to a secondary site.
She said the primary temporary assistance is a Cash and Medical Assistance program that refugees can receive for up to eight months. However, the expectation is that refugees will find a job within 30 to 90 days.
Parde told The Independent that Nebraska refugees had easily been meeting that goal until the economy slowed. Most refugees continue to find jobs, but now it is often taking five, six or seven months.
Refugees find work despite language and other barriers they must overcome, she said. Nebraska has become a popular state for refugee resettlement because of its relatively low unemployment rate and low cost of living. She said Nebraska’s numerous meatpacking plants provide entry-level employment for many refugees.
All refugees are expected to repay the cost of their airfare to the United States, aid that is provided as a three-year loan, with initial payments to begin within six months after a refugee’s arrival. That’s another reason why refugees work so hard to find jobs quickly. Parde also said many refugees simply want to be self-sufficient and not be a drain on their new country.
According to a chart that Parde provided, Nebraska has accepted 992 refugees from Burma in the past five years; 414 from Sudan; 284 from Thailand; 151 from Somalia; 113 from Vietnam; 93 from Burundi; 90 from Iraq; 89 from the former USSR; 58 from Cuba; and 54 from Bhutan.
She said some Burmese refugees have lived their entire lives in refugee camps. She has seen 19-year-old Burmese women married to 20-year-old Burmese men, with both the women and men knowing nothing other than refugee camp life until they arrived in the U.S. Other refugee groups have spent long periods — or even most of their lives — in refugee camps.
As a result, when they arrive in the United States, they have almost no knowledge of modern life, including knowing anything about electricity, refrigerating food or modern sanitation, Parde said.
Many Iraqi refugees, on the other hand, are highly educated and worked as doctors, lawyers or teachers prior to the U.S. invasion, she said. Many of these people cooperated with the U.S. following the invasion, and that has made it dangerous for them to remain in Iraq. Parde said Iraqis who had professional careers are often frustrated that the only immediate work available to them in Nebraska is a job in a meatpacking plant.
While Americans may think of all people from the same country as being the same, refugees see distinctions, Parde said. Somali refugees will divide themselves into what she described as “Somali Bantu” and “Somali Somali.” She said the Bantus, an ethnic minority in Somalia, are considered to be of a lower social class by “Somali Somalis.” Bantus have sometimes been mistreated by Somalis.
Karen or Karin from Burma is another ethnic minority that sees themselves as quite distinct from other tribes in Burma, Parde said.
Most refugees, though, want to be Americans, Parde said. They want to speak English and to adopt American customs. Children adapt more quickly than parents. They go to school, learn English and get acculturated. As a result, parents sometimes say that several months after their arrival in America, they feel as though they are living in a foreign culture in their own home.
One person asked how to get to know refugees, with one woman responding that volunteering with the Literacy Council is a good way and another woman noting people can get to know immigrants who established their own worship services in local churches.
Sat, Apr 30, 2011 3:10 PM PHT JAKARTA, Indonesia — Minimizing the impact of internal conflicts in some oil-producing countries will be one of the main items in the agenda of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Jakarta next week, ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan said Friday night.
However, there is no assurance the recent border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia – both ASEAN members – will be discussed.
In a chance interview, Mr. Pitsuwan said among the topics ASEAN leaders will tackle are the plans for economic integration, growth of the region, and the impact of the recent global uncertainties, and even the deadly quake and tsunami that hit Japan early in March.
“Global uncertainties in North Africa, in the Middle East and what happened in Japan certainly will have impact on ASEAN so we will have to make some adjustments,” he told reporters after attending the “Best of ASEAN Performing Arts” featuring Cambodia.
He added “[ASEAN] leaders will be very interested in listening to reports and each others’ ideas about how to make sure the impact of recent global developments will be minimized.”
Oil producers
The growing unrest in Libya, the third largest oil producer in Africa and eight in the world, the social turmoil in Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Bahrain, Yemen and Saudi Arabia in the past months caused prices of fuel to soar due to fear of supply interruption.
Many ASEAN member-countries get their oil supply from North Africa and the Middle East.
The Philippines, for instance, sourced 81 percent of its crude supply from the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, last year. It also imported 12 percent from Asia and 7 percent from Russia.
For refined petroleum products, the Philippines bought mainly from Singapore. It imported liquefied petroleum gas mainly from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Japan, one of the partners of ASEAN, was recently hit with earthquake that triggered a tsunami and is under the threat of radiation after the Fukushima nuclear plant was severely damaged.
Border dispute
When asked if the Thailand-Cambodia border dispute be tackled, Mr. Pitsuwan said it is up to the leaders if they will discuss it.
“It’s really up to the leaders. I don’t know. The leaders will be very open about each other so there might be some issues that they want to raise,” he said.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen earlier said he plans to raise the issue during the Summit.
At least eight people have been killed in the recent clashes between Cambodia and Thailand over decades-long border issue.
The two countries have been in a deadlock since July 2008, when Preah Vihear was granted UNESCO World Heritage status, which Thailand opposed on the grounds that the land around the temple had never been demarcated.
An international court awarded the temple to Cambodia 49 years ago, but both countries lay claim to a 4.6 sq km (1.8 sq mile) patch of land around it.
The ASEAN had asked the two countries to settle their differences peacefully.
Non-interference policy
The ASEAN has a policy of non-intervention regarding affairs of its member countries.
Founded in 1946, the ASEAN believes in respecting the sovereignty of each country.
Its Charter says that the purpose of the association is “to maintain and enhance peace, security and stability”.
“ASEAN and its Member States shall … respect the independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity and national identity of all ASEAN member states [and] have shared commitment and collective responsibility in enhancing regional peace, security and prosperity,” Article 2 of the Charter states.
It also states that ASEAN member states shall strengthen peace-oriented values in the region.
Aside from Cambodia and Thailand, the other member states of the ASEAN are Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Brunei and Myanmar.
Threat to credibility
Meanwhile, an expert believes that the border issue is a threat to the credibility and reputation of ASEAN that claims to be a peaceful region.
Rizal Sukma, executive director of Indonesia’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, is worried that if ASEAN will not be able to convince Thailand and Cambodia to settle the row peacefully, “the United Nations Security Council will be obliged to pick up the issue and treat it as a threat to the international security.”
“The ASEAN face this problem of credibility especially that since 2003 we keep invoking the notion that ASEAN will become a community where the use of force is not only impossible but unimaginable,” he said at a forum.
“As long as this particular problem will continue to occur we can just throw this idea of community into the thrash bin,” he added.
Sukma, however, believed that it is better to wait until the election in Thailand in June is over.
“The possibility would be greater because it’s hard to talk about this sensitive issue within very important domestic and political event such as elections,” he said.
Economic agenda
Mr. Pitsuwan, on the other hand, said the ASEAN leaders will also be discussing the issue of connectivity and the proposed railroad system.
“Connectivity is important for ASEAN. Ten countries are not physically connected,” he said.
He acknowledged there are a lot of work to do on air, maritime, telecommunications and infrastructure linkages as these in general, “will be very, very important for ASEAN to be able to grow further.”
“So far we have been really a part of the central growth, East Asia has been the center of growth and we are part of that and we are able to play a very important pioneering, spearheading central role in integration here in East Asia, we will have to maintain that,” he said.
Moreover, Mr. Pitsuwan said the leaders will exchange views on how to welcome a lot of interest and goodwill from around the world.
He also said that US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev “are coming.”
“That will certainly change the dynamics of the region because of these two major powers and how are we going to maintain our leadership in the expanded group,” he said.
Transla Updated on Saturday, April 30, 2011, 16:46
Washington: Asserting the new “Thein Sein’s government is just a continuation of the military regime,” eleven pro-democracy Myanmarese groups have asked the junta to conduct dialogue with all stakeholders to revise the 2008 constitution.
Based on the 2008 Constitution and the 2010 elections, these pro-democracy groups, in a report, have analysed the formation of new governing structures in Myanmar and claimed to have produced evidence that “Thein Sein’s government is just a continuation of the military regime”.
These groups include the All Burma Monks’ Alliance (ABMA), the 88 Generation Students, All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), and other dissident organizations. These all were involved in organising of the 2007 Saffron Revolution.
Many members of these groups are still in jails among over 2,100 political prisoners.
The report claims “the 2008 Constitution is a constitution of military junta’s domination and that the government emerging from the 2010 election is also a militarist USDP government that would rule the country through the militarist constitution.”
They regard “the government of ex-Gen Thein Sein as the USDP military regime which would carry on oppressing the people of all ethnic nationalities”, and proclaim “they will continue their efforts in the interests of entire people to abolish the military dictatorship and the 2008 Constitution.”
“When the post-2010 government led by President U Thein Sein the ex-General arose, it is found that junta’s top brass have entrenched themselves in the State’s crucial legislative, executive and judicial branches in the form of uniformed military officers, civilian-veiled army officers or as members of USDP sponsored by the military,” the report said.
In the executive branch, twenty-six out of a total of thirty-five minister posts are assumed by military officers with USDP members filling up the rest, it stated.
As such, the group demanded the Thein Sein’s government to unconditionally release all political prisoners; immediately stop the civil war and conduct internal peace; repeal decrees and notifications prohibiting fundamental democratic rights inn political, economic, social and cultural realms; conduct dialogue with all stakeholders to revise the 2008 Constitution and others.
Meanwhile, 13 eminent American NGOs have supported the decision of the Obama Administration to back the creation of an international Commission of Inquiry for Myanmar as recommended by the UN Special Rapporteur Tomas Quintana.
In a letter to the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the NGOs appealed to her to lead the effort to create such a commission at the June session of the UNHRC in Geneva.
“Effective diplomacy by the United States in Geneva over the past year on issues such as Iran and freedom of association and assembly shows that leadership makes a difference,” the letter, dated April 25, stated.
“Now is the time to make a difference on Burma and actively lead other members of the United Nations to support the creation of a Commission of Inquiry,” the NGOs said. UN Human Rights Council will convene its 17th Session in Geneva from May 30 to June 17, 2011.
“We strongly urge you to follow through on your decision last fall to back the creation of an International Commission of Inquiry for Myanmar and lead the effort to create such a commission at the June session of the UN Human Rights Council,” it said.
“For too many years, the regime in Myanmar has carried out with impunity widespread and serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law,” they said.
Since 1991, the United Nations has expressed serious concern about Myanmar through numerous resolutions, reports and documents.
During this time, the Secretary-General has used his good offices to engage with Myanmarese regime authorities.
Two decades of efforts at engagement and dialogue by the international community have failed to end violations and alleviate the suffering of the Myanmarese people, the NGOs pointed.
Noting the global support for an investigation into ongoing human rights violations in Myanmar has been steadily growing since March 2010 – when Quintana recommended the creation of a Commission of Inquiry, the NGOs said 16 countries, including the US, have publicly endorsed the recommendation.
As Quintana reported to the Council, “it is essential for investigations of human rights violations to be conducted in an independent, impartial and credible manner, without delay” they added.
English.news.cn 2011-04-30 14:38:42
YANGON, April 30 (Xinhua)– Myanmar health authorities have planned to reduce the death rate of infant which included in the 4th point of Millennium Development Goals, the official daily New Light of Myanmar reported Saturday.
Jointly organized by the Woman and Child Health Development Section of Health Department, WHO and UNICEF, the Union Minister for Health Dr Pe Thet Khin stressed that the first priority is to be given to maternal and child care so as to put the death rate on the decline at the Children Survival Forum: Advocacy and Coordination Meeting on Newborn Networking Friday in Nay Pyi Taw.
Dr Pe Thet Khin also pointed out that the need for stepping up better health care services across the country in cooperation with organizations concerned.
In 2010, an international organization, Save the Children, has vowed to help Myanmar reduce the death rate of under-five children caused by curable diseases.
In Myanmar, about 92,000 children across country died of such curable diseases as diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria annually and 87 percent of the victims were from the rural areas, the organization said.
Under the cross-nation infant vaccination program last year, a total of 2.23 million infants of under 5 years of age from 81 townships of 11 states and divisions were given extra polio immunization.
Myanmar Ministry of Health has been implementing tasks at national level on regularly vaccinating infants against seven diseases.
In Myanmar, tasks for immunizing the infants against diseases have been carried out since 1978.
Date:29 Apr 2011
Source(s):Plan International
Cyclone Nargis survivors, especially children, are still in need of support as they continue to rebuild their lives three years after the disaster. The cyclone decimated vast swathes of Myanmar’s southern coast and killed more than 140,000 people. The damage was estimated at some US$10 billion.
Plan to upgrade presence
Plan, one of the few international aid agencies working in Myanmar, is upgrading its long-term presence in the country after three years of relief and recovery efforts in some of the worst- affected regions.
“Plan will continue to support cyclone victims in achieving their development aspirations and improving their quality of life. But the need for comprehensive support is huge. Such assistance will not materialise nor be sustained without financial commitment from those in the developed world”, said Prem Shukla, the charity’s Disaster Response Project Manager.
Survivors need support
Plan has worked with the Yinthway Foundation, UNESCO’s Myanmar Education Recovery Programme (MERP), the Metta Foundation and Bridge Asia Japan, focusing on the villages around the townships of Myaungmya, Laputta, Mawlamyingpun and Bogale. In total, around 194,000 people have directly benefited from Plan’s relief and recovery efforts.
Warisara Sornpet, member of Plan staff who recently visited the region said: “Myanmar’s cyclone survivors have suffered tragic losses like the tsunami victims in Japan. They have also shown incredible resilience by rebuilding homes, replanting farmland, returning to schools and carrying on with the routine. But they are carrying on despite poverty and scarce resources, and will need continued support from governments and aid agencies to rebuild their lives and communities.”
Disaster resilient schools
After initial emergency needs of housing, food, and healthcare were addressed, Plan and its partners worked with communities to rebuild devastated villages and improve school facilities to standards higher than those prior to the cyclone. Working with local partners, the child rights charity has built and renovated 51 schools and handed them over to local authorities, benefiting thousands of children. Fourteen of the new schools are disaster resilient and can also act as emergency shelters.
“The aim was not only to get schools up and running, but also to mitigate the potentially devastating impact of any future natural disasters by rebuilding and improving infrastructure,” said Prem.
As a key priority to better prepare communities in dealing with disasters, Plan, along with local partners, has carried out disaster risk reduction training with children, teachers, parents and communities in Myanmar’s Delta region, benefiting some 440,000 people indirectly.
Editor’s notes:
* Plan is a child-centred community development organisation and works in 48 developing countries across Asia, Africa, and the Americas to promote child rights and lift millions of children out of poverty.
* Plan has been operating in Asia since 1948. We work in 14 countries, helping thousands of very poor communities to fight child poverty and help children realise their full potential.
* Shortly after Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar, Plan began working with partners to build or upgrade 43 emergency early childhood care and development (ECCD) centres and play areas for small children ? essential for creating a sense of normalcy and starting the recovery process after the disaster. These centres also proved integral to improving the health of young children by providing a feeding programme and reducing disease through a hygienic environment. The centres and trainings have benefitted some 15,000 families.
* Plan also supported the construction of a vocational skills training centre at Laputta to provide gainful employment for orphaned youth from villages affected by the cyclone.
May 4th, 2011 at 8:33 am
[...] the article here: BURMA DIGEST » Article » BURMA RELATED NEWS – APRIL 30, 2011 Tags: Myanmar, visit-myanmar Posted in Burmer Travel, General, Mayanmar Travel, Myanmar Tags: [...]