Lack of cash slows Nargis recovery

YANGON, (IRIN) - A three-year recovery plan for survivors of Cyclone Nargis remains severely underfunded: of the US$691 million requested under the post-Nargis recovery and preparedness plan (PONREPP), just $100 million has been pledged.

"Only a limited amount has been released," Bishow Parajuli, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar, told IRIN in Yangon, the former capital.

"On behalf of the humanitarian community working in the cyclone-affected communities, I call upon the continued support from the international community to help us help the people, as a supplement to the efforts undertaken by the authorities," he said.

Of the nine sectors outlined in the plan - aimed at ensuring a smooth transition from emergency relief and early recovery to sustainable medium-term recovery - agriculture and shelter remain the least funded.

Of the $174 million requested for shelter, $50 million has been received, while for agriculture virtually nothing has been paid out, against a $189 million request for livelihoods.

"We have received hardly anything," Tesfai Ghermazien, a senior emergency and rehabilitation coordinator with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Myanmar and leader of the agriculture cluster, told IRIN.

NGOs are already struggling, with some, such as Help from Germany, having no choice but to leave altogether; more are likely to follow unless cash is forthcoming.

According to FAO, inadequate funding means insufficient productive inputs, technical support, adaptive post-harvest technology and less capacity building - with repercussions for food and nutrition security as well as income.

"Agriculture is the main source of livelihoods in the delta and possibly close to 90 percent of the population relies directly or indirectly on agricultural activities," Ghermazien told IRIN.

Despite efforts over the past year, assistance for livelihoods has been far less than needed just to bring farming households back to pre-Nargis levels, he said: "Many farming households are trapped in a vicious debt cycle. There are pockets of food-insecure areas and the poverty level is far [greater] than desired."

Comparative disasters

Following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, a disaster on a similar scale to Nargis in terms of impact on the population of Aceh in Indonesia, Aceh received more than $5 billion in international assistance in the first three years.

The PONREPP's cost, together with the initial emergency response already delivered, represents only about a fifth of the international community's response to Aceh.

PONREPP averages $230 million per year for three years, representing $31 per capita per year for the delta's population (about 7.35 million people).

"Myanmar receives very little humanitarian support per capita," Mark Canning, Britain's ambassador to Myanmar, said. "The UK has contributed substantially to the Nargis response and in other areas like health, education and livelihoods, and would like to see more donors working in the country," the Tripartite Core Group (TCG) quoted him as saying in May.

And while he underlined that as a major donor the UK was committed to keeping its humanitarian activity and political views separate, he added that, like it or not, political developments inevitably affected donor perceptions.

The PONREPP - prepared by the TCG - comprising the Myanmar government, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and UN - runs from January 2009 through December 2011.

irinnews