30/05/2009
Adaptation to climate change by indigenous Bangladesh people
Authors: B., G. Gunter; A. Rahman; A., F. Ataur Rahman; Bangladesh Development Research Center (BDRC)
Publisher: [publisher information not available], 2008
This working paper compares the vulnerability to climate change of Bangladesh’s indigenous people with that of the Bengali population of Bangladesh in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). Analysis of this study is based on distinguishing between individual and spatial vulnerabilities to climate change. Individual vulnerability to climate change factor in levels of poverty, landlessness, and illiteracy. Spatial vulnerability to climate change study subjective exposures such as increased droughts, floods, landslides and cyclones across the two population groups. The findings of this study reveal that:
- under the individual vulnerability to climate change, there are two individual vulnerability indicators that allow to disaggregate between tribal and non-tribal population: landlessness and illiteracy
- estimates for the landless indicates that the average Bangladeshi’s tribal household seem to be less landless than the average Bengali household. Based on this indicator, the tribal population seem to be more capable to adapt to climate change than the non-tribal population
- estimates for illiteracy indicate that the tribal population are more illiterate than the non-tribal population, which is likely to make them less capable adapting to climate change
- looking at the spatial vulnerabilities, the review of a variety of hazard maps seems to indicate that both tribal and non-tribal populations are highly vulnerable to climate change-induced increases in droughts, floods, landslides and cyclones.
The following recommendations made are drawn from the results of the analysis. They include:
- efforts should be intensified to increase enrolments to primary education and to improve the quality of primary education in the CHT
- provide market-relevant skills training to the people to be less vulnerable to climate-induced impacts that are likely most severe in the agricultural sector
- attempt to replace shifting cultivation with more productive types of sedentary agriculture by further improving the secure land rights, supportive trade policies, and the required support services and facilities including infrastructure
- develop strategies for diversification of income sources for the tribal as well as the non-tribal people instead of remaining more dependent on agriculturally- and forest-based incomes
- promote indigenous early warning indicators by incorporating into locally managed warning systems to increase the empowerment and resilience of poor and vulnerable people to climate change
- undertake further measures to defuse the remaining ethnic conflict and social tensions between tribal and non-tribal people in the CHT, given that climate change impacts will inadvertently put stress on their peaceful coexistence.
In conclusion, this study emphasises the need for effective application of the broad suggestions made on adaptation strategies as well as the development of policy interventions to reduce climate change-induced vulnerabilities for indigenous people in the CHT.
29/05/2008
On Tuesday 27th May, 2008, a National Workshop on Non-water Disaster Management in Vietnam was held at the Melia Hotel in Hanoi. The Natural Disaster Mitigation Partnership (NDMP) collaborated with the International Support Group (ISG), the Partnership for Avian and Human Influenza (PAHI) and the Forest Sector Support Partnership (FSSP) to facilitate the workshop involving a wide range of stakeholders.
The workshop was co-chaired by Mr. Dao Xuan Hoc, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and Deputy Chairman of the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control (CCFSC); Mr. Nguyen Si Nuoi, Deputy Director of Department of Dyke Management, Flood and Storm Control (DDMFSC) and NDMP Director; and Mrs. Pham Minh Thoa, Deputy Director of the Forestry Department.
Participants of the workshop included representatives from relevant agencies under the control of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), the National Committee for Search and Rescue, the General Statistics Office, the National University, the Institution of Geophysics, the Institute of Geology, the United Nation Development Program, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, the EU Delegation, Oxfam, Care International in Vietnam and mass media agencies.
The objective of the workshop was to share updated information and knowledge on the management of non-water disasters, for better coordination and cooperation among the respective agencies and organizations involved.
The workshop included presentations on:
- The current disaster environment and arrangements for dealing with non-water disasters in Vietnam,
- Plant, animal and human diseases and epidemics,
- Forest fire management and prevention,
- Earthquake and tsunami prevention and response,
- Geological accident response,
- Oil spill and industrial incident response, and
- Drought impacts and management arrangements.
At the workshop, participants discussed a range of issues and ideas including the need to establish a single coordinating agency to manage all disasters in Vietnam. It was highlighted that, particularly in the near future, a national focal point to synthesize and share information relating to all disasters is needed.
Mr. Dao Xuan Hoc concluded the following:
- The Standing Office of the CCFSC will collect and consider Input from relevant agencies in order to investigate the possibility of establishing a new focal point agency. In order to clarify the role of the CCFSC, as well as meet the identified needs in natural disaster management, the name of the CCFSC may need to be revised to become the Central Committee for Natural Disaster Preparedness, Response and Mitigation. Of special importance is coordination among ministries in natural disaster preparedness, response and mitigation, without which it would not be possible to successfully implement all the necessary tasks.
- Information sharing needs to take place within ministries and agencies so that they can best plan for disaster preparedness activities relating to their sectors. This will in turn contribute to minimizing the impact of disasters.
- Ministries, agencies and sectors as a whole should provide the Standing Office of the CCFSC with disaster information in order to update their website and facilitate sharing with interested partners.
(NDMP)
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Alarming incidents of soil degradation and desertification are already happening on the south central coast, according to a recent research. |
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The research, which was carried out by the Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, was disclosed at a recent conference on desertification prevention and better water usage policies in Ninh Thuan Province.
According to the study, the hardest-hit localities in terms of desertification are neighboring provinces Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan, both of which are located on the coast not far from Ho Chi Minh City.
The two provinces have the driest climates in the nation and their sand wastelands cover over 131,000 hectares.
In Binh Thuan, the districts of Tuy Phong and Bac Binh have some 35,000 hectares of sand wilderness along a 50-kilometer stretch of coast.
Mobile sand dunes cover some 5,000 hectares.
Due to droughts and strong winds, sandstorms threaten to bury villages and fields of crops, as well as vast sectors of National Highway 1 A.
In addition, mobile sand dunes in Tuy Phong District’s Chi Cong, Lien Huong and Binh Thanh communes are already limiting agricultural output.
In the province of Ninh Thuan, there is a 41,000-hectare wasteland area, accounting for over 12 percent of the province’s total land area, according to a study led by Professor Le Sam from the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research.
According to a survey released last year by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and UNESCO, Vietnam has 462,000 hectares of sand along its coasts, with more than 419,000 hectares of this concentrated in the ten central coastal provinces from Quang Binh to Binh Thuan.
Over half of the south central coasts’ three million hectares of land is classified as wasteland.
At a similar conference last year, astudy revealed Vietnam had four areas under the threat of desertification – the south central coast, the north western region, the central highlands, and the 489,000-hectare Long Xuyen Quadrangular Area which covers Kien Giang, An Giang Province and Can Tho City in the Mekong Delta.
Annually, desertification takes away some 20 hectares of farmland while erosion, drought and the intrusion of saline and alum water also damage thousands of hectares of agricultural land.
Vietnam has around 9.3 million hectares of wasteland, the study revealed.
Unearthing the cause
Scientists at the conference identified droughts and unreasonable exploitation of natural resources, especially water and forests, as the major causes of desertification in the region.
Droughts and dry weather, which are typical of the south central coast, threaten up to 25 percent of agricultural lands in the region.
During the last ten years, the region has faced severe droughts with the longest spell lasting nine months in 2004-2005.
Many areas in Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan and Khanh Hoa provinces, which covers some 300,000 hectares, have an average annual rainfall of 500-700 mm, the lowest in the nation.
In addition, deforestation is also to blame for desertification due to its effects of increased erosion and soil degradation.
These environmental catastrophes are partially due to residents’ low levels of environmental awareness.
A lack of adequate long-term agricultural and land use planning is also to blame for the soil degradation and desertification.
If plans do exist, they often do not take into account influences on the local environment and ecosystems.
According to a survey by Nguyen Cong Vinh, a scientist from the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, some localities have overexploited fresh water causing saline water to infiltrate their fresh water systems.
The hasty cultivation of seafood is also a contributing factor to sea water penetration in coastal areas.
Professor Ha Luong Thuan, from the Vietnam Academy for Water Resources, said the prevention of droughts and desertification were interlinked but they were currently tackled separately in most provinces.
In 1998, Vietnam became the 134th member of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
Annually, around VND1 trillion (around US$620 million) is allotted for the desertification prevention program with about 200,000 hectares of trees planted as part of the program.
In 2006, the Vietnamese government signed a national action program to prevent desertification by 2010, focusing on fighting deforestation and implementing sustainable management of natural resources. |
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The government is sourcing any assistance available to avoid material and life losses that result from natural disasters, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). |
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MARD Deputy Minister Dao Xuan Hoc, at a workshop in Hanoi Tuesday, said the government always encourages donors, both at home and abroad, to extend a helping hand to victims of natural disasters.
“The government has given priority to the clean-up of natural disasters in state budget allocations. Meanwhile, official development assistance (ODA) will focus on the transfer of technology and management experience,” he told domestic and foreign partners at the workshop.
He said the central government has authorized local administrations to use financial sources available to them for disaster prevention and management.
Participants of the workshop recommended upgrading the disaster warning system to ensure accurate and timely forecasts.
Others suggested management and strategic agencies should work more closely together on the issue to avoid overlapping agricultural and forest production plans that might result in deforestation and wildfires.
Many at the conference proposed stronger international cooperation in the exchange of information and in coping with large impact disasters such as oil spills, tsunamis and earthquakes.
Vietnam has suffered average losses of 700 lives in each of the past 10 years due to natural disasters.
Material losses in the same period have been estimated at 1.5 percent of GDP, with water-borne disasters bringing the biggest costs to the economy.
For example, tropical storm Linda, which hit the southern region in 1997, left some 778 dead, over 2,000 others missing and caused damage estimated at US$593 million.
Flash flooding that hit the central region in November 1999 resulted in 620 dead or missing and $314 million worth of material losses.
Tropical storm Xangsane, which wrecked havoc on Da Nang in October 2006, killed or injured over 600 people and caused damage estimated at $620 million. |
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Vietnamese consumer prices surged by over 25 percent in May compared to the same month last year, a trend driven mainly by sharply higher food prices, the government said Tuesday. |
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Prices shot up an estimated 3.91 percent between April and May alone, marking the highest month-to-month rise since 1995, during which there was some panic-buying of rice as prices surged, said the General Statistics Office (GSO).
Food and beverage costs rose by over 42 percent year-on-year, with the staple food – rice and other grains – up almost 68 percent in May compared to a year earlier, said the GSO.
The World Bank’s chief economist in Vietnam, Martin Rama, called the 25-percent inflation rate, which is the country’s highest in over a decade, “a worrying figure, a very high inflation rate.”
“Food prices have grown even faster,” he said.
“Food prices and especially rice prices have different impacts. They are good for farmers in the deltas, but bad for poor people in the cities and in remote regions who don’t grow rice.”
Non-food inflation reached 11.6 percent, Rama said.
Housing and construction materials rose 23 percent, clothing and footwear prices were up 9.5 percent, pharmaceuticals and health care increased by 8.2 percent, and the cost of household goods and appliances rose by 7.5 percent.
For the first five months of the year, prices rose by 15.96 percent.
Inflation driven by record high global oil and food prices has hit much of Asia this year.
But especially in Vietnam, a country of 86 million, galloping prices have stoked public anger and fears of food shortages.
In late April, many supermarkets ran out of rice in Ho Chi Minh City and other localities as consumers, worried by rumors of looming shortages, queued to stock up on rice, further driving up retail prices.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung stressed that Vietnam, the world’s number-two rice exporter, has enough stocks to meet domestic and export demand and warned speculators driving up prices of “severe punishment.”
Rising prices have outpaced wage increases and fueled strikes in Vietnam.
Factories were hit by 295 labor strikes in the first three months of 2008, the official labor union reported.
Vietnam has made fighting inflation its top priority and has reduced its 2008 economic growth target to 7 percent, from last year’s 8.5 percent.
The government has raised interest rates to increase savings and limit credit growth, while cutting some public investment projects to reduce inflation.
“It remains to be seen whether, after the turbulence of rice prices, inflation will be back on a downward trend starting next month to show the stabilization package is working,” said Rama.
Workers hit hard
Many workers at industrial parks in HCMC, who have been hit hard by the current inflationary period, have returned home to other localities after struggling to bear soaring commodity prices.
A worker in Linh Trung I Export Processing Zone in Thu Duc District, Thanh Thuy, said since everything in the city was expensive compared to the low salaries, some people in her factory have left their jobs to return home, believing they would have easier lives.
Another worker, Kieu Oanh, said over 50 percent of workers in her stuffed animal factory have resigned over the past few months.
Oanh told Thanh Nien the average monthly salary at the factory was VND1.2 million (US$74) and workers could earn an additional VND200,000-VND300,000 if they worked 40 overtime hours in a month.
A man working in Tan Tao Industrial Park in Binh Tan District, Nam, said he was searching for a new job as his current average salary was only VND1.1 million ($68) per month.
HCMC Youth Job Center representative Nguyen Van Sang said due to the “price storm,” labor recruitment met many difficulties.
He said the monthly salary should be at least VND1.5 million ($93) to help workers cover all living costs.
But some companies still kept their salary range between VND1 million ($62) and VND1.2 million, so not many people were interested in working for them, Sang emphasized.
A human resource executive in Vinh Loc Industrial Park in Binh Tan District said apart from the “price storm,” some workers returned home because there were more opportunities to work in industrial parks in their provinces.
A working couple, Viet and Trang, said they hoped to find jobs near their home in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap as some aquaculture processing factories have recently opened there.
Though salaries in their hometown were lower than those in HCMC, the two would not need to cover rental costs, Trang said.
Nguyen Viet Phuong, a human resource representative of the Investment Commerce Fisheries Corporation (Incomfish) in Vinh Loc Industrial Park, said the company currently has a 10-15 percent labor deficit as it needs about 80-120 additional workers.
He said Incomfish now offered an average monthly salary of VND2 million ($123), an increase from VND1.7 million ($105) last year, and might raise the salary in the near future to attract workers.
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GOVERNMENT MAY SPEND $167 MLN TO BUILD HOME FOR THE POOR
Vietnam’s government said it may spend VND10 trillion (US$617 million) to build homes for about 700,000 poor families as rising raw material costs have made housing less affordable.
“Because of high inflation and increasing construction material prices, the ministry has come up with a proposal to help poor families,” Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Tran Nam said by phone from Hanoi Tuesday.
Some rural families will receive VND7 million and 10-year loans of VND8 million to help build 24-square-meter (258-square-foot) homes, Nam said.
For the first five months of the year, prices rose by 15.96 percent, the fastest pace since at least 1992, according to government data.
The price of building materials has climbed 30 percent since early March, said Thai Thi My Hanh, vice chairman of the Saigon Construction and Materials Association.
“Some construction material prices have even doubled,” Hanh said in a phone interview from HCMC.
“It would be difficult for poor families to build a house now without any financial support.”
Construction costs on some projects have climbed 70 percent from initial estimates, Hanh said.
The government’s plan to offer financial assistance, including loans with an annual interest rate of 3 percent, requires the approval of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Nam said. | |
27/05/2008
VietNamNet Bridge – The foreign currency market is witnessing the new dollar fever, with the prices exceeding the VND17,000/US$1 threshold yesterday, the scenario that no one could imagine would happen two months ago.
The dollar price officially broke the VND17,000/US$1 yesterday May 26 when it was sold at VND17,050/US$1 on the black market. The record high of VND17,000/US$1 was once made in the first half of May 2006. The price unexpectedly soared to VND17,150/US$1 in the evening of the same day, which was a big surprise even to foreign currency dealers.
On May 26, the VND/US$ interbank exchange rate was VND16,051/US$1, while the rate offered by commercial banks was at VND16,212/US$1.
In fact, the foreign currency market has become hot recently, with the increased demand for dollars. However, the highest peak of the greenback price was only seen yesterday, which, according to analysts, was because the day witnessed a lot of hot news. The inflation rate in May soared again to 3,91%. The trade deficit in the first five months of the year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, has reached $14.4bil. The ‘shocking news’ has immediately pushed up the VND/US$ exchange rate on the black market, which has been tense for some days.
According to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), the demand for foreign currencies remains very high, mainly because enterprises need more foreign currencies to import commodities. Meanwhile, the dollar supply has not been improved, that has made the dollar supply and demand imbalance more serious.
The supply and demand imbalance comes from the factors as follows:
First, as SBV said, the demand for dollars to serve the imports has been increasing. The high trade deficit of $14.4bil by May 26 has been further worrying policy makers. This proves to be a hard pressure on the foreign currency reserves.
Two main factors have been cited to explain the high trade deficit: the sharp devaluation of the greenback against most other hard foreign currencies recently; and the increased prices of commodities in the world, which forced enterprises to pay more dollars to import commodities.
The popular solution to such a situation is to diversify payment instruments instead of relying on the dollar as the main currency in payment (the dollar now is used in 70-80% of total import-export transactions of Vietnam).
However, the second most popular currency in payment, the Euro, has also been revaluating sharply (VND1,200/Euro) against the VND since mid May
Second, the tense demand for greenbacks can also be explained by the investment activities of Vietnamese people. They now tend to buy dollars for saving instead of injecting money into the falling stock market, risky gold market, and banks deposits, which cannot bring real positive interest rates.
Analysts said that the investors, who collected dollars in the last week, could get the profit of 2.5%, a very attractive profit in current conditions.
Third, the dollars available in the banking system has become more tense as people do not make US$ deposit at banks, but they keep dollars in hand to make transactions on the black market. The attractive exchange rates in the black market have been preventing the dollars from flowing to banks.
That explained why banks have to raise US$ deposit interest rates continuously. The highest interest rate now available on the market is reportedly at 7.65% per annum for 13-month term deposit, offered by a joint stock bank. Meanwhile, other banks are now offering at 7.5% per annum.
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Vietnam will spend VND2.4 trillion (US$148 million) on a project between now and 2015 to deal with climate change, heard a meeting in Hanoi Sunday. |
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Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen said according to the World Bank’s projections, Vietnam, especially the Red River Delta and the Mekong Delta areas, would be among five countries most seriously affected by climate change and sea level rise.
The bank’s forecast also said in the case that sea level rises by one meter, ten percent of the country’s population, now estimated at 84 million, would be affected and 10 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) would be lost.
Heeding these warnings, the ministry has drafted a VND2.4 trillion plan to deal with climate change issues between now and 2015.
According to the plan, scientific and technological research on climate change will be strengthened as well as introducing policy measures and actions to mitigate the effects of the phenomenon.
Officials and experts at the meeting proposed to establish a steering committee for the project.
The former head of the Meteorology and Hydrology Department Nguyen Duc Ngu said in the 1931-2000 period, the country’s temperature increased by 0.7 degree Celsius.
During this period, the number of storms forming in the East Sea that hit Vietnam increased and the patterns of these storms grew progressively atypical.
Cold spells decreased from 29 annual spells from the 1971-1980 period to 24 spells per year during the 1991-2000 period.
Rain in the northern region also dropped from 30 days on average yearly during the 1961-1970 period to 15 days annually in the 1991-2000 period.
Ngu said average temperature is expected to increase by two degrees Celsius by 2050, and by 2.5 degrees Celsius by 2070, compared to the average temperature of the 1961-1990 period.
Sea level is predicted to rise by 35 centimeters by 2050, by 50 centimeters by 2070, and by one meter by 2100, as the country becomes increasingly challenged by rain and flooding.
Reported by Quang Duan |
Photo: Wikipedia  |
| Flooding, contaminated fields and pests are increasingly making life difficult for farmers | HANOI, 22 May 2008 (IRIN) - When Hai Trai was growing up in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, his family eked out a living on collective farms under the socialist system. While the soil was rich, Trai's family, like most Vietnamese, lived in poverty.
Today, Trai, who is reaping the benefits of free market reforms and rapid economic development, owns 10 hectares of rice paddy in Dong Thap province and produces three crops a year, which he sells to the highest bidder. He has a house, a new motorcycle, sends his children to school and puts a little money in the bank. But as the country braces for a new typhoon season, Trai fears all he has worked for could be blown away.
Across Vietnam, farmers such as Trai are feeling the effects of climate change. The typhoon season is lasting longer and storms are stronger. Flooding last year killed nearly 500 people and submerged 215,000 hectares of agricultural land, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Low-lying fields have been inundated with salt water, destroying crops. Rising temperatures have even encouraged a plague of pests.
"The warm weather has favoured the growth of the brown plant hopper," said Trai, referring to the tiny insect that feasts on rice seedlings. "The pests have eaten up the plants and destroyed the crops."
Flood damage
Flooding, contaminated fields and pests are increasingly making life difficult for farmers in the Mekong Delta, said Nguyen Chuoc Minh, director of natural resources and the environment in Dong Thap province. There have been dramatic shifts in weather patterns in the country's rice bowl, said Minh. The rains are coming earlier and staying longer. The annual flooding is necessary to bring in alluvia and enrich the fields, he said, but now water levels are rising to dangerous levels because the land cannot drain fast enough. Ponds throughout the entire Mekong region are polluted, affecting food production.
 Vietnam is one of the countries hardest hit by natural calamities and global climate change. We need to have a plan. | "Vietnam is one of the countries hardest hit by natural calamities and global climate change," said Minh. "We need to have a plan."
This week, President Nguyen Minh Triet warned the population to prepare for the effects of global warming. He called for better dyke and flood management and ordered all ministries to beef up infrastructure to mitigate the damage. Officials in the 34 coastal provinces were also told to step up disaster preparedness, including stockpiling food and medicines.
Development agencies are also sounding the alarm.
Threatening progress
In its new Global Monitoring Report issued on 19 May in Vietnam, the World Bank warned that climate change, and the environmental damage it wreaks, threatened to undo many of gains achieved over the past two decades. Vietnam has made breathtaking progress on everything to improving literacy to lowering infant mortality. The poverty rate fell to 16 percent in 2006, down from 58 percent in 1993, according to the report, Millennium Development Goals and the Environment. In a single generation, some 34 million people have been lifted out of poverty.
Despite these gains, the report named Vietnam as the developing country most vulnerable to rising sea levels. With its low-lying deltas and 3,200km of coastline, a 1m rise in sea levels would render agricultural land unusable and flood coastal communities. "[W]ithout adaptation efforts, more than 10 percent of Vietnam's population would be affected, and the country would lose 10 percent of its GDP and 29 percent of its wetlands."
While scientists forecast different environmental scenarios - some far more ominous than the World Bank's - all are in agreement that poor countries such as Vietnam will suffer the effects of climate change disproportionately.
Softening the blow
The science is incontrovertible, said Koos Neefjes, senior adviser for sustainable development with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Hanoi. Neefjes said now was the time to step up efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change on the most vulnerable populations.
International aid agencies have started to work with governments to help communities analyse risk levels and brace for extreme weather, particularly typhoons and flooding. Communication systems are being beefed up so villagers get enough notice to reach permanent shelter or evacuate to higher ground. UNDP has distributed thousands of radios to fishermen so they can receive storm warnings. Programmes are under way to improve housing construction along the coastline and elevate schools and homes in the Mekong Delta so they are less vulnerable to flooding, said Neefjes.
"The fact that Vietnam is one of the most affected countries is not in doubt," says Neefjes. "We can see the effects. [We know that without swift measures] Vietnam's human development - education, income, health - will be undermined by these vulnerabilities."
YANGON, May 26, 2008 (AFP) - International aid groups said Monday they were planning to test Myanmar's commitment to open up to foreign aid workers, after the junta pledged to speed up relief for desperate cyclone survivors.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he hoped the country's secretive military rulers would make good on their commitment more than three weeks after the tragedy -- a delay that has outraged the international community.
The junta has blocked access to the country and all but sealed off the Irrawaddy Delta disaster zone in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, even though around two million people are desperately short of food, water and shelter.
"My sincere hope is that they will honour their commitment," Ban said in neighbouring Thailand, after wrapping up the first visit to Myanmar by a UN chief in almost 45 years.
"That we have to see," said Ban, who refused to say how or whether junta leader Than Shwe had explained the decision to limit the relief effort after Cyclone Nargis hit May 2-3, leaving 133,000 people dead or missing.
Dozens of nations and aid groups met Sunday in Myanmar's main city Yangon to discuss the relief operation -- and most bluntly told the regime to focus on saving lives and honour the pledge made to the UN secretary general.
But Monday morning, a fire destroyed an entire floor of one building at the Myanmar embassy in neighbouring Thailand, where visa applications for many aid workers have been held up since the tragedy unfolded.
Thai police said the visa section was not affected, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said it had been told the section would reopen quickly.
France announced overnight it had given up trying to deliver a shipload of aid on a French naval vessel in nearby waters. Deeply suspicious of the outside world, Myanmar has refused any aid from US, British and French naval ships.
Some international relief groups that are already allowed to conduct limited operations inside Myanmar said they would put the junta's pledge to the test as soon as possible.
"We want to see whether this translates into action because we have only a handful of people in the delta region," said Veronique Terrasse, a spokeswoman in Bangkok for Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders).
"Hopefully we'll get some answers today and in the coming days," she said. "We're just waiting and hoping that things will change."
Chris Webster of World Vision said his organisation would try to send people into the delta on Tuesday.
"They have had verbal approval and we've had the general acknowledgement that foreigners can go," Webster said. "But we're hoping for something in writing today. That will be a big test."
Once known as Burma and now one of the most isolated countries on the planet, Myanmar has often reneged on its commitments -- but nations at the conference Sunday warned they would push the junta to get aid workers in.
"We hope that will happen," said Kathleen Cravero of the UN Development Programme.
The storm washed away entire villages and ruined crucial rice fields that are essential to feed the impoverished nation. The European Union's top aid official has already warned there could be a famine ahead.
Myanmar's military rulers are under sanctions from the European Union and the United States -- which has in particular criticised the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner won the country's last national election in a landslide but was never allowed to govern.
She has spent much of the time since then under house arrest. The house arrest order, which is believed to expire at midnight Monday, is expected to be extended. |
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