UNICEF supplies dispatched to Yangon from new ASEAN-UN Joint Logistics Hub

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Surin Pitsuwan and Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej at Don Muang Airport.

BANGKOK, 24 May 2008 – The inaugural flight from the new ASEAN-UN Joint Logistics Don Muang staging area in Bangkok, left for Yangon today carrying with it a shipment of critically needed UNICEF supplies for children of Cyclone Nargis. These include three mobile water treatment units, water storage and distribution equipment along with 2,200 tarpaulins, syringes and other supplies for vaccination.

With a capacity of each unit to produce 4,000 litres of drinking water per hour, the mobile units will be able to meet the daily needs of up to 3,200 survivors, providing them with enough water for cooking, cleaning and drinking.

Included in the life-saving cargo are accessories to set up emergency water systems and consumables for their operation, vital sanitation supplies, plastic latrine slabs and bars of soap, as well as buckets and water quality testing kits. The Norwegian Church Aid who has collaborated with UNICEF in emergency situations around the world for many years helped make the donation possible.

Since the killer cyclone cut through Myanmar’s low lying delta region on 2 and 3 May, UNICEF has been working actively to provide life saving relief to children who survived the devastation. Supplies worth millions of US dollars, some previously pre-positioned in-country, others bought locally, are being distributed in the hardest hit areas.

These include family kits of basic household items, tarpaulins, latrine pans and pipes, chlorine water disinfection products, clothes, educational items, recreational items, soap, buckets, mosquito nets as well as emergency health kits.

UNICEF’s international supplies comprise of water purification tablets, water tanks ranging in size from 5,000 litres to 50,000 litres, doses of anti-malarial drugs, measles vaccine, Vitamin A, long-lasting mosquito nets, oral rehydration salts, essential medicines, and chemicals for malaria/dengue control. UNICEF is also sending tents for schools as well as educational supplies for children.

With over 130 permanent staff members on the ground, UNICEF is working closely with local and international partners, including the Myanmar Red Cross Society to accompany and physically distribute relief items directly to the affected population.

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NOTE TO EDITORS:
Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar on 2 and 3 May 2008, making landfall in the Irrawaddy Division and directly hitting the country’s largest city, Yangon. Forty townships in Yangon Division and 7 townships in Irrawaddy Division remain on the Government’s list of disaster areas. The cyclone, considered by far the worst natural disaster to strike the country has virtually wiped away homes, schools and health facilities, while roads, bridges and powerlines are totally demolished.