UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday
welcomed an assessment for future international humanitarian assistance to Myanmar following the devastation by cyclone Nargis in May.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) presented the
assessment for medium-term recovery needs in Myanmar at a meeting in in
Singapore on Monday, attended by John Holmes, the chief UN humanitarian affairs
and emergency relief coordinator.
The cyclone left 140,000 people dead or still missing while an estimated 2.4
million people were in need of relief assistance. International relief groups
have been able to reach 1.3 million people since the cyclone struck in early
May.
The UN last week renewed an appeal for a total of 482 million dollars needed to
provide aid to victims of the natural disaster through April 2009.
"The report (by ASEAN) offers a comprehensive, credible assessment of the
humanitarian and medium-term recovery needs in the affected areas," Ban
said in a statement, praising the effective partnership between ASEAN, the UN
and Myanmar in rebuilding the country.
Holmes was scheduled to visit Myanmar on Tuesday to study progress in relief
efforts in that country. He first visited Myanmar in late May with Ban after the military government there allowed international
relief workers greater access to areas affected by the cyclone in the southern
delta, dpa reported.
He said in Singapore that the ASEAN assessment will be used to "not
only identify the needs of the vulnerable, but also as a tool to judge the
effectiveness of our joint response in meeting those needs."