Source: European Commission - Humanitarian Aid Office
Posted Date: 06 Mar 2007
(The following report is prepared and released from the Aid Office of European Commission Humanitarian Department (ECHO) during this year. It includes information about the aids projects for Burma which are being carried out by ECHO.)
Burma/Myanmar is facing a deepening and largely unnoticed humanitarian crisis. Although rich in natural resources the country is one of the poorest countries in Asia due to a lack of respect for fundamental freedoms and persistent inter-ethnic conflict. Since the mid-1990s, aid from the European Commission's Humanitarian department (ECHO) has focused on health care, sanitation, and malaria projects benefiting the most vulnerable victims of the crisis inside Burma/Myanmar as well as refugees along the border in Thailand.
Country background: political deadlock and ethnic conflict
Myanmar has been governed by a military regime since 1962. Of the country's population of 53 million, 40% are from ethnic groups of which there are more than a hundred, mostly in the border regions. Some groups defend their homelands against the government in an on-going, low-level armed conflict. Since the early 1990s, the government has signed ceasefire agreements with a number of these groups but insecurity remains a major problem and hundreds of thousands are displaced having fled from conflict and violence.
The United Nations and organizations such as Amnesty International regularly denounce human rights violations by the government. Since the mid 1990s, the European Union has imposed sanctions on Myanmar and has restricted its support to funding only humanitarian aid programmes. Despite the presence of international aid organizations, and recent international publicity, the Myanmar humanitarian crisis is still largely unknown.
Urgent humanitarian needs
The number of internally displaced people in Myanmar is startling. Hundreds of thousands of the country's population have been forced to flee from their homes or to relocate due to constant conflict between ethnic groups and the army. In January 2007 there were over 150,000 refugees in camps on the border in Thailand.
Low incomes, lack of food, poor infrastructure and inadequate education are pervasive problems crippling people's ability to survive throughout the country, particularly in the border regions. A quarter of the population is estimated to live below the poverty line. 70% of household expenditure is spent on food.
The state of the health sector is particularly alarming. Government expenditure on health per person is the lowest in the world. Many parts of the country, especially in the border areas, have no health service at all. Infant mortality is 7%, almost four times as high as in neighbouring Thailand. Life expectancy is 56 years, 15 years less than in Thailand and 22 years less than in the United Kingdom for example.
An estimated 34% of the rural population has no access to clean water which in turn causes respiratory and water-borne diseases, while adequate sanitation facilities are unavailable to around 43% of them.
ECHO's response
Since 1994 ECHO has funded programmes aimed at helping vulnerable groups in Myanmar itself and along the border in Thailand. In response to the deteriorating humanitarian situation, ECHO has significantly increased its annual funding from €6.5 million in 2001 to €15.5 million in 2006; its latest funding decision implemented from 1 January 2007. In October 2005 an ECHO office was opened in the capital, Yangon, to better facilitate the delivering of humanitarian aid. In Myanmar 22% of ECHO financing is spent on the provision of basic health care in remote areas. Water and sanitation projects make up 20% of funding.
The remainder is allocated to nutrition, food aid and protection programmes. ECHO also supports the International Red Cross in its mandate concerning respect for international humanitarian law. On the Thai border ECHO-funded projects mainly provide basic food and health care to refugees.
Securing basic health care
Basic health care is almost non-existent in many remote regions. In these areas, humanitarian organisations provide a basic, but often life-saving, service to people who seldom have contact with medical professionals.
Mobile clinics are provided which can reach extremely remote areas. ECHO aid also finances the provision of essential drugs and basic medical supplies for rural health centres, as well as medical kits for local volunteers in the villages. Special staff training for rural health clinics and village volunteers also help strengthen local capacity.
Improving access to clean Water
Water and sanitation projects aim to improve access to clean water. Rainwater collectors are installed, village ponds are constructed or renovated, and wells are drilled. These projects are carried out with the participation of beneficiary communities who provide the proper maintenance of the water systems. In addition, latrines are installed in primary schools and villages and hygiene-awareness campaigns are systematically carried out.
Improving nutrition
ECHO's assistance includes support for nutrition programmes for women and children with limited access to food. Special nutrition centres have been set up in the eastern part of the country, providing food supplements and nutritional education to 8,000 malnourished mothers and children, while five mobile Supplementary Feeding Centres (SFC) will soon provide treatment to around 5,400.
Support for protection
ECHO also funds projects to ensure those held in prisons or work camps are protected and that degrading or inhumane treatment is avoid in accordance with international law.
Food aid
Food aid is provided to vulnerable families particularly in Shan state. For poor families who have difficulties sending their children to school, aid is also provided so as ease the financial burden that would otherwise deny their children an education.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/THOU-7A453L?
