A high-level roundtable of the Tripartite Core Group (TCG) involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Myanmar and the United Nations (U.N.) opened here Wednesday to review the post-Nargis relief and recovery efforts in the country.
The two-day roundtable at the Chatrium Hotel was attended by Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister U Kyaw Thu, who is also TCG Chairman, Bishow Parajuli, United Nations Resident Humanitarian Coordinator, representatives of TCG members and donor countries as well as foreign diplomats.
Cyclone Nargis, which occurred over the Bay of Bengal, hit five divisions and states -- Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on last May 2 and 3, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon suffered the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructure damage.
The storm has killed 84,537 people and left 53,836 missing and 19,359 injured according to official death toll.
At the meeting, U Kyaw Thu, Bishow Parajuli and Thai Ambassador Bansarn Bunnag, who represented Surin, made speeches.
The roundtable, which is the second of its kind, will report the progress of activities that the TCG has embarked on immediately after the assessment phase.
The TCG, along with Surin and the ASEAN humanitarian task force, met for the first time in Yangon on June 24 ASEAN roundtable on Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) for response, recovery and reconstruction. The PONJA Report was finalized and officially launched in July 2008 and the first periodic review was launched in September this year.
The TCG, based in Yangon, was established at the ASEAN-UN International Pledging Conference in Yangon in late May as a working mechanism for coordination, facilitating and monitoring the flow of international assistance into Myanmar's cyclone-hit areas.
Source:Xinhua
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