The United Nations has appealed for a total of 482 million U.S. dollars to assist victims of Cyclone Nargis which devastated large areas of Myanmar in early May, leaving around 140,000 dead or missing and severely affecting an estimated 2.4 million people.
Launching the appeal at the UN Headquarters, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes said that the funding would support 103 aid projects covering food supplies, agriculture, water and sanitation, health, schooling and shelter.
Holmes explained that the 482-million-U.S.-dollar total included 201 million U.S. dollars that were requested in an earlier appeal, and said the proposed aid effort was based on information from a joint assessment of the impact of the cyclone carried out by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the government of Myanmar and the UN.
Some 924,000 people will need food assistance until the November harvest this year, while around 300,000 will need continued relief until April 2009, the UN said.
Over 70 percent of households reported inadequate access to clean water because of damage to rainwater collection systems and saltwater contamination of ponds.
Source:Xinhua
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