core sector communique

26^th Press Release of the Tripartite Core Group

More Efforts Needed to Recover Livelihoods for Nargis Survivors

Yangon, Myanmar, 9 February 2010

 

 

Findings from the Periodic Review III, launched in Yangon by the Tripartite Core Group today, highlighted continuing progress in water, sanitation, health, and nutrition. The report also indicated that focused efforts are needed in the livelihoods sector to restore household self-reliance as well as to build on improvements made since Periodic Review I, a year ago. 

 

Building on the Periodic Review I and Periodic Review II, the Periodic Review III is an assessment of needs at household level. It analysed data collected between 22 October 2009 and 17 November 2009 from 1,400 households in 30 townships in the Ayeyarwady and Yangon Divisions. The findings are presented in the following sectors: Livelihoods, Shelter, Education, Food Security, Nutrition, Health, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Disaster Risk Management, and Protection & Vulnerable Groups.

 

“The Periodic Review III continues the TCG effort in community monitoring. It provides a set of credible data; a critical tool for humanitarian actors in their medium- to long-term recovery programming,” said TCG Chairman and Chairman of the Civil Service Selection and Training Board, U Kyaw Thu.

 

Results of the PR III highlight that options for income earning appear to have shrunk, impacting households’ ability to source investment capital. Unless livelihood-related needs are addressed, recovery will be prolonged, raising the potential for another crisis (including loss of land to lenders, chronic under-employment and economic stagnation). Data from the shelter sector indicates that while some 50% of shelters were judged as safe, 84% of surveyed households perceived their shelter as being worse than before the cyclone.

 

On the positive side, the report findings underscore improvements in child mortality, child nutrition, and the availability of health care and access to clean water. More than 90% of the surveyed households reported that health personnel and medication were available in health care facilities all or some of the time.

 

“With unresolved challenges remaining in almost every economic subsector, geographic area or demographic group as indicated in the report, it is imperative to accelerate support from the international community to timely address those outstanding gaps,” said Dr. William Sabandar, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of ASEAN for post-Nargis recovery in Myanmar.

 

According to the UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator, Bishow Parajuli, shelter and livelihood are the largest concerns for the humanitarian community in the Cyclone-affected areas. Various updates show that, as of mid-January 2010, over 100,000 households are still vulnerable due to lack of adequate shelter assistance.

“The Periodic Review III clearly demonstrates that the recovery process is moving forward, but also that much more need to be done in a number of areas. Continued cooperation from all parties remains vital,” said Bishow Parajuli.