Burma

USAID partner Save the Children/U.S. (SC/US) provides community cleaning kits to affected populations in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in Burma.

SC/US

Ongoing conflicts in multiple states of Burma increased internal displacement during the first half of 2012. In particular, renewed fighting between Government of Burma (GoB) forces and the Kachin Independence Army increased displacement in Kachin State, while sectarian violence in late May and early June between the Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya communities displaced approximately 61,000 people in Rakhine State. On June 15, 2012, U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Michael E. Thurston declared a disaster due humanitarian needs resulting from the complex emergency in Burma. In response, USAID/OFDA provided more than $853,000 to the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for water, sanitation, and hygiene assistance for displaced persons and vulnerable populations in conflict-affected areas nationwide, as well as $150,000 to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to bolster coordination of emergency response activities and ensure that assistance reaches all parties in a given conflict. In addition, USAID/OFDA East Asia and the Pacific regional staff members conducted two assessments of humanitarian conditions in Rakhine State. 

USG HUMANITARIAN FUNDING PROVIDED IN FY 2012

*This figure includes funding for both disaster response and disaster risk reduction activities. (As of August 13, 2012)

Southeast Asia Floods Fact Sheet #3 (162kb PDF) and map (2.14kb PDF)

Key Developments

In the aftermath of the nearly $32.5 million humanitarian response to Cyclone Nargis, which struck in May 2008, USAID/OFDA began supporting disaster risk reduction activities in Burma that increase local response capacity. As of August 13, USAID/OFDA had provided nearly $2.8 million in FY 2012 funding for programs that build the capacity of local officials, civil society groups, and communities to prepare for and respond to disasters.