Programs Current Crises
Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar (also known as Burma) on May 3, 2008. An extensive area through the Irrawaddy Delta and the former capital city, Yangon, was severely affected. Villages have been wiped out, water sources and farm land polluted, and power lines knocked down. Much of the infrastructure has been destroyed, and many places cannot be reached.
The official death toll stands at 84,537 and 53,836 are missing, and according to UNICEF, at least 50 percent of the dead are women and children. More than three weeks after the cyclone, little more than 40 percent of the cyclone's survivors had received aid and only 23 percent of survivors in the worst-hit areas had received any aid. Ten thousand pregnant women were said to be seriously at risk and require urgent reproductive health care, according to the United Nations Population Fund, especially as clinics were destroyed and many midwives died during the disaster.
The military junta in Myanmar has been slow to allow international assistance into the country. There are fears that diseases, such as cholera, malaria and dengue fever, will be widespread. Children, many of whom are already malnourished, are at particular risk.
Read about the International Rescue Committee's humanitarian response to Cyclone Nargis.
See our NGO sign-on letter to Congressional leaders urging for targeted U.S. funding for humanitarian relief in Burma.
Refugees and people displaced within their own country are particularly vulnerable during the initial stages of an emergency. In addition to shelter, food and water, displaced people need access to health care, including reproductive health care. Neglecting reproductive health in emergencies has serious consequences: preventable maternal and infant deaths; unwanted pregnancies and subsequent unsafe abortions; and the spread of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.
Read more about the Women's Refugee Commission's recommendations for providing reproductive health services in an emergency.
Since 1988, Burmese have fled human rights abuses and sought refuge in Thailand. Currently there are nearly 120,000 refugees in camps along the Thai/Burmese border. The Women‘s Commission has a long history of monitoring the situation in Thailand.
