Disaster Relief when Access to the Disaster Area is Denied—Lessons Learned from Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar (Burma)

Abstract

Introduction:

When Cyclone Nargis hit the Ayeyanwadi delta of Myanmar on 03 May 2008 at a speed of 190 km/h, nearly 140,000 people lost their lives and approximately two million were left homeless. As an additional challenge, the military regime of Myanmar denied any relief organizations or workers outside SouuSeast Asia access to the disaster site.

Methods:

During a one-week mission to the former capital of Yangon beginning one month after the disaster, relief provided to the affected population was studied. The working methods and effectiveness of a small non-governmental organization (NGO) already established in Myanmar were evaluated.

Results:

The long visa queues of relief workers gave organizations already working in Myanmar a great advantage. New strategies involved the rapid employment of personnel from Southeast Asia for fieldwork Improved administrative procedures made the field teams work more effectively. The NGO studied 30 rapidly engaged, new, local, health workers, sufficient for five medical teams to work in the field.

Conclusions:

In spite of denied access to the disaster field, United Nations organizations and NGOs were able to initiate an effective administration and support to the many teams including >80 medical teams sent to the disaster site. The restricted movement gave more time and resources to relief planning, which is of importance for future incidents. Smaller NGOs were able to benefit from the improved administrative procedures introduced in the process.