Floods in Myanmar prompt UNICEF relief effort
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has begun distributing emergency supplies such as medicines, clothing, cooking utensils and water purification tablets in Myanmar in the wake of flooding that has struck the country.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has begun distributing emergency supplies such as medicines, clothing, cooking utensils and water purification tablets in Myanmar in the wake of flooding that has struck the country.
Media reports say thousands of people have been left homeless by the floods, which come two weeks after the start of the annual monsoon season. Schools have had to close, rail services have been suspended in some areas and bridges have also been washed out. The worst affected areas are on and inland from the western, central and southern coasts.
A spokesperson for the UN said UNICEF had been able to distribute the relief supplies so quickly in part because they were pre-positioned after the emergency response to the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004.
Aside from the medicines and water purification tablets, the supplies provided include basic family kits, which contain clothing, a blanket, soap, cooking utensils, candles, matches, a knife, plastic buckets and tarpaulin.