UN-backed project helps villagers in Myanmar rebuild lives following floods

Almost 100,000 villagers in western Myanmar whose homes or croplands were badly damaged by floods earlier this year are rebuilding their lives under a United Nations-backed project that provides income-generating activities for locals.

The scheme, supported by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), began in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in early July after torrential rains and strong winds a month earlier killed dozens of people and inundated swathes of countryside.

Villagers have been paid for cleaning and repairing damaged houses, latrines and schools; cleaning water ponds and wells; rebuilding footpaths and jetties and reclaiming paddy fields that were covered with sand.

The villagers who took part received $2 to $2.50 a day for their work, according to a press release issued today by UNDP. Many had no means of earning money following the floods.

UNDP said the project, which is being carried out across 90 separate villagers, is likely to continue until later this month.