Asia and the Pacific: Weekly Regional Humanitarian Snapshot (23 - 29 May 2023)

MYANMAR

With the monsoon looming, the humanitarian community is in a race against time to respond to a shelter, water, sanitation and food emergency in areas most heavily affected by Cyclone Mocha that smashed western Myanmar on 14 May. A $333m Flash Appeal has been launched to support 1.6 million people in Rakhine, the Northwest, and parts of Kachin.
While approval is still pending for the widescale transport of supplies and distributions, humanitarian partners have been providing shelter, water, sanitation, health and emergency food support wherever they have existing stocks and access. In Rakhine alone, the World Food Programme (WFP) has reached more than 107,000 people with food support. Additionally, 7,700 households have received shelter materials and other essential relief items, while more than 30,000 liters of drinking water have been distributed. In the Northwest, affected people have been provided with cash assistance for shelter repairs, and more than 4,500 people have received hygiene kits, among other responses. Humanitarians stand ready to support all affected communities, but they need more supplies, enhanced access, and increased funding to effectively carry out this work.

PHILIPPINES

As of 29 May, Typhoon Mawar (local name Betty) has moved northwestward over northern Luzon, not affecting the landmass. While the tropical cyclone wind signal No.2 for gale-force winds (62-88 km/h) has been raised over the areas of Batanes and northeastern Cagayan, the forecasted track indicates that the typhoon will not approach the landmass. The western areas of Southern Luzon and Visayas may however still experience sporadic to monsoon-like precipitation due to the Southwest Monsoon. The typhoon is forecasted to further weaken into a tropical storm over the next five days. Some 4,800 people ( 1,700 families) have been pre-emptively evacuated to 22 evacuation centers in Region III (Central Luzon Region), Region VI (Western Visayas), and Region IV-B (MIMAROPA: Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan). OCHA and humanitarian partners continue to monitor the situation.