Attachments
Highlights
• Swar dam overflowed in late August affecting over 60,000 people; UNICEF reached 30,000 people with WASH support.
• Over 30,000 boys and girls are receiving psychosocial support through static and mobile child-friendly spaces including 11,000 children in northern Rakhine.
• UNICEF supported Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition training to 906 number of participants in ten of 17 townships in Rakhine State to scale up the Government’s nutrition services.
• In central Rakhine, UNICEF Temporary Learning Centres benefitted more than 14,000 conflict-affected children including 7,000 girls.
• In northern Rakhine State UNICEF is provide soap, in conjunction with WFP food distributions, to nearly 100,000 people in August.
SITUATION IN NUMBERS
319,000 children in need of humanitarian assistance in (37% of total people in need - 2018 Humanitarian Needs Overview)
863,000 people in need (2018 Humanitarian Needs Overview)
UNICEF Myanmar HAC Appeal 2018
US$ 31,780,000
Funds Received 2018
US$ 8,018,629
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
Rakhine
UNICEF continues to expand access in both central and northern Rakhine and is working to scale up programmes through NGO partners as well as to support Government of Myanmar (GoM) in system strengthening. The situation in Rakhine remains relatively stable with activities continuing throughout central and northern Rakhine. UNICEF continues to receive travel authorization for both central and northern Rakhine and has two additional staff posted to Maungdaw town in addition to the substantial presence in Sittwe, Rakhine. Monsoon rains continue to flood low-lying areas, including some vulnerable IDP camps.
Kachin and Shan
The situation remains unstable with ongoing fighting between the GoM and armed ethnic groups in several areas of Kachin State. Movement along the Myitkyina-Bhamo road has not been affected but humanitarian agencies have taken precautionary measures when traveling in the area. In addition to conflict, flooding has affected a number of households in the remote and hard-to-reach Puta-O Township. The GoM continues to be interested in resettlement and return of IDPs, however the process is uncoordinated and a clear strategy remains to be developed. In some areas, returnees are facing restrictions of movement due to landmine contamination around the village and near the township’s hospital. In Pangwa IDP camp, the Kachin State Government has pledged 6.5 million Myanmar Kyats—approximately USD 4,180—to each of the 57 households planning to relocate by end of the year. The absence of teachers remains a concern.
Flooding in southern Myanmar
Flooding continued to impact dozens of communities in the south of Myanmar with Bago Region and Kayin State hit particularly hard. In Bago, a dam spillway collapse at the end of the month displaced approximately 60,000 people for several weeks. The government’s Department of Disaster Management reports that since the flooding began in early July over 219,700 people have been temporarily displaced countrywide and some 136 temporary evacuation sites remaining open at the end of the August. In August, UNICEF provided humanitarian assistance to flood-affected populations principally in Bago and Kayin through the Department of Social Welfare and the Department of Rural Development. In response to the dam spillway break in Bago, UNICEF provided—at the request of the Government—bleaching powder, buckets, hygiene kits and water purification supplies, for 30,000 people.