International Save the Children Alliance
To donate to help children and their families
please call +44 (0) 207 012 6400, go to
www.savethechildren.org.uk or visit your
national Save the Children organisation website.
Myanmar
On May 2, 2008 Cyclone Nargis hit the South West corner of Burma with winds of up to 120 mph causing mass destruction. The Burmese authorities have declared a state of emergency in five areas: Rangoon District (Yangon), Pegu Division, Mon State, Karen State and the Irrawaddy Division. An estimated 24 million people live in these five areas that have been hardest hit by the Cyclone.
The State's current death toll has been set at 22,000, with another 41,000 people believed missing, and over one million left homeless. Save the Children's team in Myanmar (Burma) reports that 40% of the dead and missing since the Cyclone hit are believed to be children.
Save the Children has been working in Burma for 13 years and is one of the biggest INGOs in the country. The charity has 500 national staff and 35 offices across the country. We responded to the emergency immediately, providing food, plastic tarpaulins, water purification tablets, kitchen equipment and rehydration salts to an estimated 110,000 displaced persons currently living in settlements.
Families in Myanmar need urgent help in a deteriorating situation. Andrew Kirkwood, Save the Children's Country Director in Myanmar, said: "There is an incredibly urgent humanitarian need. We're talking about a similar situation to the 2004 tsunami. The storm surge in many parts of the delta following the major wind was reportedly as high as 25 feet in places and as the delta is a very flat area we expect that many, many people drowned. About 40% of the people living in the delta are children under 18, so we would expect that 40% of the dead and missing are children."
How you can help
Save the Children has launched a global emergency appeal to help children and families after their homes were destroyed by Cyclone Nargis.
Amanda Weisbaum, head of emergency response for Save the Children UK said: "The situation is deteriorating quickly. We urgently need help to be able to reach children and their families. We have access to some of the population, based on our existing work, but now desperately need the financial support to be able to scale up and deliver what we know these families need."
- £1 could buy oral rehydration salts for one child
- £2 could buy a kilo of porridge to feed a child
- £20 could buy plastic sheets to give shelter to families left homeless
To donate to help children and their families please call +44 (0) 207 012 6400 or go to www.savethechildren.org.uk or your national Save the Children organisation.
More on our response
Eye Witness Accounts
View our latest video from Myanmar Three Months On
Voices from Myanmar Bente from Save the Children Norway shares her experiences
Photo essay: Education offers children like Min Min hope for the future
Photo essay: Helping families to recover after Cyclone Nagris
Video: Impact of Cyclone Nargis, Myanmar (Burma)
Aid worker Guy Cave - Deputy Country Director for Save the Children - writes a Diary from Rangoon about efforts to reach those in need.
Andrew Kirkwood talks to Channel 4 News about combating the challenges of disease and shortages following the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis. Watch the video
Damage in Myanmar is revealed as aid trickles in: Interview with Andrew Kirkwood on PBS
Burma diary - the relief effort Andrew Kirkwood, Country Director of Save the Children in Myanmar (Burma) writes a daily diary for the BBC
Diary of an aid worker
Stories from children affected by the cyclone
One family's struggle
Press Releases
Myanmar Three Months On: Food shortages and earning a living biggest challenge for cyclone-affected families 1 August, 2008
Thousands of children will die from hunger within weeks unless reached by aid, 19 May, 2008
Conditions in Burma likely to deteriorate, if more aid is not brought in 15 May 2008, 15 May 2008
Hollywood Artists to Give $500,000 to Assist Children Affected by Cyclone Nargis, 14 May 2008
Save the Children reaches 100,000 with vital relief efforts in Myanmar, 12 May 2008
Around 40 percent of dead or missing in Burma Cyclone are Children, 8 May 2008
Save the Children launches £5 million Burma Appeal , 6 May 2008
Thousands homeless across Myanmar as Save the Children responds to Cyclone Nargis, 5 May 2008