The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has launched a major initiative to rebuild the livelihoods of some 100,000 cyclone survivors in Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Delta.
"People want to revive and restore their livelihoods as quickly as possible," UNDP's policy adviser Shafique Rahman told IRIN from Yangon, the former Burmese capital.
"The programme will last between three and six months, depending on how fast they can recover," he said.
The initial effort will be built on with a much larger early recovery plan that will be more comprehensive after assessments and a revised flash appeal is issued in June.
The programme, which will parallel the ongoing relief effort, will initially target some 20,000 households in 250 priority villages where UNDP currently operates in five townships.
UNDP has authorisation to work in nine delta townships, seven of which are cyclone-affected. Of the latter, five bore the brunt of about 80 percent of the damage, Rahman estimated.
Launched on 4 June, the early recovery basic services package comprises a combination of cash grants for immediate livelihood support and cash-for-work schemes for rehabilitating village social infrastructure, including the clearing and cleaning of ponds, along with the repair of footpaths, water and sanitation facilities, and farmland.
 Photo: Wikimedia Commons  |
| A map of Myanmar and surrounding countries highlighting the Irrawaddy (also spelt Ayeyarwady) Delta |
If farmers cannot plant, because of land degradation following the cyclone, they would receive assistance for small trades and commercial services, such as masonry, boat transport, homestead gardening and poultry, she added.
The inter-agency collaboration built into the package, including the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), expands on an earlier agreement to assist farmers for the monsoon planting season.
More than 77,000 people were killed and 55,000 others left missing when Cyclone Nargis slammed into Myanmar on 2 and 3 May. Thousands lost their livelihoods.
"Relief is offered to save lives. Early recovery is aimed at helping rebuild those lives that have been saved," Hart said.
Asked whether the programme would be replicated elsewhere in the delta, Rahman noted the ongoing challenge of securing access to the area.
"Access is an issue in Myanmar. Wherever we work we have to have an MoU [memoradum of understanding] or authorisation by the authorities to operate in any township," he said.
Of the 250 villages being targeted, he estimated that about 85 percent would be in the three delta townships of Labutta, Bogali, and Mawlamyinegyun.
"In Bogali, 95 percent of households were affected and will require assistance," he said.
UNDP has had a strong presence in the delta, having run a community development project and micro-finance project there for over a decade.
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