The United States Secretary of State, John Kerry announced that his government would give “US$600,000 for immediate response through USAID’s Office of Foreign Assistance (OFDA)” for Burmese people affected heavy rains and flooding that has devastated most of the country.
A media statement released on August 7 by the U.S.Embassy Rangoon, said that the “USAID is working to address the urgent need for clean drinking water, sanitation, hygiene and other essential items.”
The US Embassy Rangoon statement said its partners were distributing “water purification packets to generate over 50 million liters of clean water. Essential supplies and services will be distributed to the 15 emergency centers sheltering over 2,000 people based around Mrauk U in Rakhine State.”
The US Embassy statement said USAID would fund a “technical advisor to support Burma’s National Emergency Operational Center in disaster response coordination management capabilities.”
VOA reports that the Burma government has asked foreign embassies “to provide food, relief materials, medicine and water purifiers.”
Burma’s Deputy Director General of Foreign Affairs Kyaw Moe Tun told VOA,
“We hand over the humanitarian assistance we receive from international donors to the Relief and Resettlement Ministry and Social Welfare Department. They coordinate with State and Divisions that are in urgent need and distribute accordingly.”
Kyaw Moe Tun said that told VOA that Japan had “pledged $150,000 in aid, while Vietnam is providing clean water worth $20,000.”
