According to yesterday's government figures, more than 1.7 million people in 13 of Myanmar's 14 States and Regions have been critically affected by the recent floods and landslides. There has been severe damage to infrastructure, crops, businesses, food stores, homes and community assets. 122 people lost their lives, and some 20,000 cattle have perished.
LIFT spending to bolster the livelihoods of flood- afflicted people has now reached US $1,308,000. $988,000 of this is new funding, the remainder has been reallocated from the budgets of existing projects.
68% of the total $1.3 million is dedicated to microfinance, in a mixture of debt relief, debt restructuring and new finance. LIFT is supporting five microfinance partners: Pact PGMF, Proximity Finance, Ar Yone Oo, Ratana Metta and Border Areas Association, in Sagaing, Bago, the Dry Zone and the Delta. The support will reach an estimated 286,000 flood -affected families.
The remaining 32% of the $1.3 million has been allocated to the replanting of crops, and small scale infrastructure repairs that are important to livelihood recovery. Agricultural terraces are being rebuilt, water sources are being cleared of sea water, and embankments that protect agricultural land are re-secured. These activities involve cash-for-work to provide much-needed immediate income, and also to encourage local communities to feel ownership for the infrastructure. Most activities are taking place in Chin and Rakhine States - 23% of LIFT total flood assistance has been allocated to projects under LIFT's Tat Lan Programme in Rakhine State.
Download the LIFT's Flood Response Update brochure here. Please also visit our Latest News page for earlier reports on LIFT activity in response to the floods.
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LIFT's donors are Australia, Denmark, the European Union, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. From the private sector, the Mitsubishi Corporation is a donor. LIFT is managed by UNOPS, who administer the funds and provide oversight and monitoring.
Photo: Tat Lan
