Emergency Response

Update on Donations

August 11, 2008

The United Church has received a very strong response from its members designated for emergency relief efforts in Myanmar (Burma). As of August 6, a total of $187,078.18 was received for Myanmar and Cyclone Nargis emergency response.

Thank you for your generous contribution and for helping to save lives.

In July, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) informed the United Church that its application for funds to match donations given by United Church members in support of relief work in Myanmar (Burma) was approved.

For those wishing to do further reading, the May 2008 issue of the New Internationalist* includes a focus on Myanmar.

Response Efforts Progressing Well

June 26, 2008

Donations from United Church members received to date: $127,000

The United Church of Canada is pleased to report that emergency response efforts in Myanmar (Burma) are progressing well in the wake of the initial difficulties posed by Myanmar's military junta. Global humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS)* reports that as of June 23 it has provided temporary shelter and fresh water supplies for nearly one million Myanmar cyclone survivors.

As of June 19, the CWS team based in Bangkok reported that its local partner in Myanmar had reached a total of 572 villages in the disaster-affected region. They had provided supplies sufficient to serve more than 980,000 beneficiaries and had delivered 3,944 "water baskets." The water baskets, which capture rainwater, deliver the potential for 986,000 people to have clean drinking water.

Funds raised through the United Church's Cyclone Nargis Appeal are being sent to Action by Churches Together (ACT) International. Church World Service is a member of ACT and is working with indigenous organizations in Myanmar to distribute relief food and items. Read the full report* by Church World Service.

Today the Toronto Star reported that earlier dire warnings that cyclone survivors in Myanmar might fall prey to disease and starvation failed to take into account the tremendous resiliency of those affected. UN agencies and private humanitarian groups agree that a feared second wave of post-cyclone casualties did not take place in Myanmar. And barriers the ruling junta put in the way of foreign aid appear not to have caused a measurable increase in deaths from illness and lack of food. Read the full Toronto Star article*.

We wish to thank United Church members across Canada who have donated and are continuing to donate funds in support of our sisters and brothers in Myanmar.

Community-Based Organizations Provide Ongoing Relief

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Please read the most recent update* that ACT has issued on its emergency response efforts in Myanmar (Burma), where community-based organizations are providing food, water, medical aid, and agricultural support to over 100,000 people.

Canadian Government Matching Funds

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

The Government of Canada (Canadian International Development Agency—CIDA) has announced a program to match private donations for relief work in Myanmar (Burma) on a one-to-one (1:1) basis. Matching grant status, however, is not automatically conferred. To qualify, Canadian organizations must submit a proposal to CIDA in accordance with specific criteria.

The United Church of Canada, together with several other Canadian church groups that work together on global relief initiatives under the banner Canadian Churches in Action, is submitting a proposal to CIDA requesting matching grant status. As soon as we receive a response from CIDA—we hope by early next week—the information will be posted to this website.

Funds will be shared with organizations in Myanmar that are connected to Action by Churches Together (ACT) International. For security reasons, these organizations cannot be named.

Please read the most recent update* that ACT International has issued on the effects of Cyclone Nargis and the short-term and long-term assistance and rehabilitation that is needed.

Relief Aid Is Moving in Myanmar (Burma)

Thursday, May 22, 2008

We wish to assure United Church constituents that, while the military regime could do more to open Myanmar’s (Burma’s) doors to international aid workers and organizations, relief aid is getting through to communities in Myanmar (Burma) who need it. Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, of which the United Church is a member, reports the following:

Relief is moving. An ACT member representative in Yangon [Myanmar’s capital] said that…local organisations are reaching ‘very poor villages that nobody else can access.’ One organisation has already established 21 centres assisting people now homeless after the disaster. ‘ACT member-supported local organizations, as part of civil society networks, are using their local knowledge to assess needs and deliver assistance,’” reported John Nduna, ACT’s executive director. (May 16)

We greatly appreciate members’ donations to date and hope your generosity will continue as the needs among cyclone victims are massive.

In addition to ACT, United Church regional partners in the area of Myanmar (Burma) are also on the ground and successfully providing basic necessities, including food and water, to the surviving communities. They are also organizing trauma counselling and providing clothing and school kits. For security reasons the names of the partners cannot be made public.

A new source of concern is what is being called a “second wave of disaster” that is beginning to affect survivors with the fewest resources to cope. Elderly people and children are beginning to die of dysentery because of a lack of clean drinking water, according to reports from staff of humanitarian agency Church World Service, also an ACT member, and local organizations working in the region.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is expected to arrive in Myanmar today and visit the storm-hit region. He will meet with government officials and impress upon them the urgency of reinforcing aid delivery efforts in the country.

United Church Support Reaching Myanmar

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

The United Church is continuing to work with ACT International and regional partners to ensure that aid dollars donated by the United Church last week will find their way to the people in Myanmar (Burma) who desperately need them. Progress is being made. ACT-supported local organizations ar already responding through the distribution of rice, clean water and temporary shelter items.

Please read the update* that ACT has issued that describes its efforts to access viable humanitarian channels.