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East Asia & Pacific is facing some great development challenges today: urbanization, protection of the environment, the need to find renewable energy sources and many others. This site wants to create a conversation around those important issues. More »

aid

Donate to help victims of typhoon Ketsan (Ondoy) in the Philippines - Some suggestions

Submitted by Claudia Gabarain on Wed, 2009-09-30 14:09

Ateneo de Manila University Disaster Response Group, photo courtesy of L.A. Lomarda under a Creative Commons license.

Some of the big-name, international agencies and NGOs are already mobilizing to assist the victims of typhoon Ketsan (Ondoy) in the Philippines, and donation sites have been set up by the local Red Cross, UNICEF, and the World Food Programme.

I asked a few of my colleagues in the Manila office to list some local aid organizations, and I share their suggestions here with you. Churches in the Philippines are very active at a grass-roots level, so their presence in this short list should come as no surprise:

What bang for the buck in food aid? New database helps you track nutritional impact

Submitted by Claudia Gabarain on Tue, 2009-05-26 22:45

The Food Aid Information System from the World Food Programme tracks data on food aid flows since 1988. Now it also links the quantity information on these deliveries to its nutritional impact, measured by indicators like Individual Requirements Met on Average. The data can then be sliced and sorted by commodity, donor, aid type (emergency, program...), recipient, and year.

So for example, how many individuals may be satisfied by the total food aid deliveries to East Asian and Pacific countries in 2007? See the chart to the right, and click on it to access the figures and download the data in Excel format.

Laos' economy less affected by crisis, but sustaining growth a challenge

Submitted by Katia Vostroknutova on Tue, 2009-04-07 09:21

With a relatively unsophisticated economy that is agriculture- and natural resource-based, Laos has been affected by the crisis less than some neighboring countries.

In the aftermath of the 1997 Asian crisis, Lao PDR grew steadily, on average by 6 percent a year in real terms. Laos also impressively lifted one-eighth of its population out of poverty between 1993 and 2003. Laos aims to graduate from a low-income country status by 2020. The current global financial crisis, however, will slow down the progress in poverty reduction, as well as the growth rate and reduce government ability to invest in health, education, and infrastructure, therefore lowering Laos' chances to fulfill this goal (for more, see the World Bank's East Asia & Pacific Update, a regional economic assessment released today).

One of the poorest countries in the world, Laos is a small land-locked country in Southeast Asia, bordering and trading with China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia. Laos has a relatively unsophisticated economy that is agriculture- and natural resource-based, although industry as share of GDP has been growing steadily in the last decade. The population of around 6 million people engages mostly in subsistence agriculture.

So far, Laos has been affected by the crisis less than other countries, because:

First comprehensive picture and analysis of the impact of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar

Submitted by Claudia Gabarain on Mon, 2008-07-21 22:16

The Government of Myanmar, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United Nations have released the first comprehensive report covering the impact of Cyclone Nargis on the people in the Ayeyarwady Delta and Yangon. Among the highlights:

- It estimates the cyclone killed over 84,530 people, with a further 53,836 still reported missing.

- The assessment of damage and losses confirms a similar scale of impact to that of the Indian Ocean Tsunami in Indonesia in 2004, especially at the household and community severely damaged, together with around 4,000 schools.

- The cyclone wiped out the livelihoods of families overnight, flooding over 600,000 hectares of agricultural land, killing up to 50 per cent of draught animals, destroying fishing boats and sweeping away food stocks and agricultural implements.

- This has left households extremely vulnerable – in mid-June, 55 per cent reported having only one day of food stocks or less, and have relied in part on the steady flow of relief supplies.

- The total economic losses amount to about 2.7% of the projected 2008 GDP, with the effects of the cyclone concentrated on a region important for agriculture and fishing in Myanmar.

- Recovery needs, which are estimated at just over a total of US$1 billion over the next 3 years, include the most urgent priorities of significant food, agriculture, housing, basic services and support to communities for restoring their livelihoods and rebuilding assets.

- The indicative estimate of recovery needs and costs is preliminary and will need to be updated over time, reflecting the experience of other natural disasters in the region which demonstrate the importance of refining assessments and recovery plans at a sectoral level.

The World Bank will provide relief to victims of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar through ASEAN

Submitted by Claudia Gabarain on Thu, 2008-05-15 22:48

I had the chance today to attend a speech by ASEAN's (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Secretary General, Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, right after he had met with the Bank's President Bob Zoellick. He told us they discussed ways to increase the cooperation between the two organizations, but the most interesting and pressing aspect of it all is that they talked about specific ways in which the Bank will be helping out the victims of Cyclone Nargis through ASEAN. ASEAN had announced on May 13 that it was setting up a "Coalition of Mercy" for the Myanmar relief effort, and today Zoellick offered Bank expertise in assessing the devastation and planning for the country's recovery. The key point here is that ASEAN is the organization with best access to Myanmar right now --it has already secured entry visas for its emergency team--, so this collaboration between the Bank and ASEAN can start being effective really quickly, which is what the people of Myanmar need.

World Bank ready to help China earthquake victims, Zoellick says

Submitted by Claudia Gabarain on Wed, 2008-05-14 21:16

World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick said the institution was ready to help the victims of China’s earthquake as he expressed his condolences following the disaster that hit the central province of Sichuan on May 12, killing about 15,000 people.

“The World Bank stands ready to support the Chinese Government in any way it may find useful in the recovery and reconstruction process,” Mr. Zoellick wrote in a May 12 letter to Chinese Premier Mr. Wen Jiabao. “Our thoughts are with the Chinese people at this tragic and sorrowful time,” he wrote.

Mr. Zoellick said the Bank Group would draw on its considerable expertise in catastrophe management and reconstruction.

World Bank representatives on Tuesday held detailed discussions on possible technical support for the recovery effort with representatives of the Chinese Ministry of Finance and the National Reform and Development Commission.

In the news: U.N. halts aid to Myanmar

Submitted by Claudia Gabarain on Fri, 2008-05-09 08:38

The U.N. announced it was suspending relief supplies to Myanmar on Friday after the Government seized the food and aid material that had been flown into the country. Find reports from the New York Times, BBC News, and updates at ReliefWeb.

 

Update as of 1:00 p.m.: the World Food Programme, a U.S. agency, says it will send in two more relief planes tomorrow, as planned. Again, I encourage you to keep updated by checking a news aggregator like Google News or other online media.

Donate online to help victims of cyclone Nargis in Myanmar - Some suggestions

Submitted by Claudia Gabarain on Wed, 2008-05-07 22:21

As advanced in an earlier post, here's a short list to the webpages for online donations of international NGOs that have a large presence in the country and so are likely to be most effective under the difficult circumstances:

  • International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent - Donations
  • Save the Children - Donations
  • CARE - Donations
  • Malteser International (This is a German medical NGO which was able to send in supplies within a couple of days after the cyclone). - Website with info on donations
  • Doctors Without Borders/ Médecins Sans Frontières - Donations

Follow detailed information about aid to Myanmar on ReliefWeb

Submitted by Claudia Gabarain on Tue, 2008-05-06 23:37

The New York Times reports that some aid has begun flowing into Myanmar, but it looks like the mobilization for major relief operations is still underway and not clearly defined. However, you can keep track of what's going on in this regard by visiting the site that ReliefWeb has set up for the disaster caused by cyclone Nargis in Myanmar.

ReliefWeb, administered by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), is the main gateway to information --including news, documents and maps-- on humanitarian emergencies and disasters. It's targeted to the international humanitarian community that works on delivering emergency assistance, so you can hardly find a better site for up-to-date, reliable information on all aspects of this emergency.

Incidentally, there's also a site on the effects of the floods caused by Nargis in neighboring Thailand.

As for individual donations, it still seems too early to know how or where to contribute. I'll try to post this information later as it becomes available.