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Myanmar (Burma) cyclone

Cyclone Nargis struck southern Myanmar (Burma) in the early hours of 3 May, sweeping through the Irrawaddy delta region and the country’s largest city, Yangon, causing widespread destruction.

Over the past three months, Oxfam has provided emergency support through our partners within Myanmar to more than 250,000 people.

Myanmar (Burma) cyclone: in pictures

What Oxfam is doing

Oxfam is making steady progress responding to the huge needs in the Myanmar delta. We are working with a range of partners that know the area very well. This means our response is highly targeted, and reaching some of the most vulnerable people including women, children and people living with HIV and AIDS.

Healthy homes

An Oxfam partner sets up a "water basket" and demonstrates how to treat drinking water. Photo: Oxfam

Shelter and public health are urgent priorities in the affected region. We are continuing to support people who have been made homeless by rebuilding homes, using local materials such as thatch, bamboo, and timber wherever possible. Oxfam has also supported partners to provide emergency supplies such as blankets, mosquito nets, candles, cooking pots and utensils, clothing, and water cans.

Developing ways to collect water, such as rainwater harvesting and cleaning ponds and wells, or digging new wells are urgently needed; as are ways to store the water that is collected. Much of the water collected and stored may not be safe to drink, to cook or wash with, so we are providing chlorination treatment to make it safe.

As well as making sure clean water is available, we are helping people to live in sanitary conditions by providing latrines and family hygiene kits. And we are making sure people know how to use the new water and sanitation systems by promoting good health and hygiene at a village level.

Food security and livelihoods

Farmers need to be able to sow rice in the current planting season, which ends in mid-August.

We are supporting a range of organisations to provide "recovery packages" to farmers. Packages are tailored to meet the differing needs of farmers, but often include some or all of the following: rice seed, fertiliser, hand tillers and diesel (a great many of the animals used on farms for draught power have been killed, injured or made sick by the cyclone), and support to employ local labourers.

Supporting rice cultivation is our main focus at the moment, but we will soon be supporting other livelihoods. We will be supplying fisher folk with new nets and crab cages to replace those that they have lost. We will also support the re-establishment of other small-scale income generation activities such as betel nut production, cycle rickshaw and snack making.

Restoring communities

Many people are returning from temporary camps that were set up in the immediate aftermath of the cyclone, but many of their villages are still damaged and people will need help to restore them. We are looking into how we can best do this.

In the very near future we will be supporting the rebuilding of schools and pre-school buildings, and equipping them with desks, chairs and books. But we know that communities are more than physical structures: they include the social factors and arrangements that keep families and villages together. So we will also be supporting the rebuilding of community-driven activities such as village groups that can work with us to ensure that our support is targeted to where it is most needed.

We will also be supporting the training of local people to be able to support the children who have been psychologically traumatised by Cyclone Nargis.

How you can help

Latest news

Building a better future - July 2008
Ma Shwe Shwe from Hlaing Thayar lost her house and belongings to Cyclone Nargis. She recalls the night the cyclone hit.
Rebuilding shattered lives in Myanmar - June 08
When Fahmid Bhuiya woke up the morning after Cyclone Nargis, his whole world had changed.
Myanmar Donor Conference must put people before political differences 22 May 08
Oxfam's statement in advance of a conference of donors to Myanmar and after the ASEAN meeting.... Read more...
Myanmar Cyclone response: questions and answers 16 May 08
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Oxfam warns up to 1.5 million in danger if aid effort cannot reach cyclone victims 12 May 08
Oxfam announces that up to 1.5 million lives are at risk in of disease if clean water and sanitation are not provided immediately to the survivors of cyclone Nargis in Myanmar.... Read more...
Oxfam's Response to Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar 07 May 08
Oxfam Australia announces that the organisation is accepting donations for the response to the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis in Burma.... Read more...

For media inquiries, please contact Melany Markham 0407 515 559 or melanym@oxfam.org.au