IOM Yangon will tomorrow take delivery of 10,000 treated mosquito
nets donated by the Swiss Development Corporation for victims of
Cyclone Nargis.

On Sunday IOM Yangon took delivery of 14 MT of emergency drugs
donated by US NGO AmeriCares. The drugs, which arrived in Yangon
from Amsterdam were taken to an IOM warehouse in four IOM trucks
and will be distributed in close cooperation with the World Health
Organization and the Myanmar Ministry of Health. IOM has had a
Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Health since
2004.

The two shipments will be the first that IOM has received in
Yangon. The volume of deliveries, including donations from other
agencies, is expected to increase when the Myanmar government
clarifies plans announced this weekend on new procedures for
bringing in relief goods and distributing them to cyclone
victims.

The cyclone, which struck Myanmar on May 2nd, devastated five of
the country's 17 states and divisions. Up to 130,000 people are
believed to be dead or missing, with a further 2.4 million severely
affected by the storm.

At least 150,000 people are believed to be in some 120 temporary
displacement sites. These include army-style camps with tents
established and managed by the government; informal camps in
schools and monasteries, which may have to be vacated when schools
re-open in early June; and so-called "frontier settlements" set up
by the government in remote areas, many of which are only
accessible by water.

IOM Myanmar Emergency Coordinator Federico Soda, who visited the
delta by helicopter with foreign diplomats last week, says that
widespread devastation including paddy fields flooded with
seawater, means that displacement caused by the disaster may
represent a major challenge to the government's relief efforts.

"IOM is chairing a displacement group bringing together
international agencies to look at the implications of the
displacement and ways in which we can help in the short term and
perhaps also over the longer term," he says.

IOM has now received USD 1.88 million of funding to respond to
the cyclone, including USD 1.45 million from the UN Central
Emergency Fund (CERF), USD 400,000 from Chevron Corporation and USD
31,500 from Denmark.

It has appealed for a total of USD 8 million to fund emergency
shelter and medical projects under the UN Flash Appeal. Of this USD
5 million will go towards the delivery and provision of emergency
shelter kits, including plastic sheet and tents, and USD 3 million
for direct medical aid and support to local health authorities.

Funding received from the UN CERF this week will be split into
two areas – USD 1.2 million for the delivery of emergency
shelter and USD 250,000 for emergency primary health care clinics
in the worst-affected areas.

For more information please contact:

Chris Lom

IOM's regional office in Bangkok

Tel:  +66.819275215

E-mail: "mailto:clom@iom.int">clom@iom.int