Tripartite Core Group prepares for second round of post-Nargis periodic review in Myanmar

www.chinaview.cn 2009-03-10 19:15:35

YANGON, March 10 (Xinhua) -- A Tripartite Core Group (TCG) involving Myanmar, ASEAN and the United Nations is preparing for the second round of Post-Nargis periodic review and social impacts monitoring study, the local Weekly Eleven reported Tuesday.

The second round review will be conducted in July this year, the report said, adding that more round of review will be further made.

The first round of the review was carried out during last year and the report was issued on Dec. 19.

Meanwhile, The mandate of the TCG was extended for another one year until July 2010 which was agreed by foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The extension given to the TCG reflects ASEAN's confidence that the mechanism is working efficiently in facilitating distribution and utilization of assistance from the international community to support the Myanmar government's relief and recovery efforts, a recent release of the TCG group said.

The extension of the mandate will allow the TCG to put in place coordination and funding mechanisms and to monitor the first-year implementation of the Post-Nargis Recovery and Preparedness Plan (PONREPP), it said.

The medium-term recovery needs identified in the plan amounts to USD 691 million over the next three years. The need for continued support from the international community was highlighted during the PONREPP launch on 9 February 2009 in Bangkok where several donors urged the extension of the TCG as a basis for providing continued funding, it also said.

The results on the ground, which have been achieved during the past 10 months since Nargis struck, prove that the assistance is reaching the people and that the joint humanitarian response at large has been successful, the release underlined, saying that at the same time, challenges remain and the affected population will need continued support as outlined in the three-year recovery plan.

With the extension of the TCG, the UN in Myanmar appeals to theinternational donor community to continue supporting the affected people, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Bishow Parajuli said.

The TCG, comprising high-level representatives from the Government of Myanmar, ASEAN and the UN, was set up on May 30, 2008 after storm.

The deadly cyclone Nargis, which occurred over the Bay of Bengal, hit five divisions and states -- Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago,Mon and Kayin on May 2 and 3 last year, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructure damage.

The storm has killed 84,537 people and left 53,836 missing and 19,359 injured, according to official death toll.