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The continuing humanitarian crisis in Burma (Myanmar) has, over several decades, provoked a range of increasingly serious life-threatening issues linked to escalating poverty -- HIV/AIDS, high infant mortality, increased female-headed households, unemployment, etc. The majority of Burma’s population lives under the poverty line and many of those live in extreme poverty on less than $1 a day.

The humanitarian crisis in Burma is complex and widespread -- the product of decades of prevailing poverty and vulnerability. While the ability of the Burmese people to cope even in the worst of times is inspiring, present conditions have undermined traditional survival strategies. The gradual liberalization of the Burmese economy has, ironically, increased vulnerability, bringing high inflation, a weak local currency, and a banking crisis, which has shrunk the middle class and increased the rural-urban migration and income inequality.

Poverty in some regions has already reached critical levels. In mountainous regions, there is severe food insecurity and widespread malnutrition. In low-land areas, rice production has declined and landless peasants are resorting to scavenging to feed their children. In most districts, the neglect of health services has resulted in a high increase in diseases and the mortality rate. Moreover, as international sanctions tighten, humanitarian assistance and international aid are even more important and critical, focusing on the hardest-hit areas as well as a population which otherwise has few hopes for survival.

Decades of problems have rendered Burma’s health care system incapable of responding effectively to endemic and emerging infectious diseases. Burma’s major infectious diseases like malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), and now dengue fever are severe health problems in many areas of the country. In a recent statement, Burma’s Ministry of Health said that 30 of the estimated 3,000 children who suffered from hemorrhagic dengue fever in the first half of this year died. If correct, the estimates show that death rates from the disease are higher than in 2006.

The deteriorating humanitarian situation also continues to cause displacement of civilians, driving many across the border into Thailand. Nine border camps shelter about 150,000 refugees from Burma. The refugees are entirely dependent on outside support for their food. Camp residents usually share their minimal food rations with the new camp arrivals until they are registered and receive assistance on their own.

For 23 years, the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), of which Church World Service is a founding member, has raised funds from its members and donors to ensure an adequate food ration for these refugees. But while the Burmese refugee crisis continues unabated, shifts in the international community’s funding priorities are threatening the already minimal ration for the first time in 23 years.

Unless the funding gap is closed, refugee rations will have to be cut by 15 percent starting January 1, 2008, bringing refugees’ total caloric intake well below international standards.

RESPONSE: Church World Service is responding to this crisis in two ways: first, working with the TBBC’s nine other member agencies from eight countries to secure funding to stabilize the food rations for the refugees. The TBBC will give first priority to the most vulnerable and most impoverished, especially refugees who have arrived recently from Burma and refugees with large families in need of additional assistance.

Second, CWS will be supporting humanitarian efforts in areas of Burma with a high concentration of vulnerable people, where the situation is most acute and thousands of civilians are in need of emergency help and assistance.

This emergency humanitarian assistance program will consist of following components:

1. Assistance to severely malnourished children.

   CWS-Asia/Pacific will provide a monthly food ration for severely malnourished children. The feeding program will be according to World Health Organization guiding principles for feeding infants and young children during emergencies as well as Sphere minimum standards, which specify that children should receive sufficient energy, protein, fats, and micronutrients. The objective of this initiative is to address high levels of chronic malnutrition of poor children resulting from micronutrient deficiencies and an imbalance in the proportion of carbohydrate/protein/fat in their diet.
   
   

2. Assistance and medical care to HIV/AIDS patients.

   The assistance to HIV/AIDS patients will include both curative and preventive methods. Besides providing medicines, this emergency health assistance program will include awareness-raising geared towards behavior change, care and compassion for persons with HIV/AIDS, awareness-raising on harmful consequences of injection drug use and adoption of sound and healthy lifestyles.
   
   

3. Assistance and medical relief to children suffering from malaria and dengue hemorrhagic fever.

   The program will include both curative and preventive measures to control malaria and dengue fever. This will include following:
   • Provision of medicines to affected children.
   • Prevention and control by providing information, education to communities.
   • Prevention and control by promoting personal protective measures.
   • Prevention, early detection and containment of epidemics.
   • Provision of early diagnosis and prompt treatment and referral services.
     
     

4. Enhancing the delivery capacity of local implementing partner staff in Burma (Myanmar).

   To enhance the humanitarian relief delivery capacity of its local implementing partners, CWS will initiate a capacity building program. Through this program, the partner organizations will be trained in Sphere Standards, gender integration, monitoring and evaluation.

-- Food Packages
(Family food rations for 1 month include: 15 KG rice, 1 KG yellow beans, 1 KG AsiaMIX, 750 GM fish paste, 1 L vegetable oil, 125 GM dried chili, 330 GM iodized salt, 250 GM sugar)

-- Medicines, medical supplies, treatment services

-- Food Rations/Supplemental Feeding Programs for Children

Contributions to support this effort may be sent to your denomination or directly to: Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515

Contributions may also be made by credit card online, or by calling: 800-297-1516, ext. 222.

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