Myanmar: Red Cross Red Crescent relief operation continues as more aid arrives in Yangon

Published on May 9, 2008 - 9:51:12 AM

By: International Committee of the Red Cross

Geneva May 9, 2008 - Today, another Red Cross Red Crescent shipment of aid arrived in Yagon, Myanmar. This time, 8 tonnes of tarpaulins and jerry cans touched down late in the morning on a scheduled commercial flight out of Bangkok.

"Local Red Cross volunteers have been delivering vital aid such as water purification tablets and jerry cans to affected villages in the delta region," says Michael Annear, regional disaster response coordinator for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

"Yesterday, in one township near Yangon, Red Cross volunteers were able to distribute 15,000 water purification tablets to people desperately in need of clean drinking water," he added.

The International Federation has two more shipments of aid scheduled to arrive over the weekend with both consignments made up of emergency shelter supplies, additional jerry cans and mosquito nets.

Once the aid arrives and clears customs it is either shipped straight to a Myanmar Red Cross warehouse in Yangon or, if it arrives early enough in the day, it is put straight on trucks to be distributed to affected communities outside of the city and in the Irrawaddy delta.

"The amount of activity inside and outside the Myanmar Red Cross office in Yangon is very inspiring – with so many young volunteers helping stack water, clothes and other household items to get ready to move out to people in need," says Joe Lowry, information delegate for the International Federation in Myanmar.

According to Lowry, 220,000 cyclone survivors have received humanitarian assistance, with one third of this population having been reached by Red Cross volunteers.

For more information on the Red Cross Red Crescent operation visit www.ifrc.org/myanmar

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