OREANDA-NEWS. August 06, 2015. Britain will continue to support Burma in the wake of the devastating floods sweeping the country by providing more aid supplies and helping with recovery efforts, International Development Minister Baroness Verma announced today.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been affected across several regions including Sagaing, Chin, Magway and Rakhine, with Kachin also affected.

The Department for International Development’s (DFID) disaster preparedness work in Burma has meant that more than 48,000 people have already been provided with high energy biscuits, while up to 20,000 people have received hygiene kits and supplies to treat unclean water.

Baroness Verma confirmed that £500,000 of contingency funding would be made available to support further relief activities and to help existing programmes adapt to meet the needs of affected communities. This could include providing emergency healthcare and shelter, hygiene kits and water purification tablets as well as repairing damaged water supplies and sewerage systems.

Baroness Verma said:

Our deepest sympathies go out to all those affected by the floods and landslides in Burma.

Our disaster planning meant that food and other emergency supplies were able to reach people very quickly. This latest funding will provide further assistance across the country and help those affected by the floods start to recover and rebuild their lives.

We will continue to monitor the situation and the British Government stands ready to assist the people of Burma during this terrible time.

The funding will cover flood-affected areas across the country through a contribution to the UN Emergency Response Fund for Burma, as well as further assistance to Rakhine and Kachin States where DFID is already providing humanitarian assistance.

The Livelihoods and Food Security Trust fund (LIFT), to which DFID is one of the largest contributors, has also announced plans to adapt existing programmes to reallocate and increase funding to rehabilitation and recovery in flood-affected areas.

Notes to editors

  1. Since 2012 the UK has provided over £43.3 million in humanitarian aid for people in Burma and along the Thai-Burmese border, making it one of the largest humanitarian donors in the region.