Save the Children launches £5 million Burma Appeal

Save the Children is today launching a global emergency appeal to help children and families after their homes were destroyed by Cyclone Nargis.

Tuesday 6 May 2008

Amanda Weisbaum, head of emergency response for Save the Children said: "This is a disaster on an enormous scale. The full human impact is only now becoming clear."

Weisbaum: "Families are using flood water and water from lakes. Food is available but the cost has gone up by 50%. Public transport prices have risen 1000%. Fuel and all transport are hard to source and, with a few exceptions, electricity and landline communications have also been cut"

The charity is already responding to the emergency by providing food, water purification tablets, plastic sheeting, kitchen equipment and rehydration salts to an initial 30,000 families whose homes have been destroyed. These materials will help them provide for themselves and keep up their levels of sanitation. Trucks and boats and other logistical support are also needed to help distribute the materials.

Amanda Weisbaum said: "The situation is deteriorating quickly. We urgently need help to be able to reach children and their families. We have access to some of the population, based on our existing work, but now desperately need the financial support to be able to scale up and deliver what we know these families need."

To donate to help children and their families please call 0207 012 6400 or go to www.savethechildren.org.uk.

£1 could buy oral rehydration salts for one child

£2 could buy a kilo of porridge to feed a child

£20 could buy plastic sheets to give shelter to families left homeless

Save the Children has been working in Burma for 13 years and is one of the biggest INGOs in the country. The charity has 500 national staff and 35 offices across the country

Cyclone Nargis hit the South West corner of Burma in the early hours of Saturday with winds of up to 120 mph causing mass destruction. The storm travelled North Eastwards up the Irrawaddy Delta, eventually tracking into NW Thailand. 

-ENDS-

NOTES TO EDITORS

The five divisions declared to be in a state of emergency by the government are:
Rangoon Division (Yangon)
Pegu Division (also known as Bago Division)
Mon State
Karen State (also known as Kayin State)
Irrawaddy Division (also known as Iyawaddy Division) 

Official estimates are that 22,000 people have lost their lives in Burma, and almost 1 million people are homeless.

For further information please contact the Save the Children Press Office on 020 7012 6841, or out of hours contact the on-call press officer on 07831 650 409