Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Yangon (Agenzia Fides) - The Catholic volunteers continue their labor untiringly, however more help is needed in facing the emergency and rebuilding the area. This was what Archbishop Paul Zigthung Grawng of Mandalay, President of the Myanmar Bishops’ Conference, explained after over a month since Cyclone Nargis first hit the southwest part of the nation on May 2 and 3, affecting over 2 million people.
The Archbishop confirmed that the Catholic volunteers have done their best and have made an extraordinary contribution in the wake of the tragedy. “Many of these people would now be dead if it had not been for the work of the Church and the solidarity of Caritas,” he pointed out. “In spite of the little means and availability, we are able to provide food, shelter and medicine to people in camps in churches. We are also able to deliver supplies to people who have remained in their villages.”
The local Church, in collaboration with Caritas Internationalis, has focused on meeting the immediate needs of up to 75,000 people in the worst affected areas, according to J.P. Nelson, Myanmar Emergency Response Team Leader for Caritas Internationalis.
In order to carry out this mission, however, the aid must continue coming in on a regular basis and there is also a need for organizing activities to rebuild the social fabric and basic infrastructures necessary for social and economic life. Caritas Internationalis has launched an appeal for $8.2 million needed to carry on the humanitarian aid activity and emergency response.
An appeal to respect human rights, especially for those in extreme need, has also been made by the U.N. Human Rights Council’s new investigator for Myanmar, Tomas Ojea Quintana. In a public statement following his recent trip to the country, the UN envoy spoke of how Cyclone Nargis had left a deep impact on the living conditions of a vast number of the population and said that out of respect for their basic human rights, they should receive aid and protection. He added that “meeting their basic needs should be a priority for the government, whose ultimate purpose is to protect the rights of the people.”
Thus, the UN investigator highlighted the importance of the right to access to humanitarian aid and assistance on both a long-term and short-term basis, placing particular attention on the critical situation of the most vulnerable, such as women, elderly persons, and children. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 9/6/2008)
