Geneva, May 9th, 2008 - The Lutheran World Federation's Regional Representative in South East Asia, Mr. David Mueller, has emphasized the LWF Department for World Service's readiness to provide humanitarian assistance to the suffering people of Myanmar (Burma) through participation in the Action by Churches Together (ACT) response to the disaster unleashed by cyclone Nargis.

LWF World Service has offered to send staff from Nepal to provide essential support in logistics, appeal preparation and coordination. LWF World Service stands ready to offer other services if needed in communications and in financial record keeping and reporting. Qualified LWF staff in India, Cambodia and Nepal are on standby to leave for Myanmar (Burma) as part of an ACT response, upon clarification of the government's policy in relation to such international assistance. The LWF also has a member church in Myanmar (Burma) and anticipates close cooperation with the church in responding to this humanitarian emergency.

The LWF welcomes the increasing openness of the Government of Myanmar (Burma) to international assistance, and calls on all authorities in the country to facilitate the entry and movement of humanitarian teams and supplies so that a larger scale disaster can be avoided. With the number of dead feared to exceed 100,000, and the displaced and homeless estimated at more than 1 million, LWF Acting General Secretary Rev. Chandran Paul Martin compared the scale of the catastrophe to that of the 2004 Asian tsunami. "The enormity of this natural disaster will require an international response mirroring that which followed the tsunami on Boxing Day 2004", Rev. Martin declared. "I appeal to the authorities of the country to remove all unnecessary obstacles to international humanitarian efforts, for the sake of the suffering people of Myanmar."

LWF World Service is committed to following the emergency response phase with a long-term rehabilitation and development presence in Myanmar (Burma) in service to the people of the country. "We feel strongly that without addressing the longer-term development perspective our intervention in emergency relief work will lose potential value", said LWF World Service Director Eberhard Hitzler. He expressed the hope that LWF partners will strongly support this commitment to respond to the suffering people of Myanmar (Burma), and that the country's authorities will allow ACT, LWF and others to offer their help as soon as possible.