YANGON, 30 June 2008 (IRIN) - Cooperation between the international humanitarian community and Myanmar's government in addressing the needs of survivors of Cyclone Nargis is improving, the UN says.

An estimated 138,000 people were killed or are missing when the category four storm slammed into the southern Ayeyarwady delta on 2 and 3 May, affecting 2.4 million people and leaving nearly half of them needing assistance.

"The level of cooperation has definitely improved," Dan Baker, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Myanmar, told IRIN in Yangon, the former capital, citing greater access to the cyclone-affected area.

However, in the immediate aftermath of Nargis, access to the impoverished southeast Asian nation and devastated delta was restricted as international aid workers struggled with how to respond.

"You just couldn't go there. Full stop," one NGO worker, who until recently had not been allowed access, told IRIN.

Yet almost two months on - despite some continuing bureaucratic hurdles - that situation has shown signs of improvement.

"UN requests for visas and travel permits are being granted, although not always as fast as we would like," Baker said.

As of 29 June, more than 290 visas had been issued for international UN staff as well as hundreds more for international NGO staff. And while most visas are for no more than two weeks, extensions are possible.

Some 225 international UN staff have also been granted travel authorisation to the delta, which bore the brunt of the devastation, with hundreds of international NGO workers joining them, although most for no more than a week at a time.

Around 10 staff have permission to stay in the field for periods of up to three months, working alongside national staff who are driving the response effort on the ground.

Tripartite Core Group

Instrumental in ensuring access is the Tripartite Core Group (TCG), formed after the 19 May Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministerial meeting in Singapore, and the 25 May ASEAN-UN international pledging conference in Yangon.

Comprising three members each from the Myanmar government, ASEAN and the UN, the group works to facilitate cooperation between Myanmar and the international community and will hold its eighth meeting on 1 July.

Challenges ahead

Initial findings of the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment conducted from 11 to 20 June in the worst-hit areas indicate that immediate, life-saving needs remain high.

Fifty-nine percent of houses were severely damaged by the storm, while 60 percent of households surveyed reported inadequate access to clean water.

With 48 percent of all food stocks destroyed, continued food assistance will be required.

According to the UN World Food Programme (WFP), about 924,000 people will need food assistance for at least the next six months, 724,000 in the delta and 200,000 in Yangon Division.

"This is to ensure that people can begin rebuilding their livelihoods and securing their lives," WFP country representative, Chris Kaye, told IRIN.

Yet earlier fears of a second wave of deaths due to poor access to food or disease outbreaks have proved unfounded. "Neither of these two has happened," Baker said, stressing the importance of keeping the humanitarian pipeline open.

"This requires what we seem to be getting now, which is continued access, as well as continued funding," the UN official said.

Revised flash appeal

On 9 May, the UN launched a flash appeal, which is more than 66 percent funded, of US$201 million on behalf of 10 UN organisations and nine NGOs to provide food, water, shelter, health kits, cooking sets, mosquito nets and other relief supplies.

"We are really at the stage of early recovery," Baker said, citing the importance of the end of the planting season this month. Early recovery efforts will go on in parallel with ongoing relief activities.

The parallel efforts will continue until mid-2009, according to Baker, a timeline reflected in the revised flash appeal due on 10 July in New York, which will incorporate a number of inputs from the assessment.

Final findings of the assessment, which will include a damage and loss overview, will be published on 20 July.

"If we are able to show that we have continued access and that the assessment has been credible, I think the donors will be very much on board," Baker said.

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