AID agencies dealing with the aftermath of cyclone Nargis have called for more help from the international community, as an ASEAN-led assessment team prepares to release its full report later this month on the need for more humanitarian assistance in the Ayeyarwady delta.

The report by the assessment team, which surveyed Ayeyarwady and Yangon divisions from June 9 to 20, is due to be published on July 20. A preliminary report stating the need for more humanitarian assistance had been released late last month.

The 300-member assessment team included government and ASEAN officials, as well as experts from the United Nations, World Bank and Asian Development Bank. It was deployed under the aegis of a tripartite working group formed in late May to help boost international assistance to cyclone-affected areas.

At a donor pledging conference held in Yangon on May 25 to raise funds for nearly 2.5 million cyclone survivors, many potential donors said that an independent assessment of the situation in the delta was one of the preconditions for providing aid.

The United Nations resident coordinator in Myanmar, Mr Bishow Parajuli, said last week that this stipulation, as well as the condition placed by many donors that international aid workers be given access to the worst-affected areas, has largely been met.

“I hope this good work and the investment done in the assessment … reflect very positively for the next stage in terms of a new appeal for continued relief and early recovery,” Mr Parajuli told The Myanmar Times in an interview last Friday.

Mr Parajuli was appointed head of the UN in Myanmar in late May, replacing Mr Charles Petrie, who left Myanmar last December after serving in the post for four years.

Mr Parajuli said the level of cooperation between the government and interna-tional aid workers has improved, which has helped relief efforts make steady progress.

“My observation in the last six weeks has been positive. The government has been very accommodat-ing. There have been challenges but there has also been flexibility shown by the government,” he said.

“And there are large numbers of aid workers traveling into the country and going to the delta. Access to visas and travel permit has been greatly facilitated, and I think access and openness have improved tremendously.”

Mr Parajuli said he hopes international aid donors will continue to pledge funding for cyclone survivors.

“The international community have been generous and they have been very supportive. I am hopeful they will continue to be generous for the future,” he said. “It is very important to sustain this relief effort and early recovery process.”

Mr Parajuli said relief efforts at this stage – two months after the cyclone – should be focused on helping delta residents rebuild their life and livelihoods.

“What is really important is helping people survive and sustain their lives, and helping them stand on their own. Humanitarian support is not just to make sure people survive, but also to help them sustain their lives on their own.

“I think the human dignity element is very important and we need to keep it on the top of the agenda in the overall context,” he said.

The Myanmar country director of Save the Children, Mr Andrew Kirkwood, also told The Myanmar Times that pre-conditions set by international donors at the first pledging conference had been met and that it was time for “the international community to reach into their pockets”.“It is important that they do what they said they would do. If they don’t, I think many people will be extremely disappointed, and rightly so,” he said.

Mr Kirkwood, quoting the preliminary report from the ASEAN-led assessment team released in Yangon late last month, said more than 900,000 people were still not able to buy food for their families.

“In my view [the assessment] was an independent assessment of the situation and it seems to have gone extremely well. The assessment team had complete and free access to go where they needed to go to do the assessment.

“And from our point of view, access for humanitarian organisations in the delta has definitely improved, so in my view the government has done what it said it would do,” he said. “Now it is incumbent upon the international community to reach into their pockets and provide the assistance the survivors need.”

Mr Kirkwood shared Mr Parajuli’s view that providing assistance for rebuilding livelihoods should be a priority.

“It is clear from the people we talk to that nobody wants to live on handouts. People don’t like that. They want to get back to their own livelihoods as quickly as possible – farmers want to start farming, fisherman want to start fishing, and people want to start salt production again,” Mr Kirkwood said.

Last week an international aid expert who worked in the Indonesian province of Aceh in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami praised the joint efforts by the government, ASEAN and the UN in providing emergency relief.

“Judging by the progress at the eighth week, [the joint efforts] in managing response and preparing the recovery has placed Myanmar Nargis in a much more advanced stage compared to Aceh tsunami then,” Mr Heru Prasetyo was quoted as saying in an ASEAN statement issued on July 2.

“No doubt, the journey to recovery will be uphill and arduous,” he added.