U Than Swe, Deputy Prime Minister and Union Minister for Foreign Affairs, received Mr Sajjad Mohammad Sajid, Head of Office of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in Myanmar(File Photo)
Mizima
The Myanmar junta Deputy Prime Minister and Union Minister for Foreign Affairs Than Swe received Mr Sajjad Mohammad Sajid, Head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) on 6 February at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Naypyidaw, according to Myanmar state media.
They exchanged views on matters related to the facilitation of the provision of humanitarian assistance to needy people in hard-to-reach areas and ways and means for cooperation between the Government of Myanmar and United Nations agencies in the field of humanitarian aid, the state-run media reported.
Also present at the meeting were senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ms Danielle Parry and Ms. Kyoko Ono, Deputy Heads of Office for UNOCHA.
The UNOCHA chief and junta’s FM met on 9 November 2023 to discuss providing humanitarian aid to the Myanmar people.
Myanmar CSOs criticized the tour of Martin Griffiths, chief of UNOCHA, to Myanmar in August 2023.
The CSOs pointed out the omission of the facts and causes of the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in the country were atrocities and violence committed by the military regime and denying access to the victims of Cyclone Mocha in Rakhine State.
The UNOCHA requested funding of an unprecedented US$ 995 million for 2024 from international donors to provide humanitarian relief to the needy people in the country.
The statement of UNOCHA says that three years on from the military takeover, the humanitarian landscape for 2024 is grim with a third of the population – 18.6 million people – now estimated to be in humanitarian need.
Myanmar’s crisis demands immediate attention and increased international support to address the multi-faceted survival challenges faced by the civilian population. Urgent funding for complementary development action is also required to reverse the growth in humanitarian need and build the resilience of communities in the face of persistent shocks, the statement says.
The international aid agencies have been urged by critics to cooperate in their work with Ethnic Armed Organizations (EROs), National Unity Government (NUG) and CSOs, which are effectively providing their services in providing on-ground essential aid to needy people.
