O 010653Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY RANGOON
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7858
AMEMBASSY BANGKOK IMMEDIATE 
AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU IMMEDIATE 
USMISSION GENEVA IMMEDIATE 
USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 
INFO NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS RANGOON 000526 
 
AIDAC 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP, PRM, DRL 
STATE ALSO PASS TO USAID 
AID/W FOR DCHA/FFP AND DCHA/OTI 
AID/W FOR DCHA/OFDA KLUU, ACONVERY, RTHAYER 
BANGKOK FOR DCHA/OFDA WBERGER AND TROGERS 
KATHMANDU FOR DCHA/OFDA SMCINTYRE AND MROGERS 
USMISSION GENEVA FOR NKYLOH 
USMISSION USUN FOR FSHANKS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID SENV KSCA TBIO VM EAGR PREF
SUBJECT:  BURMA CYCLONE: USAID/OFDA SITUATION REPORT #33 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. According to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian 
Affairs (OCHA), initial analysis of the preliminary village tract 
assessment (VTA) data suggests that widespread destruction was 
caused by strong wind combined with storm surge and excessive 
rainfall, faulty early warning systems, and inadequate village 
disaster response plans.  On June 26, the USAID Office of U.S. 
Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) logistics officer traveled 
with the head of the logistics cluster to observe the distribution 
of relief commodities by helicopter, as well as warehousing 
operations at the logistics hub in Bogale township.  On June 25, the 
Government of Burma (GOB) granted the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) 
approval to resume a cash transfer program in nine townships in 
Rangoon Division.  The nutrition cluster noted that the preliminary 
results from the VTA appear in line with the results of rapid 
nutrition assessments.  End Summary. 
 
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HUMANITARIAN SITUATION 
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¶2. According to OCHA, initial analysis of the preliminary VTA data 
suggests that widespread destruction was caused by strong wind 
combined with storm surge and excessive rainfall, faulty early 
warning systems, and inadequate village disaster response plans. 
The preliminary VTA data indicates that in the aftermath of the 
cyclone, the number of people reporting agriculture as a main source 
of income declined from 34 percent to 22 percent, while individuals 
reporting fishing as the main source of income declined from 16 
percent to 8 percent.  The assessment found that coping mechanisms 
were under strain, with 79 percent of respondents reporting a lack 
of access to credit, reducing capacity to restart livelihoods 
without some form of external assistance. 
 
¶3. Initial assessment data also indicates that 72 percent of schools 
and educational facilities, 57 percent of religious institutions, 
and 23 percent of health facilities need rehabilitation in the areas 
surveyed.  The Tripartite Core Group (TCG) indicated that the 
findings were based on only 60 percent of the household data 
collected and 50 percent of the key informant interview data.  The 
results may shift once the full dataset is available. 
 
¶4. The GOB New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported that the GOB Port 
Authority has repaired six jetties along Rangoon River, while 
removing two other heavily damaged jetties.  The repairs should 
enable a better flow of vessels transporting commodities between 
Rangoon and the Irrawaddy Delta or other regions. 
 
¶5. On June 26, the Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast 
Asian Nations (ASEAN) traveled by helicopter to visit Bogale 
township, Set San village and Kyein Chaung Gyi village in the 
Irrawaddy Delta.  In Bogale, the ASEAN Secretary-General was briefed 
on cyclone damage and recovery efforts, and visited a school, 
hospital, and temporary shelters. 
 
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USAID/OFDA LOGISTICS ASSESSMENT 
------------------------------- 
 
¶6. On June 26, the USAID/OFDA logistics officer traveled with the 
head of the logistics cluster to observe the distribution of relief 
commodities by helicopter as well as warehousing operations at the 
logistics hub in Bogale township.  The logistics cluster helicopter 
operations do not have refueling capability at the respective 
logistics hubs and are therefore limited to the number of flights, 
or rotations, that the helicopters can perform before returning to 
Rangoon.  The flights from the hubs are limited to 2 metric tons 
(MT) of cargo per flight, and can offload in less than three 
minutes. 
 
¶7. The WFP Bogale logistics cluster warehouses are pre-positioned 
temporary structures for use by the humanitarian community.  The 
food warehouse is a permanent structure located on the river about 
300 meters from the helicopter landing pad.  Off-loading of food aid 
from the WFP-contracted barge was ongoing at the time of the 
assessment.  Food aid was being repositioned both to the WFP 
warehouse in preparation for helicopter distribution and directly to 
smaller boats for surface transport.  All operations appeared to be 
well coordinated and on schedule. 
 
¶8. Neither the USAID/OFDA logistics officer nor the logistics 
cluster head were approached by GOB authorities requesting to see 
travel permission. 
 
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VTA METHODOLOGY AND CHALLANGES 
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¶9. The TCG reported that the VTA was designed to provide results 
spatially, via a grid of assessment quadrants overlaying the 30 
cyclone-affected townships.  The VTA teams selected the nearest 
village to the center of each quadrant for an initial assessment. 
The teams then surveyed a minimum of two nearby villages.  The VTA 
reportedly surveyed approximately 5 percent of the 6,000 villages in 
1,300 village tracts in the 30 affected townships.  The VTA teams 
also compiled population data throughout the assessment. 
 
¶10. The TCG noted three challenges for the assessment at the June 24 
presentation.  VTA teams reported logistical challenges in traveling 
to some of the identified villages, which were magnified by the 
short timeframe for the assessment.  Limited time for initial 
training also led to some observed inconsistencies in the 
interpretation of VTA questions by the assessment teams, leading to 
possible biases in the responses.  Certain questions in the VTA 
questionnaire were poorly structured, resulting in low response 
rates or subjective answers to the questions. 
 
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FOOD ASSISTANCE 
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¶11. The food cluster actively participated in analyzing food 
security-related data for the VTA component of the Post-Nargis Joint 
Assessment.  The preliminary results from the VTA indicated that the 
cyclone destroyed 42 percent of all food stocks in areas surveyed, 
while partially destroying an additional 11 percent.  VTA assessment 
teams found that approximately 56 percent of households interviewed 
obtained food from the markets, while approximately 45 percent 
received food through humanitarian distributions.  In collaboration 
with cooperating partners, the WFP is planning to conduct a market 
assessment survey on June 27, covering 35 markets across 21 
townships in the Irrawaddy Delta.  WFP will regularly monitor rice 
prices following the assessment. 
 
¶12. As of June 26, the food cluster has delivered 17,993 MT of food 
assistance to affected areas, of which 9,198 MT has been 
distributed.  The food cluster noted the receipt of approximately 
1,670 MT of vegetable oil supplied by USAID's Office of Food for 
Peace, which arrived in Rangoon on June 23 and is currently moving 
through the logistics pipeline.  The food cluster has reached 
approximately 729,000 beneficiaries with food and cash assistance as 
of June 26.  The cluster has provided food assistance to 
approximately 684,000 beneficiaries in the Irrawaddy Division, and 
provided cash transfers to 45,000 beneficiaries in Rangoon Division, 
where markets are functioning and food is available. 
 
¶13. On June 25, the GOB granted WFP approval to resume a cash 
transfer program in nine townships in Rangoon Division.  In 
collaboration with four NGO partners, WFP is targeting a total 
200,000 beneficiaries through the program, with a total allocation 
of USD 2.7 million.  Cash transfer activities resumed on June 26, 
and WFP will accompany NGO partners to each township to explain 
modalities of the cash distribution to local authorities. 
 
¶14. The food cluster reported that the prohibition of local rice 
purchases makes regional procurement a priority.  The cluster is 
continuing efforts to import rice from Thailand and India to avoid a 
pipeline break.  Planning for the local production of rice-based 
blended food for young children is also ongoing.  The cluster noted 
that frequent population movements present a continuing challenge 
when targeting food assistance. 
 
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NUTRITION 
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¶15. On June 26, the nutrition cluster meeting focused on better 
coordination and mapping at the sub-township level, as there have 
been instances of overlap and duplication in programming.  The 
cluster noted that the preliminary results from the VTA appear in 
line with the results of rapid nutrition assessments. 
 
¶16. Nutrition cluster representatives presented the GOB deputy 
health minister with an overview of the cluster's objectives, 
achievements, and challenges to date.  The cluster noted continued 
strong coordination with the GOB Ministry of Health (MOH).  The GOB 
MOH has established four hospital-based therapeutic feeding units in 
collaboration with the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF).  UNICEF has 
also provided more than 200 MT of ready-to-use therapeutic food to 
partners, which are implementing supplementary and therapeutic 
feeding programs in affected areas. 
 
VILLAROSA