Tuesday, July 15, 2008

ASEAN Press Conference to Release PONJA Report

The long awaited Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) Report will be presented to the ASEAN Foreign Ministers when they meet in Singapore on 20-21 July 2008. The ASEAN Chair, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo, will preside over the launch of the report in Singapore on 21 July 2008. The report will be released concurrently in Yangon.

Secretary-General of ASEAN and Chair of the Task Force, Dr Surin Pitsuwan said, “We anticipate a comprehensive, credible and viable report based on the objective needs of the victims of Cyclone Nargis; a report that will be useful to help guide the relief and recovery efforts in cyclone-hit Myanmar, so that the medium-term needs of the Nargis victims are sufficiently addressed.”

PONJA is a joint assessment by ASEAN, the Government of Myanmar and the United Nations, with technical support from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. The assessment relies on two approaches: a rapid household and community survey of more than 290 villages in the affected areas, and an economic assessment of the damage and losses by sector.

For information about attending the press conference and report launch, please contact the ASEAN Secretariat Media Office.

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