New maps & information on humanitarian response available

The online Humanitarian Information Centre for Myanmar has posted new information including updated Maps showing estimated number of homeless in the affected townships of Southern Burma. To view the maps please click here...

HIC also keeps a calender of various cluster working groups meetings scheduled in Yangon. To access the latest information about cluster group meetings click here.

Another important resource for journalists is also available, a consolidated list of agencies involved in the relief effort by cluster group. To access their contact details click here.

Panel Discussion: Burma- After the Storm

Can a catastrophe drag the 'sick man of ASEAN' into the modern world?

Monday, June 2 at 8:00 pm
Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand
Penthouse, Maneeya Center, 518/5 Ploenchit Road, Patumwan, Bangkok
(connected to the BTS Skytrain Chitlom station)

Call it a rainfall effect, but arguably nothing has done more to threaten Burma’s official refusal to engage with the outside world than a cyclone disaster that has already killed over a hundred thousand people - and may kill many more in its largely unmanaged aftermath. The outside world’s almost complete inability to help the over two million ordinary Burmese affected by the disaster is leading to a complete re-evaluation of how this isolated and backward country should be handled. Will a belated outpouring of aid go to the next logical step: a reduction in sanctions? Will Senior General Than Shwe honour his word and allow in all foreign aid workers? Why are we discussing billions in reconstruction aid before the dead have even been buried or burnt, or the survivors fed and medicated?

Speakers include:
Derek Tonkin, the outspoken former British Ambassador to Vietnam and Thailand
Aung Naing Oo, the former foreign affairs secretary of the All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF)
Larry Jagan, veteran freelance journalist with a special interest in Burma

Ethical guidelines on photographing & interviewing children

Two guideline documents have been uploaded to the Disaster Reporting website on Photographing and Interviewing Children affected by Cyclone Nargis. The guidelines, endorsed by UNICEF, are available to download in English and Burmese.

UN Press Corps report available

A Pool Report from UN Press Corp staff who have been accompanying the UN Secretary General on his trip in Burma is now available from the UN Information Service in Bangkok. To read the announcement click here.

For more information, please contact :
UN Information Services
Tel: +66-2-288-2861-9; Fax: +66-2-288-1052
Email: unisbkk.unescap@un.org

Press Conference: Update on United Nations Humanitarian Assistance to Myanmar

The United Nations system in Bangkok will give a press briefing at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand on the humanitarian assistance provided in response to Cyclone Nargis. The press conference will be held on Tuesday, May 27 at 11:00 am.

Speakers from UN agencies will provide an update on the situation on the ground and relief activities being undertaken. Among the agencies expected to brief the media are: the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Food Programme, the UN Children's Fund and the World Health Organization.

Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand
Penthouse, Maneeya Center Building
518/5 Ploenchit Road (connected to the BTS Skytrain Chitlom station)
Patumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02-652-0580-1
Fax: 02-652-0582
E-mail: info@fccthai.com
Web Site: http://www.fccthai.com

PSAs in Burmese for Cyclone Survivors now available

Two public service announcements have been developed for broadcast on Burmese radio. These PSAs have important information for journalists and stringers who intend to travel to the worst affected areas.

• To access the first set of PSAs on water and sanitation, click here...
• The access the second set of PSAs on precautions for people handling bodies of victims, click here...