On May 2, 2008 Cyclone Nargis hit the South West corner of Myanmar (Burma) with winds of up to 120 mph causing mass destruction. The Burmese authorities have declared a state of emergency in five areas: Rangoon District (Yangon), Pegu Division, Mon State, Karen State and the Irrawaddy Division. An estimated 24 million people live in these five areas that have been hardest hit by the Cyclone.

The State's current death toll has been set at 22,000, with another 41,000 people believed missing, and over one million left homeless. Save the Children's team in Myanmar reports that 40% of the dead and missing since the Cyclone hit are believed to be children.

Save the Children has been working in Myanmar for 13 years and is one of the biggest INGOs in the country. The charity has 500 national staff and 35 offices across the country. We responded to the emergency immediately, providing food, plastic tarpaulins, water purification tablets and rehydration salts to more than 50,000 people whose homes were destroyed.

Families in Myanmar need urgent help in a deteriorating situation.

Andrew Kirkwood, Save the Children's Country Director in Myanmar, said: "There is an incredibly urgent humanitarian need. We're talking about a similar situation to the 2004 tsunami. The storm surge in many parts of the delta following the major wind was reportedly as high as 25 feet in places and as the delta is a very flat area we expect that many, many people drowned. About 40% of the people living in the delta are children under 18, so we would expect that 40% of the dead and missing are children."

What we're doing:

Save the Children New Zealand immediately sent NZ$20,000 to support initial relief efforts.

Since Monday we have been responding in three of the peri-urban areas of Yangon that have been most badly hit. 50,000 people in these 3 townships are out of their homes, many living in spontaneous shelters established in monasteries, churches and schools.

We are providing food, water purification tablets, plastic sheeting, kitchen equipment, re-hydration salts for those with diarrhea etc. to 20,000 people whose homes have been destroyed.
We are organizing the logistics capacity (trucks, boats etc.) to distribute shelter materials, water purification tablets, food, kitchen equipment, re-hydration salts for those with diarrhea to people in the hardest hit parts of the delta.

What you can do:

Donate Online
Download a Myanmar Cyclone Donation Form [Adobe PDF, 851.4 Kb] and post it or fax it to us, or
Call our toll free number 0800 167 168 to donate over the phone

View more:

View Andrew Kirkwood's video as the cyclone hits Myanmar
Read the blog of Save the Children Child Protection Advisor Katy Barnett, on the ground in Myanmar
View Save the Children's video of food aid arriving in Myanmar