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WFP: Myanmar earthquake deepens crisis; agency says it needs $20 million to scale food response
Summary
Melissa Lee Hine of the World Food Programme said almost 3,000 people have died in the recent Myanmar earthquake and that immediate needs for food, shelter and water are large. WFP has reached more than 15,000 people so far, plans to assist 850,000 in April, and estimates at least $20 million is needed for its part of the response.
Melissa Lee Hine, head of communications for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Yangon, said the earthquake that struck Myanmar on Friday has killed “almost 3,000” people and left thousands more injured and missing, worsening an already large humanitarian crisis.
The tremor damaged homes, hospitals, roads, bridges and utilities across multiple regions, Hine said, forcing people to sleep outdoors and leaving many without shelter, clean water or medical care. “For WFP, we have food in our warehouses across the country,” she said, but added that funds are urgently needed to move and distribute supplies to affected areas.
The disaster hit areas that were already under strain: Hine said 20,000,000 people in Myanmar were in need of humanitarian assistance before the quake, 15,000,000 faced food insecurity and more than 3.5 million people had been displaced by conflict over the past four years. The earthquake’s worst impacts were concentrated in the Northwest Dry Zone and in parts of…
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