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BANGKOK: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon arrived in Myanmar on Thursday to secure vital aid for the victims of Cyclone Nargis. This meeting comes ahead of a pivotal donor conference in Yangon on Sunday.
A few days ago, Myanmar's leader, General Than Shwe, was too busy to take phonecalls, even from the world's top diplomat, Mr Ban.
But that was before the reclusive military government started to acknowledge the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis, which has left an estimated 134,000 people dead or missing.
Mr Ban is now in Yangon in an effort to fast-track basic assistance to the 2.4 million cyclone survivors – 75 percent of whom have not received aid of any kind for nearly three weeks.
"We must do our utmost for the people of Myanmar. I say now what I have said before. Aid in Myanmar should not be politicised. Our focus now is on saving lives," he said.
Politics, however, has most certainly played a part in the dismally slow response to the disaster.
Critics have pointed to Myanmar's initial unwillingness to accept aid from other countries, insisting that it could handle the crisis on its own.
But Mr Ban's visit ahead of a multilateral meeting on Sunday may be instrumental in creating a coordinated relief effort that could prevent thousands of post-cyclone deaths.
ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said the ten-member organisation will go ahead with its mandate to spearhead the distribution of humanitarian aid.
He said: "The task force of ASEAN, this coalition of mercy, will be able to effectively garner international support, international assistance, based on the figures that are accepted, scrutinised and validated by competent objective neutral agencies."
So far, the Cyclone Nargis aid appeal has raised US$41 million out of a needed US$200 million, according to the UN.
Many questions remain ahead of Sunday's donor conference, including how effective Mr Ban's powers of persuasion will be with Myanmar's military leaders.
So far, relief workers have had little or no access to the worst-hit areas. How ASEAN member states will fill their roles as key facilitators of logistics and supplies to stave off further devastation remains to be determined.
- CNA/so
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