24 Oct 2024 By Ra Wai / MPA
Myanmar’s UN Ambassador U Kyaw Moe Tun has urged the international community to provide visible and effective support to the people of Myanmar.
He emphasized that no one should be left out in providing assistance, delivering this message during a speech at a UN meeting on October 21, according to the Permanent Representative Office of Myanmar to the UN.
“About a million people in Myanmar are affected by flooding, according to the UN. UN agencies in Myanmar are trying to provide assistance, but they can only do so to a limited extent, as the junta permits. Flood-affected civilians in areas controlled by resistance forces are not receiving help. This is why the UN agencies have not been able to report the extent of their aid to those affected,” a Yangon-based political columnist told MPA.
The Myanmar people are committed to eradicating the military dictatorship and establishing a federal democracy, the ambassador added.
Myanmar people’s suffering has been exacerbated due to the military’s four cuts strategy, village burnings, indiscriminate airstrikes on civilian targets, and killings. Over 15 million people are facing food shortages, 18.6 million require humanitarian aid, more than 3.4 million have been displaced, and over 100,000 homes have been destroyed. According to a UNDP report, nearly half of Myanmar’s population is living below the poverty line. Furthermore, Typhoon Ragi’s impacts have compounded these challenges, increasing displacement and mortality rates, the ambassador highlighted.
The ambassador also noted that although Myanmar met all three criteria to exit the Least Developed Country status in the 2018 review of the UN’s Committee for Development Policy (CDP), the unlawful military coup and subsequent violence of the dictators have reversed all progress made during the tenure of the civilian government.