The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Cyclone Mocha: urgent funding needed in Myanmar and Bangladesh as hunger, diseases loom
As a clearer picture emerges of the trail of destruction left by Cyclone Mocha in Myanmar and Bangladesh, humanitarians have continued to strive to bring life-saving assistance and call for urgent funding.
In Myanmar, the UN appealed on Tuesday for $333 million to assist 1.6 million of the most vulnerable people, many of whom have lost their homes as the cyclone hit the west of the country over a week ago.
The UN’s top aid official in the country, Ramanathan Balakrishnan, told reporters in Geneva that the disaster had left hundreds of thousands without a roof over their heads as the monsoon looms.
Among the priorities is providing people with safe shelter and preventing the outbreak and spread of water-borne diseases.
With coastal winds recorded at up to 250 kilometres per hour making landfall off the Bay of Bengal on 14 May, Mocha brought flooding and landslides to an area that is home to hundreds of thousands of people already displaced by the protracted conflict in Myanmar, many of them the Rohingya minority of Rakhine state.
The UN appeal requests an “urgent injection” of funds to support those in the highest impact zone across Rakhine, Chin, Magway, Sagaing and Kachin states.
Speaking via Zoom from Yangon, Mr. Balakrishnan, who is the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Myanmar, said that the 1.6 million people identified for support under the new funding appeal include “people who have lost their homes, people who lack access to health services and clean water, people who are food insecure or malnourished, displaced people in camps, stateless people, women, children and people with disabilities”.
“Those affected are facing a long, miserable monsoon season if we cannot mobilize resources in time,” he warned.
Mr. Balakrishnan also gave reporters a glimpse of the experience of internally displaced people, or IDPs, in the capital of Myanmar’s Rakhine State, Sittwe. He recounted that an IDP from a camp in Sittwe told his colleagues that his shelter was destroyed while his family took refuge at an evacuation site at the height of the storm.
“Those who stayed had faced a horrible experience as the camp was submerged in water from the storm surge,” the UN aid official said, before insisting on the need for medical care, clean water and food, as well as support to rebuild shelters.
Hundreds of humanitarian personnel are on the ground in Rakhine state, already providing food aid, shelter, water and hygiene items “wherever they have access”, while mobile health teams have been supporting people on the ground, Mr. Balakrishnan said, with plans for additional urgent aid distribution in the most affected areas.
In neighbouring Bangladesh, the UN is appealing for $42 million to support the cyclone response, including $36 million for Rohingya refugees living in camps in the affected areas. Gwyn Lewis, UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh speaking from Dhaka via Zoom, told reporters that more than 400,000 people in the country were impacted and 40,000 Rohingya refugees living in camps saw their homes – most often temporary bamboo structures – destroyed or damaged.
Ms. Lewis stressed that the cyclone came on the heels of food ration cuts for refugees and a devastating fire in March, in which 16,000 had lost their homes. Adding to the refugees’ hardship, she said that lack of funding is forcing the UN to cut their food rations for a second time as of 1 June. “This means that the Rohingya refugees will receive only 67 per cent of the needed food rations, so one million people will only be getting about two-thirds of the needed food,” she added.
Thankfully, the Government of Bangladesh acted quickly upon the cyclone warnings, Ms. Lewis said, and evacuated some 700,000 people from Mocha’s path, which helped save countless lives. She expressed hope that new funding will allow to rebuild the homes of the Rohingya refugees living in camps in Bangladesh with more weather-resistant materials and improve resilience.
STORY: Cyclone Mocha Appeal - OCHA
TRT: 2’31”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH, NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
RELEASE DATE: 23 May 2023
FORMAT: HYBRID PRESS BRIEFING
DATELINE: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide shot: UN flag alley UN Geneva.
- Cutaway: wide shot, speaker behind podium at the press conference, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Ramanathan Balakrishnan, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator a.i. for Myanmar: “The disaster has left hundreds of thousands of already vulnerable communities without a roof over their heads as the monsoon looms. The humanitarian community is now in a race against time to provide people with safe shelter in all affected communities and prevent the outbreak and spread of water-borne diseases.”
- Cutaway: medium shot, screen showing speakers; journalists in the foreground at the press conference, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Ramanathan Balakrishnan, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator a.i. for Myanmar: “The 1.6 million people identified for support under this appeal include people who have lost their homes, people who lack access to health services and clean water, people who are food insecure or malnourished, displaced people in camps, stateless people, women, children and people with disabilities. Those affected are facing a long, miserable monsoon season if we cannot mobilize resources in time.”
- Cutaway: close shot, journalists at the press conference, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Ramanathan Balakrishnan, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator a.i. for Myanmar: “One internally displaced person from the Sittwe camp told our colleagues in Rakhine that his shelter was destroyed while his family took refuge at an evacuation site at the height of the storm. He reported that those who stayed had faced a horrible experience as the camp was submerged in water from the storm surge. He told us that the IDPs need medical care, clean water and food, as well as support to rebuild their shelters.”
- Cutaway: medium lateral shot, journalists at the press conference, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Gwyn Lewis, UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh: “More than 400,000 Bangladeshis were impacted by the cyclone and the homes of 40,000 refugees were completely destroyed or damaged.”
- Cutaway: close lateral shot, journalists at the press conference, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Gwyn Lewis, UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh: “Cyclone Mocha comes at the heels of food ration cuts and a devastating fire in March, where 16,000 refugees lost their homes. Due to funding shortages, we are going to be forced to cut food rations for a second time as of 1 June. This means that the Rohingya refugees will receive only 67 per cent of the needed food rations, so 1 million people will only be getting about two thirds of the needed food.”
- Various cutaways of journalists and speakers in the press conference room.
Similar Stories
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | WMO
As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
ends
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in DR Congo continues to spread across the vast country despite some success in containing it, aid officials said on Tuesday, in a renewed call for international support to help responders on the ground.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WFP
‘Super El Niño’ and converging crises worsen hunger in South Sudan and across the region - WFP
South Sudan’s hunger crisis is becoming increasingly catastrophic as violence, extreme weather and dwindling aid leave millions without enough food, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
In war-torn Gaza, a growing number of women-headed households face “impossible decisions” every day, amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes and still-scarce resources, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk made the following remarks to the Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar at the 63rd Human Rights Council.
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk today delivered an update on the global human rights situation to the 63rdsession of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Repeated attacks on humanitarian warehouses put vital medical aid at risk in Ukraine - WHO
A new airstrike overnight damaged one of the main warehouses used by the UN health agency to store humanitarian medical supplies in the Kyiv region, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. This is the third attack to affect a WHO-used storage in the last three months.
2
2
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WMO
Powerful El Niño heightens extreme-weather risks through 2027, as countries brace for impact - WMO
Fuelled by extraordinarily warm waters across the tropical Pacific Ocean, the El Niño climate pattern is expected to intensify in the coming months. Forecasters are almost certain that it will persist through February next year, with unusually warm conditions expected across the globe.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , IFRC , UN WOMEN , WHO
Nepal flood deaths near 1,000 as those spared struggle to survive – UN humanitarians
With the death toll in Nepal’s catastrophic flash floods inching towards 1,000, rescue workers are facing harsh conditions while survivors lack access to food, safe water and health care, humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNDRR , IFRC , WHO
Nepal: Flooding disaster “not over” as humanitarians work around the clock
While search and rescue efforts continued Friday following flash floods and mudslides in northern Nepal, UN humanitarians are taking stock of the devastation amid concerns over more flooding to come.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL
Damaged roads, disrupted services and renewed military activity are putting civilians at risk in south Lebanon, UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) warns.
The UN peacekeeping mission is urging restraint and renewed political engagement to prevent further escalation.
1
1
1
Edited News | ICRC , UNODA
Amid unconfirmed reports that fully autonomous and AI-guided drones are now being used on the battlefield, UN chief António Guterres and the President of the Red Cross on Tuesday renewed their urgent call for stricter controls, before it is too late.