UNOG--NEWS Cyclone Mocha Appeal - OCHA 23MAY2023
/
2:34
/
MP4
/
190 MB

Edited News | OCHA

Cyclone Mocha Appeal - OCHA

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

  1. Exterior wide shot: UN flag alley UN Geneva.
  2. Cutaway: wide shot, speaker behind podium at the press conference, UN Geneva.
  3. 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.”
  4. Cutaway: medium shot, screen showing speakers; journalists in the foreground at the press conference, UN Geneva.
  5. 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.”
  6. Cutaway: close shot, journalists at the press conference, UN Geneva.
  7. 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.”
  8. Cutaway: medium lateral shot, journalists at the press conference, UN Geneva.
  9. 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.”
  10. Cutaway: close lateral shot, journalists at the press conference, UN Geneva.
  11. 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.”
  12. Various cutaways of journalists and speakers in the press conference room.

Similar Stories

Gaza aid and border crossings - WFP, OCHA 17 October 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | WFP , OCHA

Gaza aid and border crossings - WFP, OCHA 17 October 2025 ENG FRA

UN urges opening of all Gaza crossings to deliver three-month food supply

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned food aid cannot reach everyone in Gaza unless all border crossings are opened, particularly in the north where famine was declared in August. The agency says it already has enough supplies in place to feed the entire population of the Strip for three months – if full access is granted by Israel.

Gaza update – UNDP, UNICEF, OCHA, ICRC 14 October 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | UNDP , UNICEF , OCHA , ICRC

Gaza update – UNDP, UNICEF, OCHA, ICRC 14 October 2025 ENG FRA

Around $70 billion will be needed to reconstruct Gaza and make it safe after two years of war, UN development experts said on Tuesday, while aid agencies reported that far too little aid continues to reach  desperate Palestinians.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Machado: reaction from UN rights office

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Machado: reaction from UN rights office ENG FRA

The UN human rights office, OHCHR, on Friday welcomed the Nobel Peace Prize committee’s decision to name Maria Machado as this year’s laureate, in recognition of her work promoting the Venezuelan people’s democratic hopes.

Gaza ceasefire agreement – UNRWA, UNICEF, WHO 10 October 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | UNRWA , UNICEF , WHO

Gaza ceasefire agreement – UNRWA, UNICEF, WHO 10 October 2025 ENG FRA

As Gazans jammed the main route leading north on Friday after a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was announced, UN aid teams repeated their call to open all crossings into the devastated enclave to prevent famine spreading.

Gaza - Israel war 7 October 2025 - OCHA - UNICEF - WHO

1

1

1

Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF , WHO

Gaza - Israel war 7 October 2025 - OCHA - UNICEF - WHO ENG FRA

Two years of Gaza-Israel war bring ‘indescribable’ pain: UN humanitarians

Two years since the Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel, UN humanitarians on Tuesday reiterated calls for the release of all hostages in Gaza, an immediate ceasefire and an aid surge to alleviate Palestinians’ suffering, as talks on a US-driven peace plan continued in Egypt.

Justice for Syria's disappeared - Riyad Avlar – 06 October 2025

1

1

1

Edited News

Justice for Syria's disappeared - Riyad Avlar – 06 October 2025 ENG FRA

Syria prison survivor seeks justice for the missing with UN backing.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk at Human Rights Council on Ukraine: “This war needs to end”

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk at Human Rights Council on Ukraine: “This war needs to end” ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday warned that three and a half years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, the war in Ukraine has entered an even more dangerous and deadly stage for Ukrainian civilians, under relentless bombardment of their schools, hospitals, and shelters.

30 minutes in a Gaza hospital - UNICEF - WHO - ICRC

1

1

1

Edited News | UNICEF , WHO , ICRC

30 minutes in a Gaza hospital - UNICEF - WHO - ICRC ENG FRA

Quadcopter victims, terror and death: 30 minutes in a Gaza hospital 

UN aid teams on Friday highlighted the disturbing situation in Gaza’s makeshift hospitals, where premature babies cry for scant oxygen and medics attempt to save child survivors targeted by airstrikes in their tents and quadcopter victims reportedly shot while fetching bread.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk’s Oral update to the Human Rights Council on the situation in Haiti

2

1

2

Edited News | OHCHR

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk’s Oral update to the Human Rights Council on the situation in Haiti ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Thursday delivered his oral update to the UN Human Rights Council’s 60th session on the human rights situation in Haiti.

The High Commissioner welcomed Wednesday’s decision of the UN Security Council to strengthen the Multinational Security Support mission by transitioning to the Gang Suppression Force for Haiti, stating it is a strong signal of international support for the Haitian people.

Gaza aid update - UNICEF, OCHA 30 September 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF

Gaza aid update - UNICEF, OCHA 30 September 2025 ENG FRA

Gaza: As world waits for US peace plan news, UN aid teams stress need for ceasefire

UN agencies reiterated calls for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza on Tuesday to help alleviate Palestinian suffering, as a new US 20-point plan raised hopes of a halt to the fighting.

Gaza healthcare attacks – WHO

1

1

1

Edited News | WHO

Gaza healthcare attacks – WHO ENG FRA

The ongoing Israeli military offensive in Gaza City continues to overwhelm the war-torn enclave’s medical professionals, with four more hospitals forced to shut down this month alone, the UN World Health Organization said on Friday.

UN Report: Civilian detainees subjected to troubling patterns of torture and ill treatment since Russia’s full scale attack on Ukraine

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN Report: Civilian detainees subjected to troubling patterns of torture and ill treatment since Russia’s full scale attack on Ukraine ENG FRA

A UN Human Rights report released today details the dire situation of thousands of civilians detained since Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine in 2022.