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WFP / CYCLONE MOCHA BANGLADESH MYANMAR
STORY: WFP / CYCLONE MOCHA BANGLADESH MYANMAR
TRT: 01: 49
SOURCE: WFP
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT WFP ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: PLEASE SEE SHOTLIST FOR DETAILS
17 MAY 2023, SITTWE, RAKHINE STATE, MYANMAR
1. Various shots, destruction caused by Cyclone Mocha
2. Various shots, destruction caused to WFP warehouses and compound
15 MAY 2023, YANGON, MYANMAR
3. Various shots, WFP food being loaded onto a boat
19 MAY 2023, YANGON, MYANMAR
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Stephen Anderson, Myanmar Country Director, World Food Programme (WFP):
“The World Food Programme has already started rapid food distributions to populations in extreme need in Rakhine and in Magwe and is going to be expanding further in the coming days. We hope to reach at least 800,0000 people who are considered in greatest need. Our teams are on the ground. Working around the clock to do whatever they can to scale up assistance to reach all those in need wherever they are.”
17 MAY 2023, SITTWE, RAKHINE STATE, MYANMAR
5. Various shots, WFP emergency food distribution
According to the World Food Programme (WFP), cyclone Mocha, the strongest storm to strike the Bay of Bengal in over a decade, has wreaked havoc on millions of vulnerable people, particularly in Myanmar.
Heavy rains and winds triggered flash floods and landslides, washing away thousands of homes and causing widespread damage to infrastructure in Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Cyclone Mocha has left a trail of devastation across Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State, where households in many townships and displacement sites in low-lying areas have lost substantial food stocks and livelihoods, with an immediate impact on food security.
Key facilities like hospitals and schools have been destroyed, especially in the state capital, Sittwe. Telecommunications and power lines in this region of Myanmar have been severely disrupted.
While WFP works with partners to assess the full magnitude of the disaster, initial estimates suggest that at least 800,000 people in the direct path of the cyclone will need emergency food assistance in Myanmar, double the number compared to before the storm.
Cox’s Bazar in neighboring Bangladesh was spared a direct hit by the cyclone but has seen wide-scale destruction to makeshift houses in Teknaf camp, which hosts already vulnerable Rohingya refugees.
In addition, nearly 430,000 Bangladeshis have also been affected in Cox’s Bazar, Chattogram, Noakhali, and Feni.
Thanks to the prepositioning of food stocks as part of its cyclone preparedness measures, WFP responded to Cyclone Mocha within the first hours of landfall.
WFP is reaching people most hard-hit in both countries and has already provided emergency food and nutrition assistance.
In Myanmar, WFP has begun emergency food distributions to cyclone-affected families in Rakhine state and Magwe region evacuation shelters.
WFP plans to reach 800,000 people in the worst-hit areas of Rakhine with emergency food assistance for three months. Over half of them were already displaced by conflict.
In Bangladesh, WFP is reaching 6,000 Rohingya refugees with food assistance, including fortified biscuits and hot meals in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char.
WFP has resumed regular food assistance to nearly one million Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar and those in Bhasan Char after it was disrupted due to the cyclone.
Even before the cyclone struck, WFP had already reached over 28,000 Bangladeshis in Teknaf with anticipatory cash assistance so that they would be able to prepare for the incoming cyclone.
The cyclone is just the latest of the crises to exacerbate existing vulnerabilities in the region.
In Bangladesh, Cox’s Bazar, 1 million Rohingya living in the world’s largest refugee camp depend entirely on humanitarian assistance.
In Myanmar, food insecurity has risen sharply over the past few years, driven by the triple impact of conflict and the political and economic crises.
More funding is urgently needed.
The cyclone has more than doubled the number of people requiring emergency food assistance in Rakhine State, from 360,000 to 800,000.
In Bangladesh, this calamity is striking amid a severe funding crisis.
In March, WFP was forced to reduce its lifesaving food voucher value for the Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar and will have to cut the voucher value further in June unless funding is secured.
WFP requires US$ 60 million until the end of the year to provide lifesaving food assistance in Myanmar to 2.1 million people affected by multiple and compounding crises, including US$ 38 million in the aftermath of Cyclone Mocha.
In Bangladesh, WFP needs US$ 56 million until the end of the year to provide lifesaving food to Rohingya refugees.
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