2.5 million isn't a small number

The population of some countries can be way below 2.5 million...and this is just the number of people who were displaced by Cyclone Nargis.

They still need aid - What are we doing about it?

From the Myanmar Times:

Donor nations gather in Yangon for Nargis roundtable

MYANMAR hosted a meeting last week to update potential donors on the funding requirements for ongoing relief and recovery efforts in areas of the Ayeyarwady delta affected by cyclone Nargis in May.

Senior government officials, aid experts and representatives of donor countries met in Yangon on Wednesday, amid reports by the United Nations of continuing shortfalls in funding to support livelihoods for 2.4 million cyclone victims.

The High-level Roundtable on Post Nargis Relief and Recovery Efforts in Myanmar, as the meeting was officially called, was the second of its kind organised by the Tripartite Core Group (TCG), which is overseeing the relief efforts.

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Mumbai and human rights

Dear BuildBurma.org members and friends,

It is with a heavy heart that I write this message to you as our friends and family in Mumbai, India witness the devastation of their beloved city.

In the midst of these terrorist attacks, civilians have been killed and harmed, and their basic human rights have been violated.

And whether it is in Myanmar or Mumbai or any other part of the world, we must always stand together to fight for justice and against the violation of our right to live.

Smriti Mundhra, one of our core members, is in Mumbai right now, in the heart of the attacks, and has been keeping us updated on the situation through the night.

We pray for her and her family's safety and that the attacks end soon. Tomorrow will be a new day as the dust settles by the Taj hotel and the Gateway of India, and we hope for the recovery of the city and its people.

Please visit BuildBurma.org for updates on the situation in Myanmar and please visit the website of our partner, Alertnet.org, for regular updates on Mumbai and other humanitarian issues.

Warm regards,
Shruti

Myanmar junta jails comedian for 45 years

A secret court in military-ruled Myanmar sentenced popular comedian and activist Zarganar to 45 years prison on Friday, the latest in a series of lengthy jail terms handed down on more than 100 dissidents, relatives said.

Zarganar, whose real name is Ko Thura, was detained in June after coordinating private aid in Yangon for the victims of Cyclone Nargis, which devastated huge swathes of the Irrawaddy Delta in May, killing 140,000 people.

Police seized his computer and several banned films, including the latest Rambo movie, featuring the U.S. Vietnam War veteran taking on the former Burma's ruling military on behalf of Christian ethnic Karen rebels.

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MSF report - People dying due to lack of treatment

Thousands of people are needlessly dying due to a severe lack of lifesaving HIV/AIDS treatment in Myanmar, says international humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontiere  (MSF) in a report released today. Unable to continue shouldering the primary responsibility for responding to one of Asia's worst HIV crises, MSF insists that the Government of Myanmar and international organizations urgently and rapidly scale-up ART provision.

An estimated 240,000 people are thought to have HIV/AIDS in Myanmar. Of these people, 76,000 are in urgent need of antiretroviral treatment, yet less than 20 percent of them are currently able to access it.

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Do these videos help...?

Or do they cheapen the cause?

Woody Harrelsen + Jennifer Aniston on Burma

We're still waiting for Burma...and Woody Harrelson

UN chief Ban may drop plans for Myanmar visit

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 7 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday he would drop plans to make a long talked-about visit to Myanmar unless he is confident it would achieve tangible results in promoting democracy.
Ban has been asked by the U.N. Security Council to do his utmost to pursue reforms in military-ruled Myanmar, which drew international condemnation a year ago for a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters led by monks.
Ban's special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, made a sixth visit to the former Burma in August, but failed to meet the 63-year-old Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi who has been under house arrest for most of the past five years.
A visit by Ban has long been discussed but no date had been set. Ban made a first visit to Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis in May to pressure the junta to cooperate more with international aid workers. Ban said he would remain "constantly and personally engaged" in Myanmar. "I would be willing to (make) a return visit to Myanmar at an appropriate time, but you should also know that without any tangible or very favorable result to be achieved, then I may not be in a position to visit Myanmar," Ban told reporters. "I'm now in the process of making some groundwork which may allow me to consider my own visit, but ... I need some more time. I will have to consider all the circumstances, (and) when would be appropriate timing for me to visit," he said.
Western countries have condemned as a sham a May referendum on Myanmar's army-drafted constitution, part of a seven-step "roadmap to democracy" that is meant to culminate in multiparty elections in 2010 and end a nearly 20-year political stalemate.
Gambari has met government officials on his visits to Myanmar but has made little progress in promoting dialogue with Suu Kyi or the release of political prisoners.