Thein Zaw Win, Communications and Advocacy Analyst in the Yangon Office of UN Sexual and Reproductive Health Agency (UNFPA) saw the devastating consequences of the earthquake during a week’s long visit to the Mandalay region, one of the regions most affected by the disaster.
Thein Zaw Win, Communications and Advocacy Analysis at UNFPAS Yangon office, talking to a woman influenced by the recent earthquake in Mandalay, Myanmar.
“I was in Yangon when the earthquake hit. In the wake, news reports gradually began to indicate that many cities had suffered significant losses. Buildings, roads, homes, schools and hospitals were reduced to rubble and people were caught during the waste.
Communication systems were down, so I decided to travel to the affected areas and support relief efforts.
Women and girls needed life -saving support, including sexual and reproductive healthcare and maternal care, dignity sets, hygiene articles and other important supplies as soon as possible.
Within 72 hours, UNFPA Country Office had implemented a quick response team to provide important services to the affected population and work with partners on the ground.
The journey from Yangon to Mandalay usually takes about eight hours, but we struggled to get through due to damaged roads and collapsed bridges. We had to find alternative routes and sometimes even navigate through the harsh fields next to the main road.
Now that the rainy season has started, roads are even worse and the journey has become increasingly difficult. It took us more than 10 hours to reach Mandalay.
A woman affected by earthquakes receives emergency relief articles, including UNFPA’s dignity set under the UN -joint distribution in sagaing, Myanmar.
In some areas of the city, waste blocked the roads. Tower blocks had collapsed and many areas had been reduced to complete the rubble. Desperate families sought refuge in temporary shelters, on the streets or in front of their damaged homes.
Shivers continued for several days. Frequent power cuts during the night mean that some affected areas were thrown into the dark, making it unsafe to go anywhere. Reaching those affected and providing assistance during these conditions remains a significant challenge.
My responsibility is to engage in communities affected by the disaster and share their stories to a wider audience. It is also important to raise awareness of the realities and needs of the earth so that we can ensure support for relief. This is my mission.
I met a woman in Mandalay who visited our mobile clinic. She had lived in the city all her life, but had never seen such destruction. Everything collapsed in a matter of seconds. She was deeply concerned about the injury to health facilities as well as her ability to access medical treatment.
A woman in Mandalay, Myanmar, looks at the destruction caused by the earthquake.
In the midst of this crisis, the UNFPA team has provided services ranging from hygiene supplies, protection against gender-based violence and mental health support for women and girls. They also support mothers and newborn care services. I even saw the unwavering resilience of humanitarian workers and the way the UN agencies, civil society organizations and NGOs work together.
Myanmar was already suffering from political instability, and now it has been further destroyed by this destructive earthquake. It is extremely difficult to provide assistance to communities in sagaing and mandalay, where armed conflicts are ongoing.
In the current context, with monsoon relationship imminent, people are afraid of what this season can bring.
The country also experiences the impact of the decline in global aid financing.
UNFPA, like other UN agencies and humanitarian organizations, deals with restrictions on resources, and we have issued an appeal on relief to support populations in critical needs.
Women’s and children’s disorders affected by the earthquake are deeply worrying and we need all our strength and resilience to help them.
It is a heartbreaking experience to witness the despair in people’s eyes and to listen to their stories of loss, but we try to give them dignity and hope they rightly deserve in these difficult times. “
