The United Nations’ top humanitarian relief official, John Holmes said on Wednesday that he would visit Burma next week to assess the progress of humanitarian relief work in cyclone-affected areas of the country.
“I will be there next week,” Holmes told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York.
Besides the situation in the Irrawaddy delta, which bore the brunt of the damage inflicted by Cyclone Nargis when it hit Burma on May 2-3, Holmes said he would also look into the issue of aid money going into the pockets of the ruling generals through a skewed currency exchange mechanism.
“I will try to get this point clarified,” Holmes said in response to a question about relief funds being lost in the conversion of US dollars into government-issued Foreign Exchange Certificates (FECs), which are officially on par with the dollar but worth substantially less when converted into kyat.
Holmes said would stay in the country for three days. Details of his itinerary are being worked out. He will visit Burma after attending a meeting in Singapore on July 21 to take part in the release of the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment Report with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and the Burmese regime.
Explaining the purpose of his visit to Burma, Holmes said: “It is essentially to reassess the situation there for myself. Of course, I will be going to the Irrawaddy delta. I do not know exactly where I will be going there.”
The chief UN humanitarian official said he would be meeting top Burmese officials, possibly including Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein, as well as humanitarian actors in the region.
“By and large, as we heard last week, the problems have not entirely disappeared, but they are containable for the moment. I want to make sure that it stays that way,” he said.
When asked about the FEC problem, which has become an issue of concern among humanitarian relief workers and agencies, Holmes said: “I do not think we are losing significant amounts of money on that exchange rate issue. We can talk about it when I return to see if there really is a problem.”
He added: “My impression from what I heard is that there is not a significant problem. There may be moments when the difference between the dollar and FEC is significant, but by and large it is not.”
Holmes is currently the highest-ranking UN official in charge of humanitarian relief work in Burma and is in contact with leaders of the ruling military junta. Last week, he issued the second flash appeal for Burma, increasing the amount of money needed for relief work in country by nearly $300 million.
Next week’s visit will be his second to Burma, and the first by a top-level UN official since Secretary General Ban Ki-moon briefly visited the country in May.
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council will discuss Burma at its meeting on July 24, the council president for the month of July, Ambassador Le Luong Minh of Vietnam, said on Wednesday.
Le Luong Minh told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York that a consensus has been reached among the 15 members of the body about holding a “consultation” on the current situation in Burma. At the start of the month, when the agenda for July was being discussed, the members had failed to reach a consensus on the exact date of the debate on Burma.
“There was an agreement that a consultation would be scheduled by the end of the month. We intend to schedule it for July 24,” Minh told reporters in response to a question.
The decision by the Security Council comes a day after the spokesperson for the UN secretary general said that the Burmese government had invited Ibrahim Gambari, the UN envoy to Burma, to visit for consultation in mid-August.
“I will be there next week,” Holmes told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York.
Besides the situation in the Irrawaddy delta, which bore the brunt of the damage inflicted by Cyclone Nargis when it hit Burma on May 2-3, Holmes said he would also look into the issue of aid money going into the pockets of the ruling generals through a skewed currency exchange mechanism.
“I will try to get this point clarified,” Holmes said in response to a question about relief funds being lost in the conversion of US dollars into government-issued Foreign Exchange Certificates (FECs), which are officially on par with the dollar but worth substantially less when converted into kyat.
Holmes said would stay in the country for three days. Details of his itinerary are being worked out. He will visit Burma after attending a meeting in Singapore on July 21 to take part in the release of the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment Report with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and the Burmese regime.
Explaining the purpose of his visit to Burma, Holmes said: “It is essentially to reassess the situation there for myself. Of course, I will be going to the Irrawaddy delta. I do not know exactly where I will be going there.”
The chief UN humanitarian official said he would be meeting top Burmese officials, possibly including Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein, as well as humanitarian actors in the region.
“By and large, as we heard last week, the problems have not entirely disappeared, but they are containable for the moment. I want to make sure that it stays that way,” he said.
When asked about the FEC problem, which has become an issue of concern among humanitarian relief workers and agencies, Holmes said: “I do not think we are losing significant amounts of money on that exchange rate issue. We can talk about it when I return to see if there really is a problem.”
He added: “My impression from what I heard is that there is not a significant problem. There may be moments when the difference between the dollar and FEC is significant, but by and large it is not.”
Holmes is currently the highest-ranking UN official in charge of humanitarian relief work in Burma and is in contact with leaders of the ruling military junta. Last week, he issued the second flash appeal for Burma, increasing the amount of money needed for relief work in country by nearly $300 million.
Next week’s visit will be his second to Burma, and the first by a top-level UN official since Secretary General Ban Ki-moon briefly visited the country in May.
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council will discuss Burma at its meeting on July 24, the council president for the month of July, Ambassador Le Luong Minh of Vietnam, said on Wednesday.
Le Luong Minh told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York that a consensus has been reached among the 15 members of the body about holding a “consultation” on the current situation in Burma. At the start of the month, when the agenda for July was being discussed, the members had failed to reach a consensus on the exact date of the debate on Burma.
“There was an agreement that a consultation would be scheduled by the end of the month. We intend to schedule it for July 24,” Minh told reporters in response to a question.
The decision by the Security Council comes a day after the spokesperson for the UN secretary general said that the Burmese government had invited Ibrahim Gambari, the UN envoy to Burma, to visit for consultation in mid-August.
