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UNITED NATIONS - UNITED Nations humanitarian chief John Holmes is to travel to Myanmar next week to assess the country's recovery efforts after the devastation caused by cyclone Nargis in May, his office said.
Mr Holmes, head of the UN Office for Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), is first to visit Singapore on Monday to attend the launch of the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment with the Association of South-east Asian Nations.
On Tuesday, he was to arrive in Yangon and on the same day head to the Irrawaddy Delta region, where the destruction and death toll from Cyclone Nargis were the highest. The next day, Mr Holmes was scheduled to travel to Naypyidaw, Myanmar's capital, for talks with government officials.
This will be his second visit to Myanmar since the cyclone hit on May 2-3, killing more than 138,000 people, causing major damage to infrastructure and creating a humanitarian emergency.
Last week, OCHA announced that it was raising its aid appeal to help victims of the cyclone from US$201 million to US$481.8 million (S$651.6 million).
UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari meanwhile is planning a return visit to Myanmar in mid-August at the invitation of the military regime.
Mr Gambari travelled to Myanmar in March to mediate reconciliation talks between the military regime rulers and detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. -- AFP
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