WFP: Millions in Myanmar Desperately Need Humanitarian Aid

GENEVA - The World Food Program is appealing for $86 million to provide help over the next six months to two million people in Myanmar facing acute hunger and the ravages of COVID-19.

U.N. officials say the people of Myanmar are facing poverty, acute hunger and an economic crisis made worse by political instability and repression following the February 1 military coup. Additionally, COVID-19 is spreading widely and ravaging the country. The World Health Organization confirms nearly 320,000 cases, including 11,000 deaths. Unofficial reports said those figures are greatly underestimated. World Food Program’s country director in Myanmar, Stephen Anderson, speaking via a video link from the country’s capital, Naypyidaw, said a second wave of COVID-19 last year had a devastating impact on peoples’ livelihoods.