Disclaimer
This report was compiled by an ADRC visiting researcher (VR) from ADRC
member countries.
The views expressed in the report do not necessarily reflect the views of theADRC. The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on themaps in the report also do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by
the ADRC.

2013
Country Profile of MYANMAR

Ms. Thandar Aung
Relief and Resettlement Department
27 August 2013

1. General Information of Myanmar Country
1.1 Geographical data
The Union of Myanmar, located between 90°32' N & 28°31' N latitude and 92°10' E & 101°11'E
longitude with total area of 676,578 sq. km is the second largest country in South-east Asia. Its
north-south length is 2200 km while east-west breadth is 925 km. It is surrounded by China in northand north east, Lao PDR & Thailand in east and southeast, India, Bangladesh in west while Bay of
Bengal & Andaman sea in west and south. It has been administratively divided into 7 Regions and 7
States. The Regions and States have been divided into Districts which in turn have been divided into
Townships.

Figure1. Administrative Division of Myanmar

1.2 Climate Information
Myanmar is regarded as agriculture based country as it accounts for 64.1 percent of the GDP1. It
has a tropical climate with three seasons namely Rainy (mid-May to mid-October), Winter (midOctober to mid-February) and Summer (mid-February to mid-May).

1.3 Demographic Data
There is large variation in average precipitation as coastal areas receive average precipitation in
the range of 4000mm to 5600 mm while central dry zone receives precipitation in the range of
600mm and 1400 mm. The summary of key indicators of Myanmar is at Table 1.

S/N Indicator

Value

1

Total area

676,578 kms2

2

Coastline

2400kms3

Number of Districts

67

4

Number of Townships

330

5

Estimated population

60 mn

6

Percentage of population in rural 70
areas

7

Population Density (Sq kms)

8

Percentage

of

work

force

77
in 64.1

agriculture
9Gross Domestic Product (2005-06 at
current producers price)producers price)

12,286,765.4mn
kyats

10

10 Per capital GDP Product (2005-06
at current

221,799 kyat’s

Table1. Key Indicators of Myanmar

2. Natural Hazards in Myanmar Country
2.1 Natural Hazards Likely to Affect the Country (features, tendency)
Myanmar is exposed to multiple natural hazards which include Cyclone, Storm surge, Floods,
Landslide, Earthquake, Tsunami, Drought, Fire and Forest Fire. The coastal regions of Ayeyarwady
Region and Rakhine State are prone to storm surge.
Myanmar is situated in the western part of the South-East Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal andthe Andaman Sea with its 2400 km long coast line. It is potentially rich with marine natural resources
and also potentially threatened by the waves, cyclones and associated weather.

Myanmar receives practically all its rainfall between mid-May and October, during which flooding
is common. The riverine floods are common in the river delta while the flash floods and landslides
are frequent in upper reaches of the river systems, which are normally the mountainous areas. In thecities and towns, localized floods occur from time to time.
The landslides of various scales occur in mountainous regions especially in the Western,Southern and Eastern Highland of Myanmar. The Western ranges have experienced all types oflandslide and earth movement such as rock falls, rock slides, soil avalanche and mud flow. Due tosparse population, the direct impact of landslide in this region damaged infrastructure rather thanhuman settlement.
Myanmar can be divided in 3 seismically active regions namely the Northwestern Region, theCentral Lowland and the Shan Plateau-Yunnan Region. There are four areas in that very vulnerable
zone; namely, Bago-Phyu, Mandalay-Sagaing-Tagaung, Putao-Tanaing, and Kale-Homalin areas.
The Dry zone of Myanmar is located in central part of the country in Magway, Mandalay andSagaing Regions (lower part) across 54 Townships in 13 Districts and covers approximately 10
percent of total area of the country. It falls under arid to semi-arid zone and the average annual
precipitation is below 40 inches.
The Fire hazard is the most frequent hazard in Myanmar. The high incidences of fire cases areconcentrated mainly in Yangon, Mandalay, Ayeyarwady, Sagaing and Bago, which accounts for 63
percent of the total fire cases.
The forest fires in Myanmar are normally surface fire, most frequent during the dry season,starting around December until May. It occurs in almost all States and Regions though sporadic,
however more common in upland regions namely Bago, Chin, Kayah, Kachin, Mandalay, Rakhine
and Shan. It causes haze problem which leads to negative impact on the community.

2.2 Recent Major Disasters (basic data of disasters, damage situation, response &recovery info)(a) Impact of Tropical Cyclone Nargis (2nd and 3rd May 2008)
On 2nd and 3rd May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar. It caused a lot of damages and loss of
lives throughout the Ayeyarwady Delta and Yangon Division. The Cyclone Nargis affected morethan 60 townships mainly in Yangon Division and Ayeyarwady Region. In the aftermath of Cyclone
Nargis, 84,537 persons were died, 53,836 were missing and 19,359 were injured. An estimated 2.4
million people lost either partially or completely their homes, livelihoods and community structures.
Damage was most severe in the Ayeyarwady Delta region, known as the country's rice bowl. The
number of totally damaged houses were 450000 and partially damaged houses were 350000.In the
education sector, over 4000 schools were damaged. Likewise, in health sector, 75% of the healthfacilities were also destroyed. In the agriculture sector, agricultural works were destroyed due toloss of draught cattle, damage to paddy strains, sea water intrusion to paddy land, and damage of
agricultural equipments.

Figure2. Damage and Rehabilitation in Nargis Cyclone

Immediately after Cyclone Nargis struck, National Natural Disaster Preparedness Central
Committee held an Emergency Meeting headed by Prime Minister on 3 rd May, 2008. The National
Disaster Preparedness Central Committee was stationed in Yangon in order to carry out rescue
operations for all the survivors in the storm-hit regions to provide them with food, clothing andshelter. Duties were assigned to minister to respective storm-hit areas. Troops from divisions andregiments were sent to storm-hit areas and rear camps, mid-point camps and forward camps wereformed. The relief tasks were harmoniously made with the combined force of the Government,

public and the Tatmadaw (Military).
The Government of Myanmar, Myanmar Social Organizations, private enterprises andindividuals responded swiftly and generously to assist the cyclone victims. Moreover, 69 local
construction companies involved in the renovation and reconstruction tasks of schools, hospitals,
Rural Health Centers and community buildings.
The Tripartite Core Group (TCG) was formed on 31st May 2008 in response to the needs of thepeople affected by Cyclone Nargis. The TCG comprises of 9 members; 3 each from theGovernment of Myanmar, ASEAN and the United Nations. The TCG contributes to international
cooperation. Coordination and cooperation among the Government, ASEAN, United Nations
Agencies and International Non-government Organizations was carried out smoothly through TCG.
TCG also developed Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) and Post-Nargis Recovery andPreparedness Plan (PONREPP).
In addition, to effectively carry out relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction tasks after Nargis, 11clusters have been established comprising of Government, UN Agencies and INGOs. Theseclusters covered Agriculture, Health, Education, Nutrition, Food, Shelter, Water and Sanitation,
Protection of Children and Women, Early Recovery, Logistics and Emergency Telecommunication.
The recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction programmes are being implemented in thestorm-hit region with the aim of “Build Back Better".
For the rehabilitation of housing sector, the Government has been constructing new village
houses which are at low cost. Up to now, 9444 units of houses were completed and occupied by
the storm-hit victims.
Over 4,000 Schools were totally or partially destroyed by Cyclone Nargis. Among them, 1,250
schools are needed to be reconstructed. New schools are now being constructed with the supportof the Ministry of Education, donors, NGOs, INGOs and local entrepreneurs.
With regard to the Health sector, Rural Health Centers and Sub-Rural Health Centers arebeing constructed by the Ministry of Health with the cooperation of Rehabilitation andReconstruction Sub-Committee, Health Cluster and other INGOs.
In the rehabilitation period, the State, local and international donors provided 3,221 draught
cattle, 9,689 power-tillers, 1.8 million baskets of paddy strains and fuel for the rehabilitation of
livelihoods of the storm-affected people.
The State in collaboration with local and international donors provided fishing boats and fishingnets for the fishermen because their fishing boats and nets were damaged. A total of 10,025 fishingboats and 26,650 fishing nets have been provided. As a result, the fishermen were able to start
their livelihood.
In the aftermath of the storm, a total of 23,458 acres of salt fields, 24,214 tons of crude salt andequipments for salt production were also destroyed. To make salt production in time, Ministriesconcerned supply finance, tractors, water pumps, tarpaulins, tents and fuel to salt makers.

(b) Tarlay Earthquake (24 March 2011)
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake (Tarlay Earthquake) at 20:25 on 24 March 2011 that had its
epicenter in the east of Shan State in Burma (Myanmar) with a hypocenter 10 km deep. The
earthquake occurred in an area of complex tectonics caused by the continuing collision between thenorthward moving Indo-Australian Plate and the Eurasian Plate, which created the Arakan
Yoma Mountains. In this zone of highly oblique collision, most of the motion is accommodated by thenorth-south trending Sagaing fault, a major dextral (right lateral) strike-slip fault that runs through thewestern and central part of Burma.

Figure 3. Damage by Tarlay Earthquke(c) Flood in Kayin, Mon and Rakhine States, and Taninthayi and Ayeyarwaddy Regions(29 July 2013)
73,300 people in affected areas living in temporary relocation camps. Heavy rains andoverflowing local rivers caused flash floods in various parts of the country in late July, affecting Kayin,
Mon and Rakhine States, and Taninthayi and Ayeyarwady Regions. According to the Relief andResettlement Department (RRD) of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, the flash
floods initially displaced over 38,300 people, leaving six dead and one person missing, anddamaging residential buildings, roads and bridges. By 7 August, 73,300 people were residing in
temporary relocation camps in the affected states and regions. Many others were able to return totheir places of origin as heavy rains ceased and the floodwaters receded in most affected locations.
The Government is leading relief efforts, providing assistance to affected people in camps
and at their places of origin. Vice-President U Nyan Tun visited the worst affected areas in Kayin
State. During the visit, Government relief programmes provided food, medicine and cash assistanceworth roughly US$111,000 (107,715,000 Myanmar kyats) to all affected families. Working with local
authorities in support of the Government response, humanitarian agencies have also delivered food,non-food items, and essential medicine and water purification materials to affected locations.

Although displaced people have begun returning home, assistance will likely be needed in the
coming weeks as crops and other food storage facilities have been destroyed.

Figure4. Flooding Areas in 29 July 2013

3. Disaster Management System in Myanmar
3.1 Administrative System
Conventional name

: Union of Burma

Government type: civilian-led parliamentary government

Voting age: 18 years of age; universal

Chief: President Thein Sein

Head

: President Thein Sein

Legislature: a unicameral People's Assembly or Pyithu Hluttaw consisting of 485 seatswith members elected by popular vote was elected in 1990 but was never seated; according
to the terms of the constitution approved on 10 May 2008, a bicameral Pyidaungsu Hluttaw
Administrative subdivisions : Below is the number of districts, townships, cities/towns, wards,
village groups and villages in each divisions and states of Burma:
No.

State/Region

Districts

Townships

Cites/Towns

Wards

VillageGroup

Villages1

Kachin State

3

18

20

116

303

2630

2

Kayah State

2

7

7

29

79

624

3
No.

Kayin
State/Region

3

7

10

46

376

2092

Districts

Townships

Cites/Towns

Wards

VillageGroup

Villages

4

Chin State

2

9

9

29

475

1355

5

Sagaing Region

8

37

37

171

1769

6095

6

Tanintharyi
Region

3

10

10

63

265

1255

7

Bago Region

4

28

33

246

1424

6498

8

Magway Region

5

25

26

160

1543

4774

9

Madalay Region

7

31

29

259

1611

5472

10

Mon State

2

10

11

69

381

1199

11

Rakhine State

4

17

17

120

1041

3871

12

Yangon Region

4

45

20

685

634

2119

13

Shan State

11

54

54

336

1626

15513

14

Ayeyarwady
Region

6

26

29

219

1912

11651

Total

63

324

312

2548

13742

65148

Table2. The number of districts, townships, cities/towns, wards, village Groups and villages
in each divisions and states of Burma

3.2 Legal System and Framework
Disaster Management related laws drew since last several years have been laid down the legal
framework for the disaster management- preparedness, prevention/mitigation, response andrecovery/rehabilitation phases. Rehabilitation Board Act (41/1950), Board of Development Affairs Act(11/1993), Epidemic Diseases Prevention Act (1/1995), Implementation of Insurance Act (6/1996)
and Fire Services Act (1/1997) have been promulgated. Disaster management law was enacted
disaster management law by the Parliament in July 2013. According to latest disaster management
law, there are nine chapters. The aims of disaster management law are to implement natural disastermanagement programmes in a systematic, prompt and effective manner, in order to mitigate disaster
risk; to form the National Committee and local bodies for prompt, systematic and effective
implementation of natural disaster management programmes in order to implement natural disastermanagement programmes; to coordinate with national and international government departments,organizations, civil society organizations, non-government organizations, international organizations,and regional organizations in carrying out natural disaster management activities; to protect andrestore the environment affected by natural disasters; and to provide health, education, social andlivelihood programmes to bring about better living condition for disaster-affected people.

3.3 Structure of Disaster Management(a) National Platform of Disaster Risk Reduction
The National Disaster Preparedness Central Committees [NDPCC] under the chairmanship ofthe Vice-President 2 is the 13-member body for Disaster Management. The Union Minister forSocial Welfare, Relief and Resettlement is the Co-Chairs and the Union Ministers of concerned
ministries are members of the Agency. The Deputy Minister 2 of MSWRR is the Secretary while
Director General, Relief and Resettlement are the Joint Secretary of the Agency. There are 10 Subcommittees under NDPCC. State/Division-, District-, Township- and Village Tract-level Disaster
Preparedness Committees have also been formed respectively. National Platform of Disaster Risk
Reduction as shown in Figure7.

Mechanism of Disaster Response in Myanmar
NDPCC

Subcommittees

UN
INGOs
LNGOs

State/RegionDPC

MoSWRR

RRD
District/Township
DPC

Local community

Planning, Decision making

Coordination

SupplyFigure5. National Platform of Disaster Risk Reduction(a) National Organizations for Disaster Risk Reduction
Management Working Committee and Sub-Committees of NDPCC: The 11-member
Management Working Committee under the chairmanship of the Union Minister for Social Welfare,
Relief and Resettlement is constituted to supervise the implementation of Disaster Management
activities in accordance with guidelines of NDPCC and also to coordinate the activities of NDPCC.
The Union Minister for Defense and Deputy Minister for Home Affairs are Co-Chairmen and the
Director General, Relief and Resettlement Department and the Director General, Fire Services
Department are Secretary and Joint-Secretary of the committee respectively. Ten Sub-Committees,
have also been constituted for effective implementation of activities laid down by it. This apart, each
Ministry has constituted its Executive Committee for Disaster Management.

Institutional Framework for Disaster Management at National Level
National Disaster Preparedness Central Committee
Chairman : Vice-President 2
National Disaster Preparedness Management Working Committee
Chairman : Union Minister (MoSWRR)

Ten Sub-Committee
Information & Education Sub-Committee
Emergency Communication SubCommittee

Clearing Ways & Transportation SubCommittee
Mitigation & Establishing of Emergency
Shelter Sub-Committee

Search & Rescue Sub-Committee
Health Care Sub-Committee
Information of Losses & Emergency
Assistance Sub-Committee

Rehabilitation & Reconstruction SubCommittee

Assessment of Losses Sub-Committee

Security Sub-Committee

Figure6. National Organizations for Disaster Risk Reduction(b) Local Organizations for Disaster Risk Reduction
The Republic of the Union of Myanmar is committed to Disaster Risk Management andestablished systems and procedures for effective DRM at sub-national level (State/Region, District,Township, Wards and Village Tracts levels) are in place. Disaster Management Committees areformed at each state, region and township level.
At township level “Township Disaster Preparedness Committee” was formed with the following
members:

Sr.No.

Organization

Designation

1

Chairman, Township

Chairman2

Township Police Officer, Myanmar Police Force

Member3

Township Engineer, Public Works

Member4

Staff Officer, Irrigation Department (Township)

Member5

Staff Officer, Myanmar Agricultural Services (Township)

Member6

Staff Officer, Myanmar Electric Power Enterprise(Township)

Member7

Township Medical Officer

Member8

Township Executive Officer, Development Affairs Department

Member9

Staff Officer, Planning Department (Township)

Member10

Staff Officer, Fire Service Department (Township)

Member11

Staff Officer, Internal Revenue Department (Township)

Member12

Deputy Staff Officer, General Administration Department

Member13

Deputy Head of Township Myanmar Police Force

Member14

Responsible Person, Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications

Member15

Staff Officer, Forest Department (Township)

Member16

Township Education Officer

Member17

Township Manager, Myanmar Agricultural Produce Trading

Member18

Chairman, Transportation Supervision Committee

MemberTable3: Composition of Township Disaster Preparedness Committee
Township Disaster Preparedness Committee has following Sub-Committees:

Information & Education Sub-CommitteeEmergency Communication Sub-Committee



Search and Rescue Sub-Committee

Information of Losses & Emergency Assistance Sub-CommitteeAssessment of Losses Sub-Committee

Clearing ways & Transportation Sub-Committee

Mitigation & Establishing of Emergency Shelter Sub-Committee

Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Sub-Committee



Health Care Sub-Committee

Security Sub-Committee

At Village Tract/Ward Level, Village Tract/Ward Disaster Preparedness Committees were formed
with the composition of members as follow:

Sr.No.

MemberDesignation

1

Chairman, Village Tract/Ward GAD

Chairman

2

Clerk, Settlement and Land Records Department

Member3

Member, Myanmar Red Cross Society

Member4

Member of Auxiliary Fire Brigade

Member5

Head, Police Sub-Station, Ward/Village Tract, Myanmar Police Force

Member6

Organizer, Union Solidarity and Development Association

Member7

Member of Veterans’ Association

Member8

Member of Myanmar Women Affairs Federation

Member9

Member of Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association

Member10

Primary School Teacher

Member11

Respected personnel from village Tract/Ward

Secretary

12

Village Tract/Ward GAD

Secretary

Table4: Composition of Village Tract/Ward Disaster Preparedness Committee

4.

Disaster Management Strategy, Policy and Plan
Relief and Resettlement Department (RRD) as of National Disaster Preparedness Central

Committee (NDPCC) has the major tasks to deliver relief to people, monks and nuns who facedisasters such as fire, flood, strong wind, earthquake and armed insurgency to ease their sufferings,
to deliver relief to those who caught a storm in a river or a sea and for those who are stranded in farflung regions or in foreign countries because of their vessels whose engines are in disorder, toprovide aid for those who had to leave their regions due to armed insurgency and for those whohave been shifted to safe regions from the areas where armed insurgents are active and to provide
aid for those who face hunger owing to severe drought, great change of climate or destroyed
agricultural fields by pests and animals.
Recognizing the need for national framework, Relief and Resettlement Department had draft“Myanmar Action Plan on Disaster Risk Reduction-MAPDRR” with technical support from Bangkokbased Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC). The MAPDRR will be the National DRR
Strategic Action Plan comprising 7 components and 65 sub-components which link to priorities
actions from “Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA)” and “ASEAN Agreement on Disaster
Management and Emergency Response-AADMER.”
The brief table of the National DRR Strategic Action Plan comprising 7 components and 65 subcomponents that include in MAPDRR is as follow:

Seven Components of MAPDRR
Component

S/N

HFA
Priorities

AADMER

No. of
Projects

1

Component 1: Policy, Institutional Arrangements andFurther Institutional development

Priority 1

Article6,10

4

2

Component 2: Hazard, Vulnerability and Risk
Assessment

Priority 2

Article 58

3Component 3: Multi-hazard Early Warning System

Priority 2

Article 7

10

4Component 4: Preparedness and Response Programs at
National, State/Division, District& Township Levels

Priority 5

Article 6,8105Component 5: Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction
into Development

Priority 4

Article 613

6Component 6: Community based Disaster Preparedness
and Risk Reduction

Crosscutting

Article 6,797Component 7: Public Awareness, Education and Training Priority 3

Article 6,7

11

Total

65

39

Figure7. The National DRR Strategic Action Plan comprising 7 components and 65 subcomponents that include in MAPDRR

Short and long term plans need to be developed to ensure preparedness in the face of
unexpected natural disasters in order to minimize losses. Based on Cyclone Nargis experience,
National Disaster Preparedness Central Committee has released “Standing Order on Disaster
Management” on January 2009.The “Standing Order” for Disaster Management in Myanmar isissued with the aim of ensuring that once disaster strikes, emergency relief and rehabilitation
work is carried out according to the prepared plan and that the people are mobilized at thenational level for participation in such efforts. The Standing Order includes national levelinstitutions and other sub-national committee and assigned roles and responsibilities.
In addition, to provide township authorities on guidance to develop Disaster Management
Plan specifically for respective township context, the Guidelines for Township Disaster
Management Plan (2010) were developed as guiding principles and providing key considerationsfor:

Township Disaster Management Planning, Process for developing Township
Disaster Management Plan

Methodology for Development of the GuidelineRole and responsibilities of Committee and Sub-Committees

Mitigation, Preparedness, Recovery and Rehabilitation MeasuresMonitoring and review and Updating of Plan

IASC (Inter-Agency Standing Committee) Contingency Plan: The IASC (Inter-Agency Standing
Committee) Contingency Plan is an inter-agency forum of UN and non-UN humanitarian partners
founded in 1992, to strengthen humanitarian assistance. The overall objective of the IASC is toimprove the delivery of humanitarian assistance to affected populations. The Committee wasestablished following UN General Assembly Resolution 46/182 and resolution 48/57 confirmed that itshould be the primary method for inter-agency coordination.
Contingency planning is a management tool used to ensure adequate arrangements are madein anticipation of a crisis. This is achieved primarily through the participation in the contingency
planning process itself, as well as through follow-up actions and subsequent revisions of plans.
Experience from previous emergencies clearly indicates that effective response to humanitarianneeds at the onset of a crisis depends on the level of preparedness and planning of agencies in thefield, as well as the capacities and resources available to them. The overall objective of the InterAgency Contingency Planning Guidelines is to assist UN Country Teams and partners in planninghow to respond to potential emergencies with appropriate humanitarian and protection.
These guidelines provide recommendations on how to engage in the contingency planning
process, in order to develop common strategies and approaches to potential emergencies, and how
to record the deliberations and results of this in contingency plans.

5.

Budget Size on National Level
The Relief and Resettlement Department under Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief andResettlement and all departments under the Government was allowed budget by the Government inbudget year basis. For severe disasters, the special allotment was granted and the relief providing
process can be implemented sufficiently in timely manner.

YEAR

MYANMAR(KYATS)ml

2010-2011154.55

2011-2012

352.16

2012-2013

661.25

6.

Progress of the Implementation on Hyogo Framework for Action(HFA)The first priority of action HFA is “Ensure that disaster risk reduction is a national and alocal priority with a strong institutional basis for implementation”. For this priority, National
Disaster Preparedness Central Committee (NDPCC), Working Committee, Ten Sub-Committees,
Township Level Sub-Committee and Village Tract/Ward Level Sub-Committee were formed and they
implement their respective duties for their plans before disaster, during disaster and post disaster. All
committees, GOs and NGOs also participate in these activities.
The Second Priority is “To identify, assess and monitor disaster risks and enhance early
warning”. Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DMH) make forecasting and issues daily,
monthly and yearly weather report for normal weather condition and special forecasting timely
manner and issues warning for extreme weather condition. End-to-End Early Warning System isalso carried out cooperation with Relief and Resettlement Department, Department of Meteorology
and Hydrology, and Japan International Cooperation Center (JICA) in Ayaeyarwady Region.
The third priority is “To use knowledge, innovation and education to build a culture ofsafety and resilience at all levels”. Myanmar conducted Disaster Management Course for officials
and NGOs members who directly involve in disaster management affairs. For public education thestudents were taught disaster related knowledge in school curriculums and lectures. Radio and TV
talks, pamphlet, planning for new towns bill board and sign board screen plays and Radio plays werealso telecasted for people. Relief and Resettlement Department is carried out to establish Disaster
Management Training Centre in Hinthada Township, Ayeyarwady Region.
The fourth priority is “To reduce the underlying risk factors”. Myanmar has set up the
National Commission for Environment Affairs (NCEA) which aims to ensure sustainable use ofenvironment resources and to promote environmentally sound practices in industry and in othereconomic activities. Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry leads the promotion ofsound environment practices in rural areas. Moreover, legislation of protected areas and forests
have initiated by issuing executive orders. Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation has implemented
initiatives on watershed management concept in projects like Kinda Dam project. Ministry ofEnvironmental Conservation and Forestry, local authorities and NGOs have initiated mangrove
plantation for environment protection. Under the guidance of NDPCC, Ministry of Construction
chaired the Township recovery and Rehabilitation Committee coordinated with different ministries,
academic bodies and private companies to build the cyclone shelters and hill elevated lands(evacuated place) in the hazard-prone areas.
The last one is ''To strengthen disaster preparedness for affective response for all levels”.
Far this, Myanmar had already formed National Committee, Working Committee, ten SubCommittees and local Working Committees of different levels. Each committee has their respectiveplans for disaster prevention and preparedness. Myanmar Government has developed importantdocuments such as Hazard Profile of Myanmar, Institutional Arrangement in Myanmar, Standing
Orders, Inter-agency Contingency Plan, Local NGO Contingency Plan, PONREPP and PONJA.

7.

Recent Major Projects on Disaster Risk Reduction

Relief and Resettlement Department (RRD) is applying to open Training School on
Disaster Management in Hinthada Township, Ayeyarwady Region.

Relief and Resettlement Department (RRD) is planning to apply End-to-End Early
Warning System in cooperation with Japan International Cooperation Centre (JICA) and
Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DMH) in Myanmar at Ayeyarwady Region
and Rakhine State, currently End-to-End Early Warning System is applied in Ayeyarwady
Region.



Relief and Resettlement Department (RRD) is applying to open Emergency Operation
Center (EOC) in Naypyitaw. Technical assistances for EOC are providing from four pilot
countries (Brunei, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand) as well as support to the ASEAN
Coordination Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre)
and the equipments for EOC were provided by Japan ASEAN cooperation fund (JAIF).
Now, video conferencing system is needed by RRD for EOC.



Relief and Resettlement Department (RRD) is creating damage and losses database incooperation with UNDP.



Relief and Resettlement Department (RRD) is opening Disaster Management Course(DMC) in States and Regions in cooperation with UN Agencies, LNGO and INGOs
organizations.

Workshops and Training of Trainers (TOTs) on Disaster Risk Reduction are applied incooperation with Relief and Resettlement Department, UN Agencies, LNGO and INGOs
organizations.



Relief and Resettlement Department (RRD) is signed MoU with 8 UN Agencies, INGOs
and LNGOs to implement the DRR Activities more effective andefficient.

Relief and Resettlement Department (RRD) is carried out emergency rescue functions
for flooding in Kayin State, Mon State and Yangon region, and support relief aids forthese victims.



Relief and Resettlement Department (RRD) is distributing posters and pamphlets forincreasing Public Awareness and Developing Capacities, and is carried out Education
Talks on Disaster Risk Reduction.

8.

ADRC Counterpart(Organization name & Contact Information)
Relief and Resettlement Department
Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement
Office Building No (23), Naypyitaw
Republic of the Union of Myanmar