The Myanmar government said it hopes to send a special diplomatic team led by the deputy foreign minister to Bangladesh later this month amid increasing tension with the neighboring country over the tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have fled Myanmar following violence that began in northern Rakhine state in early October.

The Humanitarian News Digest is a monthly compilation of links to reports, web stories, press releases, and other public products published online by organizations with humanitarian operations in Myanmar. The content and views expressed in these publications do not necessarily reflect the views of OCHA.

By Moe Myint

RANGOON — Security forces arrested four militants and confiscated 14 homemade guns near Maung Gyi Taung village in Arakan State’s Buthidaung Township on Tuesday evening after a tip off, according to the State Counselor’s Office information committee.

An investigation will be carried out in line with Burma’s laws, according to a statement released Wednesday.

The arrests and seizure is the first in Buthidaung Township, which has seen less police action than neighbouring Maungdaw, according to head of Buthidaung Township police Maj. Tun Wai.

KEY UPDATES

 Countries and territories reporting mosquito-borne Zika virus infections for the first time in the past week:

o None

 Countries and territories reporting microcephaly and other central nervous system (CNS) malformations potentially associated with Zika virus infection for the first time in the past week:

o None

 Countries and territories reporting Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) cases associated with Zika virus infection for the first time in the past week:

o None

The Myanmar Earthquake Committee (MEC) will check that pagodas in ancient Bagan, Nyang U District, Mandalay Region can withstand future temblors.

“Earthquakes shook Myanmar ancient pagodas last year, causing extensive damage. We take measures that the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) will renovate the damaged pagodas. And we will check the earthquake resistance of Bagan pagodas. We are currently assessing how to conduct these activities,” said U Myo Thant, the secretary of MEC.

This website allows you to explore how different scenarios of global greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation to climate change could change the geography of food insecurity in developing and least-developed countries. By altering the levels of future global greenhouse gas emissions and/or the levels of adaptation, you can see how vulnerability to food insecurity changes over time, and compare and contrast these different future scenarios with each other and the present day.

A Myanmar government-appointed commission investigating recent violence that has occurred in northern Rakhine state said it has found no cases of genocide or religious persecution of Rohingya Muslims in the wake of deadly border guard attacks in October.

The commission’s interim report on the situation in Rakhine was issued on Tuesday, days after a video surfaced showing policemen beating members of the Muslim group. Human rights experts criticized the report as an effort to put a gloss on atrocities and blunt international criticism.

1. IN 2016, HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLANS (HRPs) in the MENA region requested US$7 billion and have received $4 billion. In total, MENA HRPs are 56 per cent funded. Three new FLASH APPEALS address specific situations: in Iraq where the humanitarian impact of the Mosul operation requires $284 million; in Afghanistan where $152 million is needed to assist returnees from Pakistan; and in Libya where $10 million is needed for Sirt.

The 3W Dashboard reflects Technical Assistance activities (i.e. to or through Myanmar’s Government) to State/Region and Township level based on information received from implementers reporting to the MIMU 3W and from Development Partners reporting to the Mohinga Aid Information Management Platform - http://mohinga.info/en/

This dashboard gives an interactive view of “Who is doing What, Where” at Village Tract level based on the information reported to the MIMU 3W as of September 9, 2016. The activities of agencies which did not report to village tract level cannot be shown on this map.

Select the area, sector, agency etc of interest to see the customised view. Use the buttons at the bottom of the page to RESET or to DOWNLOAD the data/webpage in image, csv, pdf.

Interactive visualization of all Myanmar 3W data by State/Region and Townships. Hover over segments for additional data and click to filter by selected criteria.

2 janvier 2017

Si 2016 nous a appris à nous attendre à l’inattendu, les collaborateurs d’IRIN sur le terrain nous ont donné une bonne idée de ce que la nouvelle année nous réserve. Nous ne pouvons pas garantir que tous les médias couvriront ces sujets, mais en voici dix auxquels nous serons attentifs :

En lire plus sur IRIN

• 71.9 M required for 2016 
• 16.7 M contributions received, representing 23% of requirements 
• 55.2 M funding gap for the Myanmar Situation 

All figures are displayed in USD

• 139.7 M required for 2016

• 45.1 M contributions received, representing 32% of requirements

• 94.6 M funding gap for South East Asia

All figures are displayed in USD

BANGKOK, 29 December.– In a move welcomed by the UN Refugee Agency, some 80,000 stateless children and young adults in Thailand could benefit from a recent government resolution to reduce statelessness in the country.

Earlier this month, the Thai Cabinet approved a resolution on “Guidance and Measures to Address Legal Status Problems and Problems of Stateless Persons in Thailand”, which is pending official proclamation.

By LIBBY HOGAN / DVB

Women’s rights groups are hopeful that the Ministry of Defence’s words of goodwill to include more women in peace talks at a conference on Friday will result in greater female representation at future dialogues.

About 200 people attended panel discussions in Naypyidaw last week involving women’s rights organisations, INGOs and members of the ministries of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, and Defence, discussing the strengths and challenges of women’s participation in the peace process and democratic reform in Burma.

• 4.2 M required for 2016
• 809,938 contributions received, representing 19% of requirements
• 3.4 M funding gap for the Bay Of Bengal Situation

All figures are displayed in USD

Jared Ferrie

Proghyananda Vikkhu stood in his purple monk’s robe in front of gleaming gold statues of the Buddha, recalling the night that a mob of nationalist Muslims attacked his monastery in eastern Bangladesh.

“This monastery is 300 years old and it was totally demolished on that night in 2012,” he said. “Within one year, the Bangladesh government totally rebuilt it with help from the army.”

• As of 30 December 2016, the inter-agency coordinated appeals and refugee response plans within the Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) require US$22.1 billion -- an increase of 10 per cent since it was first launched twelve months ago -- to meet the needs of 96.2 million humanitarian crisis-affected people in 40 countries. By the end of 2016, $12.6 billion were raised towards the coordinated appeals -- more than ever before. Despite immense donor generosity, it is only 57 percent of the requirements committed, leaving a short fall of $9.5 billion.

Landmine & Cluster Munition Monitor provides research for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and the Cluster Munition Coalition. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) formed in 1992 to rid the world of the scourge of the anti-personnel landmine. The ICBL is a network of over 1,300 non-governmental organizations in 70 countries, and received the Nobel Peace Award in 1997.