WFP official calls for more funding to support operation in quake-hit Myanmar

An official of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) called for more international funding to support the organization's urgent need to scale up its operation in Myanmar after a 7.9-magnitude earthquake devastated the country's central part on Friday.

Michael Dunford, Representative and Country Director for Myanmar of WFP, made the appeal during an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Monday.

He said the organization urgently needs more funding from international donors as the relief efforts enter the recovery phase.

"I expect that quickly the UN and other international actors will move more to the recovery phase, and this is where we will be looking for a joined-up approach and where we must have additional international funding," he said.

Funding shortage has been a challenge for WFP's operation in Myanmar. In mid-March, it warned that more than one million people in the country will be cut off from WFP's lifesaving food assistance starting in April due to critical funding shortfalls.

It said that these cuts come just as increased conflict, displacement, and access restrictions are already sharply driving up food aid needs.

Dunford said that since WFP has been forced to shrink its assistance in Myanmar, the sudden need to scale up its operation is particularly challenging.

"It's difficult. As I mentioned, we were in the process of downsizing our operation because of a lack of funding. Now, very quickly we need to upscale, so, we can only do that with funding. And ideally, we get funding for our previous operations and this additional requirement. Without that, we will struggle," he said.

According to a WFP statement released on Sunday, the organization is in a position to support 100,000 of the most affected people in Myanmar with ready-to-eat food first, followed by food and cash for food assistance to 800,000 people for a month.

It added that access to earthquake-hit areas and unreliable telecommunications continue to pose challenges for WFP and partners in mounting a full-scale response to massive needs.

The death toll from Friday's devastating 7.9-magnitude earthquake in central Myanmar has risen to 2,719, with 4,521 people injured and more than 440 still listed as missing, according to the Southeast Asian country's leader Min Aung Hlaing on Tuesday.

WFP official calls for more funding to support operation in quake-hit Myanmar

China and other member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), pledged to enhance sustainable development cooperation at a Thursday conference in Tianjin, ahead of this year's SCO summit.

As the rotating chair for this year, China is to host the SCO summit in Tianjin this autumn. The China-SCO Conference on Industrial Cooperation for Sustainable Development is one of the activities organized during a promotion event from Wednesday to Friday. It aims to promote cooperation in fields like infrastructure, energy, mining and petrifaction.

Nearly 400 guests, including government officials and enterprises from SCO member states attended the opening session.

"In 2024, China's trade volume with SCO member states, observer states and dialogue partners reached a record high of 890 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for about 14.4 percent of China's total foreign trade volume, fully demonstrating the tremendous vitality and broad prospects of trade development within the region," said Ling Ji, vice minister of commerce and deputy China international trade representative, at the conference.

As China has extensive experience in promoting sustainable development, attendees from SCO member states expressed hope to strengthen cooperation with China across various sectors, said SCO Deputy Secretary General Sohail Khan.

"China plays a very, very important, significant role in sustainable development, as I said, so we are expecting that in the sustainable development context, all member states have lot to gain and learn from China on its achievements in various areas, like agricultural industries, energy, high tech, information technology, and robot AI," he said.

By the end of 2024, China's investment stocks in SCO member states, observer states and dialogue partners have exceeded 140 billion U.S. dollars, with the total value of contracts signed by Chinese enterprises in these countries exceeding one trillion U.S. dollars and the completed turnover surpassing 680 billion U.S. dollars.

In 2024, about 19,000 China-Europe freight train ran through the SCO region, marking a year-on-year increase of 10.7 percent and significantly promoting regional connectivity and economic development.

China, SCO member states pledge deeper sustainable development cooperation