Analysis: Burma waiting for development aid
YANGON (Rangoon), 10 August 2009 (IRIN): Burma is one of the least-funded countries in the world but faces a number of hurdles if it wants to receive more overseas development assistance (ODA).
Donors cite the continued detention of opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi as a key obstacle, along with issues of access and other restrictions on the delivery of aid.
However, the relief effort that followed Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, which left some 140.000 people dead, proved that aid can be delivered directly to those in need, agencies say.
In 2007, the country received just 4 US dollar (ca. 21 DKR) per person in ODA, less than any of the poorest 50 countries, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Cambodia and Laos – countries with similar poverty levels – received 47 and 68 dollar per person respectively for the same time period.
In the 1990 general election, Suu Kyi (now 64) won the right to be Prime Minister, as leader of the winning National League for Democracy party, which won 59 per cent of the vote and 394 of 492 seats. Her subsequent detention by the military junta prevented her from assuming office.
Læs videre på http://www.IRINnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=85641
