Countries slow to cough up their Burma pledges
Saturday, June 14th, 2008Mark Dodd; 14/6/08
The UN had received only 56per cent of the pledged donations to help victims of Burma’s devastating Cyclone Nargis, the organisation said yesterday. It had set a goal of $US201.6million ($215million) for its relief efforts but so far had received only $US113.2million, or 56per cent, from government donors. As the UN tried to rally governments to make good on their vows, Burma’s junta yesterday said it could not trust any contribution from the US. In a clear reference to the US, a media mouthpiece for the regime warned that “the goodwill of a big Western nation that wants to help Myanmar (Burma) with its warships was not genuine”.
