YANGON — About 60 youth volunteers will go to Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships this week to deliver humanitarian assistance to people affected by the latest conflict in northern Rakhine State.
Young people from philanthropic groups and individuals across Myanmar will join the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development (UEHRD) in the region after State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi called for public participation to alleviate the crisis.
The group will head from Yangon to Sittwe on Thursday and continue traveling to the two townships.
The volunteers and staff from the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement will receive humanitarian assistance training in Yangon for the first three days of the 20-day program, said Dr. Aung Thu Rein, deputy director from the ministry’s Relief and Resettlement Department. The training began on Monday.
The volunteers will also collect data of households and counsel the affected families as well as deliver aid, he said, adding the team would distribute food, clothes, medicine, and nutrients for babies.
The ministry has invited youths between aged from 18-35 years old to participate in second and third visits after the first group completes the program. Dr. Aung Thu Rein said they received 25 applicants within a day.
Ko Htet Paing Soe from the Humanitarian Coordination Youth Team who is included in the first group met the State Counselor during her one-day visit to the state last Thursday. He will participate in the training in Yangon before returning to Rakhine with his fellow volunteers.
He told The Irrawaddy that the State Counselor advised them to provide aid effectively and systematically.
“The State Counselor has also guided us to consider how to prevent conflict in the region, bring peace and also to heal the trauma of the victims when delivering aid,” he said.
