International donors, world leaders and people across the globe have been urged not to turn their back on the people of Burma.

The plea comes three months to the day since Cyclone Nargis made landfall in Burma's Irrawaddy Delta region.

Since May 2nd up to 140,000 people have died as a result of the storm, the worst to ever hit the south-east Asian country, while a further 2.5 million people have been displaced.

Save the Children is calling on international donors not to forget the Burmese people as the spotlight moves away from the country.

The charity, which has a larger humanitarian presence in Burma than any other organisation, says the Burmese people are in desperate need of international aid.

A report seen by inthenews.co.uk shows more than half of families in the shattered delta region have less than one day of food left, with the situation made even direr by the impossibility of planting new crops.

The region's fishing industry has also been devastated, contributing to a 50 per cent rise in food prices.

According to Save the Children, two years ago the average cost of feeding a Burmese family was $1.15 (58p) a day, with the average daily wage standing at $1.04 (53p).

With malnutrition a real risk, the charity is calling for money for fertilisers for crops already planted as well as direct food aid that will allow it to distribute 7,000 metric tonnes to 150,000 people over the next three months.

Almost nine out of every ten families affected by the cyclone were already in poverty before the storm struck, with even more children now being withdrawn from school and forced into work or becoming victims of trafficking as a result.

"For those children who were separated from their families or even orphaned by the cyclone, the future is uncertain," Save the Children told inthenews.co.uk.

"The number of children's homes and orphanages is on the rise but it is not only orphans who end up living there. Children whose parents are still alive are being sent to institutions because nobody has yet traced their parents or extended families, and those currently looking after them can't afford to continue to support them."

In the immediate aftermath of the cyclone Burma's junta faced widespread international condemnation for hindering aid efforts.

The concern led to an influential committee of MPs last month urging the UK government, which has already donated £45 million, to freeze aid to Burma unless the country's human rights record improved or proof was received of it not being diverted to the military.

But charities responded by claiming there is a "desperate" need for further aid and insisted their work was saving hundreds of thousands of lives.

Save the Children says the Burmese generals have granted improved access to the delta to international relief workers and that an independent assessment of relief needs has been completed – paving the way for further international aid to arrive in the country.

"Save the Children has clearly demonstrated that aid given to Myanmar can be effective and make a dramatic difference, whilst still meeting international standards of accountability," a spokesperson explained.

"If donors break their promises and fail to give generously to the survivors of the cyclone – they will be punishing the children of Myanmar for a government that they have no control over."

While the UK has donated more to help the survivors of Cyclone Nargis than any other country, other states have been less generous.

The US, which has a raft of restrictive sanctions over investment in Burma, has pledged $29 million (£14.6 million), while the Philippines, which has a GNI per capita 15 times smaller than the States, has pledged $20 million (£10.1 million).

Japan meanwhile, which gave $500 million (£252.5 million) to the Boxing Day 2004 Asian tsunami appeal, has donated just $11 million (£5.6 million), despite the impact of Cyclone Nargis being compared to the destruction suffered by any one individual country in the tsunami.

Cyclone Nargis was not the first time the notoriously secret Burmese junta had been thrust on to the global news agenda in the past 12 months.

Last autumn a wave of popular protests were witnessed in the country's largest cities in the greatest challenge to military rule since the crushing of pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988.

The protests, which were led by Buddhist monks, were sparked by a 500 per cent increase in the price of natural gas, announced by the government in August last year.

Support for the junta, which assumed power in 1962, is now at an all-time low following its limited response to the cyclone.

But regional experts have told inthenews.co.uk it could take decades for any challenge to the senior generals to materialise.

In its annual human rights report, the FCO noted the junta's persistent violations were at the heart of the country's political, economic and social problems.

"The Burmese regime may continue to be indifferent to the suffering of the Burmese people, but the UK, and the world, remain concerned," the report stated.
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