A/HRC/13/48 106. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the return of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to Myanmar in November 2009. The Global Fund has agreed to provide Myanmar with $110 million to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, after pulling out of the country in 2005. 107. Although it is over a year and a half since Cyclone Nargis ripped through the Irrawaddy Delta, killing 140,000 and leaving 2.4 million destitute, the situation remains fragile. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the achievements of the Tripartite Core Group, established in May 2008 by the Government of Myanmar, ASEAN and the United Nations, in its relief efforts. The Post-Nargis and Regional Partnership Conference, held on 25 November 2009 in Bangkok, reported that shelter was the most important need identified for now. There was still an overall gap of 178,000 households that required urgent shelter assistance and that had been waiting for support from the humanitarian community for over a year. 108. Myanmar receives one of the lowest levels of overseas development assistance. Donors cite the human rights situation as a key obstacle, along with issues of access and other restrictions on the delivery of aid. However, the social development indicators of the country call for concerted action and support. Urgent measures are required to ensure the most basic human rights of the most vulnerable people, especially those ethnic communities residing in remote border areas. According to the Human Development Report 2009, Myanmar is still one of the least developed countries, ranking 138th of 182 nations on the human development index, despite its rich natural resources. 109. Commitments by the authorities in addressing barriers to development assistance would be the fundamental step in encouraging stronger international support, such as lifting administrative restrictions that threaten to limit the work of NGOs and aid workers, and the release of those who have been imprisoned for involvement in post-Nargis relief efforts. 110. Access to international agencies and organizations would help facilitate not only humanitarian work but would also help verify information coming out of border areas and other restricted zones which, in complaints, the Government has characterized as inaccurate and resulting from malicious reports deliberately made by opposing forces. 111. The Special Rapporteur is aware of reports of human rights abuses associated with large-scale development projects in Myanmar, in relation to oil and gas industries, mining and the building of large-scale dams. The alarming depletion of resources in Myanmar is of concern, as is the relationship between the extractive industries and a vast array of human rights violations. In Myanmar the mining of gold, gemstones, copper and other plentiful mineral resources has been linked to land confiscation, forced labour, and violations of the right to a healthy environment and the right to water. 112. It has been reported that extraction activities have directly resulted in an increase in human rights and environmental abuses committed by the military against the people living along the PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited’s Yadana and Yetagun gas pipeline projects in the Tenasserim region of Myanmar. Reports highlight the close relationship between the extraction companies and the armed forces. The companies rely on the Myanmar military to provide security for their projects. Similar negative impact is caused in the context of the Kanbauk to Myaing Kalay gas pipeline project, operated by the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, and the Shwe gas pipeline project, the majority stakeholder of which is Daewoo International. According to reports, there is rampant use of forced labour in the areas. 113. The Special Representative on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises has defined the policy framework in regard to this issue (see A/HRC/8/5). The framework rests on three complementary pillars: the State duty to protect against human rights abuses by third parties, including business, through GE.10-11915 19