United Nations Global Compact participants have received a special message asking them to provide assistance to disaster areas in Myanmar and China.

In the letter dated May 15, UN Global Compact's Executive Director Georg Kell says the office is "deeply concerned for the millions of children, men and women in China and Myanmar that are in distress."

Kell says the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is providing disaster relief to areas such as the cyclone-ravaged Myanmar and the areas affected by the earthquake in China's Sichuan, and he adds that the UN Central Emergency Response Fund is the UN's central donation facility, collecting contributions year-round for immediate humanitarian relief in emergencies.

"We are encouraged by the fact that companies have already begun to donate to the disasters in China and Myanmar through the UN and other organizations. The concern and generosity of the global business community is greatly needed for recovery. Thank you in advance for considering this request," Kell concludes.