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FORMER foreign minister Alexander Downer has said the world should be ready to force aid into Burma as UN chief Ban Ki-moon prepares to visit the devastated cyclone region.

"The world is ready to help and the Burmese military won`t allow that assistance to be delivered to their people. I think the security council should debate this issue," he said on ABC television.

"I think the broader international community, including Australia, should be prepared militarily to force their way in to whatever country it is to provide that assistance."

Burma has been criticised over its insistence on handling most of the disaster relief effort since cyclone Nargis struck the country 17 days ago, leaving more than 133,000 people dead or missing.

But it has now agreed the international aid effort can be led by its southeast Asian neighbours, and Mr Ban will soon leave for Burma to visit the stricken areas ahead of key weekend fundraising talks.

However, the country`s military regime has stopped short of allowing a full-scale relief operation, despite warnings that people could soon start to die amid a lack of food, shelter and drinking water in the worst affected areas.

The UN secretary-general would seek "to reinforce the ongoing aid operation, see how the international relief and rehabilitation effort can be scaled up and work with Myanmar (Burmese) authorities to significantly increase the amount of aid flowing through Yangon to the areas most affected," his spokeswoman said.

He will also be in Rangoon next weekend for an aid pledging conference that will be co-sponsored by the UN and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

In a joint statement, the UN and ASEAN urged donors to dig deep to help the survivors of the disaster.

The gathering "will focus on the needs of those affected by the cyclone, and seek international support and financial assistance for the international humanitarian response to meet the most urgent challenges, as well as longer term recovery efforts", they said.

"The co-convenors call on the international community to rise to the occasion and translate their solidarity and sympathy into concrete commitments to help the people of Myanmar (Burma) emerge from the tragedy and rebuild their lives."

Last night Prime Minister Kevin Rudd urged Australians not to hold back from donating to the relief operation in Burma, as aid was getting through.

"I know there are widespread concerns about whether aid contributions are in fact getting through to those who need it, but I am assured that donations are making it through, albeit with great, great difficulty and setbacks on the way through," he said.

"No Australian should hold back from donating, because those donations are making a great difference to those on the ground."

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