Myanmar state media Tuesday praised the UN's relief efforts after the cyclone that left 133,000 dead or missing, in a marked shift of tone after weeks of claiming the military could distribute aid on its own. "The United Nations and its agencies took prompt action to carry out (the) relief and rehabilitation mission with the contributions of international organisations," the official New Light of Myanmar newspaper said. Meanwhile, foreign aid workers Tuesday pressed into Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta, testing the junta's pledge to open up areas where one million people have yet to receive aid three weeks after the cyclone. Six foreign staff based in Yangon with the UN children's fund Unicef were allowed to join teams of mainly Myanmar workers to assess the scale of the devastation left by Cyclone Nargis. "We're very pleased obviously that we've been able to get international colleagues out" into the delta, Unicef spokeswoman Shantha Bloemen said in Bangkok. Other charities such as Doctors Without Borders were also sending foreign staff into the delta, testing Myanmar's promise to open up to international experts whose specialist knowledge is needed to ramp up emergency operations. Most of the 2.4 million people in desperate need of food, shelter and medicine have yet to receive any international aid, according to the United Nations. "Providing food, clothing and shelters to the victims are to be carried out with the aid of the international community," it said, adding reconstruction would be done "with the help of skilled workers." "With contributions of the UN, Asean and international community... we firmly believe that the rehabilitation of storm victims will be materialised soonest." The junta has faced harsh criticism for limiting foreign aid for the 2.4 million cyclone victims who need emergency help and for blocking international experts from the hardest-hit parts of the Irrawaddy Delta. During a visit by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the end of last week, the junta said it would allow foreign workers into the delta.