General information

About the programme

Launch date: 1994
National staff : 298

Key facts

Population: 48 million
Human Development Index : ranked 135 out of 179

Humanitarian context

A diverse range of ethnic groups, traditions and religions exist in Burma, officially the Union of Myanmar. 

A military junta has been in power since 1962.  The international community remains divided over whether to support the regime in its fight against drug trafficking or to denunciate its human rights infringements.  In protest against the regime and due to pressure from the international community, a large majority of foreign companies and investors have withdrawn from Myanmar and several countries have declared an embargo on Burmese merchandise, thus plunging even more of the population into poverty.  The rate of inflation is estimated to be more than 50% and the banking system totally obsolete.  Until recently, Burma belonged to the Asian “tigers“, but today it is cut off from the world and is economically devastated.

The United Nations estimates that half of the population lives below the poverty line and the World Health Organisation has ranked Myanmar 190 out of 191 in terms of its public health system.  In addition, the literacy rate is one of the lowest in the world.

Today, however, it is the situation of the minorities living in the country’s border regions that is the most worrying: these populations are very isolated and have very poor access to general aid.  The situation in Northern Rakhine State (in the west of Burma), in which several minorities are grouped together (including the Rohingya) is desperate. The humanitarian indicators in this region, such as access to clean water, to health facilities, to food and to education, are very low.

On 2nd/3rd May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit the Irrawaddy Delta and Yangon regions in the south of the country, causing the deaths and disappearance of more than 133,000 people.  In total, more than 2.5 million people were affected, one million of whom were made homeless. This region is known as the granary of Myanmar, but for the affected population – as for the majority of Burmese – one of the main short- and long-term problems remains access to food.
 
ACF in Myanmar

Action Against Hunger has been working in Burma since 1994.  The first objective was to reduce the death rates of the most vulnerable populations in the towns of Kyauktaw, Mrauk Uu and Minbya, in the west of the country, through water and sanitation programmes. 

In 1995 the organisation extended its work into North Rakhine State to meet the needs of the isolated minorities. Water and sanitation and food security programmes were put in place and are still in operation today.  At the end of 2005, our teams opened a nutrition programme.

Since August 2007, ACF has also been running nutritional programmes in Sittwe in the west of the country.  At the beginning of 2008, water and sanitation and food security surveillance programmes were launched in the state of Kayah.  After Cyclone Nargis, ACF put emergency water and sanitation and food security programmes in place to meet the needs of affected communities.  This emergency intervention will, bit by bit, pave the way for longer term projects in the region.

In 2007, ACF came to the aid of 82,151 people in Burma.

Action Against Hunger in Burma

Maungdaw and Buthidang (North Rakhine State)

Health and nutrition

• Two therapeutic feeding centres and five outpatient treatment centres
• Consideration of the psychological aspects of nutritional treatment

Food Security

• Creation of income-generating activities
• Agricultural diversification training for families
• Development of agricultural techniques

Water and sanitation

• Construction of family and public latrines
• Hygiene promotion sessions
• Rehabilitation and construction of bore-holes, wells and water filter distribution
• Creation of water management committees and promotion of good hygiene and sanitation practices

Sittwe (Rakhine State)

Health and nutrition

• One therapeutic feeding centre and one supplementary feeding centre
• Care practices, education and health

Kayah State

Water and Sanitation

• Construction and rehabilitation of water points
• Construction of latrines
• Creation of water management committees
• Sessions to promote good hygiene and sanitation practices

Food security

• Surveillance of the population’s vulnerabilities and subsistence mechanisms

Bogale and Pyapon (Ayeyarwaddi Delta)

Water and sanitation

• Distribution of water collecting materials, hygiene kits, water purification tablets and plastic tarpaulins

Food security

• Distribution of cooking kits
• Food distribution

Funding

ECHO and EuropeAid, Agencies of the United Nations: WFP, UNICEF and UNHCR