Acted launched operations in Myanmar in August 2008, focusing on providing emergency relief whilst actively building towards resilience. Since then, it has expanded operations into Rakhine State, Yangon Region, and Southern Shan State, working on food security, livelihoods, and social cohesion.
Myanmar’s complex and multi-faceted humanitarian crisis is characterized by armed conflict, inter-communal tensions, and vulnerability to natural hazards. The events of 1 February 2021 have exacerbated these pre-existing vulnerabilities, leaving 18.6 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in 2024 (or over a third of the country’s total population) and over 2.6 million people displaced by the end of 2023.
Compounding these vulnerabilities, Myanmar is consistently ranked as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, being particularly vulnerable to flooding and cyclones – Cyclone Mocha affected over 3.4 million people in May 2023, and over 28 million people continue to live in areas with high flood exposure risk.
All of the above has undone over a decade of progress on poverty reduction, with conservative estimates stating 60% of the population is living below the poverty line, and this figure is likely even higher. Combined with high inflation (over 15% in 2023), this has left 12.9 million people in Myanmar without sufficient access to food, as well as increasing barriers to basic services such as healthcare and education.
Since 2008, Acted has been delivering life-saving assistance to crisis-affected communities whilst contributing to their recovery and future resilience, implementing projects to improve food and nutrition security as well as sustainable access to income at household-level.
Moreover, Acted is working to promote peaceful coexistence in crisis-affected areas by enhancing positive social interactions between communities. This is done by building the capacity of youth to lead as actors of change in their communities through a series of trainings on gender equality and intercommunal dialogue, bringing together different community groups for art workshops or communal projects such as cleaning campaigns and infrastructure rehabilitation.
As part of its localization strategy, Acted uses its dedication Grassroots Organizational Capacity Assessment (GOCA) approach. The capacity of all local partners is assessed using the GOCA tool at the start of the partnership. Based on the findings, Acted provides partners with dedicated trainings on topics such as fundraising, reporting, financial management, HR, or other topics as prioritized. Trainings are delivered by Acted staff, to ensure both the quality of the training and continuous support following the training, ensuring an effective transfer of knowledge and guaranteeing the quality of partner operations. Acted moreover supports the technical capacity-building of partners, by facilitating training and backstopping on thematic areas, including entrepreneurship, sustainable agriculture practices, and disability inclusion, to further strengthen the quality and accessibility of basic services in Myanmar.
In November 2023, the 3ZERO House in Yangon was opened, a community-space that aims to address various challenges in the country’s current context, including youth unemployment, increasing poverty, and the need to support local civil society organizations and entrepreneurs. The 3ZERO House offers a variety of programs and services aimed at empowering youth and young entrepreneurs, focusing on innovation, climate-smart agriculture, and waste management.