Transforming rural communities in Myanmar

This short report provides an update on our key areas of work in NW Myanmar, with a special focus on our health care programmes. There is too much to report in full, so we hope you enjoy reading this snapshot of some of our activity. 

Context

The country continues to be gripped by the chaotic and brutal conflict which has dominated the country since 2021. 

Widespread violence, human rights violations, localised ethnic tensions, and discrimination continue to drive the humanitarian ‘poly-crisis’ in Myanmar. 20 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, with significant access constraints due to armed conflict and movement restrictions. Myanmar remains one of the world’s most underfunded humanitarian operations, with only 12% of required funds required reported as received. A recent report ranked Myanmar as the second most conflict affected country in the world second only to Palestine. 

Although the situation remains deeply challenging, our teams continue to respond with resilience and dedication. Step by step, they are ensuring that families still receive care, communities remain supported, and hope is sustained in places where it is most needed. 

Health

We continue to implement our community health programme, delivering care in remote and hard to access areas, particularly in NW Myanmar. Our focus on community based health care expanded to include over 750 villages this year, as we increased our range of mobile and fixed clinics further east. We currently have over 350 Community Health Workers (CHWs) serving across Chin State. So far this year we have provided over 58,500 patient consultations in a total population of approximately 382,600 people. 

CHWs provide basic health care and education, screening children for malnutrition, malaria and treating common conditions. We integrate this with referrals to more advanced health care, and support 23 primary health care clinics staffed by nurses and midwives. Mobile clinics are sent to areas that are particularly remote and inaccessible. Often, the CHW is the only health care worker available, and they provide a vital local service.

In addition to the support of primary health care in Western Myanmar, our health team continue to provide care to those displaced by the conflict and who are living in the border areas. Unable to access health care in the usual settings, this provides a lifeline to many. Over 100 patients have received care so far this year. Our community ambulance has been purchased and will provide a vital additional layer of care, connecting patients in remote locations with more expert medical care when needed. Fundraising is continuing to enable this service to run with appropriate equipment and staff.

Below is a short testimonial from one of our CHWs describing her work:

“My name is Daw Aye (name changed). I live in Chin State, XXXX Township. There are 51 households in my village.

I am passionate about providing healthcare services such as primary healthcare to the general population and conducting health education to the community. Early in 2024, the team came and told my  community about the project explaining that they will work with Community Health Workers. And that the project will support us with medicines and training. I was very happy and gathered the village administrative committee, village health committee and organized village meetings, and I agreed to accept the project as it would solve the basic need of community health.  All villagers too agreed.

After finishing the training, I got the essential medicine and equipment, and I started to provide health services to my village regularly. The most satisfying and successful activity is conducting health education programs”.

Our community health programmes will continue into 2026, providing vital care across the region. 

Education

Our education work provides scholarship opportunities to talented young people with a passion to serve their local communities. We currently support over 70 students in higher secondary and tertiary education. Our Year 12 students will be graduating early next year and hoping to attend university. It is a tense time of preparation for the (academic) year end exams and our staff team provide pastoral and academic support to ensure the students have all the resources they need to succeed. We will hope to support at least 20 of these students to go on and study at university. 

We are also supporting several schools to provide continuing education for young adults and children in conflict affected areas. These community schools are provided through courageous teaching staff who have committed to providing education in very challenging circumstances. 

Humanitarian relief

We have recently closed our earthquake response project, providing emergency relief to those affected by the devastating earthquake in March 2025. We were able to reach over 25,000 people in 70 different locations with a variety of support including food, water, household essentials, and health care. 

Sadly the needs are huge across the country and our New Dawn project continues to operate in the border areas, providing subsidised food relief to displaced communities. We are also distributing nutritional support and relief to vulnerable households, schools and children under 2. This reaches approximately 26,000 people every month. 

Livelihoods

Although the insecurity means that longer term development work is more difficult, we are continuing our work to support vulnerable women to develop skills in tailoring, animal husbandry and small scale agriculture. This includes training in fish and mushroom farming. We hope that a further 30 trainees will complete their 6 month training course in tailoring over the coming months. 

Thank you

Through your partnership we have been able to support many people who simply would not have been reached as the country continues to stagger under the weight of the military coup.

We hope you are inspired by all that our courageous teams have accomplished over recent months. It is not possible in a short report to provide an overview of all that is happening, but I trust you are encouraged and inspired by all that has been accomplished, despite such difficult times.

Together, we are making a difference, rebuilding lives and restoring hope. As ever, thank you for standing with us.

We could not do this without you.