Children in Myanmar
A generation in peril
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To survive and thrive, all children need stability and safety.
Instead, the wellbeing, future and survival of a generation of Myanmar’s children is threatened by escalating conflict, insecurity, displacement and poverty. Since February 2021, children have been killed, wounded, detained and displaced as unrest has erupted around the country.
- Hard-won gains in health and learning are being rapidly eroded.
- Children’s rights are being neglected, including by those who have a duty to protect them.
- Economic shock and lack of access to key services are exposing significant numbers of children to profound physical, psychological, educational and economic challenges. Many will struggle to overcome these hardships.
No place is safe
COVID-19 has already exposed Myanmar’s children to huge challenges and 12 million children have been out of school for over a year.
The current crisis is exacerbating the challenges faced by children. Too many are still missing out on organised learning while others, witnessing attacks and the occupation of educational facilities, are being made to feel that they are not safe, even at school.
Around 1,000 children and young people have been detained without apparent reason. Although many have since been released, their experiences will have long-term consequences for their mental health and wellbeing.
The psychological wellbeing and future prospects of millions of children are being harmed, in some cases permanently.
A humanitarian crisis
In 2021, the UN targeted a total of three million people for humanitarian assistance and protection services across the country. This includes 1 million people in conflict-affected areas previously identified, and a further 2 million people identified since 1 February.
Homelessness:
Around 200,000 people were displaced in 2021 – in other words, driven from their homes because their lives were in danger if they stayed. Many are struggling and can’t easily get hold of critical humanitarian supplies and services.
The most basic preventative healthcare has been lost:
Millions of children across the country are being deprived of basic health services. Almost a million children are not able to have routine vaccinations to protect them against measles, polio and diphtheria. Close to five million children are going without the simple vitamin A supplement that would protect them from infections and blindness. Child mortality and undernutrition remain high.
The global pandemic is driving poverty:
The third wave of COVID is expected to have devastating consequences for the health of the population and for the economy. The rising poverty set in motion by the onset of the pandemic will most severely affect children and women.
Unsafe water brings life-threatening disease:
This is the most direct threat to children’s health and to their very existence. Lack of safe water, and lack of enough safe water, is driving increasingly poor sanitation and hygiene. In fragile countries such as Myanmar, research shows that children under five are 20 times more likely to die because of diarrheal disease - often related to unsafe water – than because of violence.
Healthcare gains are being lost:
Myanmar’s health care, education, water and sanitation and child protection were all improving until the current crisis began. Budgets allocating spending to children and communities were rising. These gains are now in serious jeopardy and children’s needs are becoming ever more urgent.
How UNICEF is responding
We draw on our 70 years of experience working for the children of Myanmar, in times of both calm and crisis. Flexibility is our watchword, and UNICEF is adapting its work to respond to local need.
UNICEF is committed, as always, to providing the services and life-saving supplies that are critical for children’s survival and wellbeing.
We continue to reach children even when they are living in the most challenging situations. We collaborate with our many partners to make sure resources are mobilized to deliver the best possible results and save lives, at scale.
As ever, UNICEF focuses particularly on reaching the most vulnerable children; the poorest, those with disabilities, those living in camps for displaced people and migrant and refugee children. We also work to meet the needs of children in hard-to-reach areas – and this now includes urban areas under martial law.