Human rights organisations in BURMA

Equality Myanmar

Equality Myanmar (EQMM) was founded in 2000 with the goal of empowering the people of Myanmar to engage in social transformation and promote a culture of human rights through a broad range of human rights education and advocacy programs.

EQMM has played a central role in coordinating advocacy campaigns to raise awareness about the human rights situation in Myanmar at local, national, regional, and international levels. Additionally, the organization produces a range of human rights educational materials, audio/visual tools, and other multimedia resources in Burmese and ethnic languages to address the lack of human rights information available.

International Center for Transitional Justice

The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) works for justice in countries that have endured massive human rights abuses under repression and in conflict. In Myanmar, ICTJ has pushed for the government to provide redress to political prisoners. It has also bolstered civil society efforts to bring victim experiences into the national dialogue.

 ICTJ’s main priorities in Myanmar are: victim support and reparations, justice for political prisoners, and training and outreach for civil society on transitional justice concepts and mechanisms.

Fortify Rights

Fortify Rights works to prevent and remedy human rights violations in Myanmar by investigating and documenting abuses, providing customized technical support to human rights defenders, and pressing for solutions.

 They work closely with human rights defenders, civil society organizations, and affected communities to ensure their documentation and truth-telling is meaningful, accurate, and impactful. Additionally, they also produce detailed advocacy materials, including public and private reports, statements, briefings, and multimedia materials that provide rights-based analyses and concrete, realistic solutions.

CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIzATION in burma

Myanmar Informational Management Unit

The Myanmar Information Management Unit (MIMU) provides information management services to strengthen analysis and decision-making of the humanitarian and development community in Myanmar. MIMU maintains a common data and information repository with data from various sources on all sectors, countrywide, at the lowest administrative unit for which it is available. This information is then made widely accessible to UN, NGO, donor and Government stakeholders in the form of maps, databases and other tools which support the coordination, planning and implementation of humanitarian, development and peace-focused activities.

The MIMU comes under the direct management of the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator and receives strategic guidance from its Advisory Board representing UN agencies, international and national NGOs and Myanmar-based donors. This unique position - as an independent but broadly-owned service – also allows the MIMU to play an important role in promoting standards which enable better sharing, mapping and storage of different types of data.

DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS in BURMA

World Vision International

World Vision International Myanmar has been operating in the country since 1991 and is one of the largest global NGOs at work in Myanmar. Since 2016, they have been implementing 129 projects across 11 of Myanmar’s 14 states and regions. Their work focuses on child protection, education, health and nutrition, and livelihood development.

International Development Association

The International Development Association (IDA) is a subsidiary of the World Bank that functions as a self-sustaining business and provides loans and advice to middle-income and credit-worthy poor countries.

 In Myanmar, IDA provides concessional loans and block grants for basic social services development and supports a range of community-designed development projects that pave the way toward equality, economic growth, job creation, higher incomes, and better living conditions. IDA's work in Myanmar covers primary education, basic health services, clean water and sanitation, agriculture, business climate improvements, infrastructure, and institutional reforms.

PACT

Pact is the largest global NGO at work in Myanmar today, with a total of 3,100 staff. Operating in the country since 1997, Pact is widely recognized as one of the first global NGOs to provide microfinance loans in Myanmar and is active in 2,636 villages across 30 townships, including Kayah State, and Magway, Mandalay, Sagaing and Yangon regions.

Pact designs and implements projects that maximize local ownership and leverage existing systems and networks. Their work in Myanmar covers a broad spectrum of interventions, including health, livelihoods, local governance, civil society strengthening, renewable energy, water and sanitation.

Save the Children

Save the Children has worked in Myanmar since 1995, helping children to access essential services such as healthcare and education in Ayeyarwady, Magway, Mandalay and Yangon regions, and the Mon and Kayin states.

Save the Children has a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Health since 2001 and has largely directed its efforts toward high-impact initiatives in education, health and economic opportunities.

Action Contre Le Faim (Action Against Hunger)

Action Contre Le Faim (ACF) has been at work in Myanmar since 1994. The French NGO’s development programming prioritizes nutrition, food security and livelihoods, and water, sanitation and hygiene. Until 2008, ACF’s development portfolio was entirely concentrated in the Rakhine state. Today, ACF also has operations in Chin and Kayah states, and the Sittwe region.

 Their current objectives are to improve access to treatment for acute malnutrition, assist populations affected by armed conflict, strengthen community resilience to natural disasters, and respond to chronic food insecurity and address undernutrition across Myanmar.

Action Aid

ActionAid is an international non-governmental organization who works towards social justice through gender equality and poverty eradication. In Myanmar, Action Aid trains community paralegals in basic legal skills and provide free legal aid to women who have survived violence, so that perpetrators can be held to account. They also train government staff, including the police force, on the implementation of laws and policies designed to prevent violence against women and engages with male community leaders to cultivate zero tolerance policies toward violence among their male friends and colleagues.

Asia Foundation

The Asia Foundation is a nonprofit international development organization committed to improving lives across a dynamic and developing Asia. Their work in Myanmar addresses five overarching goals—strengthen governance, empower women, expand economic opportunity, increase environmental resilience, and promote regional cooperation.

 The Foundation’s office in Myanmar provides wide-ranging support for the country’s political, economic, social, and educational institutions. Their work includes: building the country’s capacity for regional and global integration, strengthening institutions and processes of democratic governance, contributing to informed dialogues on the peace process, supporting initiatives for inclusive economic development, promoting women’s empowerment and political participation, and increasing public access to information.

Humanitarian aid ORGANIZATIONS in BURMA

The International Committee of the Red Cross

The International Committee of the Red Cross  (ICRC) has been present in Myanmar since 1986. Much of its work in the country involves visiting detainees, improving prison conditions, organizing relief operations and reuniting separated families.

 Since 2013, the ICRC has gradually expanded its activities to include improving access to health care and clean water, and restoring livelihoods in communities affected by the intercommunal violence in Rakhine state and the armed conflict in the northeast of the country. The ICRC works closely with the Myanmar Red Cross in the areas of organizational development, disaster risk reduction and response, and restoring family links.

Population Services International

Population Services International (PSI) has been operating in Myanmar for 20 years and has eight field offices and operates in nearly all of Myanmar’s 331 townships. To help reduce Myanmar’s disease burden, PSI’s efforts largely focus on addressing HIV and AIDS, malaria, pneumonia and diarrhea, and improving reproductive and maternal health.

 PSI delivers quality health products and services nationwide through more than 8,000 retail outlets, 1,500 private doctors, 2,000 community health workers, and 17 drop-in centers for groups most at risk of HIV. PSI provides primary health services in 220 townships through the Sun Quality Health franchise network.

Médecins Sans Frontières

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is the largest HIV and AIDS provider in Myanmar, and offers basic health and reproductive care, tuberculosis and malaria treatments, and emergency referrals. Since 1992, MSF has medical activities in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan states, and in the Tanintharyi and Yangon regions.

MSF has been working with the Ministry of Health and Sports to transfer patients to the decentralised National AIDS Programme so they can receive care closer to home. This includes patients on treatment for co-infections such as hepatitis C, tuberculosis (TB) and multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB).

CARE International

CARE International has been delivering broad-spectrum emergency relief and long-term development projects in Myanmar since 1995. CARE has offices in 10 out of Myanmar’s 14 states and regions.

CARE’s development efforts have mostly focused on public health and hygiene, HIV prevention and care, food and livelihood security, disaster risk reduction, climate change, and gender. They work in partnership with remote, rural, conflict-affected and urban communities, government and non-government actors to reach those affected by humanitarian crisis and living in extreme vulnerabilities through a non-religious and non-partisan approach.

Solidarités International

Solidarités International seeks to assist victims of conflict and natural disasters by meeting their vital needs — drinking water, food and shelter. The French humanitarian agency’s work in Myanmar has focused on three areas: improving access to water, sanitation and hygiene, strengthening food security, and building resilience in households most susceptible to natural disasters. Solidarités International’s programs are largely implemented in the Chin, Kachin and Rakhine states, as well as in the Dry Zone.