MYANMAR

Mission start 1992
Impacted population 1,000,000

To lift families out of extreme poverty and fight against social injustices

Context

Myanmar is one of the poorest and least developed countries in Asia. In 2019, it ranked 145th out of 189 countries on the United Nations Development Program’s Human Development Index. The 2015 elections marked a historic milestone in the country’s political and economic transition. The democratically elected government took office with a huge popular mandate.

Although some sectors have undertaken important reforms, the level of poverty remains very high: 67% of workers live on $2 a day. Rural areas, remote border regions, mainly populated by ethnic minority groups, as well as territories where migrants and internally displaced populations live are particularly affected by poverty. One of the consequences of conflict and violence in Myanmar, including the Karen conflict, described as the world’s longest-running conflict or the most recent Rohingya crisis, is the displacement of more than 660,000 people within and outside the country. 

 

FXB in action

FXB began operations in Myanmar in 1992 to provide economic and social reintegration to 95 Burmese girls rescued from forced prostitution during a police raid in Thailand initiated by FXB founder Albina du Boisrouvray and the Thai government.

FXB then created a program in Myanmar to offer them an alternative to prostitution and allow for individualized reintegration, according to each girl’s aspirations and abilities. Many of them were involved in trafficking from a young age and had very little education. They, therefore, undertook basic vocational and management training and received a small amount in the form of seed capital to start an economic activity. As the program grew rapidly, FXB created its own vocational training center to extend its intervention to young people in extremely precarious situations and people infected with HIV/AIDS.

Since then, FXB has been developing complementary programs that promote respect for basic human rights and social justice in several states of Myanmar.

 

Our ongoing programs

Our activities in the areas of Economic and Community Development FXBVillageEducationProtectionNutrition, Health, Water and Hygiene – strengthen the capacity of the communities in which FXB operates to act and develop.

Gender inequality and women’s exposure to violence, harassment, and abuse are not critical risks. It is essential that women and girls have full access to education, training, and economic opportunities and that their leadership capacities are strengthened to enable them to participate in general decision-making. FXB places particular emphasis on these issues.

Testimonial

We are happy to see generations of women and children able to take advantage of the support offered to them to gradually and successfully build their self-esteem and thrive.

Dr Cho Cho Mar Kyaw, FXB Myanmar Director

Mission impact

FXB has been providing essential support to Myanmar since 1993.

Our programs such as

  • Emergency and reconstruction operations after Cyclone Nargis and other major floods,
  • HIV prevention and comprehensive care programs as well as awareness campaigns,
  • Human trafficking awareness campaigns,
  • Sexual and reproductive health or gender-based violence, capacity building for policy formulation and implementation and multisectoral interventions,
  • Education and vocational and training,
  • Economic and community development FXBVillage programs

have reached more than 1 million children and adults in their communities in the different states and regions of Myanmar.

 

See some of our completed projects:

Completed Project: Implement skills development approaches – Myanmar