Context
Myanmar is one of the poorest and least developed countries in Asia. In 2019, it ranked 145th out of 191 countries on the United Nations Development Program’s Human Development Index.
The country has suffered from political conflict for decades. In 2021, a new crisis erupted, jeopardizing many of the impressive development gains the country has made over the past 15 years.
A combination of economic instability, the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and escalating conflict means that nearly half the population now lives below the poverty line.
Furthermore, gender inequality and women’s exposure to violence, harassment and abuse are not only critical protection risks, but also a significant obstacle to the country’s development. It is essential that women and girls have full access to education, vocational training, and economic opportunities and that their leadership capacities are strengthened to enable them to participate in mainstream decision making.
Our action
Coordination and implementation FXB International
Financial Partners: IF International Foundation and Fonds de soutien Migros.
BREAKING THE VICIOUS CYCLE OF POVERTY
Poverty is multidimensional. It is more than just a lack of income. In Myanmar, poor people face a range of complex problems, including conflict, displacement, malnutrition, lack of clean water, limited access to education and information, disease, poor housing and environmental conditions, social discrimination and exclusion, and adverse weather conditions.
THE STRENGTH OF OUR APPROACH: ADDRESSING THE MULTIPLE CAUSES OF EXTREME POVERTY
Addressing only the issue of income is an insufficient solution to sustainably overcome poverty.
Our Economic and Community Development FXBVillage Model allows us to provide, in three years, a complete response to the fundamental causes of poverty by simultaneously acting on 5 predominant factors.
The fundamental pillar of our model is economic strengthening. Its main innovation is the donation of seed capital—in lieu of loans—thus allowing families to achieve economic autonomy. Families are also given training in business management and financial literacy, enabling them to start income-generating activities (microenterprises) and gradually earn enough money to meet their daily needs, facilitate their financial inclusion, and continue to prosper after the program ends.
Along with economic strengthening, FXB ensures that every family member has access to basic human rights through four additional pillars: food security, access to education and critical health & social information, access to adequate health services, and a healthy home & environment.
For FXB, combating poverty also means fighting against all forms of discrimination, particularly gender discrimination, in order to balance relations between men and women so that the latter, who are more exposed to poverty, can access the same economic and social opportunities.
1 – Develop the socio-economic capacities of families
- Establishment of Saving, Credit and Support Groups to provide services to beneficiary families who do not have access to formal financial services. These groups help create social bonds, provide space to share challenges and solutions and foster participants’ entrepreneurial spirit
- Comprehensive training in financial management and entrepreneurship.
- Donation of a seed capital to each family in order to launch an economic activity in the field of their choice.
- Accompaniment of families to develop, diversify and ensure the sustainability of their economic activities.
2 – Ensure their food security and improve their access to health care and disease prevention.
- Emergency nutritional support is given to families during the first nine months of the program to help them regain a satisfactory state of health.
- Creation of individual vegetable gardens for the production of fruit and vegetables for the families’ own consumption.
- Care for children under 5 years of age and pregnant or nursing women suffering from malnutrition.
- Access to comprehensive health care services and training of families and the community in health management and family dietetics, sexual and reproductive health and the prevention of endemic diseases such as coronarirus, HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, including by facilitating screening.
- Psychosocial support to help families deal with the consequences of the various forms of violence encountered.
3 – Provide schooling for children, vocational training for adolescents and young adults, and community capacity building.
- Collaboration with schools and teachers to enable school-aged children and young adults to be (re)enrolled in school.
- Training, according to aspirations, in the trades of clothing, hospitality, wood and bamboo, sustainable agriculture and animal husbandry, through the FXB Itinerant Vocational Training Units.
- Organization of social development and capacity-building activities in order to help raise awareness of different social or health issues.
4 – Improve their living conditions
- Sanitation and equipping homes with solar lighting, improved cooking stoves, latrines, showers, and hand-washing stations.
- Training in recycling, personal and family hygiene, water and sanitation (WASH).
5 – Build the resilience of women and girls by strengthening their leadership skills and self-confidence
- Exchanges and training on women’s and children’s rights, gender-based violence, gender equality, sexual and reproductive health, human trafficking, access to justice or civic education and peace promotion to help motivate and empower women.
FXB provides ongoing coaching and mentoring throughout the three years of the project to ensure that participants develop the confidence and ability to take action and acquire the economic and social skills necessary to successfully move out of extreme poverty.
THE STRENGTH OF OUR ACTION : ENSURING SUSTAINABLE AUTONOMY
All dimensions of the FXBVillage model have been designed to ensure impact sustainability. FXB builds capacity, rather than creating dependency on external aid.
Through their work and commitment, participants ensure the sustainability of results on their quality of life.
At the heart of our model is the human being: we help each person express the potential that lies within. Thus, as our intervention progresses—and each participant’s ability to meet the needs of his/her family grows—FXB’s financial support gradually decreases.
