USAID Funds $48m Project in Southeastern Myanmar

Kayah State is the least developed state in Myanmar and has a history of armed conflict between armed ethnic  groups and the Tatmadaw.

One armed ethnic group in the state, the Karenni National Progressive Party, has not signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement.

“This continues the longstanding US commitment to improving the lives of people in Myanmar, particularly in conflict-affected communities,” said US Ambassador to Myanmar Scot Marciel in a statement released by the agency.

As part of the US agency’s “Advancing Community Empowerment in Southeastern Myanmar” project, four local organisations will use the funds to help increase job opportunities, and improve services in health, education, and water and sanitation, which will strengthen local communities in Kayah State.

USAID officials and representatives of four local organisations sign the agreement on Thursday. Naw Betty Han/The Myanmar Times

The four local organisations – the Karenni Mobile Health Committee, the Kayan New Generation Youth, the Karenni Women’s Organisation and the Development for Environment-Friendly Agriculture and Rural Life of Myanmar will promote basic services in health, education, livelihoods, sanitation, and hygiene and will help prevent gender-based violence.

“The Advancing Community Empowerment in Southeastern Myanmar project will award five more grants for services in Kayin and Mon states in the coming month,” said the statement.

“This new project will use proven methods that were successful with the Shae Thot – or The Way Forward – project that we began in 2011,” said Pact Country Director Richard Harrison.

It also organised Village Development Committees in 1,360 villages.

Pact is one of the oldest nonprofit international development organisations helping people improve their lives in Myanmar.

“Shae Thot reached more than 2800 villages and served more than 1.3 million people in the central Dry Zone and Kayah State,” Harrison said.

According to the USAID statement, the project improved water, sanitation and hygiene, maternal and child health, livelihoods and agricultural practices, and promoted women’s economic empowerment.

Pact, which manages the Advancing Community Empowerment with other organisations, will seek partnership with local groups to expand in states such as Kayah, Kayin, Mon, southern Shan, and also eastern Bago and northern Thahnintharyi regions.

Promoting women’s leadership and people participation in community governance are the focus of the project, while agricultural and vocational training and enhancing disaster preparedness are aimed at the local community, the USAID statement said.

The aid will help women, children and other communities receive life-saving health care through improved communications among community health service providers, local governments, and other groups, it added.