Myanmar
On 1 February 2021, following nearly a decade of democratic transition, the Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw) seized power, arresting Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD), recipient of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize and winner of the November 2020 general elections.
The country, already affected by widespread interethnic conflicts, subsequently descended into an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. The situation further deteriorated on 28 March 2025, when a magnitude 7.7 earthquake, the strongest recorded in Myanmar in the past century, struck the country. The disaster caused thousands of deaths and injuries and inflicted severe damage on infrastructure, homes, schools, and healthcare facilities, with economic losses estimated in billions of dollars.
The combined effects of armed conflict, natural disasters, forced displacement, economic and employment decline, and growing social fragmentation have resulted in a polycrisis that continues to undermine the living conditions of millions of people.
In this context, the Italian Development Cooperation has maintained its humanitarian commitment to supporting the people of Myanmar and communities affected by the wider regional crisis. Through partnerships with multilateral organizations and civil society actors, Italy continues to fund emergency relief and humanitarian assistance interventions. Attention is given to the most vulnerable population groups, earthquake-affected communities, and refugees and displaced people across the region, with a specific focus on the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh.
The AICS Office in Yangon, which had served as the Italian Development Cooperation’s operational presence in Myanmar since 2011, progressively concluded and suspended all cooperation initiatives with central and local authorities following the 2021 military coup and was officially closed in 2022. Responsibility for Myanmar and the management of humanitarian initiatives were subsequently transferred to AICS Hanoi.
The Republic of the Union of Myanmar has been a member of ASEAN since 1997.
Myanmar’s position in the Human Development Index (HDI): 150th out of 193 countries.
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