Myanmar
Myanmar is one of the poorest and least developed countries in Southeast Asia and the ASEAN member state with the lowest Human Development Index (HDI) according to the United Nations (149th in the world in 2021). Decades of isolationist military dictatorship and the longest civil war in the world, ongoing since 1948, have produced a backward country from the point of view of economic, civil and social development, torn by conflict between ethnic groups and the repression of social organizations civil.
The so-called “triple transition”, started with the 2008 constitution, provided for a gradual transition from military to civilian government, the transition from centralized to market economy, and the resolution of internal conflict in favor of lasting peace. Despite numerous difficulties in the period from 2008 to 2021, and in particular since 2015, the year of the first truly democratic elections, the government had engaged on various levels in a series of improvement processes in various sectors of society, resulting in rapid economic growth ( above 7% per year) and in measurable improvements in stability and social well-being: between 2005 and 2017 poverty was almost halved, going from 48% to 25%.
This process was abruptly interrupted by the military takeover on February 1, 2021; the political upheaval and its consequences are hitting society hard in terms of security, democracy and protection of human and civil rights, and the economy. The country is now experiencing the most serious humanitarian crisis in its recent history, affecting more than 17 million people, 31% of the population.
The strategy of Italian cooperation in Myanmar, present in the country since 2011, was mainly articulated through institutional capacity building activities, support for peacebuilding and development of rural areas and small businesses, as well as the protection and valorisation of cultural and environmental heritage. The events that followed the events of February 1st forced an internal reflection within the Donor Community in Myanmar regarding the continuation of development cooperation activities and the remodulation of Official Development Assistance (ODA) flows. Implementing the instructions received from MAECI in 2021, AICS has concluded or suspended all initiatives in support of central and local authorities, privileging initiatives that directly benefit the Burmese population and humanitarian assistance interventions.
On 30 June 2022, the Yangon Office, which since 2018 has also been responsible for cooperation activities in Bangladesh in the humanitarian field to support the Rohingya population in the Cox’s Bazar area, was closed and the project portfolio was transferred to the Regional Office in Hanoi.
For further information see:
https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/myanmar/overview
https://themimu.info/special-interest-region/dry-zone
https://www.mm.undp.org/content/myanmar/en/home/library/poverty/mlcs-2017-poverty-report.html