Myanmar

2020–2021 in Myanmar saw extraordinary milestones and upheaval as people across the country weathered turbulent ups and downs. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the general elections in November and the military coup d’état on 1 February 2021 punctuated a year which saw overlapping political, economic and social crises, along with extreme brutality against the public and a nationwide resistance campaign.

Myanmar’s official number of positive COVID-19 cases remained low until the latter part of 2020, but from the first days of the pandemic the knock-on effects were considerable. Community-wide lockdowns, widespread quarantining, curfews, international border closures for goods and people, and domestic travel restrictions led to increases in unemployment, income and food insecurity, gender-based violence and social divisions across Myanmar. To respond, Saferworld and our partners pivoted our work on community security and access to justice towards supporting civil society organisations and communities. We provided remote guidance for communities on how they could respond to the pandemic using different activities like impact assessments, networking and advocacy with authorities, and public health awareness campaigns. We also provided technical guidance on people-centred, community-focused engagement for security personnel to prevent overly securitised public health responses in non-state areas.

Saferworld also developed advocacy platforms on human security and inclusive justice for ethnic-based political parties in the lead up to Myanmar’s general elections, in which the incumbent National League for Democracy won by a landslide. With a Myanmar-based education institution, we produced three Burmese-languages modules on security and justice to promote wider debate and discussions on these critical issues. On 1 February 2021, the Myanmar military’s power grab in the nation’s capital triggered a swell of public protests and non-violent civil disobedience campaigns – which the authorities met with increasingly violent tactics. Saferworld responded flexibly to partners’ needs to support them as they strategised on safe operations, risk mitigation and the documentation of civil society actions and campaigns, including the leading role of women in the opposition movement. Post-coup, Saferworld continued to engage in international advocacy for effective, safe support to civil society, and continued to analyse the ongoing political crisis.