Burma is one of the least aided poor countries in the world. In 2002, Burma received only £1 per person in aid.

Public investment and health care is amongst the lowest in the world.

Despite Burma’s rich natural resource base, the people are generally poor as a result of many years of bad governance and conflict. Human Rights abuses are a continuing concern.

Burma is a difficult place to work. Data is difficult to get hold of and its quality is variable. There are restrictions on access for the UN and INGOs. Despite these problems, DFID’s programmes are able to make a difference to the lives of poor people.

DFID Work in Burma:

Our work is set within the framework of the European Common Position, which imposes limitations on assistance to the country.  

Essentially our work is limited to humanitarian aid and assistance to the poorest in society. We are trying to improve the effectiveness of our aid through closer working with other donors.  

None of our aid goes to the central government.

We work with the UN and reputable NGOs to help provide basic services for the poor, to tackle HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria to help get more children into primary schools, and create and support livelihoods.

On 2 May 2008, Cyclone Nargis devastated the Irrawaddy delta area and Rangoon, killing some 130,000 people and left thousands more without shelter, land, or any source of food or income. Following the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis we have also provided significant funding, as part of the international response, for emergency relief and recovery work in the delta region.

Our Main Areas of work in Burma are:

Health: Helping people get access to medicines and treatment.

£20 million to the multi-donor Three Diseases Fund. The fund provides support to the work of NGOs, the UN and INGOs and Township level public health staff on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria.

 

HDI project in Kyaukpadaung Township

Education: Providing educational materials to help poor families send their children to primary school, and supporting community-run early childhood care and development centres.

• £25.7 million funding to support Save the Children’s community managed early childhood centres and transition to primary school project.
• £3.3 million (with additional funding under consideration) to support UNICEF’s basic education programme to supply exercise books and stationery to primary school children, and to reduce the amount their parents have to pay for their education. It also supports pre-school and non-formal education.
  

Livelihoods:  Helping poor rural households to increase their incomes by providing new technology, better infrastructure, women’s savings and loans group.

• £4 million to support the UN Human Development Initiatives (UNHDI), which has introduced new technology and new community infrastructure in poor villages and has also established a series of highly successful women’s savings and loans groups.

Support for the foundations for democracy and long term poverty reduction: Support to develop the capacity of local civil society organisations, and facilitate new partnerships to bring about improvements in people’s lives.

Cyclone Nargis Response: Providing support to the people of the delta region following the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis in May 2007.

• We initially provided £45 million in funds to international non-governmental organisations already working in the delta, for water and sanitation, food, shelter and health support. We also brought in plastic tarpaulins, mosquito nets, jerry cans, and supply boats, which we distributed through our INGO partners. In addition, we sourced and funded key logistics personnel and other staff for UN humanitarian agencies, to enable them to operate more effectively and faster. In June 2009 an additional £5 million of funding was approved to provide additional humanitarian support to areas of the region and support coordination of the international response.

Support to Conflict-affected People:

• Around 20% of our aid is targeted on three groups of people who between them make up around 5% of Burma’s population:
  Burmese Refugees in Thailand: DFID provides around £1 million per annum to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), to support the feeding and other basic needs of refugees in camps in Thailand.  DFID also supports improved access to justice for refugees.
• Internally Displaced People (IDPs): It is estimated that 500,000 people have been displaced by ongoing conflict and human rights abuses in Burma, mostly along the eastern border.  DFID provides support to IDPs through community organisations working in areas near the Thai-Burma border.  TBBC also uses some of its grant from DFID for cross border support to IDPs inside Burma. In 2007/08, an estimated 180,000 IDPs received assistance that was funded or part-funded by DFID. 
• Cease Fire Areas.  An estimated 2 million people live in or near cease fire areas, where  decades of civil war have destroyed basic services and people’s livelihoods.  DFID supports NGOs to work with local ethnic cease fire authorities to rebuild basic health and education services.  In 2009/10 we will provide between £500,000 - £1 million in this way.  Our support for poor farmers through UNDP’s Human Development Initiative also targets some of these areas.We use several channels to support the needs of people affected by ongoing conflict on the Burma/Thailand border with £7.45 million between 2009 and 2012. This funding will provide basic humanitarian support to refugees living in camps in Thailand and to internally displaced people across the border, and improve access to justice and legal assistance.
  

DFID Aid to Burma: DFID aid to Burma will continue to increased from £25 million a year in 2009/10 to  to £28 million in 2010/11.

 

HDI project in Kayah State

Further Information: Further information on DFID's work in Burma can be found here.