Alliance Myanmar wins new funding to develop its work with children
25 November 2008
The Alliance in Myanmar has successfully secured a two and a half year grant from the European Union, which will allow it to develop the work of its ten community partners with orphans and vulnerable children. The new work will build on existing home-based care projects and provide more child-focussed support within communities.
The proposal is the successful culmination of a year’s worth of investment in developing skills and strategies for working with orphans and vulnerable children in Myanmar. A learning exchange with the Alliance in India, which has a mature programme with orphans and vulnerable children, was one of these strategies (read more about the learning exchange).
The new EU-funded project worth $540,000 will aim to reach 2,000 children and their families with basic health services and nutritional support; access to education and vocational training; psycho-social support for orphans, vulnerable children and their families; and awareness raising and development of community level children’s committees to increase community involvement in the protection and care of its children.
Although there is little data on the number of orphans and vulnerable children in Myanmar, it is thought that due to decades of conflict and poverty compounded by more recent trends in migration and the spread of HIV, the number of children affected may be worse than in other parts of Asia. Overall it is estimated that 6.5% of children in Asia are orphans, and many more are vulnerable from specific circumstances.
Some of the specific issues identified by the Alliance’s community-based partners in Myanmar include children being left with guardians who do not have the means to protect and care for them; more children being removed from school to save and earn money for their families; illness putting increased strain on poor families who struggle to pay for the costs of healthcare; discrimination against children or family members living with HIV; and orphans or other vulnerable children being placed in institutional care when their families are not able to care for them;
Read more about the Alliance’s work in Myanmar, and about the learning exchange between Alliance Myanmar and Alliance India.
