Pact has been implementing development, health and humanitarian programs in Myanmar since 1997. Its multi-sector, direct interventions empower communities with increased knowledge to better care for their families and to grow their resources for individual and common goals.

The absence of affordable capital in rural areas of Myanmar is an enormous constraint to economic growth for the nearly 80 percent of the population who live at a subsistence level and rely on small and microenterprise activities for income and employment. Until 1997, no financial institution in Myanmar offered financial services to the rural poor without collateral and the poor were forced to borrow from local moneylenders, who charged extremely high interest rates.

To increase options and economic opportunities for Myanmar's rural poor, Pact began operations in Myanmar in July 1997 in collaboration with UNDP and UNOPS, introducing credit, savings, and small and microenterprise development to community-based groups in the Dry Zone. In 2006, Pact became the sole implementing partner for UNDP's Myanmar Microfinance Project (MFP), operating in the Dry Zone, Delta Region, and Shan State. Pact has continued its expansion of services to new clients and now MFP is the largest microfinance program in Myanmar, and one of the thirty largest microfinance programs in the world, reaching over 475,000 people in 5,102 villages with an outstanding loan fund of $42 million. Of the active clients, over 97 percent are women.

Another microfinance program integrates health with sustainable livelihoods. While improvements in income are generally linked to economic conditions for improved health, the reverse is equally true, as many income-generating activities rely on a foundation of good health. In March 2004, Pact partnered with the Stromme Foundation to implement the Sustainable Access to Health: An Educational and Economic Approach (SAHEEA) project in the three Dry Zone townships. Currently, this integrated microfinance project operates in 11 townships. Pact uses the SAHEEA approach to community-led savings groups and loan services to implement the LIFT project, funded by UNOPS in Myanmar's Delta region.

Due to Pact's extensive and integrated programming in Myanmar, it also was able to play a valuable role in responding to the destruction of the 2008 Cyclone Nargis by providing access to drinking water, medical care, food and shelter to the hardest hit areas. As a result of the disaster, many Pact programs were put on hold and Pact staff took part in emergency relief coordinated by the United Nations.

Aiming to improve access to economic and health opportunities for Myanmar's poor, Pact builds and strengthens existing communities and groups to enable peopleto provide for their own basic needs. Its three-pronged approach includes:

• Improving health related knowledge in the community - education focusing on preventatives practices;
• Organizing communities for self-help initiatives - skills training and awareness raising for informed decision-making; and
• Providing access to financial services - credit and savings for productive investments.

Pact also is currently implementing the Sustainable Health Improvement and Empowerment (SHINE) program, funded by the Royal Danish Embassy and Chevron. SHINE works with approximately 40,000 households in 245 villages in remote areas to build community-led networks leading to sustainable impact on the most important causes of morbidity and mortality affecting rural communities in Myanmar. With Chevron's support, the project also includes grant and loan funds for communities to recover from natural disasters.

In 2011, Pact, in collaboration with USAID's Regional Development Mission for Asia (USAID/RDMA), launched Shae Thot: The Way Forward. Shae Thot is a five-year program that provides humanitarian assistance to communities in central Myanmar. The project provides resources and technical assistance to increase community-based knowledge and strengthen the innate capacities of local communities, encouraging community participation and sustainable solutions in the areas of maternal and child health; livelihoods and food security; and water, sanitation, and hygiene.

In Myanmar, Pact also contributes to two regional health projects, GMR REACH and CAP-3D.

Currently, Pact's programs in Myanmar receive funding from USAID, UNDP, Chevron/ UNOCAL, Royal Danish Embassy, Livelihood and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT), and UNOPS.

Staff contacts

Jan Schollaert
Country Director
Myanmar
jschollaert@pactworld.org

Sarah Sitts
Program Officer
Washington, DC
ssitts@pactworld.org