Myanmar

Working in Myanmar's Mon State, Empowerment for People in Need is building economic resilience and recovery from the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the economic empowerment of vulnerable groups including women, migrants, youth and people living with disabilities. The project also focuses on addressing personal and environmental factors related to disabilities, including negative attitudes toward people living with disabilities, inaccessible transportation and public buildings, and limited social support. It is scaling up community WASH and waste management activities to encourage the creation of safe, clean and productive communities that promote health and livelihood outcomes for rural and vulnerable populations. The project is also delivering an advocacy curriculum rooted in empowerment principles to educate community members on topics important to their success as business owners and members of their respective communities.

Funded by Chevron, Pact worked with 70 unelectrified villages in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar to advance economic opportunities for rural women and village entrepreneurs over a two-year period. This project supported energy innovation through the development of captive solar systems for businesses and facilities (schools and health clinics). Support was provided for building the local governance capacity for administering loan schemes for productive use equipment and the operations and maintenance of roof-top solar projects for facilities by community members. Through the Yaung Chi project Pact provided job training and business skills development to ensure that entrepreneurs can start and successfully run businesses that productively use energy, with a focus on women’s entrepreneurship, ensuring greater gender equality and female empowerment. Pact also provided support for assessing the feasibility of solar projects, procurement and construction of solar installations – supporting competitive procurement.

The Sustainable Infrastructure Partnership works with governments in the Lower Mekong region to build capacity for managing the impacts of environmental change. The program supports planners and policymakers in the use of technical and conceptual tools to better understand how pressures on land and water resources are affecting local populations. SIP provides training in applying cumulative impact assessment, enables collaboration for monitoring and managing socioeconomic data, and promotes sharing of data and information about water resources. The program serves as a platform for countries to cooperate in addressing transboundary development challenges, including the impacts of upstream hydropower dams on the Mekong. Through training, dialogue and partnerships, countries are better able to anticipate and manage issues such as reduced fishery yields, salinity intrusion, and groundwater depletion. SIP is implemented by Pact and is part of the Mekong-US Partnership, which builds on the work of the previous Lower Mekong Initiative in strengthening water security in the region. Learn more here.

Swan Yi, which closed in 2021, used Pact’s award-winning savings-based women’s economic empowerment model, WORTH, to help women better support themselves and their families. In addition to helping women save money and access credit, WORTH provides intensive training and support to build members' capacity as successful entrepreneurs. The project incorporated leadership skills to support the health and education of women, their families, and communities. Swan Yi also incorporated an advocacy curriculum rooted in empowerment principles, educating members on topics including labor laws, domestic violence, divorce, and children’s and land rights. Continuous self-learning helped women develop business literacy and numeracy skills to start, manage and sustain their businesses. Later project components included creating a healthy physical environment at the community level by improving water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in schools, and promoting improved waste management practices through a participatory community action planning process. Pact also built connections between recycling-based SMEs and WORTH groups to explore new income generation opportunities for women.