Myanmar Read about our response to Cyclone Nargis Save the Children in Myanmar Save the Children has worked in Myanmar since 1995, with a focus on early childhood care and development, child survival and child protection.  Household livelihoods security, prevention of HIV/AIDS infection and helping children affected by emergencies are the supporting strategies to achieve the outcomes. 1,585 national staff and 50 international staff (including Secondments, Consultant) and 52 offices around the country, Save the Children is one of the largest nongovernmental organizations at work in Myanmar. To better serve the great needs of children and best use the vital resources of our donors, Save the Children recently merged programs and activities formerly managed by three International Save the Children Alliance partners (Save the Children-U.K.; Save the Children-U.S.; Save the Children-Japan) into one unified presence in Myanmar. Save the Children responded to the Nargis cyclone affected area immediately after the storm. We have now reached over half a million people and are working in 14 of the 15 most affected townships in Yangon and the Ayeyarwady Delta. Immediately after the cyclone our response focused on immediate life-saving needs including shelter building supplies, food and water. As we now look towards the longer term we are implementing in seven sectors: Shelter/Non-food items (NFI), Health, Nutrition, Water Sanitation Hygiene (WASH), Education, Child protection, Livelihoods and Food Security. Challenges for Children The situation for children in Myanmar is grave and appears to be worsening.  Families in both urban and rural areas have no choice but to resort to coping mechanisms that undermine children's protection, educational standards and health prospects.  Malnutrition is a growing problem that now affects one-third of children under the age of 5.  Myanmar is one of the few countries in the world where many children are likely to have worse education and health outcomes than their parents. Numbers at a Glance One quarter of the population lives below the subsistence level. The infant mortality rate is 74 per 1,000 live births. The maternal mortality rate is 380 per 100,000 live births. The under-5 mortality rate is 104 per 1,000 live births. More than half of children in Myanmar do not complete five years of school. Our Response Playing is learning and learning is the child's work.  Early Childhood Development  Save the Children's Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) centers provide a nurturing environment that prepares young children for primary school.  Children under school age who do not have access to ECCD services are often enrolled in primary school early, taken to the fields while their mothers work or kept at home with an older sibling who must stay out of school to look after the younger child.  Save the Children's ECCD centers ensure a smooth transition for young children to primary school. Health  Save the Children trains local volunteers to assess, classify and treat childhood illnesses on a "door-to-door" basis through a simple, low-cost, village-based approach called Community Case Management (CCM). Save the Children is combating the main threats to the lives of young children under the age of 5 — pneumonia, malaria and diarrhea and has made it possible for children to survive and thrive after their fifth birthday. When necessary, some cases are referred to the public health centers. CCM also builds the skills of parents and caregivers to recognize the danger signs of childhood diseases for immediate action. In addition, the project assists community drug shops to ensure a steady supply of essential medications (including anti-malarials, antibiotics for pneumonia and oral rehydration for diarrhea) at reasonable costs, while advocating with the government to provide these medications at no cost. In post-emergency, Save the Children reduces excess (as a result of the cyclone) illnesses and preventable deaths in children under five, and women of reproductive age, by providing primary health care services in mobile and static clinics. In the longer term, we will focus on capacity building of health workers and community mobilization, like we do in our development program to have a community case management approach for pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria case among children under five. The Future Save the Children will focus on ensuring the quality of our programming in Myanmar, with emphasis on: Scaling up the impact of our Early Childhood Care and Development centers. Developing a new non-formal education program for children aged 7-15 who never attended school or dropped out. Building upon our foundation of child protection activities in order to prevent the exploitation and abuse of vulnerable children, including those affected by HIV/AIDS. Scaling up our work in Community Case Management to reach a total of 40,000 children under the age of 5 in the next three years. Breaking new ground in the delivery of integrated HIV/AIDS, health, nutrition and livelihoods programs. Scaling up our work in livelihoods opportunities for vulnerable households with focus on women and children in both Cyclone affected and non-affected areas.   Donate now to support Save the Children's work in the U.S. and around the world  Last Updated April 2009