“I think everybody in the country is feeling the tension … we certainly believe that we were here for the right reasons before, there are enormous numbers of children that are living in very dire situation in this country and that hasn’t changed, and I think that we have a responsibility to be here.

“These demonstrations started in response not to any political crisis, but in response to some severe economic and social pressures that people are feeling”

- Andrew Kirkwood, Save the Children, commenting on the recent situation in Myanmar.

Save the Children has a staff of 500 across the country, and we continue to work despite the unrest.

Save the Children in Myanmar (Burma)

Children in Myanmar (Burma) face some of the worst poverty in Asia.

• Government spending on health dropped from 1 per cent of GDP in 1990 to 0.2 per cent in 2000 and public investment in education is also declining.
• Nearly 75 per cent of families live in rural areas where many homes lack clean water and sanitation facilities, despite the fact that most areas of Myanmar have abundant water resources.
• Rates of child mortality are high – mainly caused by preventable diseases such as diarrhoea, which claims the lives of some 28,000 children under five every year.
• There are one million internally displaced people in Myanmar and just over 100,000 refugees live in the border areas.
• Trafficking of children is a big problem.

The political situation in Myanmar means that it has the lowest international aid allocation of any poor country in the world. Although ostensibly heading towards democracy, in practice the country is led by a junta while opposition leaders are under house arrest.

Save the Children is working in Myanmar in the areas of environmental health, trafficked children, HIV and AIDS, and education.

Read more about Myanmar, and Save the Children’s work in the country.