Myanmar: Civil Society Organization and Community Scoping Study

Drawing on scoping studies conducted in 2024, the Amplify country briefs provide an overview of current peace and security challenges women experience at all levels of society in Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Myanmar. Using a human security lens, the briefs also highlight how The Asia Foundation, through its AMPLIFY regional initiative, with support from New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, is working to address these issues in alignment with and in support of ASEAN’s Women, Peace and Security agenda.  

In Myanmar, the context of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda is shaped by decades of protracted conflict and, more recently, by the military coup of 2021, which has intensified violence and instability across the country. The coup triggered widespread armed resistance, leading to the expansion of territory controlled by ethnic armed organizations and resistance groups, and a decline in central control by the State Administration Council (SAC), now known as the State Security and Peace Commission (SSPC). In this environment, women and sexual minority groups have borne a disproportionate share of the conflict’s impacts in non-combat settings, including increased risk of sexual and gender-based violence/conflict-related sexual violence (SGBV/CRSV), displacement-related protection risks, loss of income and livelihoods, and reduced access to essential health and protection services.