Myanmar Crisis Response Plan 2023

Last updated: August 16 2023
$48,450,000
Funding required
17,600,000
People in need
643,000
People Targeted

IOM Vision

IOM, in coordination with humanitarian and development partners, seeks to support the people of Myanmar through the provision of essential and life-saving multi-sectoral assistance to crisis-affected populations, while building local capacities for response and recovery. Recognizing the complex mobility dynamics and cross-border implications of the crisis, IOM aims to provide data and analysis on mobility and needs to the wider humanitarian community and will continue to coordinate to ensure that preparedness actions and targeted response capacities are in place and strengthened.

Objective 1 - Saving lives and protecting people on the move
Objective
Saving lives and protecting people on the move

$33,050,000
Funding required
515,000
People Targeted
20
Entities Targeted
Internal migrant, Internally displaced person, International migrant, Local population / community
Primary target groups
Description of People and Entities Targeted

IOM’s humanitarian assistance will target internally displaced persons (IDPs), including protracted IDPs and those newly displaced, as well as those re-displaced, in all settings (camps, camp-like settings, informal sites in host communities and other out-of-camp displacement sites). Furthermore, assistance will be provided to returnees, resettled and integrated IDPs, as well as other crisis-affected people with humanitarian needs, such as those affected by disasters, including cyclone Mocha, host communities, people living in conflict areas with limited access to basic services, people with severe protection needs, including victims of trafficking and the most vulnerable migrants. Vulnerable migrants in this context will include those who have experienced exploitation, trafficking or abuse as part of their migration; those who have been forced to return home, especially to conflict-affected locations, without prior planning, due to COVID-related restrictions, job losses, as well as conflict; as well as individuals who may adopt unsafe migration as a coping strategy to escape the many hardships resulting from the current crisis, including many displaced populations.

IOM will also upscale partnerships with a range of non-governmental actors, including CSOs and community-based actors, and will provide training/technical assistance as well as material support to strengthen local response capacities.

Basic needs, including food and multi-purpose cash assistance

IOM Myanmar, in close coordination with the Food Security Cluster - to which multi-purpose cash assistance in Myanmar is reported - and the cash working group, will assist IDPs and vulnerable communities affected by conflict or disasters, including cyclone Mocha, with targeted and tailored food, emergency livelihoods and/or cash assistance based on identified needs. This will include:

  • Provision of in-kind food assistance in locations where this is an identified needs of the community and IOM has a comparative advantage with regards to access, taking into account market access and the affordability, availability and accessibility of food.
  • Provision of multi-purpose cash assistance as part of a mixed modality approach in locations where this is the preference of communities, and where there is market accessibility, functionality and affordability of key items identified as part of needs assessment
Funding required
$7,500,000
Plan types

Camp coordination and camp management

IOM Myanmar will support safe living conditions for displaced populations through participatory site planning, environmentally conscious construction and site maintenance initiatives as well as camp coordination and camp management support to local actors. This will include:

  • Support to enhanced community engagement, coordination, complaint and feedback mechanisms, monitoring and referrals for displaced and host populations both in and out of camp-like settings.
  • Provision of site improvement support in IDP sites, including concrete pathways, wooden bridges, repairs and construction of communal facilities (such as WASH facilities, community centres, and health facilities) through cash-for-work initiatives, in coordination with the cash working group, and technical support.

IOM will work with site focal points and volunteers to ensure maintenance, as relevant, and work in coordination with the shelter/NFI/CCCM cluster to ensure complementary approaches, as well as adherence to cluster-led prioritization initiatives.

Funding required
$500,000
Plan types

Direct health support

IOM Myanmar, in close coordination with the national and sub-national health clusters, the Risk Communication and Community Engagement sub-working group, and other relevant stakeholders, will provide direct healthcare services to populations affected by crises and disruptions to regular health services, through mobile clinics and support to static facilities, including in ethnic and hard-to-reach areas. This will include:

  • Provision of essential integrated health services, including primary health care, sexual, reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child, and adolescent health services, trauma care, life-saving referrals, and comprehensive, rights-based gender and health services and to provide linked outreach activities, including health promotion and education.
  • Support to emergency referrals to secondary care with a focus on maternal and child health and major life-threatening emergencies as well as for survivors of Gender-Based Violence.
  • Strengthening capacity to prevent, detect and respond to disease outbreaks through the establishment of health surveillance for early outbreak detection and response at the community level including the collection, processing, analysis, and dissemination of critical health information, and early outbreak response and containment.
  • Expansion of the coverage of tuberculosis, HIV and malaria programs using regular delivery channels such as health facilities, mobile clinics as well as community-based approaches and adapted service delivery models to critical situations, as well as scaling up rapid case findings to identify cases missed and to provide diagnoses and treatment in alternative ways during the ongoing crisis.
  • Continuation of ongoing COVID-19 and epidemic  prevention, diagnosis, treatment and vaccination support, working towards implementation of public health measures, increased testing, strengthened disease surveillance, and management of mild and asymptomatic cases in facilities as well as through home-based care and reinforced by ongoing efforts to disseminate health messages through risk communication and community engagement.
Funding required
$10,700,000
Plan types

Mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian response

In line with IOM’s Manual on Community-Based Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergencies and Displacement, IOM Myanmar, in close coordination with relevant clusters and working groups, will support increased access to mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), including through enhanced local capacity. This will include:

  • Capacity strengthening of partners, CSOs, medical staff and representatives of community initiatives in the provision of individual and community-based MHPSS services, including training of counterparts in psychological first aid (PFA), the establishment of psychosocial mobile teams, support to individuals and group counselling, recreational activities as well as strengthening referral pathways to specialized mental health services.
  • Establishment of psychosocial mobile teams to provide individual and group lay counselling, referrals and support recreational and social activities, such as arts and sports activities, support to community groups, and so forth, with displaced and other affected communities, and support with the distribution of IEC materials.
  • Adaption and distribution of MHPSS information, education and communication materials, targeting the needs of people of all ages and genders, people with disabilities, and frontline workers, on coping and stress management to promote psychosocial well-being and maintain mental health.
  • Mainstreaming of MHPSS across all IOM activities, for example through the training of distribution staff in PFA.
Funding required
$1,650,000
Plan types

Protection

In support of relevant clusters and working groups, IOM will support enhanced access to survivor-centred protection services at the individual and community level and improved community-based protection mechanisms and coordination among service providers to ensure effective referrals and support to survivors, in line with the Institutional Framework for Addressing Gender-Based Violence in Crises; as well as mainstreaming trafficking response and prevention and integrating mine action into broader response activities. This will include:

  • Providing specialized assistance to vulnerable groups such as victims of trafficking, exploitation or abuse and GBV survivors, and persons with disabilities through individualized protection assistance, psychological first aid, legal aid (including through assistance with court appearances, documentation and with remedial action against trafficking, exploitation and abuse), counselling, parenting support, cash, NFIs and dignity kits, including through safe shelters.
  • Implementing awareness-raising activities on GBV and trafficking, in close coordination with and complementing activities implemented under the Health components of preparedness and risk reduction activity area.
  • Awareness raising activities on prevention of trafficking in persons, in close coordination with and complementing health activities outlined.
  • Mapping service providers and strengthening referral pathways in areas of intervention.
  • Strengthening and mainstreaming human trafficking response capacity and measures amongst humanitarian actors, particularly local partners, including through the protection cluster, the GBV and child protection Areas of Responsibility (AoRs), and the MHPSS Working Group. This will include the provision of capacity building and technical tools to support partners to identify and respond to cases of TIP and the needs of trafficked victims, strengthening the monitoring of rights trafficking in persons and associated rights violations through incorporation into protection monitoring; and, incorporation of trafficking prevention activities including awareness-raising, risk communication and community engagement on trafficking and safe migration into humanitarian response activities, particularly through community-based protection initiatives, in areas of high risk such as the North West, and in recognition of the increased risk of trafficking in the aftermath of Cyclone Mocha.
  • Mainstreaming explosive risk ordinance awareness raising into cyclone response activities, through the provision of training and distribution of key messages.

Protection will be mainstreamed across all sectors and activities to ensure that IOM and partner teams are providing assistance and support while upholding protection principles and promoting meaningful access, accountability and safety in their programs. IOM and partner teams will also receive guidance on how to safely refer vulnerable individuals or families to Protection teams or other support services that they engage with in the course of their distributions or activities.

Funding required
$2,050,000
Plan types

Shelter and settlements

IOM Myanmar, in close coordination with the shelter/NFI/CCCM cluster, cash working group and other relevant working groups, will provide life-saving emergency shelter/non-food items support, through both in-kind and cash-based approaches, to assist  households affected by conflict and disaster, including Cyclone Mocha. This will include:

  • Supporting the repair of shelters and construction of shelter units in IDP sites, based on needs assessments.
  • Distributing NFIs, including fuel-efficient stoves and fuel, tailored based on the needs of communities as well as market assessments, to conflict and disaster-affected communities, with consideration of the varied realities of affected populations, including some facing repeated, short-term displacement.
  • Distributing a wide range of emergency shelter kits, including rapid response tarp kits and shelter tool kits, to displaced and non-displaced cyclone-affected populations. 
  • When feasible and appropriate, providing assistance via cash or vouchers, instead of in-kind.
  • Support repair and rehabilitation of community shelters, collective and evacuation centres and other community buildings damaged by the cyclone.
Funding required
$6,550,000
Plan types

Provision of water, sanitation and hygiene in emergencies

IOM Myanmar, in coordination with the WASH cluster, will support improved equitable access to regular and sufficient safe water for drinking and domestic use, increased availability of appropriate and accessible sanitation facilities and improved hygiene practices. This will include:

  • Supporting the rehabilitation of key WASH infrastructure, including latrines and water points, at IDP sites, as well as increasing the availability of handwashing stations in cyclone and conflict-affected areas.
  • Conducting solid waste cleaning campaigns in small IDP sites through cash for work, when appropriate.
  • Guiding and training IDP site and community volunteers on how to support the maintenance of facilities.
  • Distributing critical WASH supplies (hygiene kits, menstrual hygiene management kits, jerry cans, and water purification tablets), accompanied by hygiene promotion activities, including materials and community outreach to cyclone and conflict-affected communities.
  • Pre-positioning critical WASH supplies to respond to outbreaks of acute watery diarrhea or other water-borne diseases.
  • Supporting the local manufacture of reusable sanitary pads in Rakhine.
  • Mitigating water shortages in the dry season through improved accessibility and quantity of water for domestic use and drinking from shared community-managed ponds and water trucking in the peak dry season.
Funding required
$4,100,000
Plan types
Distribution of cash at an IDP site near the Myanmar-India border, Chin State. © IOM Myanmar 2022
Distribution of cash at an IDP site near the Myanmar-India border, Chin State. © IOM Myanmar 2022

Objective 2 - Driving solutions to displacement
Objective
Driving solutions to displacement

$6,150,000
Funding required
75,000
People Targeted
30
Entities Targeted
Internal migrant, Internally displaced person, International migrant, Local population / community
Primary target groups
Description of People and Entities Targeted

Activities under this objective will target conflict-affected communities as well as internal and international migrants returning to communities of origin in crisis-affected areas, aspiring migrants and returnees with plans to re-migrate, migrant-sending/receiving households, migrants in vulnerable situations and IDPs. 

IOM will implement activities in close collaboration with community-based actors, CSOs and private sector partners to encourage local ownership and sustainability.

Community stabilization

IOM Myanmar aims to strengthen the cohesion, stability and resilience of conflict-affected communities by facilitating access to services, supporting basic community infrastructure, expanding livelihoods opportunities for migrants and migrant-sending communities in crisis-affected areas, and promoting safe migration practices. Activities will include:

  • Support to participatory community-led prioritization and planning of small-scale community projects through community committees responsible for the implementation and oversight of agreed projects. Projects may include access to safe education, markets, health, WASH services, including through repair and construction of roads, bridges, public buildings, medical centres and schools, as well as through installation of solar light sources.
  • Scale up employment and livelihood interventions including skills development, cash-for-work, business and entrepreneurship development, coaching, job-matching and access to finance to strengthen socioeconomic resilience and reduce reliance on unsafe migration practices and reduce risks of exploitation and migrants getting caught in the crisis. 
  • Implement projects for youth and women’s empowerment through the creation of youth and women dedicated spaces and provision of supplies and equipment for activities selected by youth and women through community engagement, such as sports equipment, events equipment, as well as capacity building support in establishing and managing of youth and women representative groups.
  • Conduct information campaigns and provide counselling and referrals through community-based outreach and migrant resource centres to enhance knowledge of migrants’ rights and access to information on safe migration, risks of irregular migration and positive migration practices.
  • Provision of support to civil society organizations (CSOs)/community-based organizations (CBOs) to implement art and cultural projects, such as mobile theatre, poetry readings and peace concerts.
  • Provision of organizational and capacity development support to CSO partners, as well as technical and financial support to sustain and strengthen existing community-based mechanisms that promote meaningful and effective access to services.
Funding required
$5,650,000
Plan types

Durable solutions

In line with IOM’s Progressive Resolution to Displacement Situations Framework, IOM Myanmar plans to support displaced populations returning to their place of origin, settling elsewhere, or locally integrating in their place of displacement to re-establish their livelihoods and access services as well as to promote social cohesions in communities of return, resettlement or local integration. Activities will include:

  • Linking with Population Mobility and Needs Tracking, gather information on return flows, needs of returnees and return communities, and the situation in areas of return to inform programming for durable solutions.
  • Undertake surveys on the intentions of displaced households and individuals with regards to return, resettlement and local integration.
  • Implement community-based activities in communities of return, resettlement or local integration utilizing community-based planning methodologies, such as the rehabilitation of small-scale community infrastructure that increases the access of the whole community to an adequate standard of living, including housing, access to adequate water, sanitation, and hygiene services, health services and education.
  • Provide capacity-strengthening support for local service providers, such as health clinics.
  • Provide individual or household level support to the most vulnerable displaced populations who have returned, resettled or intend to locally integrate to increase their access to livelihoods, such as vocational training, business start-up grants, and similar, based on identified priorities and available value chains.
  • Support livelihoods assistance, such as skills building, business coaching, grants and targeted agricultural support in locations with protracted displacement and/or where there is relative stability in terms of conflict dynamics.
  • Support income generation for displaced populations who have returned, resettled or intend to locally integrate through cash for work for community projects, whenever possible.
  • Support the development, establishment and strengthening of local protection mechanisms to improve the overall safety and security of areas of return, integration, or settlement.
Funding required
$500,000
Plan types

Objective
Strengthen preparedness and reduce disaster risk

$2,000,000
Funding required
56,000
People Targeted
30
Entities Targeted
Internal migrant, Internally displaced person, International migrant, Local population / community
Primary target groups
Description of People and Entities Targeted

IOM will target a range of non-governmental actors, including CSOs, community-based actors, local volunteer groups, ethnic health organizations and other local organizations in border communities and migrant-dense areas, vulnerable mobility corridors and displacement sites. Migrants and mobile populations will be directly and indirectly supported through preparedness measures developed and strengthened under this objective. In addition to people and entities targeted directly, IOM expects to reach an additional 56,000 individuals and 30 entities indirectly.

Health components of preparedness and risk reduction

To contribute to preparedness measures related to public health threats in communities, at borders and along vulnerable mobility corridors, IOM will assess ad hoc and local level arrangements implemented by CSO staff, volunteers and other actors to prepare for, identify and respond to public health risks, and to identify good practices and areas for further capacity building and support. Activities will include:

  • Capacity-building of mobile health teams and key partners, such as CSOs/ CBOs, community-based health workers, village health committees and community support groups (including youth groups, and mother support groups), to ensure the provision of quality essential health services in ethnic and hard-to-reach areas.
  • Strengthening the overall awareness of GBV concepts and referral pathways, building on, strengthening and complementing activities under protection, including through training of youth peer educators to raise awareness of sexual and reproductive health, as well as GBV.
  • Supporting local groups and partners to develop local health emergency preparedness plans to ensure and strengthen that health systems are prepared for a range of emergency situations including natural or man-made disasters and disease outbreaks.
  • Supporting existing disease surveillance systems, including community event-based surveillance, and dissemination of critical health information and awareness of displaced and vulnerable populations, particularly in border communities, migrant-dense areas and displacement sites.
  • Strengthening data collection on public health risks and mobility dynamics to inform preparedness and response plans, using IOM’s population mobility mapping tool, while coordinating with relevant stakeholders to ensure migration and mobility are adequately considered in preparedness planning, and that public health/hygiene messaging contributes to countering misinformation and anti-migrant sentiments.
  • Working with CSOs to identify/assess any vaccine hesitancy or health misinformation from communities to reinforce risk communication and community engagement efforts.
Funding required
$2,000,000
Plan types

Objective
Contribute to an evidence-based and efficient crisis response system

$7,250,000
Funding required
150,000
People Targeted
95
Entities Targeted
Internal migrant, Internally displaced person, International migrant, Local population / community
Primary target groups
Description of People and Entities Targeted

IOM’s activities under this objective will target humanitarian, development and peace partner organizations, as well as other relevant actors, who will be provided with information on human mobility, living conditions, and related multi-sectoral needs, enabling them to have a better understanding of the displacement and mobility situation in the country and contributing to improved, evidence based response planning and implementation. Data will be shared taking into account risks associated with data collection and dissemination in the country

IOM will provide access to humanitarian services to crisis-affected individuals, including IDPs, host community members and returnees, through the disbursement of funding and capacity strengthening of local NGOs and CBOs, targeting 150,000 individuals directly and 100,000 indirectly.

Funding confirmed 1%
99% Funding gap

Displacement tracking

IOM will support the wider humanitarian system by providing regular data on displacement, population mobility, and multi-sectoral needs at the community, regional and national levels. Community-level information on movements and intentions of IDPs, returnees and host communities, as well as internal and international migrants, including the drivers and triggers of mobility, will be made available to all humanitarian, development and peace partners, and other relevant actors, in line with data protection principles, to inform evidence-based planning and response. Activities will include:

  • Generation of Baseline Area Population and Multi-sectoral Needs Profiles (Population Mobility and Needs tracking) on a monthly basis, to establish baseline information of affected populations in original communities, host communities, IDPs and IDP returnees across accessible areas. Information gathered will include estimates of target groups per each administrative area.
  • Production of Baseline Location Profiles on a quarterly basis, based on the information generated through the Baseline Area Profile. This process will collect additional data such as priority needs, access to services, intentions and so forth.
  • Development of Baseline Site Profiles, based on the Baseline Location Profiles, conducted through key informant interviews, and direct observations either onsite or through local community focal points.
Funding required
$2,250,000
Plan types

Support services for response actors

IOM plans to support localization and improve access of humanitarian actors to populations in need by providing capacity building and financial support to local actors in Myanmar. Activities will include:

  • Establishment of a flexible and needs-based rapid response fund (RRF) for Myanmar, focusing on areas of high displacement and needs, to support local actors, including volunteer groups, local associations, community-based organisations and networks of local NGOs, in the provision of immediate humanitarian assistance to displaced populations and affected communities.
  • Provision of organizational and capacity development support to CSO partners, as well as technical and financial support to sustain and strengthen existing community-based mechanisms that promote access to services.
  • Provision of trainings to partners on preventions of sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA), and accountability to affected populations (AAP), and other relevant trainings.
Funding required
$5,000,000
Funding confirmed
$84,634
Last updated: 12 Jan 2024
Plan types
1%
Funding confirmed
99%
Funding gap
Operational presence in

Myanmar

11
International staff and affiliated work force
249
National staff and affiliated work force
9
IOM field office

The map used here is for illustration purposes only. Names and boundaries do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by IOM.

Figures are as of 31 December 2023. For more details of IOM's operational capacity in country, please see the IOM Capacity section.

With thanks to our current donors