Working with Non-State Groups to Help All Children Get an Education

Jessica Aumann and U Thet Naing, UNICEF Myanmar 

Mi Pon Rod (left), aged 15, with Teacher Mi Htaw Are Lwe, Andin High School, Mon State

School was not always easy for Mi Pon Rod. “I attended Government School up to Grade 4” she said, “but I found it difficult to understand Myanmar language and couldn’t follow the lessons well”.

Children Catch-Up with their Education Rights

By Anne-Cecile Vialle and U Thet Naing, UNICEF Field Office for the South-East of Myanmar.

Khaing Khiang Hnin with her teacher Nyein Nyein Khaing (left) and Regional NFPE Monitor Than Nyunt (right)

Dawei Township, Tanintharyi Region, March 2015: Khaing Khaing Hnin, 16 years old, had to leave the regular primary school she attended in Saw Wa village seven years ago when she was just in Grade 3. “My mother has psychological health problems and my parents divorced. Then my father migrated to Thailand”, said Khaing Khaing Hnin. In fact, in Dawei, migration for work and child labour are common, and dozens of students drop out of primary school each year.

Mothers work together to fight child malnutrition in Rakhine IDP camps

By Ye Lwin

©UNICEF Myanmar/2015/Ye Lwin

 

Sittwe, Rakhine State, March 2014: Twenty three year-old Khin Saw looks at her two children proudly. They live in Thet Kay Pyin IDP camp in Sittwe, Rakhine State and, despite the difficult living conditions, both children are healthy and strong. 

First survey on Mine Risks in Myanmar can reduce accidents and save lives

By Emmanuelle Compingt

 

 

Photo Credit DCA - Maw Phray Myar and colleague practicing the use of GPS during the MRE KAP Training

Kayah State - Maw Pray Myar says she hasn’t “a fixed goal in life”, but in fact she wants to become a traditional singer. And while she waits to become a music star, the young Myanmar woman is already famous as one of the most active team leaders for the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) survey on Mine Risks, conducted for the first time ever, in three States and two Regions in the South-East of Myanmar, in 2014.

The first day of the rest of my life

“I want to be an example. It’s my turn to help others”
By Mariana Palavra

©UNICEF Myanmar/2015/ Mariana Palavra

Yangon, Myanmar, January 2015: He entered the empty, austere room shyly. His eyes facing the floor, as if afraid of my voice and presence. I introduced myself and clumsily attempted to put a few words together in Burmese. Almost immediately, he looked straight into my eyes and greeted me with a big smile. That smile stayed on the entire time we spent together talking and conjuring up his childhood memories.

Reaching the hard to reach - Fighting measles and rubella in Rakhine State

 

©UNICEF Myanmar/2015/Thiha Htun
Wading through streams carrying iceboxes containing measles and rubella vaccine, Ministry of Health staff make great efforts to reach the hard to reach

 By Virginia Henderson

 

Rakhine State, February 2015: Wading barefoot through streams, climbing over steep narrow hill paths, crossing wobbly log bridges and walking hours over parched dusty plains- teams from Myanmar’s Ministry of Health, UNICEF and WHO went to great lengths to reach children in out-of-the-way places around the country.

 

In tiny villages and large towns around the country, 12,000 vaccination teams were part of Myanmar’s largest ever public health intervention. The National Measles and Rubella (MR) vaccination campaign, aiming to reach more than 17 million children aged nine months to 15 years, covered nearly 65,000 villages and 45,000 schools over two-phases.

The national Measles and Rubella campaign

The national Measles and Rubella campaign, which aimed to protect some 17 million children across Myanmar, was a tremendous success! The mobilisation of nurses, teachers and countless community leaders has resulted in an excellent coverage- around 95% nation-wide.

Even in areas of conflict and intercommunal tensions such as Rakhine and Kachin States, unprecedented engagement of health and education workers and community leaders helped to reach levels comparable to the national average.

Follow this link to discover some of the steps taken during Myanmar’s largest ever public health intervention.