UNITED NATIONS, Jul 3 2025 (IPS) - “Myanmar cannot become a forgotten crisis,” Jorge Moreira da Silva, Executive Director of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), has said. “This country has faced cyclones, war, conflict, violence, climate and now immense suffering.”
Three months after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar, humanitarian groups warn that the international community is failing to respond. Despite the scale of need, only 36 percent of the USD 275 million requested for the earthquake response has been disbursed. Almost halfway through the year, the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP), which guides aid efforts throughout the country, is just 12 percent funded.
Da Silva was speaking at a press briefing on June 24 following his visit to Myanmar. His views reflect those of others involved in bringing humanitarian aid to the country.
“The dangerously low funding for response efforts in Myanmar remains our greatest challenge,” former UN Humanitarian Coordinator Marcoluigi Corsi said in his June 20 outgoing statement.
The ongoing armed conflict and political turmoil following the 2021 military coup are also making humanitarian assistance more difficult to achieve.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk reported in a June 27 briefing to the Human Rights Council that the military’s attacks rose again, despite initial ceasefire announcements after the earthquake.
Since the earthquake, the military has launched more than 600 attacks, 94 percent of which were in areas where a ceasefire had been announced. Over 500 civilians were killed, and 1000 were injured. Türk said that attacks have restricted humanitarian access. WHO reports that 6 attacks have led to 48 health workers killed and 85 injured. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has urged that groups in these areas respect international humanitarian law.
“Every day, we face barriers that prevent or delay assistance from reaching those who need it most,” former UN Humanitarian Coordinator Marcoluigi Corsi said in his outgoing statement on June 20. “I call on all parties to ensure unrestricted humanitarian access—without conditions, without delays.”
The March 28 earthquake killed 3,800 people and injured more than 5,000, according to UN estimates. Tens of thousands were newly displaced, adding to the 3.2 million displaced since the coup. The UN now estimates that 3.5 million people, 6 percent of the population, are displaced, and more than 6 million are in need of urgent assistance.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Myanmar office estimates that 19.9 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance before the earthquake, and now 2 million more are.
“Myanmar is one of the countries most in need of humanitarian assistance in the Asia-Pacific region,” the ICRC reports.
So far, 61 percent of the target population in need of humanitarian health services have been reached, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). With the monsoon season underway and active fighting restricting humanitarian access, organizations are warning about the urgency of the situation.
“We have faced many crises, including armed conflict and flooding, and now we have again been hit by the earthquake,” Daw Khin Po, who was displaced by the earthquake, told the ICRC.
The ICRC has been working with the Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) and local partners to assist over 111,000 people in Mandalay, Sagaing, Bago and Shan State. They have provided clean water, food, tarpaulins, solar streetlights, essential household items, cash and emergency health care, as well as training, agricultural and livestock materials, support for small businesses and risk awareness training. These organizations have also been supporting existing hospitals and community health centers.
“However, the scale of needs is beyond what any single organization can address,” the ICRC reported.
OCHA is currently working to respond to Myanmar’s humanitarian crisis through “coordination, advocacy, policy, information management and humanitarian financing tools and services.”
“Amid these shocks, the security environment continues to deteriorate, people are facing grave protection threats, and coping capacities are stretched to the limit,” the OCHA Myanmar office wrote.
Humanitarian partners assisted around 1.5 million people between January and March 2025, which is 27 percent of the annual target, according to the OCHA Myanmar office. These efforts have targeted internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees, resettled and locally integrated IDPs, and non-displaced stateless people. The office said that local organizations are the “backbone” of the response to the humanitarian situation, especially in areas of conflict.
Without funding, though, Corsi said more people will be at risk as organizations are unable to provide necessary support.
“The world cannot look away. The international community must step up their support,” the ICRC’s head of delegation in Yangon, Arnaud de Baecque, said.
The monsoon season creates further threats to the population, who risk disease, flooding and displacement, and adds more urgency to the situation. WHO is currently working to improve access to clean and potable water, provide health services and prevent disease outbreaks. They are collaborating with the Red Cross, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the World Food Programme (WFP) to improve water safety systems and disseminate health information.
But WHO reports that people living in makeshift structures due to the earthquake are subject to extreme health risks.
Türk emphasized that the situation in Myanmar must receive continuous attention.
“Amid the turmoil, planning for a future with human rights front and center offers people a sense of hope,” he said. “We owe it to the people of Myanmar to make that hope a reality.”
IPS UN Bureau Report
