Reuters :
Myanmar heads to the polls tomorrow (28 December) as it battles a civil war that has ravaged parts of the country as well as one of Asia’s worst humanitarian crises.
Already one of Southeast Asia’s poorest countries, Myanmar has been hammered by a conflict triggered by a 2021 coup in which the military ousted an elected civilian government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.
What is the humanitarian situation?
Myanmar’s humanitarian crisis is one of the most severe in Asia, driven by the intensifying civil war and repeated natural disasters, including a massive earthquake in March.
The ruling junta has previously suppressed information about a severe food crisis gripping the country by pressuring researchers not to collect data about hunger and aid workers not to publish it, Reuters has reported, besides cracking down on journalists since the coup.
Myanmar is one of the world’s most under-funded aid operations, with only 12per cent of required funds received, the United Nations says.
US cuts to humanitarian aid are having a crushing impact on people, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar has said.
The UN estimates that 20 millions of Myanmar’s 51 million people need aid as soaring inflation and a plunging currency push about half the population below the poverty line.
More than 3.6 million people have been displaced from their homes, with over 6,800 civilians killed in the conflict triggered by the coup, according to UN estimates.
With mounting violence forcing increasing numbers of people to flee, more than 12 million in Myanmar will face acute hunger next year, including 1 million who will need lifesaving support, according to the UN’s World Food Programme.
