Asia and the Pacific
Myanmar ranks 147 out of 189 on the Human Development Index (HDI). CARE International works closely with Myanmar’s most vulnerable women and girls to help provide them with tools for sustainable change.
CARE International has had a presence in Myanmar since 1995. Today, we work closely with some of the country’s most vulnerable women and girls, and their communities, to help provide tools for sustainable change.
Our work in Myanmar focuses on:
CARE International also works in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, host to hundreds of thousands of ethnic Rohingyas who fled from Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State.
Over the past weeks, Typhoon Yagi, Asia's strongest storm in 2024, has ravaged Southeast Asian countries, affecting millions and causing more than 600 casualties. The severe flooding and destruction have overwhelmed vulnerable communities, with women and girls bearing the brunt.
Typhoon Yagi has unleashed destruction across Southeast Asia, affecting over 20 million people in Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar. "This is the strongest typhoon we’ve seen in 30 years,” said Dung Le Kim, CARE Vietnam Director.
As the full scale of the damage and needs is being assessed, CARE is concerned about a new crisis leaving more women and girls without shelter, privacy, access to medical care, and at high risk of violence.
Today marks six years since the start of the Rohingya refugee crisis. Unfortunately, the environment is particularly difficult for women and girls, who face increased risks of violence and harmful social norms.
“Before COVID, the community didn’t really pay attention to us. Now we have a lot of power to make change – when we talk, people listen. It’s completely changed how we are perceived and treated.” - Female health worker, Uganda
I am 13 years old, have seven siblings and live in Myanmar.
A look at the refugee crisis in Myanmar and CARE International's activities in the region.
Between 25 August 2017 and now, over 700,000 people from Myanmar have fled to Bangladesh (ISCG Report, July 19, 2018), following an escalation of violence in the Northern Rakhine State from 25 August onwards.
Since 25 August 2017, around 706,000 refugees from Myanmar have fled to Bangladesh. Over 900,000 refuges are now living in Cox’s Bazar (ISCG Report, 19 July 2018), including those who arrived before the exodus.
In FY2023, CARE worked around the world, contributing to saving lives, fighting poverty, and increasing social justice.
