07
2015
As a first in Myanmar, the Chin State Administration revealed today its Local Social Plan to benefit children and women, supplementing the State’s Comprehensive 5-year Development Plan 2016-21.
UNICEF supports the plan in collaboration with Myanmar Institute for Integrated Development (MIID) and with financial support from the Government of Denmark. It aims at producing new results for children and their families within the decentralisation reforms led by the Government of Myanmar.
H.E. Peter Lysholt Hansen, Danish Ambassador to Myanmar, confirmed Denmark’s keen interest. “Denmark is very pleased to have provided financial support to this plan, which is the result of a bottom-up participatory planning process involving key stakeholders,” he stated. “The people of Chin deserve to see tangible results in their daily life as a result of the bilateral ceasefire agreement and the plan will contribute to this aim. This is part of Denmark’s strong support for the peace, democracy, human rights and reform process in Myanmar”.
Children in Chin are more likely to be underweight and stunted than their peers living in other parts of the Union of Myanmar. Only 6 per cent of children in Chin are delivered in a health facility, compared with 36.2 per cent in Myanmar on average. “The Local Social Plan addresses unmet development needs and rights, prioritised by the people of Chin State and the Chin State Government, such as food security, improved access to and retention in education, and expanded coverage of quality health services”, explained Bertrand Bainvel, UNICEF Representative to Myanmar.
To mobilise support for Chin’s LSP projects from development partners, a Development Partner Forum took place on 5 May 2015 in Yangon. “The event is a great opportunity for us to present the plan to development partners and donors, for their consideration in supporting our project proposals, thus complementing our budgetary request for 2015-16”, explained Chin State Chief Minister H.E. Hong Ngai.
UNICEF and MIID have recently shared the methodological guidelines of LSP and Chin State experiences with the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development.
“The development of the Local Social Plan is a methodology that we hope can be replicated in other States and Regions in Myanmar“, affirmed Joern Kristensen, Executive Director of MIID.
Participants at the forum expressed hope that Local Social Plans such as Chin’s will help Myanmar put children and their families in the centre of the development of the country.