Myanmar Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan 2025 (December 2024)

Foreword

Civilians in Myanmar are struggling to survive an unprecedented humanitarian crisis that has upended the lives of millions across the country. Each day they face the painful consequences of escalating conflict that is forcing people to flee their homes in record numbers in search of relative safety and meeting their basic needs. Amid the ongoing violence, civilians face extreme protection risks, acute food insecurity, the near-collapse of critical public services, and economic shocks driving up inflation and resulting in loss of livelihoods.

The alarming rise in humanitarian needs since the military takeover in February 2021 is largely driven by intensifying armed conflict, disasters and economic and political instability. As we publish this 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP), 19.9 million people are estimated to need humanitarian assistance in the country, over a third of the population.

Among them are 6.3 million children and 7.1 million women. With widespread fighting impacting vast areas, almost 3.5 million people are estimated to be internally displaced. Even with conservative estimates,

15.2 million people are facing acute food insecurity, desperately seeking the means to feed themselves and their families. Education and health services are severely disrupted and often at the brink of collapse.

Millions of people are without safe shelter or drinking water. There are widespread and systematic violations of human rights including lack of adherence and compliance to international humanitarian law. Against this backdrop, we are seeing vital development gains reversed, with poverty returning to 2015 levels.

Amid this spiralling humanitarian crisis, the 2025 HNRP outlines a cohesive and coherent plan to address complex and evolving needs, aiming to reach 5.5 million of the most vulnerable people. Given the sheer magnitude of needs, humanitarians will prioritize their response based on the severity of needs and operational capacity and focus entirely on emergency life-saving assistance. A total of US$1.1 billion is needed in 2025 to deliver this urgent assistance.

Myanmar remains among the world’s most underfunded humanitarian response plans. As of 6 December 2024, only 34 per cent of the funding required for the 2024 HNRP was received. An estimated 1.4 million people who had been prioritized for support missed out on assistance altogether, and most of the projected 3.9 million people reached did not receive the full package of support needed to meet their needs. The people of Myanmar cannot afford a repeat of this underfunding in 2025 – they need decisive action from the international community, including more resources, and they need it now.

Our work would not be possible without the generous support of our donors, whose contributions translate into deeply impactful assistance that is saving lives and alleviating the suffering of millions of people. I would also like to express my profound gratitude to our many partners for their tireless efforts to deliver aid. Local and national humanitarian organizations are at the forefront of this response, helping those in need daily. Despite immense challenges, their unwavering efforts show the commitment of the humanitarian community to get aid where it is needed most.

Together, in 2025, we must ring the alarm for the people of Myanmar and appeal for the necessary resources and action to aid the most vulnerable people in their struggle to survive.

Marcoluigi Corsi

Myanmar Humanitarian Coordinator