According to Save the Children, families in Myanmar have lost on average more than half of their income since the political crisis and escalation of conflict in February 2021. The economic crisis drove an increase in the share of households experiencing moderate to severe food insecurity between August and October 2020. Since February last year, the country has suffered further economic decline, with mass job losses, business closures and a weakening of the Myanmar currency (kyat), which has affected households across the country.
Shaheen Chughtai, Regional Advocacy Director for Save the Children in Asia, said: “More than a year on from the coup, millions of children do not have enough to eat and families are having to beg or borrow to survive. These new figures are especially sobering at a time where humanitarian response is severely underfunded. At a time when children in Myanmar need us most, they are being let down by the international community..."
The economic impact of the political crisis, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, has left families struggling to feed themselves and their children.
Some 80% of families said food was their primary concern, with adults in one in five households cutting back on meals in order to feed their children.
A third of households are borrowing food or relying on help from others to feed their families.
Families are reporting an average price increase of between 30% and 70% for basic foods.
Even middle-income households are now being pushed below the poverty line.
Earlier this year, Save the Children reported that at least 150,000 children had been forced to flee their homes due to violence, and last month reports showed that the number of children out of school had doubled over the past two years.
No comments:
Post a Comment