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Economy | Poverty and Development

Almost half of Myanmar risks falling into poverty by

2022: UNDP
COVID and the crisis following a military coup this year could reverse
economic gains made since 2005, UN body says.

Women and children are likely to feel the brunt of a steep increase in poverty caused by COVID-19
and February's military coup, according to the United Nations Development Programme [File: Ann
Wang/Reuters]

30 Apr 2021

The coronavirus pandemic, coupled with the instability following a

:
military coup in February, could plunge almost half of Myanmar’s
population into poverty, reversing economic gains made over the last
16 years, according to the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP).

Replay

“The ongoing political crisis will, doubtless, further compound the so-
cioeconomic impact of the pandemic, reducing incomes,” the UNDP
said in a report (PDF) published on Friday.

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In the organisation’s worst-case scenario, 48.2 percent of Myanmar’s

population, the equivalent of about 26 million people, could be living
in poverty by 2022, compared with 24.8 percent in 2017, the UNDP
said.
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The agency defines Myanmar’s national poverty line as those living be-
low 1,590 kyats ($1) a day in 2017 terms.

The political crisis is likely to affect small businesses acutely, resulting

in lost wages and a drop in access to food, basic services and social
protection, according to the UNDP.

Women bearing the brunt

As a result, it is women and children who are expected to bear the
heaviest brunt of the two crises.

“The effects of COVID-19, amplified by the effects of the overthrow of

the civilian government, are likely to lead to a disproportionate in-
crease in urban poverty.

“This is related to the fact that urban areas, where most of the income-
generating activities of the near poor are, have been ground zero for
the pandemic and the focus of the most severe crackdowns,” the re-
port’s authors wrote.
:
 Mass protests in Myanmar’s main cities
against the coup have been met with a
tough military crackdown resulting in
hundreds of deaths [File: AFP]

Even before recent events, one-third of Myanmar’s people were living

“on low levels of consumption that put them at risk of falling into
poverty”, the agency said.

More than 83 percent of households have reported a drop in income

since the start of 2020, according to the UNDP.

Myanmar was plunged into crisis on February 1 when the military ar-
rested elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and members of the ruling Na-
tional League for Democracy and took power for themselves. The coup
triggered a civil disobedience movement and mass protests around the
country to which security forces have responded with increasing
:
violence.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), an advocacy

group that has been tracking arrests and deaths, says 759 people have
been killed since Aung San Suu Kyi’s government was removed. Its
records show 3,461 in detention.

Food concerns
Myanmar has reported 142,800 cases of COVID-19 with 3,209 deaths
since the start of the pandemic, according to the Johns Hopkins Uni-
versity. New daily cases have fallen sharply since the start of the year.

The UN’s food agency said last month that rising food and fuel prices
in Myanmar since the coup risk undermining the ability of poor fami-
lies to feed themselves.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said food prices were rising, with
palm oil 20 percent higher in some places around the main city of
Yangon since the beginning of February and rice prices up 4 percent in
the Yangon and Mandalay areas since the end of February.
:
Myanmar’s military, or Tatmadaw, controls large parts of the country’s
economy, with interests in Myanmar’s mobile phone system, tourism,
food and beverage sector and its lucrative precious stone mining in-
dustry. Foreign investors, including global clothing brands which have
used Myanmar as a source of cheap labour, have also been reassessing
their involvement in the country, likely putting further pressure on the
economy and its workers.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

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