The project aims to improve key populations’ access to health services in Myanmar through an integrated, community‑based, and gender‑sensitive approach.
Contexte
Since the February 2021 coup, Myanmar has endured a severe health, economic, and social crisis that disproportionately affects key populations (KPs)—sex workers, men who have sex with men, and transgender people—while exacerbating gender inequalities. Marginalized, stigmatized, and discriminated against, these groups face significant barriers to quality health services amid a restrictive legal framework. Sexual and reproductive health is a priority need, and the previously positive trajectory toward eliminating the “three diseases” was halted in 2020, first by the COVID‑19 pandemic and then by the national political crisis.
Description
The project seeks to improve KP health in Myanmar by deploying a three‑pillar strategy across four of the country’s most populous regions with high KP concentration (Yangon, Mandalay, Bago, and Ayeyarwaddy):
- Health‑service delivery: Development and strengthening of integrated sexual and reproductive health services (education, family planning, STI and cervical‑cancer screening and care, post‑abortion care, gender‑based violence response, harm reduction);
- Community approach: Training and support for community organizations and peer educators, mobilization of peer‑educator relays and local collaborators for outreach, screening, and referral;
- Collective advocacy: Establishment of a coalition of regional representatives to promote integration of KP rights into public policy (cervical cancer, sexual and reproductive rights, human rights), supported by evidence and awareness campaigns.
Impact
The project will directly benefit nearly 31,350 KP members and strengthen 20 community organizations. It improves access to quality services, reinforces community resilience, and fosters durable social change in favour of inclusion and KP rights.
