Myanmar Country Strategic Plan (2018-2023)

CSP approved at EB November 2017 session.

Revision 03 approved by the RD in November 2018.

Revision 04 approved by the ED-DG FAO in November 2019.

Revision 05 approved by the CD in July 2020.

Revision 06 approved by the CD in April 2021.

Revision 07 approved by the ED-DGFAO in August 2021.

Revision 08 approved by the CD in November 2021.

Revision 09 approved by the CD in December 2022.

The Republic of the Union of Myanmar is at a historic moment, with a new civilian government assuming power in 2016. The country graduated to lower-middle-income status in 2015, and has made significant progress in reducing poverty, improving food security and addressing malnutrition.

The remaining challenges to food and nutrition security and achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 2 targets include continued population displacements resulting from conflict, vulnerability to extreme weather events, poverty, limited social protection coverage, high malnutrition and persistent gender inequalities.

This country strategic plan will continue WFP’s direct implementation of programmes while increasing capacity strengthening activities with a view to laying the groundwork for government ownership of food and nutrition security programmes by 2030. Unconditional assistance will decrease as the focus shifts to resilience building and livelihood support. There will be a nutrition-sensitive approach in work towards all strategic outcomes, the shift towards cash-based transfers will continue, and social behaviour change communication will increase.

WFP’s assistance for the Government in achieving food and nutrition security will be based on three strategic outcomes:

• Strategic outcome 1: Crisis-affected people in food-insecure areas meet their food and nutrition needs all year round. Life-saving food and/or cash will be provided to people affected by natural disasters, conflict and inter-communal violence. 
• Strategic outcome 2: Vulnerable people in states and regions with high food insecurity and/or malnutrition have access to food all year round. WFP will provide food and/or cash-based assistance for vulnerable populations and technical assistance for the Government to enable it to enhance its social protection programmes, food systems and emergency preparedness capacities.
• Strategic outcome 3: Children under 5 in Myanmar have improved nutrition in line with national targets by 2022. WFP will contribute to increasing the availability of and access to safe and nutritious food for vulnerable populations in crisis and non-crisis situations to enhance their nutrition and resilience, and will support the Government in implementing national nutrition programmes and nutrition-specific and -sensitive interventions, and scaling up the management of acute malnutrition.

The country strategic plan will contribute directly to WFP’s Strategic Objectives 1 and 2 and Strategic Results 1 and 2.  A gender-transformative approach will be adopted, and protection will be mainstreamed in all activities, including technical assistance and capacity strengthening for government partners and stakeholders.

The country strategic plan was developed in consultation with government ministries and other partners. It is informed by the national strategic review of food and nutrition security, a 2016 operation evaluation and government policies and plans. WFP will leverage coordination mechanisms such as the inter-ministry sector coordination group for nutrition, the United Nations Network for Nutrition and Food Security, the first United Nations development assistance framework in Myanmar, humanitarian response plans, the food security sector and the cash and social protection working groups.