-
Country Office Myanmar
ACT Alliance House,
No. 11 Kan Street, 10 Quarter,
Hlaing Township, Yangon, Myanmar
All Countries
Myanmar (Burma)
ICCO in Myanmar
ICCO in Myanmar
The ethnic armed conflict in Myanmar is considered the longest civil war in the world. After decennia of repression, Myanmar is slowly moving towards democracy, but it will take time to lift people out of poverty and situation of food insecurity. In Myanmar, ICCO Cooperation works together with its partners on responsible and inclusive development, and on peace building and tolerance.
What we do
The programs of ICCO Cooperation in South East Asia connect and strengthen the interface between our two core principles: Securing Sustainable Livelihoods and Justice & Dignity for All. Together with our partners, ICCO Cooperation’s key intervention strategies in South East Asia focus on responsible business, inclusive markets, sustainable food production and food security, all with the aim to make sure that poor and marginalized men and women can lead secure, sustainable, just and dignified lives.
ICCO Cooperation believes that peace is needed to develop a sustainable economy in Myanmar. Therefore, ICCO’s work focuses mainly on sustainable economic development in rural areas, as well as peace building and conflict resolution. We principally work in the agricultural sector, applying a cross-cutting focus on food security, ethnic minorities, youth and gender.
Our expertise
ICCO Cooperation has been working with local partners in Myanmar since 2002. After cyclone Nargis in May 2008 ICCO’s programs and activities expended from emergency aid to human rights, democracy building and economic development. In the same period we also started to support refugees and internally displaced people along the border between Myanmar and Thailand.
The aim of our current program in Myanmar is to empower men, women and youth so they can fulfill their economic, social and civil rights. To successfully alleviate poverty, injustice and exclusion we cooperate with civil society stakeholders, with the public sector and the private sector. ICCO Cooperation follows a multi-stakeholder approach in which our partners work together for a common goal, based on the principles of co-responsibility and co-funding.
In Myanmar, ICCO Cooperation South East Asia makes use of the following interlinked approaches and models:
Markets for the Poor (M4P)
The M4P approach aims to transform market structures by increasing the participation of the poor, and to make the market more beneficial and sustainable for them.
Value Chain Development
We focus on empowering small scale producers and marginalized groups by connecting them to viable and sustainable value chains and its actors, to generate income and improve food security.
Public-Private Partnerships (PPP)
Our emphasis has always been on partnerships and cooperation. The PPP-model connects the resources and expertise of various sectors (governments, companies, knowledge institutes, ngo’s) when implementing entrepreneurial programs to eradicate poverty.
Business Incubation & Impact Investment
Through our investments programs, ICCO contributes to fair economic development in emerging economies. ICCO provides conditional capital (such as loans, equity and guarantees), by ‘blending’ financial instruments. Our Business Incubator Program provides capacity and capital to small and medium enterprises and farmer cooperatives, for them to grow and develop into strong and independent enterprises.
Business & Human Rights
We work with local communities, private sector actors and governments to achieve a world where the private sector operationalizes its role as an important partner for development. We regard the United Nations Guiding Principles as an important guideline and framework to make the private sector comply with human rights.