Project profile — Access to Health Fund in Myanmar

• Myanmar (100.00%)

• Health, General: Health policy and administrative management (12110) (10.00%)
• Basic Health: Basic health care (12220) (75.00%)
• Reproductive health care:
Reproductive health care (13020) (5.00%)
Family planning (13030) (5.00%)
STD control including HIV/AIDS (13040) (5.00%)

• Gender equality (significant objective)
• Participatory development and good governance (significant objective)
• Children's issues (significant objective)
• Youth Issues (significant objective)
• Indigenous Issues (significant objective)
• Disability (significant objective)
• Nutrition (significant objective)

The Access to Health Fund (A2H) is a multi-donor program managed by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). The Fund contributes to increasing access to better and more relevant health services for vulnerable populations, strengthening health systems, and increasing social cohesion in conflict-affected areas in Myanmar through a gender-sensitive and rights-based approach. Canada’s contribution to the Fund strengthens its focus on gender equality, especially as it relates to sexual health and reproductive rights, with a strong emphasis on supporting local voices and partners, including women-led and women’s rights organizations. Project activities include: (1) providing family planning and uptake of contraceptives; (2) providing post-abortion care; (3) providing cervical cancer screening and treatment; (4) establishing gender based violence (GBV) prevention activities and referral for GBV survivors; (5) developing awareness-raising and comprehensive sexuality education for adolescents, young people, and people over 25; and (6) awarding maternal, newborn and child health services within integrated grants, including ante- and post-natal care, skilled birth attendance, nutrition and health education. Activities focus on conflict-affected areas in the prioritized states for the Fund, which are Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Mon, Rakhine, Shan and Yangon due to high unmet need.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) tackled the root causes of inequality through the promotion of rights, advocacy and empowerment; (2) increased the inclusions of LGBTQIA+ in sexual and reproductive health rights programming; (3) improved sexual and reproductive health and rights education and support for young people; and (4) filled critical service delivery gaps in meeting women’s health needs.

Results achieved as of March 2024 include: (1) provided essential health services to 2,725,833 vulnerable people in 154 townships; (2) supported 18,689 emergency child referrals for children and 23,854 emergency maternal referrals; (3) supported 225,395 people to participate in specific gender and gender-based violence prevention related awareness sessions; (4) screened 195,817 children under5 for malnutrition, and treated 72,031 children for diarrhoea and 33,583 children for pneumonia; (5) screened 11,496 women aged 30 to 49 for cervical cancer; (6) provided care for 1,739 post-abortion cases; (7) provided LGBTQIA+ inclusive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services to 5,788 community members; (8) reached 311, 907 young people with adolescent sexual and reproductive health awareness sessions; (9) reached 12,533 people with harm reduction services, including HIV prevention; and (10) provided organizational capacity training to 277 staff of ethnic health organizations and technical training on sexual, reproductive, maternal and newborn care to 124 ethnic health organizations service providers to strengthen health systems.

• Proactive disclosure