Partnerships

The opportunity

Every day, children in Myanmar look to UNICEF to change their lives. Families want UNICEF to ensure their children are nourished, healthy, safe, and educated. Communities rely on UNICEF to be their voice. And UNICEF’s partners count on us to transform the funds and support they have provided into effective action for children. In turn, UNICEF counts on its partners to continue believing in our mission – in the possibilities for children – and to sustain their support for UNICEF.

With our partners’ support, UNICEF can pioneer new ideas for children; work across the entire childhood from birth through adolescence; scale-up proven solutions; prepare and respond rapidly in emergencies and thereafter; and, most importantly, given our sustained presence in the country, achieve the greatest impact for children.

The challenges

Conflict escalation with multidimensional crises: Conflict and violence have escalated across the country in recent years, impacting children and their families and displacing over 3.7 million people as of mid-2026. The political crisis has been coupled with economic challenges, increasing people’s vulnerability. Adding to this, recurrent natural disasters, such as cyclones, flooding and earthquakes, have negatively impacted already vulnerable communities. Altogether, more than 16.2 million people, including 4.9 million children, require humanitarian assistance in 2026. 

Key advantage of partnering with UNICEF

Five key assets give UNICEF a real comparative advantage when it comes to being there for every child.

Taking the work to scale – UNICEF has been helping children and families for more than 75 years in Myanmar – and is now one of the few humanitarian organisations in Myanmar with the scale, reach and breadth of expertise to provide emergency aid to the hidden victims of this complex humanitarian crisis – Myanmar’s children. UNICEF Myanmar maintains its country-wide focus, maximising the coverage of its field offices in conflict-affected states and regions.

Leading and pioneering – Our reliable long-term presence in the country and our convening power with our partners and networks gives us the deep insights that are needed to understand the root causes of problems and to find effective solutions. In Myanmar, UNICEF leads five inter-agency clusters and areas of responsibility: WASH, Education, Nutrition, Child Protection and Mine Action. 

Meeting needs throughout childhood and adolescence – At each step of the journey, UNICEF is there, ensuring that children are healthy, protected, receiving a nutritious diet, and – critically – that they are attending primary and secondary school with adequate water and sanitation facilities, so they can finally break the onerous chain of cyclical poverty. 

Before, during, and after an emergency – Our teams are first responders, building the effective systems, relationships, and plans that we need to protect children. And when emergencies do strike, our experts are in place and can use their pre-existing skills, equipment, global supply chain and relationships to make an impact wherever it matters most. Sadly, when a crisis ends, the suffering of children does not. We can stay long after the emergency - or as long as children need us. 

Expert staff – We are immensely proud of our staff, all of whom have deep expertise and a network of trusted contacts and relationships, including everyone from technical staff to our most senior representatives. 

UNICEF is committed to delivering timely and high-quality donor reports, offering support for donor recognition efforts. This commitment aims to ensure accountability and transparency, providing clear visibility into the allocation of received funds. Additionally, it serves to spotlight our valued partners' contributions and their impactful partnerships with UNICEF.

With Your Support, Together We Can Save Lives

In 2026, UNICEF aims to reach 3.3 million people, including 2.6 million children. UNICEF aims to reach 1 million people with critical WASH supplies; 600,000 children and women with primary healthcare services; 2 million children under age 5 with vitamin A supplementation; 441,831 children, adolescents and caregivers with mental health and psychosocial support services; and 667,000 children with access to education.

UNICEF is 100 per cent voluntary funded. That means we rely on our partners to help us fulfil our critical mandate. In 2025, the Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) was grossly underfunded, with a 75 percent funding gap, when the needs of children and communities, and our response to them, were greater. This significant financial constraint severely limited the scale-up of critical humanitarian, health, and earthquake-response services for millions of children.

Increased, predictable and flexible funding is urgently needed for UNICEF and its partners to respond to escalating needs in Myanmar and reach people with critical assistance.

For 2026, UNICEF is appealing for $267.2 million to deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of 3.3 million people, including 2.6 million children. In alignment with the Humanitarian Reset, the scope of the 2026 Humanitarian Action for Children appeal centres on responding to areas with greatest severity of needs – with a strong focus on building resilience.