The UN responds to Myanmar’s humanitarian emergency with 2025 Plan

By Sr. Florina Joseph, SCN

Over 450 people were reportedly killed on Sunday in Myanmar's Rakhine State as government forces battled the Arakan Army (AA) for control of the Border Guard Police (BGP5) barracks there.

Witnesses said the AA took full control of the 270-kilometer-long Bangladesh-Myanmar border after defeating government forces in a siege. The BGP5 was the Myanmar military junta's last stand in northern Rakhine State.

AA sources said the battle was perhaps the bloodiest of the civil war which has consumed Myanmar since the military seized power in a coup in 2021.

Apart from Rakhine State's capital Sittwe, which is still in military hands, the AA is likely to be the first insurgent group to take complete control of a state. But the conflict has reportedly devastated the region, and most of the eastern town of Maungdaw and the surrounding villages have been destroyed. Famine looms due to a military blockade that disrupts supply chains.

UN call for aid to Myanmar

In response to the humanitarian crisis, the United Nations has launched the "2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan" (HNRP) for Myanmar, requesting US$1.1 billion to provide ‘life-saving assistance to 5.5 million people struggling to survive.

The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Myanmar, Marcoluigi Corsi, stated that the unprecedented increase in humanitarian need has put an estimated 19.9 million people in need of assistance in 2025, including 6.3 million children.

According to the UN, the conflict has driven people to flee their homes and livelihoods in record numbers, with approximately 3.5 million people being internally displaced.  Almost one-third of them are children.

The education and health services in Myanmar are severely disrupted. More than 15 million people are expected to face food insecurity in 2025, while many more are left without safe shelter or adequate drinking water.

“People are confronted with grave protection threats, and coping capacities are stretched to the limit," says the UN.

The crisis has also spilled over into neighbouring countries, with 1.3 million Myanmar refugees and asylum seekers now in the region.

While addressing the low levels of funding in 2024, Corsi stressed the need for "scaled-up support for Myanmar in 2025” to urgently prevent the crisis from deteriorating into a catastrophic situation.