[{"bbox": [83, 105, 1145, 159], "category": "Text", "text": "**Myanmar people.** This action covers but is not limited to the garment sector; it will reach out to all business partners that wish to uphold responsible business principles."}, {"bbox": [83, 164, 1145, 324], "category": "Text", "text": "This action recalls that some of the major threats still facing Myanmar people are natural disasters. **Myanmar is highly exposed to climate change impacts.** It is ranked second globally in terms of climate change vulnerability in the 2020 Global Climate Risk Index. The effects of climate change include increasing temperatures, more frequent and intense storms, and changes in weather patterns. Environmental degradation and climate change pose significant challenges to Myanmar's economic growth and the livelihoods of the poorest and most vulnerable groups, and particularly women."}, {"bbox": [83, 330, 1145, 383], "category": "Text", "text": "This action aims to support social and economic resilience of Myanmar's population with a focus on the transition to more sustainable livelihoods, sustainable management of natural resources, and responsible businesses."}, {"bbox": [83, 389, 1145, 522], "category": "Text", "text": "The Overall Objective of this action is to strengthen socio-economic sustainable resilience in the environment affected by COVID-19 and the recent coup d'état. The Specific Objectives of this action are: (i) Improve livelihoods, food and nutrition security of the most vulnerable, with a focus on women, children and people with disabilities, whilst protecting natural resources and increasing resilience to climate change; and (ii) Strengthen and protect responsible business practices in urban settings focusing on social, environmental, human rights standards and gender equality."}, {"bbox": [83, 528, 1145, 767], "category": "Text", "text": "SDGs are indivisible and an action targeting mainly poverty reduction (SDG2) must encompass other dimensions to be truly sustainable. Focusing on basic needs means addressing nutrition (SDG3), gender equality (SDG5) and climate change (SDG13). About half of the SDGs are directly focused on the environment or address the sustainability of natural resources. Supporting responsible business translates into protecting decent jobs (SDG8), so that the clean businesses that emerged in the last decade remain anchored in Myanmar and keep Myanmar connected to the world. It also means supporting sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12), because clean businesses in terms of human rights and labour rights also have a duty to keep the environment clean. As conflict has spread all over Myanmar and is not only limited to frontier rural areas, a conflict sensitive approach is essential and due diligence of actors, especially private ones, is required."}, {"bbox": [83, 773, 1145, 853], "category": "Text", "text": "The action foresees partnering with international organisations with experience in supporting livelihoods and sustainable businesses in Myanmar in response to the severe effects of COVID-19 and the military takeover on the population, and in prevention of possible future crises."}, {"bbox": [83, 858, 820, 886], "category": "Text", "text": "The action also foresees to use the Direct management approach through Grants."}, {"bbox": [72, 947, 301, 978], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 2. RATIONALE"}, {"bbox": [72, 1010, 197, 1037], "category": "Section-header", "text": "### 2.1 Context"}, {"bbox": [83, 1080, 1145, 1186], "category": "Text", "text": "The seizing of power by the military on 1 February 2021 brought a sudden halt to Myanmar's democratic transition and returned the country to military rule. In the new context, the Council Conclusions of February 2021¹¹ stress the need to avoid legitimizing the coup or the military. The 'policy first' approach supporting government systems is no longer feasible in Myanmar for the time being."}, {"bbox": [83, 1192, 1145, 1272], "category": "Text", "text": "**The COVID-19 pandemic compounded by the military coup have seriously affected Myanmar's economic growth rate with a visible impact on food insecurity.** The World Bank has estimated a decline in GDP of 10 per cent for FY2020/21 following the military coup, with the most severe impacts felt by poor households¹²."}, {"bbox": [83, 1278, 1145, 1490], "category": "Text", "text": "**COVID-19 and the military coup have had a serious impact on poverty the human development in Myanmar.** The UN, World Bank and others have indicated the risk of increasing poverty rates in the country. A recent UNDP report¹³, published in April 2021, estimates that the number of poor people in Myanmar could double as a result of the combined impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing political crisis. These crises will reverse the significant reduction in poverty rates achieved by Myanmar from 48.2% in 2005 to 24.8% in 2017, and reach estimated poverty rates ranging between 31 and 36% after the military coup. The report warns that, if unchecked, the combined effect of these two crises could push up to 12 million people into poverty. This could result in as much as 25 million people - nearly half of Myanmar's population - living below the national poverty line by early 2022, a"}, {"bbox": [72, 1517, 599, 1543], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹¹ Adopted at the Foreign Affairs Council on 22 February 2021"}, {"bbox": [72, 1542, 588, 1566], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹² World Bank's April 2021 *East Asia and Pacific Economic Update*"}, {"bbox": [72, 1566, 1142, 1662], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹³ UNDP report 'COVID-19, Coup d'état and Poverty: Compounding Negative Shocks and their Impact on Human Development in Myanmar', April 2021, available at https://www.asia-pacific.undp.org/content/rbap/en/home/library/democratic_governance/covid-19-coup-d-etat-and-poverty-impact-on-myanmar.html"}, {"bbox": [1051, 1663, 1157, 1687], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 4 of 20"}]