[{"bbox": [96, 179, 1134, 366], "category": "Text", "text": "The democratic transition was halted, and the progress achieved from 2010 to 2021 in democratic governance, individual and economic freedoms, freedom of expression and respect for human rights was lost. **The extension of the state of emergency** by the State Administrative Council (SAC) for another six months was announced on the 1st of February, 2023. On the 28th of March, the military-appointed Union Election Commission of Myanmar decided to dissolve forty political parties, including the National League for Democracy, on the grounds of failing to register under the military regime's registration law³. The military regime has announced its intention of holding elections sometime in the near future but the expected polls has not yet been announced."}, {"bbox": [96, 392, 1134, 525], "category": "Text", "text": "Despite the progress made, one-third of the Myanmar population was considered near poor in 2017, leaving the population susceptible to economic shocks as COVID-19 hit Myanmar in 2020. Between 2019 and 2020, over 80 per cent of households reported a drop in income by 46.5 per cent, on average. As of 2022, 40 per cent of the Myanmar population was living under the national poverty line⁴. Half of all households recourse to reducing food and non-food consumption in response⁵."}, {"bbox": [96, 550, 1134, 763], "category": "Text", "text": "Following the compounded shocks of COVID-19 and the military takeover, the Myanmar economy shrank by 18% in 2021⁶. In the year ending September 2023, the **GDP is projected to grow modestly by 3 per cent**, with the recovery constrained by continued conflict, electricity outages and macroeconomic and regulatory uncertainty. The regime's shift in exchange rate policy to the administrative-controlled one has led to **foreign currency shortages and trade restrictions**, limiting the availability of many products and increasing their prices⁷. **Foreign investment** has shrunk significantly and is now stalling. China is currently one of the few countries willing to bring in new investments. As announced in February 2023, Myanmar would stay on Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) blacklist, marginalising economic operators further."}, {"bbox": [96, 788, 1134, 893], "category": "Text", "text": "**The new Registration of Associations Law**, enacted on the 28th of October 2022, has established broad SAC control over NGO and INGO activities, introducing criminal penalties for noncompliance. According to the CIVICUS Monitor, as of March 2023, the Myanmar civic space rating has been downgraded from “repressed” to “closed”⁸"}, {"bbox": [96, 921, 1134, 1029], "category": "Text", "text": "A household survey conducted by International Food Policy and Research Institute (IFPRI) in July and August 2022 showed that almost half of the households reported experiencing income losses compared to the previous year. As of October 2022, According to UNHCR, **more than 1.38 million people remained internally displaced by conflict**, more than 1 million of which have been displaced since February 2021⁹."}, {"bbox": [96, 1054, 1134, 1134], "category": "Text", "text": "Against the backdrop of increased hardships for the population, **the role of NGOs and CSOs in delivering essential services has increased**, replacing the state in addressing the basic needs of communities, increasingly affected by conflict¹⁰."}, {"bbox": [96, 1160, 1134, 1347], "category": "Text", "text": "As of September 2022, **15.2 million people in Myanmar were facing acute food insecurity**, showing a sharp increase from the 13.2 million food insecure people at the same time in 2021¹¹. Food prices have continued to soar. According to WFP's price monitoring, the cost of a basic food basket has increased year-to-year by 62 per cent. **In agricultural households**, smallholder farmers and those living off livestock are more likely to be food insecure, as are female-headed households¹². Input prices during the monsoon season of 2022 increased compared to the same period in 2021 by 60 percent for urea, 33 percent for mechanization, and 17 and 16 percent for hired labor of men and women, respectively¹³."}, {"bbox": [85, 1414, 1142, 1453], "category": "Footnote", "text": "³https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2023/03/29/myanmar-statement-by-the-high-representative-on-behalf-of-the-european-union-on-the-dissolution-of-democratic-political-parties/"}, {"bbox": [85, 1453, 282, 1472], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁴The World Bank, July 2022"}, {"bbox": [85, 1472, 292, 1491], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁵Myanmar Economic Monitor"}, {"bbox": [85, 1491, 1089, 1510], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁶https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2022/01/26/economic-activity-in-myanmar-to-remain-at-low-levels-with-the-overall-outlook-bleak"}, {"bbox": [85, 1510, 292, 1529], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁷Myanmar Economic Monitor"}, {"bbox": [85, 1529, 926, 1549], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁸https://www.civicus.org/index.php/media-resources/news/united-nations/geneva/6312-myanmar-civic-space-is-under-assault"}, {"bbox": [85, 1549, 361, 1568], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁹WFP Situation Report, September 2022"}, {"bbox": [85, 1568, 269, 1587], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹⁰Special rapporteur report"}, {"bbox": [85, 1587, 366, 1606], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹¹WFP Situation Report, September 2022"}, {"bbox": [85, 1606, 152, 1625], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹²OCHA"}, {"bbox": [85, 1625, 808, 1645], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹³https://myanmar.ifpri.info/2023/05/04/insecurity-is-affecting-agricultural-commercialization-in-myanmar/"}, {"bbox": [1038, 1682, 1143, 1706], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 5 of 27"}]