Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun says more than 4 million are displaced and 16.2 million need aid in Myanmar

Mizzima

Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, Myanmar’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, told an interactive dialogue between UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) member states and UN Resident Coordinators at UN Headquarters in New York on 4 November that more than four million people in Myanmar are displaced and over 16.2 million need humanitarian assistance.

The UN’s latest estimate is nearly 3.8 million displaced as of June, and 16.2 million in need under the 2026 humanitarian plan.

He said development gains made before the 2021 coup have reversed, and that people’s suffering has deepened because of military airstrikes, atrocities against civilians and economic collapse. He said it is hard to get aid to people because the junta imposes restrictions and deliberate blockades on delivery to conflict-hit areas.

He urged the UN Resident Coordinator and agencies to keep working to ensure aid reaches all areas in need without discrimination, and called for better coordination among the National Unity Government (NUG), the Steering Council for the Emergence of a Federal Democratic Union (SCEF) and democratic forces. He also asked donors to give more to the Myanmar Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, for which the UN seeks US$890 million.

He said humanitarian aid alone cannot meet people’s needs and that humanitarian, development and peace efforts must be linked. He urged the international community to support the people of Myanmar who are working to end military dictatorship and build a federal democratic union to achieve lasting peace, stability and development.