Electricity is critical for improving the quality of life, promoting industrial development and sustainable growth, foreign investment, and creating jobs. However, Myanmar is continuing to face electricity access challenges.

According to the World Bank collection of development indicators, 70.4% of the population in Myanmar had access to electricity in 2020.  Some reports suggests that the current percentage of the population with access to electricity in rural communities could be much lower.

To connect to the grid in rural areas, households must pay the high up-front connection costs. Although there is a significant financing need for rural electrification, financial institutions are hesitant to provide electrification loans, especially in the current high-risk environment.

Hsu Mon Tun and the international NGO designed a partnership project with a leading Microfinance Institution (MFI) where the MFI will provide the loans to the customers, and the international NGO will offer the portfolio guarantee for loan loss to MFI.

Hsu Mon Tun explains, “the purpose of the project was to connect the village households to have access to electricity along with access to finance to cover the connection costs.”

A cost-effective, scalable electrification solution of consumer finance and village electrification was tested for rural villages.

Hsu Mon Tun says, “We started the rural electrification pilot project in mid-2022 and will be running it for a year. After that we will be launching the program and, the project will be a model for other financial institutions and catalyse rural connection investments across Myanmar.”

Since the idea generation phase, Hsu Mon Tun has been involved in pitching ideas to the financial institutions and developing the portfolio guarantee design with the partnered MFI.

Hsu Mon Tun talks about her role in this project, “In the project design phase, I co-led the research in villages to understand the electrification needs of the villages and rural households to develop rural electrification loans. When the pilot implementation started, I was managing the multi-stakeholder teams for the implementation of the pilot.”

“As of now, we have electrified 40 villages from Ayeyarwady, Mandalay and Bago regions with our program,” she says proudly.

Hsu Mon Tun recalls her grandmother’s excitement when she recently used electricity in her village in Nyaung U for the first time at the age of 83. Hsu Mon Tun is grateful to have an opportunity to make a positive impact on rural communities by providing access to electricity through the rural electrification project.

“I believe electricity is a basic human need, and it is critical for poverty alleviation, economic growth and improved living standard.”

Hsu Mon Tun completed a Master of Business and Administration and Master of Marketing double degree at the University of Melbourne on an Australia Awards Scholarship in 2020.

She says, “My Master of Business and Administration helped me to be able to see a broader picture of the business and to be able to think strategically, be more data-driven, and be a better communicator and decision-maker.”

Her work experience revealed challenges in conservation that Thazin Saw felt needed to be addressed. She wanted to know more about the current species and distribution of agricultural birds, and conventional and natural farming practices. She learnt that there was a shortage of domestic technical experts and conservation instruments available in Myanmar that could support agricultural and environmental challenges.

This led her to look for ways she could upgrade her own education to make a positive impact upon conservation in Myanmar, which in turn, led her to Australia Awards.

Thazin applied to become an Australia Awards Scholar in 2019 as part of the 2020 intake. In her application she proposed to research an assessment of agricultural practices and their impact on agriculture and birds in Indawgyi.

Agriculture is an important industry in Myanmar and Thazin Saw wanted to contribute to the conservation of important wetlands. She explained,

“Agriculture is the main industry in Myanmar, accounting for 60 percent of the GDP, and rice remains the country’s most crucial agricultural commodity. It is important to know the consequences of current agricultural practices on biodiversity living around the farmlands.”

Having identified that there was no form of assessment in Indawgyi, or in Myanmar more broadly, she proposed to study the impacts of current agricultural practices towards developing more sustainable agricultural practices that could be applied around the country.

As an Australia Awards Scholar, Thazin Saw is now undertaking a Master of Ecosystem Management and Conservation at The University of Melbourne.

She found her move to Melbourne convenient and said, “I have received a lot of guidance from Australia Awards. Before I came to Australia, I received instructions to apply for a bank account, enrolment instructions, housing guide, and how to book a course advice appointment. When I arrived in Australia, I participated in a mentoring program and Introductory Academic Program (IAP) which has been helpful throughout my study.”

Thazin Saw has been inspired by how the government in Australia manages urban forests by creating parks and gardens so people and nature can live together.

She wants to apply these lived experiences and studies from Australia to her home country of Myanmar by creating a network of environmental restoration associations upon her return.

She encourages other aspiring Australia Awards applicants and says of her Australia Awards application experience, “that presenting your true and own story when answering the written questions will make your application unique, and you will answer interview questions smoothly.”

This initiative has been transforming literacy learning spaces in Myanmar by identifying and supporting educators who would most benefit from access to professional development training and networks.

Smart Educators was founded by the four alumni in 2020, who come from diverse geographical locations, religions, and ethnicities, connected by their individual passion and expertise in education. Aye Sandar Chit, Lin Lin Htet Oo, Ei Phyu, and Myat Aye San, are all working as freelance educators.

“This organisation was established with the aim to cultivate quality education in Myanmar by empowering teachers, who are the catalysts for the change.”

[Group photo top, left to right] Aye Sandar Chit, Lin Lin Htet Oo, and Ei Phyu. [Adjacent photo] Myat Aye San. Members of Smart Educators.

In 2021, due to the conflict and COVID-19 pandemic in Myanmar, there was uncertain access to education for children. The majority of students became disconnected from their schooling. As a result, community-based education service providers were progressively widespread around the country. However, the anecdotal observation highlighted that there was limited access to teachers’ professional development, especially for those from rural areas and disadvantaged communities.

This made it difficult for teachers to cope with the challenges faced in their profession. The Australia Awards alumni recognised the need for more holistic and contextualised supports, where teachers could not only receive theoretical inputs but also mentorship.

Smart Educators launched a Teacher Community program in June 2021.

The six-month teacher professional development training was aimed especially at teachers from rural areas and disadvantaged communities. Teacher Community was designed as a one-off education service for educators that offered ways of sharing knowledge, skills, and hands-on experiences, through the invitation of national and international educational experts, weekly seminars, and interactive discussions.

The program’s chief aims were to strengthen the teaching quality of novice through to veteran teachers and to encourage teachers’ practice of ongoing professional learning individually and collectively.

Smart Educators ran a callout on social media. They selected 30 participants from among 100 applicants who were carefully chosen based on teaching background, experience, location, and their needs and expectations. The age range of selected teacher participants was from 18 to 35 years old with a teaching service of at least one year.

The training was designed to cover a broad range of education areas including classroom debate and positive psychology, and to foster inclusive education and social awareness in teachers by covering topics on gender, ethics, rights and discrimination.

The Teacher Community program resulted in the development of a teacher network through which educational knowledge and experiences can continue to be shared between local and international educators.

Smart Educators received positive feedback from the Teacher Community program with a high percentage of participants indicating that their confidence had increased as teachers and that they would like to attend more courses offered.

As an organisation, they have also pursued a five-month research program as a situational analysis of the training offered to support evidence-based grounds for future initiatives.

These four alumnae completed their Australia Awards Scholarship at different universities across Australia. Aye Sandar Chit completed her Master of Education at University of Adelaide, Lin Lin Htet Oo and Myat Aye San studied their Master of Education (Leadership and Management) at Flinders University, and Ei Phyu completed her Master of Arts (Applied Linguistics for Language Teachers) at Monash University. Together, they have collaborated to create a lasting impact in education in Myanmar.

Since his return in 2017, he has been working with international non-government organisations in the humanitarian sector in Rakhine and Kachin.

Addressing the mental health of IDPs has been a key driver behind the activities delivered by Dr Awng Shar.

‘In Myanmar, mental health is not understood well. People are not aware that everybody is dealing with mental wellness every day, similar to our physical health. People living in internally displaced camps will have more mental health challenges. Sadly, there is limited interventions on mental health for them because of limited awareness on mental health among medical professionals who provide primary health care services in the camps.’ Dr Awng Shar explains.

When working with the International Rescue Committee as a Health Coordinator to lead a humanitarian health program in Rakhine, he found that the majority of the outpatient consultations were related to unexplained clinical complaints which is one of the signs of mental health issues.

Dr Awng Shar shared the findings with the mobile clinic team who visit families in the IDP camps. Mental health mainstreaming training was provided to the mobile clinic team and it changed the way they understood the patients and the benefits of longer quality consultation time to screen and address mental health needs.

As Programme Analyst for sexual and reproductive health and rights with UNFPA in 2018-19 he had the opportunity to study another course on mental health.

Following this, he led the dissemination of Mental Health Psychosocial Support training to health care staff in Kachin State together with gender-based violence actors and collaborated with civil hospitals where senior consultant psychiatrists joined the training to boost the capacity of medical doctors to handle psychiatric issues in humanitarian settings.

“Health staff said the training we provided was even benefiting their personal and family life – from active listening to psychological first aid.”

Dr Awng Shar believes that “now mental health is discussed more widely, and more and more humanitarian health staff are trained on mental health. Donor support for mental health activities has also increased.”

“We still have a long way to go but we are on a reasonable track. All the credit should go to the mental health leaders and experts working in Myanmar and I am proud to be a part of this movement, especially for the initiatives in Rakhine and Kachin states among the IDP camps,” he says.

Dr Awng Shar completed a Master of Public Health degree at The University of Melbourne in 2016 on an Australia Awards Scholarship and has continued to apply this education to his professional field work in Myanmar, acknowledging that it “equipped [him] to be able to design health programs based on the actual need of the beneficiaries on the ground.”

Since early 2022, he has been working as a Health and Nutrition Specialist for UNICEF in Sittwe, Rakhine, supporting children and pregnant women to improve their health, nutrition and immunisation status with mental health mainstreaming.

Reflecting on his work experience before being selected for an Australia Awards Scholarship, he recalls; “I joined Community Partners International in 2009 as a program coordinator supporting vulnerable communities in Myanmar to build community resilience in health and humanitarian services. I worked with local civil society leaders to strengthen local organisations and implement community-driven activities in remote areas.”

Dr Si Thura was awarded an Australia Awards Scholarship to acquire a master’s degree in public health at the Australian National University.

“The Australia Awards Scholarship enabled me to study major public health subjects such as epidemiology, biostatistics, qualitative and quantitative research, organisation and project management, global health and policy at one of the top universities in the world,” says Dr Si Thura.

He explains that; “The Australia Awards Scholarship not only provides assistance for the postgraduate degree course but also for leadership skills development. The scholarship supported me to attend a youth conference in Perth where I connected with academic and research professionals from different parts of the world and learned about recent developments in youth health and social issues.”

“The skills acquired during my study in Australia empower me to work with people from diverse communities, resolve complex issues, and advocate effectively to policy makers.”

After graduating and returning to Myanmar in 2013, Dr. Si Thura rejoined CPI as a Director and was subsequently promoted to Executive Director in 2017 covering CPI’s multi-country operations. In this role, he leads CPI’s efforts to empower vulnerable communities in Asia to meet their essential health, humanitarian and development needs. In Myanmar, he has helped local civil society and ethnic nationality organisations to strengthen health service delivery and contribute to the goal of universal health coverage.

In 2020 and 2021, Dr Si Thura led CPI’s COVID-19 pandemic response. As the virus brought devastating impacts, CPI mobilised emergency oxygen supplies, treatment and prevention, helping to save thousands of lives in Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In responding to the global pandemic, CPI is focused on closing health equity gaps to ensure that under-served and marginalised populations can access affordable and effective COVID-19 prevention and care services.

“We provide a variety of services ranging from medicines and supplies to the health systems, provision of oxygen therapy and COVID-19 treatment services through health posts, clinics, hospitals and tele-health platforms, to the establishment of community-based oxygen networks and oxygen plants,” explains Dr Si Thura.

In July 2021, a third wave of COVID-19 arrived in Myanmar. The country’s health system was already on the brink of collapse. The number of severe COVID-19 cases and the demand of oxygen increased dramatically in a matter of days. In this context, CPI launched a COVID-19 tele-health project, promoted through local social media channels, to ensure that desperately ill patients could access emergency medical consultations and care.

“Treatment was provided through tele-health consultations. Oxygen concentrators and cylinders were delivered through local civil society networks. For severe cases, mobile medical teams visited patients’ houses to administer treatment and, in some areas, patients were referred to COVID-19 treatment centres run by community-based organisations,” says Dr Si Thura.

The global pandemic brought significant challenges to people’s livelihoods in Myanmar. Under Dr Si Thura’s leadership, CPI helped community organisations establish and grow livelihood projects for women and vulnerable communities. The projects supported women to make cloth face masks, hand sanitiser, soap, and other products for sale. CPI also launched micro-loan and entrepreneurship initiatives to help women to start small enterprises in organic farming and livestock.

Dr Si Thura reports that CPI’s COVID-19 response reached more than one million people in Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

“Partnership with local organisations is critical in navigating a variety of obstacles during the pandemic,” Dr Si Thura says.

Dr Si Thura is committed to working for health sector development in Myanmar and across Asia. He encourages international stakeholders “to recognise the key role of local actors and ensure that support is provided as directly as possible to these local organisations to help meet essential health and humanitarian needs.”

Sai Hseng Mao is currently pursuing a Master of Education in Digital Learning at Monash University in Victoria on Australia Awards Scholarship. Sai Hseng Mao says that this opportunity will provide him with the knowledge and networks needed for “reforming educational policy, creating an inclusive learning environment and providing equal access to learning for underprivileged youth through digital learning platforms” in Myanmar.

Prior to coming to Australia, Sai Hseng Mao completed a Master of Computer Technology at Myanmar’s University of Computer Studies (Lashio). After he graduated, he combined his technical skills with civic education as a teacher at a leading community-based school in the Shan State where he taught human rights, gender studies and leadership skills to young adults.

Sai Hseng Mao is proud to have worked in this non-formal school whose graduates have gone on to work in many well-known civil society organisations in Shan State. He explains that this environment contributes to civic education for underprivileged youth to teach them to “think and provide for themselves, and be active citizens who can contribute to harmony and prosperity in Myanmar.”

Shan State, situated in Myanmar’s central-eastern border region, is home to many of Myanmar’s ethnic minority groups and has encountered decades of armed conflict. Growing up in this area, Sai Hseng Mao explains he has observed the many challenges that young people face in order to attend mainstream school and the very high dropout rates in rural areas.

In his work with migrant workers, internally displaced persons and youth from Shan State, Sai Hseng Mao found that many people shared a desire to continue their study and learning. This has motivated Sai Hseng Mao to want to create opportunities for young people through digital learning platforms and inspired him to apply for Australia Awards Scholarship.

When he returns to Myanmar, Sai Hseng Mao wants to open his own school in Shan State. He hopes to provide a “competitive learning system dedicated to reducing poverty and child labour.” He recognises that as the internet becomes more readily available in society, it provides opportunities for young people who had to drop-out of school or didn’t get a chance to study to continue their learning digitally.

Sai Hseng Mao anticipates that non-formal education will continue to grow in value in Myanmar in the future and that the expertise will be required to implement these programs throughout the country, including in Shan State.

“I see myself serving as a human resource link between ethnic minorities and the state in implementing new learning services, especially through digital platforms, mother tongue-based multilanguage and providing a more inclusive educational environment,” he says.

Sai Hseng Mao commenced his Scholarship in early 2020, shortly before the widespread impacts of COVID-19 were experienced around the world. Living in Melbourne, Sai Hseng Mao endured long and strict lockdowns in Australia. “Last couple of years were the most challenging years that I have encountered in my student life,” he reflects. “However, I managed to overcome those times by balancing my daily routine, to-do list and exercising to cope with my study.”

In between the lockdowns, Sai Hseng Mao has found time to explore some of Australia’s sites. He travelled to the island of Tasmania and other regional areas after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. And throughout the challenges, he “still managed to learn and enjoy some other fun activities such as cooking, baking and sending off new graduates at a virtual party,” he says.

Sai Hseng Mao is eager to expand his knowledge, education and networks in Australia so that he can better support young people from Shan State to continue their learning. Despite the numerous challenges he has faced in pursuing this goal, he is determined to contribute to universal access to education in his homeland.