To celebrate 10 years since its inception, the Livelihoods and Food Security Fund (LIFT) is organising a major stakeholder conference in Nay Pyi Taw: the LIFT Forum 2019. The event runs from 11-13 June 2019, and in addition to marking a decade of LIFT, it will also launch its strategy for 2019-2023. The Forum will delve into LIFT’s mission in Myanmar to reduce poverty, strengthen the resilience and sustainable livelihoods of poor households and boost social cohesion, especially in rural areas.
Over a span of 10 years and through the support of more than 60 implementing partners, LIFT is active in over 70 per cent of Myanmar’s 330 townships. LIFT has financed a total of 183 projects aimed at improving nutrition, income, infrastructure, agricultural practices and human migration. Through our efforts, we have reached out to as many as 11.6 million people in rural and peri-urban households, provided better food security for 2.2 million people as well as microfinance access to 2.6 million people, and more generally helped increase the resilience of around 6 million people.
The LIFT Forum 2019 will host speeches and discussions in order to explore a variety of current issues such as workers’ and migration rights; women’s empowerment; rural transformation; social pensions of people with disabilities; access to finance for poor farmers; and opportunities and challenges for civil society.
Our esteemed guests and speakers will include Dr Thant Myint-U, historian, author and former Advisor to the President of Myanmar; Dr Sean Turnell, Special Economic Adviser to the State Counsellor of Myanmar; Ms Reiko Harima, Executive Director at the Asian Migrant Centre; Dr San San Aye, Director General at the Department of Social Welfare; Daw May Sabe Phyu, Director at the Gender Equality Network; and many more.
We all look forward to seeing you there!
WRITER: Sandra Vedeld
