Watch MRTV press coverage of the event here
LIFT has made a significant contribution to Myanmar’s livelihoods and food security over the last four years. Over 50 partners, both local and international, have been instrumental in making this possible. The LIFT Donors took the decision last year to extend the LIFT mandate to the end of 2018 and so with a further four plus years to go there is much opportunity to greatly extend LIFT’s results for Myanmar’s rural communities.
The current LIFT strategy, written in 2012, needs to be updated to ensure LIFT maximises its impact in a quickly changing environment. Credible surveys show that LIFT is reaching large numbers of rural households (2.5 million people have benefitted to date), and that its assistance is making a difference (290,000 households have increased food security mainly due to LIFT support). Myanmar’s rapid pace of reform since 2009 has changed the operational context of LIFT and the dynamics of the rural economy which is creating new opportunities to reduce poverty. With the investment climate slowly changing, private sector investment in agriculture is expected to grow substantially and bring both opportunity and new challenges. The Government of Myanmar also continues to change. Since 2012, the Government has developed policies and programmes with a pro-poor approach and placed rural development as a priority within the reform agenda. A focal ministry for rural development has emerged, which provides new opportunities to work with the government and enable LIFT to strengthen its work beyond agriculture.
Against this changing context LIFT has now prepared a revised strategy for the next period (2014 – 2018) that articulates LIFT’s vision, direction and underlying principles for funding decisions, its relationship with partners, and its role in policy advocacy for the rural poor in Myanmar.
Updated LIFT Strategy 2014 English (Draft)
Updated LIFT Strategy 2014 Myanmar (Draft)
LIFT wants to hear the views of all interested parties on the proposed strategy. To do this we would greatly appreciate comments in writing by return email and participation from those who can at a strategy consultation workshop on 24th July. We will be holding separate meetings with LIFT’s counterpart government ministries as well. The feedback will contribute to the LIFT donors’ final consideration of the strategy.
Consultation Workshop 24 July:
Registration at 8:30 – 9:00am, workshop from 9:00am – 11:30am
Micasa Hotel, 17 Kaba Aye Pagoda Road, Yangon
Open to all LIFT partners and interested groups
Attendance by RSVP to Saw Yu Nwe: sawn@unops.org
Feedback submission by 21 July:
We would like to have some comment available before the workshop to help our arrangements. Please provide to Daw Saw Yu Nwe by Monday 21 July: sawn@unops.org
Using your feedback:
Your feedback will be collated and given full consideration. It will be provided to the LIFT donors for consideration and decision on the final edits of the strategy.
Publication of the final strategy:
Once the LIFT donors have approved the final strategy it will be published and made publically available on the LIFT website with hard copies sent to all LIFT partners. We expect the published strategy to be available by mid-August.
