AVPN to strengthen development partnerships in Myanmar
Myanmar is a bustling nation, thanks to its colorful culture and astounding scenery perfect for tourists and backpackers who wish to get a glimpse of Asian history. However, its backdrop isn’t the only one that is making Myanmar a hotspot for development—the rate of philanthropy is surprising, it is now making headlines.
In an interview with Lukas Rieck of Asia Society for Social Improvement for Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST), Naina Batra, CEO of Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN) spoke on the growing enthusiasm in terms of philanthropy in Myanmar.
“I think there is lot of enthusiasm. I mean if you look at the Global Giving Index, Myanmar always ranks in the top 2 or three. As people, I think they are very philanthropic people,” Batra said.
However, despite the level of enthusiasm circling around the country, Batra expressed that there were also challenges that prevent donors and investors to fully utilize Myanmar’s development sector. For one, lots of philanthropy work are religious-based, with most regulators don’t track to see what happens to that money after it’s been given to beneficiaries say a temple, church, mosque, or to a monk or a priest.
In line with this, AVPN has committed to concentrate on several sectors to highlight the development of Myanmar as a country. One is access to energy, where some of its members are looking at a rural electrification program to provide electricity to far-flung areas and healthcare, where they look on building hospitals and funding social enterprises that are focused on healthcare.
This year’s theme of AVPN forum, “Accelerating Social Impact” is expected to gather different kind of partners, funders and capacity builders to connect them with local organizations in Myanmar. With 300 registrations and roughly half of them from outside the country, the AVPN forum will highlight Myanmar’s progress while bridging some of the barriers that inhibit the country from social improvement and development.
