Facing widespread economic fallout from the departure of at least 1 million young people since 2021, grassroots networks are delivering crucial relief across Myanmar. Initiatives like Step-In Step-Up provide vocational training in healthcare, hospitality, and food preparation to up to 250 disadvantaged individuals at a time. The organization also operates a workshop outside Yangon producing reusable sanitary pads to mitigate severe local shortages. This effort is supported by partners such as Medecins Sans Frontieres, which ordered roughly 200 pads to protect vulnerable women and girls.
Key points
Local informal networks are essential for bypassing post-coup obstacles to deliver aid di…: Local informal networks are essential for bypassing post-coup obstacles to deliver aid directly to Myanmar's vulnerable communities.
Vocational programs provide disadvantaged youths and people with disabilities viable care…: Vocational programs provide disadvantaged youths and people with disabilities viable career paths in hospitality, healthcare, and food preparation.
Supplying reusable sanitary pads helps alleviate severe product shortages and reduces gen…: Supplying reusable sanitary pads helps alleviate severe product shortages and reduces gender-based violence risks for women and girls.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
With some 16.2 million people in Myanmar needing humanitarian aid in 2026, local organisations are helping bridge gaps by providing essential supplies and skills training.
YANGON: At a sewing workshop on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, vulnerable youths and people with disabilities are learning to make reusable sanitary pads.
The programme equips them with skills to earn a living while helping women and girls who struggle to access such products.
It is one of several projects run by Step-In Step-Up (SISU), a non-profit organisation that has provided vocational training and employment support in Myanmar since 2016.
“I have three daughters of my own, and I can’t imagine what their lives would have turned out to be if they didn’t have access to sanitary pads,” SISU founder Jackie Appel told CNA.
Appel, originally from South Africa, moved to Myanmar with her family after living in Singapore, where she had become a citizen.
She started by teaching basic English, housekeeping and life skills to 10 women from disadvantaged communities in her home. The number of trainees grew as participants found…
Ghaziabad authorities have detained two suspects after a government official was critically injured during an early morning home invasion. The violent assault followed escalating domestic friction triggered by the victim's discovery of his spouse's extramarital relationship and his subsequent decision to relocate their household to Delhi. The victim remains in critical care, while both accused conspirators have been remanded to judicial custody.
Skyrocketing medical premiums are quietly suppressing employee wages as industry stakeholders face zero financial incentive to curb high prices. Most companies routinely outsource plan design and avoid restricting networks, leaving major price variations for identical treatments entirely unchecked. However, targeted purchasing strategies demonstrate that assertive employer intervention can successfully force regional medical systems to reduce inflated rates.
The German Cup fixture provided a morale boost for the Bavarian club following the hospital release of their head coach Vincent Kompany after a health scare. Squad rotation allowed assistant Aaron Danks to successfully manage the sideline while regular starters rested ahead of high-stakes domestic and European encounters. The commanding display keeps the team on track during an exceptionally demanding stretch of their campaign.