The International Labour Organization (ILO) has launched an initiative in Myanmar to support livelihood recovery and strengthen community resilience in areas devastated by the recent earthquake. The project is designed to rebuild destroyed buildings while providing decent work opportunities for affected communities by hiring local workers.
Known as the Enhanced Livelihood Recovery and Community Resilience Project, it is funded by Japan’s Social Safety Net (SSN) and supplemented by ILO’s own resources. The initiative will focus on restoring livelihoods, rebuilding key infrastructure, and promoting resilience through the ILO’s Employment Intensive Investment Programme (EIIP), which emphasizes job creation, skills development, and community participation.
The project was launched in Inle Lake on 19 August 2025 in response to the 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck central Myanmar on 28 March 2025. The disaster caused massive destruction across 58 townships, affecting more than 17 million people, with over 9 million experiencing severe hardship.
Reconstruction will target schools, health centres, multi-purpose halls, roads, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities. The use of local labour and locally sourced materials will ensure both community engagement and sustainability.
ILO Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, Kaori Nakamura-Osaka, emphasized that the initiative is a rapid response to the disaster as well as a follow-up to the International Labour Conference Resolution adopted in June 2025 under Article 33 of the ILO Constitution on Myanmar. She noted that the project aligns with the humanitarian-development-peace nexus by ensuring that crisis responses contribute to long-term recovery and resilience for workers, communities, and enterprises.
The eight-month initiative is expected to generate more than 25,000 decent workdays, with at least 30 per cent of the opportunities reserved for women. In addition, workers, community contractors, and Village Development Committees (VDCs) will benefit from skills training in construction, maintenance, and project management. To further enhance capacity, VDCs will also receive IT equipment and computer literacy training, helping to strengthen community resilience and recovery in the long term.
