LIFT is a multi-donor fund established in 2009 with the overall aim of reducing ...
LIFT is a multi-donor fund established in 2009 with the overall aim of reducing by half the number of people living in poverty in Myanmar. LIFT has received funding from 16 donors to date with contributions of USD 662 million between 2009 and the end of 2023, with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) as the Fund Manager.
LIFT’s fourth strategy (2019-2023) sought to capitalise on LIFT’s achievements and was driven by an optimistic outlook on Myanmar’s growth, democratic transition and more conducive policy environment for pro-poor policy making. A central focus was placed on ‘leaving no one behind’ with an explicit focus on reaching the most vulnerable and those in conflict-affected areas. In 2020, LIFT worked in 77 per cent of Myanmar’s townships, managed 87 grants with 57 partners and reached 12.8 million people.
In the context of the military coup, subsequent economic downturn and an ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and in response to the new operational challenges, LIFT undertook major realignments in its programmes to strengthen the resilience and livelihoods of Myanmar’s most vulnerable communities, to deliver a rapid relief and resilience response while also continuing to implement activities within LIFT’s thematic programmes and cross-cutting areas of work.
In this rapidly deteriorating socio-economic and political situation with decreased livelihood opportunities and increased vulnerabilities, LIFT embarked on the reset of the 2019-2023 strategy (including LIFT’s four key thematic areas) to adapt to the context while remaining focused on Myanmar’s most vulnerable groups, particularly women, internally displaced people, migrants, smallholder farmers, landless people, people with disabilities and those vulnerable to trafficking and forced labour, particularly in peri-urban, ethnic and conflict-affected areas.
As part of the reset process, the LIFT Gender Equality Strategy (2022-2023) is revised with stronger focus on support for women’s leadership, voice and agency and systemic attention to gender equality concerns across and within LIFT.