Youth are finding their voice in Myanmar
18 September 2026
•By Zoë Taylor
Finding voice, building belonging.
What helps a young person keep going when so much around them feels uncertain?
In Myanmar, years of crisis have disrupted education, separated families and strained the support systems young people rely on. They need more than access to services – they need the confidence to speak up, manage difficult moments and connect with others.
That’s where social and emotional learning comes in. It helps young people build the everyday skills to understand their emotions, communicate, make decisions and navigate challenges. For some young people, those skills can change how they see themselves, how others see them and what they believe is possible.
From exclusion to belonging
When Soe* joined a ChildFund-supported youth program in Myanmar, not everyone thought he should be there.
Soe had left school after Grade 9 and was living with his uncle while his parents worked abroad. Growing up, he sometimes struggled to manage his emotions, with sudden anger leading others to misunderstand him or leave him out. His disability added another layer to that exclusion. He wanted to participate, but wasn’t always given the chance. What began to change his experience wasn’t just the training he received – it was the shift in attitudes around him. Awareness sessions on gender equality and disability inclusion helped his peers better understand the barriers Soe faced and how they could create a more inclusive environment. As attitudes shifted, so did Soe’s place in his community.
Leadership and life skills training, alongside comprehensive sexuality education, helped Soe build confidence and communicate more effectively. He went on to support peer educators in community sessions, using his own experience to help create space for other young people to speak up and take part.
"Now, the people and friends in my community treat me well and with respect," Soe shared. "I now feel safe and happy in my life because the people show empathy and treat me like everyone else."
Finding their voice through uncertainity
Myanmar is in a state of prolonged crisis. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, more than three million people have been internally displaced. On 28 March 2025, two powerful earthquakes struck central Myanmar, killing more than 3,500 people and affecting more than 17 million – adding further hardship to communities already stretched to their limits.
For children and young people, these compounding disruptions have interrupted education, fractured social networks and narrowed futures. Many, particularly girls and young people with disability, have been pushed further to the margins.
Through the Youth for Youth (Y4Y) program, supported by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP), ChildFund Australia is working to change that – building the life skills, confidence and social connections young people need to navigate difficult circumstances and shape their futures.
Skills for safety, confidence and leadership
For young people in Myanmar, having the confidence to speak up, make decisions and support others can be transformative. Through Youth for Youth, they develop skills in leadership, social and emotional learning, sexual and reproductive health, gender equality, disability inclusion and disaster risk reduction.
The program also creates opportunities for young people to learn from one another and take on active roles in their communities as peer educators and advocates. In 2024–25, ChildFund Myanmar reached 3,470 young people through these programmes, including 2,738 under 18.
A future reimagined
Nilar*, 22, grew up in a remote village with limited access to education and services. After leaving school during the COVID-19 pandemic, she returned home to work as a tailor and support her family. In a household where traditional expectations often favoured sons, Nilar struggled with frustration and low self-worth.
Through Youth for Youth, she developed practical skills in life skills, leadership, sexual and reproductive health, gender equality, disability inclusion and disaster risk reduction. She also found the confidence to take on a new role in her community as a Peer Educator – giving her a stronger sense of purpose and an opportunity to have her voice heard.
“Because of the project, we have improved self-confidence and have been participating in community development activities. I am determined to become a role model among young people in my village,” she said.
Her family relationships improved. She began actively supporting project activities and inspiring other young women in her community. Her story reflects one of Y4Y's most important outcomes: that when you invest in one young person's agency, the impact doesn't stop with them.
A confidence others can see
For Zin, 16, the changes she experienced through Youth for Youth reached beyond the classroom. Before joining a ChildFund youth development project, she struggled with her emotions and often felt dismissed by her family. Through training in leadership, life skills and comprehensive sexuality education, she became more confident and began putting what she learned into practice. She was chosen as a class leader, guiding her peers and supporting project activities.
Her mother noticed the change at home, too. “Before the project, I was worried that something would happen to her, but now I feel safe,” she said. “My daughter is now like an adult, even in terms of speech.”
Building resilience from within
What links Soe, Nilar, and Zin is what their communities gained alongside them. Youth for Youth is not a program that delivers change to young people; it builds the conditions for young people to lead change themselves. Peer educators carry knowledge into households and streets that formal services rarely reach. Community attitudes shift. Families grow safer. Young people who were once excluded become the ones others turn to.
In a country facing extraordinary challenges, that kind of community-rooted resilience gives young people the foundations to adapt, keep moving forward and shape what comes next.
ChildFund Australia's Youth for Youth program in Myanmar is funded by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).
*All names have been changed to protect individual identity.
