The UNDP and the Government of Myanmar have agreed to collaborate in the field of household surveys on living conditions in the country with the aim to monitor the achievement of MDGs and national targets. The implementation of IHLCA aims to provide the government and the international funding agencies with a reliable and up to date assessment of all major aspects of household living conditions at the national and regional levels. The specific objectives of IHLCA are (1) to contribute to well-informed, pro-poor decision making in order to improve living conditions for the poor in Myanmar, and (2) to assess the living conditions and poverty situation of the Myanmar population.
Survey activities were carried out under the guidance of Steering Committee. It comprises each person from the Planning Department, Central Statistical Organization, Foreign Economic Relations Department and UNDP. The IDEA, international research agency, contributes the measurement of the poverty survey. Both quantitative and qualitative surveys are conducted. Qualitative survey on people perception on poverty and living conditions was conducted in November – December 2003 in 2 townships each of 14 States and Divisions. The first and second rounds of nation-wide quantitative survey were conducted in December 2004 and May 2005 on 18660 households in 17 states and divisions. The draft IHLCA reports were shared with relevant Government Technical Departments in March 2007 and a National Dissemination Workshop was held on 27-28 June 2007, followed by State and Division level dissemination workshops.
The IHLCA project produces a comprehensive set of reports, poverty line and poverty incidence of the Myanmar for the first time. The reports are Poverty Profile and Characteristics, MDG-related Information, Vulnerability and Qualitative results report. The food poverty line is K118,402 per adult per year and the poverty line is K162,136 per adult per year. The poverty incidence (poverty head count index) is 32 % with a significant urban-rural differential, 22% for urban and 36% for rural. All qualitative and quantitative reports are translated into Myanmar version for wider dissemination.
Another round of poverty assessment has been planned in 2008. In the second round survey, a technical review of the first round IHLCA project will be done for the lessons learnt and needs to be modified before conducting another round of poverty assessment. More indicators will be included in the second IHLCA survey and it is intended to compute the international poverty line based on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) for international comparison purpose.
