Supporting Myanmar’s Earthquake Response: From Immediate Relief to Resilience Building

The devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck Myanmar on 28 March 2025 has left many people and communities in urgent need of assistance. As search and initial rescue efforts come to an end, the focus will shift from providing life-saving aid to laying the foundation for long-term recovery.

Building Back Better: Post-Earthquake Support to Shelter and Critical Infrastructure

Beyond immediate relief efforts, a community-led and risk-informed approach is essential to prevent future public health crises. Risk-sensitive spatial planning must guide recovery to rebuild safer, healthier, and more resilient communities, with focus on shelter and resilient infrastructure.

UN-Habitat’s Role in Myanmar’s Recovery

We are actively working with UN agencies, local partners, and affected communities to ensure a coordinated response guided by a local/urban recovery framework. Our next steps include:

• Providing secure land tenure solutions to address Myanmar’s complex land ownership systems and protect communities from land seizures and fraudulent claims.
• Engaging Myanmar’s private sector to accelerate reconstruction efforts, with banks playing a key role in supporting housing cooperatives and collective rebuilding.
• Strengthening inclusive local governance to empower township partners and communities in managing the recovery process, including land rights and ensuring fair access to rebuilding resources.

UN-Habitat’s Expertise in Disaster Recovery

With decades of experience in post-disaster reconstruction—including in Pakistan, Iran, Haiti, Ecuador, Lebanon, and Syria—UN-Habitat brings proven strategies to Myanmar’s recovery efforts. Our participatory approach ensures that affected communities remain at the heart of rebuilding efforts, prioritizing:

• Keeping communities intact by minimizing resettlement and preserving social networks and livelihoods during temporary displacement.
• Addressing land tenure and security to protect displaced families from land disputes and ensure they have safe, legal places to rebuild.
• Risk-informed shelter and infrastructure solutions that integrate disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation to prevent future vulnerabilities.
• Community-driven recovery by engaging local people in rebuilding efforts, offering technical guidance, and promoting participatory planning.

By working together, we can help Myanmar rebuild safer, stronger, and more resilient communities.

Your support is critical in making this vision a reality.