As the Myanmar military junta escalates its terror campaign ahead of its illegal sham election in December, communities across the country are facing their darkest hours yet. The junta is abducting young people from their homes to fill its depleted infantry ranks, bombing schools and hospitals crowded with civilians, and shelling entire villages.
After forcing people to flee their homes, the junta loots their belongings, destroys their crops, and plants landmines. The attacks do not end there. The junta then bombs the makeshift shelters they built after fleeing. Children are sleeping under plastic tarps in forests, with mothers clutching their babies. Elders, unable to escape, often fall victim to the junta’s crossfire. For those who dare to return home, the junta arrests them or shoots them on sight.
Moreover, the illegal junta – now disguised as the “State Security and Peace Commission” – has been blocking the delivery of lifesaving medicine and vaccines. These atrocities have condemned people to die from treatable illnesses and pregnant women to suffer miscarriages or stillbirths – often while on the run from relentless junta attacks. Forced into an endless cycle of flight and fear, Myanmar’s internally displaced peoples (IDPs) are being pushed to the brink of survival.
But in the face of such fear, there is unparalleled resilience and solidarity among the people, both of which have been supported and strengthened by local civil society groups. Amid the junta’s violence, these groups have stopped at nothing to meet the dire humanitarian needs of Myanmar’s most vulnerable communities.
Across southeastern Myanmar, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) supports youth groups that organize food distribution for IDP families, build shelters for them, and open makeshift schools to keep children learning. Women’s groups collect rice from house to house and make sure widows, the sick, and people with disabilities are not forgotten.
These local civil society groups navigate enormous challenges: no guaranteed funding, constant security risks, communication and transportation difficulties, and the weight of caring for entire communities. But they persevere because their people depend on them. One young woman who leads a local relief team in Tanintharyi Region said, “I never imagined I could do this. But when no one else came, we had to act. If we wait, people suffer.”
Likewise, in liberated areas under the Karen National Union’s control, Mon and Karen villagers have built powerful systems of solidarity to support one another. When a Mon village received essential medicine from a border-based civil society group, the local committee kept only half. The other half was walked by night through the forest to a Karen clinic two hours away. Later, when Karen villagers secured herbal medicine and bandages, they delivered some to the Mon village.
These groups aren’t just providing aid. They are building sustainable livelihoods, defending human rights, and laying the foundations of bottom-up governance. These efforts are the seedbed for an inclusive federal democracy grounded in the people’s resilience and solidarity, which the junta fears most.
In Karenni (Kayah) State, governed by the Karenni Interim Executive Council, the Karenni National Women’s Organization (KNWO) runs the Women and Girls Safe Space, a community center where women and girls support each other, shape their own futures, and heal from the trauma of war through psychosocial well-being support. Amid conflict, women learn to sew traditional clothing and open small shops to sell their products. They raise livestock to generate income, and they gain financial literacy through lessons in accounting. Through capacity-building workshops, KNWO also supports women to take on community leadership roles and participate in political decision-making, equipping them to be active changemakers for a federal democratic Myanmar.
Nevertheless, deep challenges remain for women and girls, as the junta continues its long-standing practice of using sexual violence as a weapon of war with total impunity. In addition, customary justice practices, which emphasize mediation over formal legal routes, limit protective measures and accountability for perpetrators. Many women choose not to report violence at all, fearing stigma and retaliation or lacking trust in weak legal mechanisms. Others may not be aware of their rights or available services, and many struggle to find safe spaces to seek protection and recourse.
These barriers underscore why grassroots initiatives, like KNWO’s Safe Space, are so vital. They provide a pathway for women and girls to strengthen their resilience and stand up for their rights. KNWO is one of many groups that work tirelessly to address the issues of violence against women, women’s leadership, and their political participation.
Through these initiatives, Myanmar’s independent civil society groups embody solidarity in action. From Karenni State to Tanintharyi Region, this solidarity transcends generations, ethnicities, religions, and geographies, uniting the people in care and compassion for each other. Ultimately, the junta can never defeat the solidarity that is born of the Myanmar people’s resilience.
By strengthening community resilience, Myanmar’s civil society groups are laying the foundations of federal democracy, sustainable peace, and human security from the ground up.
Today, sudden funding cuts – first by the United States, then the United Kingdom, and now Sweden – threaten to sever this lifeline just when it is needed most. At this critical juncture for Myanmar’s sustainable and peaceful future, international support for these groups has never been more urgent.
In these darkest hours, civil society’s immeasurable efforts demonstrate the unmatched power of resilience and solidarity. People are helping people, not just to survive, but to uphold human dignity and sow the seeds of a future where communities can govern themselves with fairness and care.
As one woman told HURFOM after the junta attacked her village on September 16, “As long as we are alive, we can rebuild. In these darkest moments, we will never forget how neighbors from nearby villages came to help us. In times of crisis, just being together gives us the strength to keep going. The junta can destroy our homes, but they cannot destroy our unity, [which] is our strongest defense against fear.”