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With an increasing need for human capital, the government of Myanmar has made the overhauling of the education system a national priority. With an enlarged budget, a new national education law and the removal of public school fees, major reform of the entire education sector is well under way. However, significant challenges remain.

Despite top-down economic and political shifts in recent years, Myanmar’s health sector still has significant ground to cover, particularly in rural communities that lack access to basic services. The government has pledged to ramp up efforts by dramatically increasing health expenditures, building new facilities and strengthening the talent...

For the most part, Myanmar’s resilient economy has grown dramatically since the easing of international sanctions, while health care expansion has been modest at best. Although the outgoing government under U Thein Sein increased spending on the sector from K92bn ($71m) in FY 2010/11 to K691bn ($533.5m) in 2015/16, Myanmar remains behind its...

While numerous education policies have been set in motion by Myanmar’s outgoing regime, the degree of implementation has varied considerably. As negotiations between lawmakers and education reformists continues to delay legislative change, the decentralisation of the Ministry of Education (MoE) is a key topic of discussion.

Deep in the south of Myanmar, the Mergui Archipelago is almost off the map. Mostly uninhabited, the islands are home to around 2000 people, mostly Moken, known as “sea gypsies”, many of whom are skilled divers and fishermen living a semi-nomadic lifestyle. Some of the roughly 800 limestone and granite islands are just rocks jutting out of the...