The moderator fully agrees with U Myint Htwe, the Minister of Health and Sports, when he says "Implementation research is very important as it can reflect the real situation". The Central Statistical Organisation / UNDP / World Bank 'Living Conditions Survey' does not appear, however, to be implementation research.

Jamie

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Progress in education, water and housing uneven: report
Htet Shine
Myanmar Times
5 July 2018

Indicators of living conditions in Myanmar have improved in the last decade but progress in education, water and sanitation and housing continues to lag in some parts of the country, according to the Key Indicators Report from the Myanmar Living Conditions Survey. The Central Statistical Organisation, in collaboration with the UNDP and the World Bank, launched the report last week in the capital city.

The Myanmar Living Conditions Survey 2017 (MLCS 2017) is a household living standard survey conducted by Myanmar’s Central Statistical Organization from December 2016 to December 2017. The survey is representative of the Union Territory, its states and regions as well as urban and rural areas. It was conducted in all the districts and in 296 of the 330 townships of Myanmar. In this survey report, a total of 13,730 households were interviewed.

The report documents some stark overtime changes in lighting, education, goods ownership and technology usage – but that progress still needs to be made in some parts of the country where outcomes are lagging. At the union level, the rise of solar technology and an expansion of the public grid have changed the way that households light their homes and allow households to use a greater array of home appliances. The public electrical grid increased from supplying 34 percent of households in 2015 to covering 42pc in 2017. In rural Myanmar, middle school enrollment rates increased from 47 to 68pc between 2010 and 2017. A rise in the ownership and use of cell phones has increased connectivity, with 82pc of households reported owning at least one mobile phone, most likely a smartphone.

The publication said that major changes are happening in the rural areas, while the same trend in towns and cities areas occurs at a more modest rate due to already high rates of electrification in these areas. Almost all of the growth in solar and public grid access comes from rural areas, where a third of households in 2017 used solar system to light their houses, compared to a baseline of zero in 2009-10.

There is substantial potential to increase electrification through intensifying connections in areas already connected to the public grid. MLCS 2017 indicates one in ten households in Myanmar live in electrified villages or urban wards, but are not themselves connected to the grid. Solutions that reduce the cost of connections and also support last-mile connections would help to bring these households into the public grid, and would support more inclusive access since these households appear to be slightly worse off according to non-monetary indicators of well-being by according survey report.

‘Implementation research is very important as it can reflect the real situations ...’ U Myint Htwe, Health and sports minister

Moreover, the survey report says consumer goods have shown substantial growth since 2015, with the rise of small home appliances partly linked to rising electrification. The growth of consumer goods over the last decade is likely to reflect improvements in household economic conditions, the expansion of electrification, deepening goods markets and related changes in the prices of these goods, and increasing access to credit. The availability and price of consumer goods is also likely to have changed considerably due to exchange rate and trade reforms.

Trade and investment liberalisation have increased opportunities for consuming imported products, and are also likely to have had an impact on the type of products consumed in Myanmar, according to the findings.

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U Win Myat Aye, Union Minister of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, speaks at the launch event. Photo - Supplied
U Win Myat Aye, Union Minister of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, speaks at the launch event. Photo - Supplied

Health and sports minister U Myint Htwe, who attended the report launch on behalf of finance minister U Soe Win, said that the departments and agencies should analyse the data from this report systematically and use them in policy formulation and implementation.

“The data from this report can help identify strengths and weaknesses of our interventions as well as areas for improvement, so more efforts can be put into those areas and the ministries can review their allocations of budgets and resources.

“Implementation research is very important as it can reflect the real situations and provide data for addressing weaknesses and making improvements,” the minister remarked.

‘The survey shows how reliable data can inform evidence-based policy making and provide insights into the real living conditions...’ Peter Batchelor, UNDP Myanmar

“The survey shows how reliable data can inform evidence-based policy making and provide insights into the real living conditions of people across the country,” Peter Batchelor, Country Director of UNDP Myanmar, added.

“It can highlight those parts of the country that are the most vulnerable, where people are being left behind and where extra efforts are needed to promote more inclusive development,” he continued.

U Win Myat Aye, social welfare minister, commented that the publication can contribute to enhancing transparency and can help to know what people have and what they lack.

“Also, it can help the government know what they should strive for and the people what they should demand from the government,” U Win Myat Aye observed.

https://www.mmtimes.com/news/progress-education-water-and-housing-uneven-report.html