Myanmar is a difficult country for international non-government organizations (INGOs) to operate in effectively. It has significant humanitarian needs but the domestic and international political environments hamper effective assistance. On the one hand, agencies working in Myanmar face a sometimes obstructive, and often inept, authoritarian government which is suspicious of both their motives and those of international donor governments. On the other hand, aid and development resources and mandates are heavily restricted by international donors disturbed by allegations of human rights violations and concerned that satisfactory policy preconditions for macro-economic development are not in place. This is a “complex political and bureaucratic environment” (ICG 2008), a “politically delicate situation” (CEC 2007), in which the tension in Myanmar's relations with the international community is as large a contributor to the difficulty in delivering humanitarian assistance as Myanmar's domestic policy, capability, and will. The result for INGOs is restrictions on access, funding, and mandates.

This chapter presents analysis of new primary research data collected from INGOs working inside Myanmar between 2009 and mid-2011. In particular, it looks at their contextualization of common development approaches in order to maximize programme effectiveness. The key finding is that INGOs believe that although operating in Myanmar is difficult, their effectiveness is not as heavily restricted as is commonly perceived by people outside the country, provided they deploy appropriate sensitivity to the operational context. This is particularly true for activities that address the impact of extreme poverty in communities, but also applies in areas such as advocacy and capacity-building for the emerging civil society.

There have been many studies of Myanmar politics, and of the pros and cons of sanctions, but while this body of research often mentions the humanitarian impact of the political stalemate, few studies examine INGO effectiveness or how INGOs adapt to attempt poverty alleviation in Myanmar. This research goes well beyond previous studies by Inwood (2008), Igboemeka (2005), and Duffield (2008), presenting analysis of a much larger number of more recent primary interviews within Myanmar. I have previously presented findings from this research regarding the ways INGOs create space to operate in spite of Myanmar government restrictions and the restrictions imposed by the international community on funding and mandates (Ware 2011).