Gender-Responsive Humanitarian Action in Myanmar’s Polycrisis

This seminar is an online event via Zoom

Date: August 31, 2026 (Monday)

Time: 06:00 – 07:00 PM (Melbourne Time)

02:30-03:30 PM (Myanmar/Yangon Time)

Join Zoom Meeting: please click here 

Meeting ID: 896 6683 9791

Passcode: 522994

Presenter: Okkar Shein

Description: Myanmar’s political and humanitarian crisis following the 2021 military coup has significantly reshaped both humanitarian response systems and gender dynamics across the country. While women-led organizations and local civil society actors have become frontline responders in increasingly complex and insecure contexts, gender  mainstreaming efforts face serious operational, political, and security challenges.

This seminar will explore how gender mainstreaming is being practiced and challenged in Myanmar. Drawing from practical experiences from the Gender Equality Network (GEN) Myanmar, as well as broader engagement with women-led organizations, humanitarian coordination, and  localization efforts, the talk will reflect on the intersection of gender equality, humanitarian action, women’s leadership, conflict, and aid systems in Myanmar. 

It will also examine the opportunities and limitations of current international aid approaches and discuss what more meaningful gender-responsive and locally led humanitarian action could look like in fragile contexts. 

Okkar Shein is the Head of Program in the Gender Equality Network (GEN) Myanmar, which is an active CSOs network of over 70 organizations, and individual members working to promote gender equality and women’s rights in Myanmar. Okkar is a development professional with over a decade of experience, primarily focused on advancing gender equality, community development, and inclusive humanitarian action. In response to the ongoing crisis in Myanmar, he actively engages with a wide range of international stakeholders, including UN agencies, donor organizations, embassies, and UN permanent missions. Through these engagements, he strategically advocates for gender equality and localization priorities, aiming to reshape international aid policies to be more effective, context-responsive, and supportive of grassroots communities.

Questions and Answers will follow the presentations. For more information about AMI, please visit aummi.edu.au/.