From Crisis to Capacity
"When the aid workers left, the women stayed. Now they're becoming the protection their communities need."
Kachin State has seen over 234,000 people displaced by prolonged conflict. Among them, women and girls face compounded vulnerabilities—loss of livelihoods, heightened risk of gender-based violence, and limited access to healthcare and education. The 2021 military coup made everything worse. And when many international donors withdrew, local women's networks continued offering crucial support with almost nothing.
This project transforms that resilience into lasting capacity. Thirty women leaders will receive intensive training in protection, women's rights, and humanitarian law. They'll then cascade that knowledge through their communities—creating protection mechanisms led by and for women.
It's a simple but powerful idea: the women who stayed when others left are the ones best positioned to protect their communities. They just need the tools.
