Making Myanmar: humanitarianism amid revolutionary state-building

16 September 2025

Following the 2021 military coup, Myanmar is facing extreme violence and a severe humanitarian crisis – but is also home to unprecedented efforts to reimagine the state and governance across the country, with Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination as critical elements.

As a diversity of resistance actors establish a decentralised, pluralistic state, the military junta has sought to impose its control over the country, severely restricting humanitarian access to resistance-controlled areas and indiscriminately bombing civilians.

While the international humanitarian system has struggled to adapt to Myanmar’s fluid revolutionary context, local and national humanitarian actors are at the forefront of crisis response. This discrepancy is not just about the technicalities of humanitarian action, but rather how aid actors and systems navigate and engage with contested governance dynamics. Our in-depth study calls for a profound rethinking of humanitarianism amid contested governance, with relevance for many contexts beyond Myanmar that face such realities.

Key messages

In a context of contested governance, resistance actors across Myanmar are creating what we call ‘the pluralistic state’. It involves a multitude of actors playing a leading governance role, including crisis response. The pluralistic state is legitimate, and must be recognised and adequately supported by international actors.
The military junta, which continues to commit war crimes and unleash unrelenting violence against the population, is illegitimate. The international community must stop treating it as the legitimate state, and reorient towards the pluralistic state.
Local and national civil society actors are highly adept at navigating contested governance and reaching the most inaccessible areas. There must be appropriate support for them, beyond the problematic subcontracting modalities that are currently widespread.
With few exceptions, international humanitarian actors based in Myanmar are highly risk-averse, hampering the pluralistic state building and undermining the ability for more transformative humanitarian response. Cross-border actors and those supporting locally-led response, however, are more attuned to the country’s realities and thus significantly more effective.
The pluralistic state needs to continually improve transparency and accountability to fortify its legitimacy and ability to secure broader international support, with the Karenni Interim Executive Council pioneering inclusive governance. Myanmar’s civil society has a key role to play here in holding the pluralistic state accountable.

Download pdf