LocationsFrom rebuilding earthquake-damaged homes to restoring public services, local communities in Myanmar are establishing a practical blueprint for disaster resilience.
A Safe Home is Where Resilience Begins
October 13, 2026
A family sits outside their new home in Htone Bo village in Sagaing, one of Myanmar's earthquake-affected areas. UNDP has supported more than 8,400 households in rebuilding their homes. These newly reconstructed spaces bring daily peace of mind, ensuring physical safety, privacy, and dignity for every family member.
Photo: UNDP Myanmar
For families affected by disaster, a home is far more than a physical structure. It is the space where they care for one another and keep the belongings that sustain everyday life. When a home is damaged or lost, the repercussions reach far beyond its walls. Safety, privacy, daily stability and peace of mind are instantly disrupted.
In Myanmar, communities affected by last year's earthquake are rebuilding those foundations. With support from UNDP, families are repairing and rebuilding their homes, helping them move from the immediate effects of the disaster towards greater stability. Most importantly, they are rebuilding to be more resilient.
To date, UNDP’s direct rehousing support had reached more than 8,400 households, securing safer living conditions for over 33,000 people, including more than 17,000 women and girls.
This support has combined cash assistance with durable building materials, including concrete, timber, and corrugated iron sheets, as well as solar-powered home lighting systems for homes lacking reliable electricity. UNDP's engineers and community facilitators work closely with families from start to finish, offering advice and training on how to incorporate disaster-resilient features. This approach gives families practical resources to guide their own repairs based on their specific household circumstances, while also helping them make informed safety decisions.
The real impact of these structures is best measured by the peace of mind they restore. Among those surveyed, 95 per cent report feeling that their families and daily belongings are finally safe from the elements. For women and girls, the benefits of secure shelter are deeply personal. Ninety-two per cent of households say the rebuilt designs provide crucial privacy and dignity, ensuring safe, private spaces for women and girls in their own homes.
With UNDP's support, people in earthquake-affected areas such as Mandalay and Sagaing have shaped the reconstruction of their homes and communities, with women and young people taking on more visible roles in discussions and planning. Photos: UNDP Myanmar
Rebuilding Homes, Strengthening Communities
Recovery does not happen one house at a time. A family can return to a safer home, but daily life also depends on the roads that connect them to markets and services, the water networks that supply their communities, and local schools for their children.
That is why rehousing support forms part of a wider recovery effort. In areas affected by the 2025 earthquake, UNDP has safely demolished damaged buildings and cleared over 128,000 metric tons of debris. It has also supported nearly 160 community infrastructure projects including rehabilitating or constructing water supply systems, drainage networks, bridges, and agricultural and irrigation facilities. These efforts restored access to essential infrastructure and services for more than 1.6 million people in earthquake-affected areas.
The recovery effort has also created immediate income. Cash-for-work initiatives in debris clearance and infrastructure rehabilitation provided short-term wages to close to 10,000 people, including more than 4,400 women and nearly 800 young people.
These interventions connect household safety with the broader conditions that allow communities to recover together.
In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, teams had to clear large volumes of debris before recovery could begin. To date, they have cleared over 128,000 metric tons of debris from roads and public spaces.
Photo: UNDP Myanmar
Resilience Begins with People
A resilient home is shaped by the people who live inside its walls. Their knowledge of local risks, their decisions about how to repair and rebuild, and their ability to access information and resources are what sustain a community over time.
In Myanmar, families are actively rebuilding their homes and reclaiming the spaces disrupted by the earthquake. Support can provide the materials to make this transition possible, but the hard work of rebuilding belongs entirely to the communities themselves.
This is the foundation of resilience: people having a safe place to live and the means to rebuild their lives around it. When homes are structurally sound and essential public services are restored, families have stronger foundations from which to face future environmental risks.
Resilience takes time. A home gives it somewhere to begin.
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