As more than 40 countries prepare for national elections in 2026 ¡ª many in regions where voting day can trigger violence ¡ª Myanmar's experience offers a case study in how international organizations can maintain operations when the ground is shifting beneath them.
During Myanmar's 2025/26 general election, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDSS faced exactly this challenge. ¡°From the very start, of the electoral process our priority was clear: keep Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵSMS personnel safe while ensuring life-saving and humanitarian operations could continue,¡± said Sukumar Basu, Chief Security Adviser, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDSS Myanmar. ¡°Pre-planned Preparedness and Response Strategy allowed us to act, not just react.¡±
From Earthquake Response to Election Preparedness
Months before the polls, security resources that had been mobilized for earthquake response were re-invested toward supporting the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ through the electoral period. The extra-budgetary funding that had been secured was used to strengthen analytical capacity and expand field coordination ¡ª providing adequate response to both natural disasters, ongoing armed conflict and potential spikes in electoral violence.
By August 2025, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDSS had produced a Strategic Security Outlook for Preparedness & Response, a detailed blueprint for the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵSMS safety and security around the country including the mapped 63 townships under ¡°State of Emergency¡±, escalation triggers, and contingency measures ranging from heightened caution to full evacuation.
Maintaining Operations Amid Natural Disaster, Ongoing Armed Conflict and Electoral Volatility
Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDSS introduced an Operational Radius model for earthquake impacted areas including Mandalay and Sagaing Regions based on community risk acceptance rather than arbitrary distance markers, and access coordination. This approach allowed Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ agencies and humanitarian partners to continue life-saving operations safely, even as violence escalated in several regions.
¡°Our daily risk updates and internal ¡®conflict and elections thermometer¡¯ helped teams adjust quickly without overreacting to every threat, Mr. Basu explained ¡°It allowed us to maintain presence in areas others might have withdrawn from,¡± Mr. Basu said. ¡°That presence enables activity and reinforces protection through presence. Moreover, not a single significant incident was recorded impacting Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵSMS personnel.¡±
Expanding the Saving Lives Together forum
The most significant shift was the expansion of Myanmar¡¯s Saving Lives Together (SLT) framework, a coordination mechanism between the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ and humanitarian partners. What began in May 2025 with five INGO international aid directors in Yangon grew into a network of 31 organizations and is expanding. Similar establishments were mirrored in the six security areas around the country that have representations between 16 to 26, sharing assessments, conducting training/workshops and running joint simulations and coordinated responses in real time. In preparation for communications blackouts during elections, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDSS maintained pre-set meeting schedules and venues, ensuring coordination continued even when digital connections failed.
Diplomacy Behind the Scenes
Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDSS held regular briefings with diplomatic missions and local communities, laying groundwork for the cooperation frameworks that could protect humanitarian space while preserving Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ neutrality.
Delivering Amid Uncertainty
Despite drone and air strikes, armed clashes, IEDs and threats of intimidation and arrests, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ programmes continued across Myanmar¡¯s deployment areas throughout the election period.
During events like Myanmar¡¯s elections, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDSS demonstrated that with strategic security planning, strengthened partnerships, and adequate funding, international organizations can deliver aid even in the most volatile environments.
Or, as Mr. Basu put it simply, ¡°partnership, pre-emptive, proactive and financial backing towards a strategic security context made the difference.¡±