The right to survive and thrive is the universal child right that every child in any place of the world should have. Yet, children in conflict and emergency situations have many challenges and barriers to have these rights, even for their basic healthcare and education. Myanmar’s subnational conflicts are among the world’s most enduring conflicts; the roots of armed conflicts go very deep. About one-quarter of Myanmar’s population are affected by conflicts. Armed conflicts in Myanmar are ongoing even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Using a qualitative analytic approach, "document analysis" was conducted using organizations’ program reports, media articles, and peer-reviewed journal articles. These documents were reviewed and analyzed with NVivo software, applying both content and thematic analysis. Contents were coded into themes, and a rubric was used to score each document. In future research, we will safeguard triangulations, including data-source and methodological triangulations, using a grounded theory approach.

Our preliminary research found that both direct and indirect exposure to armed conflicts have negative consequences on children’s mental health; refugee children, internally displaced children, and child soldiers are extremely affected. Approximately 460,000 children need humanitarian assistance. Recruiting and using children as child soldiers—by both state and non-state armed groups—is common. Landmine orphan children. When losing their mothers, children have higher likelihood of malnutrition, getting unimmunized and exploitation. Children often drop out of schooling and work to support their family when losing their fathers. Fearing of mine-contaminated farmland in their villages is the main reason why the working-age people in rural areas leave their place and work in bordering countries. Their children are cared by grandparents; they are exposed to the risks of landmine casualties. Even if the children survive from landmine maiming, they become disabled: limb loss, blindness, deafness and genital area injuries.

Adoption and enactment of the Child Rights Law by Myanmar government demonstrates the government’s determinations to align national policies and regulatory frameworks with the “UN Convention on the Rights of the Child” that Myanmar ratified in 1991. However, there are still challenges and grave violations of children committed by both state and non-state armed groups.