Strengthening access to Protection and Health services for communities affected by conflict and short-term displacement in Northern Shan RI will implement a suite of protection and health interventions activities intended to strengthen local capacity and build resilience in communities vulnerable to repeated and short-term displacement in Lashio, Muse, Kyaukme, Hsipaw, Namtu, Namhsan and Namhkan townships. Given the unpredictable nature of ongoing conflict in northern Shan, developing capacity within communities to identify, respond to, refer and report protection violations and to improve basic health knowledge and health seeking behaviour, is critical to building community resilience. 

Protection activities will focus on the development of a community based protection mechanism including: 1) designing locally-led and locally appropriate training materials and outreach tools strengthening understanding, skills and capacity for community mobilisers ongoing support and mentoring to community mobilisers and CSOs and 2) conducting tailored awareness raising sessions for communities on specific protection concerns, providing space to identify specific concerns and resources locally available provision of support to referrals and social protection cash transfers to vulnerable community members, whose situation during and after displacement can worsen considerably. A Washington Group Assessment will be carried out in all target communities to inform activity and accessibility planning, specific responses required and a social protection cash transfer response. 

Delivery of health interventions are based on the findings of health service mapping undertaken in 2019 which showed communities receiving a bare minimum of health services despite having critical needs. RI aims to increase the Essential Package of Health Services (EHPS) including Family Planning, Maternal, Newborns and Child Health Care Services, Nutrition, Malaria, Non-communicable diseases and referrals to government health facilities for TB and HIV/AID cases  in 15 vulnerable and conflict affected villages in Hsipaw, Namhkan and Namtu   via the operation of two mobile clinics in accordance of Myanmar National Health Plan. Clinic services will include the identification of and support to costs of emergency referrals while gender based violence (GBV) and mental health and psychosocial (MHPSS) services will also be mainstreamed. Each clinic visit will be paired with a health education activity for the community, addressing specific groups of community members and topics as identified through both the community-based protection activities (above) and health clinic consultations. 

Underpinning both the health and protection activities in this proposal is the participation and leadership of local CSOs. Local CSOs are the backbone of local resilience strategies: they are the first responders in times of crisis, are embedded within the communities they serve, they speak local languages and are often a key source of information for the local township authorities, the private sector and other local responders. RI will continue to work with CSOs already trained in the basics of protection to enable them to become resources for their communities in community-based protection before, during and after displacement. They will be a critical partner to mobile health clinics, addressing potential local cultural barriers while also acting as translators if necessary. They will be trained in, and lead, health education sessions in the communities.