Baum Myaw, 12, lives with her family at a camp for displaced people near Myitkyina, capital of Kachin State, Myanmar. Kachin has been affected by conflict since 2011, following the collapse of a 17-year ceasefire. The recent violence has resulted in thousands of deaths and the displacement of around 100,000 civilians, including children. Despite ongoing peace talks, a final deal has proved elusive and the fighting continues.
Soon after the conflict reignited in 2011, Myaw's family was forced to flee their home in Sadaung Township, near the border with China, due to fighting between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Tatmadaw (Myanmar national army).
Without access to government services or international aid, Shing Jai camp was extremely basic. There was no access to health care or education. In the beginning, the family slept beneath a building in the camp. Then they found some tarpaulin and made a makeshift tent by the roadside. They lived there for seven months, surviving on rice provided by the local church.
Once it was safe to travel, the family moved to another camp in the government controlled area, run by the Kachin Baptist Convention, where they remain today. The camp is hard to find, down a maze of bare earth tracks on the opposite side of the river to Myitkyina. Soldiers man barricades on the bridge out of town.
In the camp, the houses are well constructed and organised into lanes. It's starting to look less like a camp and more like a permanent settlement. A temporary classroom for displaced children has been set up in the grounds of the nearby government school, which both Myaw and her sister Baum Lung, 13, attend.
Under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Myanmar has ratified, all children have the right to access basic services, regardless of where they live – whether in government or non-government controlled (NGC) areas. This includes the right to health care, education and protection.
While every effort should be made to help children during conflict, in the longer term they need peace and social unity in order to enjoy uninterrupted access to basic services, such as education and health, and to achieve their full potential in life.