ReviewoftheYear(I)

2021wasachallengingyearforPlayOnside.Theglobalpandemiccontinuedtoputrestrictionson the PlayOnside programs and the Migrant Learning Centres (MLCs) in our region remained closed throughout the year. The lack of activities and lack of educational opportunities for migrantchildren,putmorepressureonanalreadymarginalizedgroupandwesawanincrease of poverty, depression, child labor, and domestic violence as a result of the lockdown and reductionofeconomicactivityformigrantparents.

In Februrary 2021 Myanmar experienced a military coup. Protests arise countrywide and the military answered the protest with brute force, forcing millions of people to flee the violence. An increased number of refugees in our region also forced PlayOnside to address the situation, partnering with other community-based organization to provide essentials such as food, medicine, and shelter for the influx of new arrivals. The coup triggered a civil war that is still ongoingandlargelyignoredbytheinternationalcommunity.