"OVERVIEW The humanitarian crisis in Myanmar deteriorated significantly throughout the first half of 2023. Escalating clashes and attacks have had dire consequences for millions of civilians who are enduring widespread insecurity and aerial bombardment, mass displacement, and limited access to critical services, including health. In May, the situation was further exacerbated by extremely severe cyclone Mocha, the worst natural disaster in Myanmar in over a decade. The cyclone devastated communities across Rakhine, the Northwest and Kachin with thousands of homes, productive assets, vast swathes of farmland, and critical infrastructure such as hospitals and schools destroyed or severely damaged. Cyclone Mocha rolled back some limited gains of recent years especially around agriculture and livelihoods, and added an additional 500,000 people to the humanitarian target for 2023 (now 5 million people). The first half of 2023 also saw surging inflation nationwide that further disrupted livelihood activities and depleted coping capacity, leaving more people than ever needing humanitarian assistance. Between January and June 2023 alone, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) climbed to nearly 1.9 million (as of end of June) up from just over 1.5 million in late December 2022, increasing needs and further stretching already lean humanitarian resources. The spike in displacement aligns with a surge in conflict during the first half of the year, with the Northwest and Southeast being most affected. Humanitarian operations and personnel were also targeted or heavily affected by conflict, bureaucratic impediments and restrictions. Between January and June, humanitarian organizations reported about 630 access incidents across the country (60 per cent of which occurred in Q2), impeding the delivery of vital assistance and services to affected people particularly in Rakhine, the Northwest and Southeast regions. Despite multiple challenges in the operating context and severe underfunding, humanitarian partners have continued to rapidly scale up in response to the deepening needs, reaching at least 1.8 million people during the first half of 2023. This represents 36 per cent of the 5 million people targeted for assistance through the combined 2023 HRP and Cyclone Mocha Flash Appeal. However, this assistance is not as deep, sustained, or multi-sectoral as planned due to access blockages and this is a major impediment to addressing needs. The Food Security Cluster accounts for the highest proportion of the reported mid-year result (about 1.2 million) followed by the Protection (more than 929,000) and WASH Clusters (around 637,000). These figures are based on self-reporting by partners and the number of operational partners, particularly local organizations who are reporting, has now jumped to 208 (up from 156 in Q1). Despite this improvement, some response efforts are still likely to be missed in these calculations. The coverage of the response reflects the prioritization of the most vulnerable groups, particularly IDPs and ‘non-displaced stateless people’, with partners collectively reaching 42 per cent of the targets for these population groups. The reach for the ‘other crisis-affected people’ and ‘returned, resettled, and locally integrated IDPs’ is much lower at 33 per cent and 10 per cent respectively. Despite the multiple constraints and impediments, partners have prioritized and marginally scaled up responses across some of the areas of highest needs in Rakhine, the Southeast (Kayah, Kayin), and the Northwest (Chin, Magway, Sagaing), and northern Shan during the first half of the year. The 2023 HRP remains drastically underfunded, with only 20 per cent of the requirements received by the end of June, according to FTS (22 per cent funded as of August). This dire funding situation is despite the deepening needs, the surge in displacement, cyclone Mocha impacts, and soaring inflation that have further stretched the grossly insufficient resources across clusters. Heading into the second half of the year, partners will be forced to further reduce coverage and packages of assistance if immediate and sufficient funding is not received, leaving large numbers of vulnerable households without the critical services and support they need to survive..."