"Informal settlements in Yangon house an estimated 400,000 people, approimately 8 per cent of the city’s total population. Due to the nature of informal settlements with high density, lack of access to water, sanitation, hygiene practices and inadequate housing, the risk of mass COVID-19 transmission within Yangon’s informal settlements is high. The vast majority of these settlements do not have access to municipal infrastructure such as piped water or sanitation and have poor drainage systems. UN-Habitat’s rapid assessment survey conducted last May found that 81 per cent of the households in informal settlements have at least one member who lost their job and 94 per cent experienced a fall in income due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Furthermore, UN-Habitat’s study from 2016 had warned that a combination of factors in informal settlements has resulted in “a serious public health emergency in informal settlements in Yangon, although it is one which is largely not recognized by government agencies or international aid agencies.” Therefore, it is imperative that governments and international agencies recognize and support the informal settlements with immediate responses to COVID-19..."