"Myanmar is pursuing an ambitious, multilayered reform agenda, which includes political opening, democratization, modernizing state institutions, market re-forms, in addition to a complex peace process, aimed at brokering a settlement between the Myanmar Government and the ethnic armed groups. Related to that is an unparalleled diversity of development contexts - ranging from ongoing conflict and post conflict settings, severe rural poverty, to the challenges of fast growing urban development - which implies that development terms like poverty reduction, community resilience or inclusive governance means different things in different states and regions. This complexity poses challenges to government and development partners alike. Economically, Myanmar was forecasted to grow by about 7% in 2014, which according to preliminary government estimates seems to have been exceeded. Despite impressive economic progress, Myanmar still records low human development, positioned at 150 out of 187 countries in the Human Development Index rankings for 2014. Graduation from LDC status by 2020 has become a key mid-term policy objective of the government. Similar to other developing countries, the challenge for Myanmar is to enable growth and to tackle vulnerabilities - regions, the poor, informal workers, small farmers, women, people with disabilities, children etc - and to build resilience to economic shocks, natural disasters, climate change, conflict and civil unrest, so that its economic progress translates into developmental benefits for all over the long term."