MIMU Geospatial and GIS Resources include Base Maps showing different geographical aspects of the country for reference, planning and emergency preparedness; and Thematic Maps exploring particular aspects of the country (distribution of population, hard-to-reach areas, agency activities, disaster/hazard affected areas, health and education facilities, main spoken languages etc). MIMU provides maps from country to village tract level based on available information. MIMU does not prepare maps showing locations within cities or villages. Villages for which we have no geocoordinates will not appear on MIMU maps but will be documented in the MIMU Place codes. MIMU also produces Customized maps for specific purposes to support humanitarian and development initiatives of our partners (i.e. those agencies contributing to MIMU products) – these combine agency + MIMU data as outlined on the Customized Map Request Form. Lastly, MIMU’s Excel Mapping Tool uses Place codes to enable the preparation of ‘heat maps’ to compare and contrast data across states/regions and townships using national datasets such as the MIMU Baseline Dataset, or an agencies' own information from different areas.

In 2020:

• 881 Base and Thematic maps were developed/updated, and a further 147 customised maps prepared for 21 requesting agencies;
• 145 MIMU maps provided as printouts for 40 requesting agencies, mainly NGOs and UN agencies (77%). The number of map printouts was significantly reduced due to COVID-19 limiting agencies’ activities;
• 5,700 downloads of MIMU Excel Mapping Tool which allows individuals to quickly map their own data at state/region and township levels.

MIMU Place codes, or Pcodes, are unique identifiers for settlements across the country – like postal or zip codes; they allow data from different sources to be combined for analysis and to be digitally mapped. MIMU Pcodes were established to support humanitarian and development agencies’ work in Myanmar in the absence of other national systems to code locations. They are now widely used and include – place names in Myanmar language with an English transliteration, commonly-used local names where available, their locations and administrative structure (which village tract, ward, township, district etc they are linked to). MIMU Place codes also indicate the status as per official listings and historical changes (new/deleted/merged villages etc). The MIMU Pcodes are updated based on information from official sources as well as from MIMU partners.

In 2020:

• 78% of the 66,358 settlements across the country can now be mapped as a direct result of MIMU’s efforts to gather village locations for the Place Codes; eastern parts of the country have the least information on village locations and administrative boundaries, particularly in Shan, Kachin and Kayah States;
• Historical changes to officially-registered villages have been included back to 2010 based on provision of notifications by GAD;
• 3,200 unregistered villages and Commonly-used local names for 1,700 villages are integrated in the MIMU Place Codes based on information provided by partners;
• 23,450 downloads of the MIMU Pcodes as the only comprehensive, widely used system for combining data by location in Myanmar, marking a 30% increase since 2019. 

MIMU compiles and updates core datasets needed for emergency preparedness and response in Myanmar, such as the MIMU Place Codes, village locations and critical spatial datasets/shapefiles such as administrative boundaries, road and river networks, hard-to-reach areas, population distribution, main spoken languages, etc. These spatial datasets are shared through the MIMU Geonode which is the main repository of national-level spatial information in Myanmar. Due to scale considerations, there are restrictions on the use of MIMU spatial datasets on web platforms – see the MIMU Terms and Conditions of Use for more information.

In 2020:

• 145,000 downloads of spatial data layers from MIMU’s Geonode platform, by 16,500 individuals. 22 of the 59 different layers/spatial datasets on the Geonode have been developed by MIMU;
• Development of an interactive mapping platform with the support of MapX – once launched in mid-2021, this will allow MIMU users to make their own maps with available information;
• MIMU continues to update and strengthen national datasets, including approximate administrative boundaries at state/region, district, township and village tract levels based on available information – while widely used, these are estimates of the boundary location;
• MIMU is one of the few non-government members of Sentinel Asia’s regional network and the only “Data Analysis Node” member in Myanmar. Sentinel Asia resources support emergency response in natural disasters and were the basis of MIMU maps of flood-affected areas during the 2020 monsoon.

MIMU offers technical assistance to strengthen information management services in humanitarian, development and peace-related sectors. This technical assistance has been provided to MIMU partners (agencies), as well as academic institutions and government departments; examples include establishing a school mapping platform together with the Ministry of Education and UNESCO to support planning of school locations and needs, and activities to introduce national standards to relevant academic institutions around the country. MIMU also provides technical advice in GIS and spatial data issues to researchers and agencies working on humanitarian and development issues in Myanmar.

In 2020:

• Development of a National Coding System; MIMU continued to provide technical support to this initiative in 2020, together with the General Administration Department (GAD), data producing departments and OneMap Myanmar. The coding system draws on MIMU Pcode experience – it provides a structure to bring together data from different sources for analysis supporting  planning and policy formulation.
• Specialised training to support flood preparedness was arranged by MIMU with the Stockholm Environment Institute, agencies and key Yangon and Mandalay universities. This is part of a process to develop a tool to map areas likely to be flooded as river depths change.