As is so often the case, it is children in Myanmar who are paying the harshest price for a crisis they have done nothing to bring about. More than 48 children have already been killed by security forces since the military seized power in a coup on February 1. Some were shot dead while taking part in peaceful street protests, others lost their lives to stray bullets. On March 27-28, for example, 13-year-old Htoo Myat Win became one of 11 children killed in a single weekend when a bullet hit him as he was playing outside his house. On social media, heartbreaking footage showed his father hugging his dead child and crying: “My son! My son was shot!” But this senseless violence is not the only way in which children are suffering. We are witnessing a growing mental health crisis, as children are traumatised by the violence around them – whether they have witnessed it directly or indirectly. At the same time, the coup has disrupted education across Myanmar, where some 10 million children were already out of school before the coup, due to the pandemic. The violence is making it hard for children to concentrate and to access schools, while UN agencies have warned of how the Myanmar military is occupying learning facilities across the country. The collapsing economy in Myanmar could also have far-reaching consequences, and lead to disruptions in access to medicine, food and other essentials, which children need to grow up and develop in a healthy way. Time is running out for the world to act to end the crisis in Myanmar. The Myanmar military must be pressured to stop violence against protesters, release everyone arbitrarily detained, and relinquish power to the civilian government that was fairly elected last year . The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has a crucial role to play to find a solution. As former Asean representatives working on children’s rights, it has been dismaying to see how internal politics between member states has so far prevented action. In recent weeks, Indonesia , Malaysia and Singapore have all condemned the coup, and shuttled across the region to find a solution. But Asean remains deadlocked, as other countries defend Myanmar, and point to the bloc’s long-held “non-interference principle”. With children’s lives on the line, it is time to end such politicking. Asean must seize on its upcoming summit as an opportunity to show it is capable of ending this crisis. The people of Myanmar deserve no less. Amihan Abueva, Aurora Javate-de Dios, Rita Serena Kalibonso and Noor Aziah Mohd Awal, former representatives to the Asean Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children