Civil Society

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Websites/Multiple Documents

Description: About 60,900 results (20 August 2017)
Source/publisher: Various sources via Youtube
Date of entry/update: 2017-08-20
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Category: Civil Society
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
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Description: "About 3,220 results" (June 2016)...Burmanet stopped publishinedg in October 2016, but the archive still exists
Source/publisher: Burmanet via Google
Date of entry/update: 2016-06-10
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Category: Civil Society
Language: English
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Description: To access some files, users may have to take out a (free) subscription to MYLAFF at https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/mylaff..... (In)Equality and Action: The Role of Women?s Training Initiatives in Promoting Women?s Leadership Opportunities in Myanmar... Cooperation and Community Empowerment in Myanmar in the Context of Myanmar Agenda 21... Crackdown at Letpadan: Excessive Force and Violations to the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Expression (en)... Crackdown at Letpadan: Excessive Force and Violations to the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Expression (bu)... Lessons Learned From Civil Society Efforts to Promote Community (Forest) Resource Rights and Other Rights in Voluntary Partnership Agreements... Myanmar: Cross-Cutting Governance Challenges... New Actors on the Global Stage - Environmental Adult Education and Activism Emerging from Within Myanmar (Burma)... Stakeholder Engagement and Grievance Mechanisms... လူထုအခွပွေု ဥပဒရေေးရာအထောကျအကူပွုသူဆိုသညျမှာ
Source/publisher: MYLAFF
Date of entry/update: 2016-07-02
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: About LRC:- History: "Following Cyclone Nargis, a large number of national and international NGOs established the Local Resource Centre (LRC) to assist local communities and civil society groups in the collective effort for relief and rehabilitation. 
The Burnet Institute led the establishment of LRC in collaboration with a broad partnership of organizations, including World Concern, the HIV/AIDS Alliance, the Capacity Building Initiative (CBI) and Oxfam. LRC was launched on May 15, 2008 to enable better coordination between local and international implementers, advocate on behalf of local groups, ensure access to capacity development services and ultimately strengthen the collaborative response to Cyclone Nargis between local and international organizations. Following the Nargis phase of operation (May 2008 ? September 2010), LRC shifted its focus from disaster response to the holistic development of indigenous CSOs. LRC officially registered as a local NGO in May 2012... Vision: An empowered and accountable civic society that actively embraces diversity, social inclusiveness and civic responsibility, and works together to bring about change to the lives of vulnerable and marginalized communities in Myanmar... Mission: LRC aims to empower civil society organizations by acting as a catalyst: *Strengthening CSO institutional capacity through skill development and targeted information dissemination *Creating opportunities for CSOs and Youth to develop a collective voice, collaborate together and with other stakeholders using a rights based approach *Influencing policy development and reform by establishing advocacy platforms that encourage broad based dialogue based on evidence based data/information... Core Values: *Neutrality ? LRC operates as a neutral and impartial actor. It strives not to take sides on issues, respect others opinionsand serve as an honest and even handed facilitator. *Inclusiveness - LRC encouragesparticipation by all actors, organizations and sector representatives to work within an inclusive and non-discriminatory culture which is needed for meaningful and dynamic dialogue and collaboration *Positive Reinforcement ? LRC believes in giving due recognition to government authorities, civil society actors and private actors on their achievements... Objectives: *To empower individual actors in Myanmar civil society by providing information that can be translated into knowledge and skills *To shape the organizational culture of CSOs as responsive, responsible and accountable *To facilitate the realization of CSO-related policies that are comprehensive, pro-poor and reflect the needs of the people"
Source/publisher: Local Resource Centre (LRC)
Date of entry/update: 2017-12-06
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Category: Civil Society
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
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Description: LARGE COLLECTION OF UN AND OTHER DOCUMENTS ON BURMA/MYANMAR..."The MIMU provides a common information exchange service for the humanitarian community through strengthened coordination, collection, processing, analysis and dissemination of information. The MIMU supports analysis and decision making by the UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator (RC/HC), Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) partners, the UN Country Team and other actors both inside and outside of Myanmar."...MAPS, ANALYSES, ASSESSMENTS ETC OF ALL PARTS OF THE COUNTRY.
Source/publisher: MIMU
Date of entry/update: 2010-10-07
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Individual Documents

Description: "Burma/Myanmar’s postcolonial elites have established a military-state with hybrid-imperial structures, characterized by high despotic but low infrastruc- tural modes of power, and fueled by rent-extraction. Given the resulting eviscera- tion of opposition political groups, citizens understand explicit politics as dangerous. That said, cleavages between state and the polity afford vast space for “civil society” groups (CS) to form and operate. CS stabilize the political economy by managing citizen needs; conversely, CS stand as a wedge between state and masses, (potentially) constructing spaces to coordinate and magnify potential demands. Yet CS currently err toward managing needs. Opposition must politicize Burmese masses and CS through idioms that interface with CS’s material tasks—a “politics of the daily”—encouraging them to make, collec- tively, a multiplicity of non-adversarial demands. This may compel the state to pivot and seek new bargains, at which point elite advocacy-oriented CS can provide progressive policy reforms. The paper will examine recent inchoate social-political movements in Burma for models of this politics. AFTER A TUMULTUOUS FOUR years for Myanmar—punctuated by mass protests in September 2007, the devastation of Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, and a con- tentious national election in November 2010—by early 2011 many Burma- watchers were left wondering if those epic events amounted to sound and fury signifying nothing.1 Indeed, they had anticipated that 100,000 protesters and a mismanaged natural disaster would subsequently lead to the cracking of the ruling military regime and a transition to democracy (OSI 2007). Instead the ruling military-state junta created a proxy civilian party, presided over an election beset with fraud and intimidation, and installed a “new” government. This effectively normalized the 2008 Constitution and closed the book on the coun- try’s last democratic poll, which had been held in quasi-abeyance for two Elliott Prasse-Freeman ([email protected]) is Founding Research Fellow at the Human Rights and Social Movements Program at the Carr Center for Human Rights and an Advisory Board Member with the Sexuality, Gender, and Human Rights Program at Harvard University. 1 Contrary to popular understanding, both “Burma” and “Myanmar” have always been used by those native to the space, the former typically in colloquial speech, and the latter mostly in the formal written language. To consciously avoid the binarism ascribed to the use of one over the other in English (where “Burma” signifies solidarity with the opposition, while “Myanmar” endorses the regime), this paper will use them interchangeably. decades.2 Most ethnic groups put down weapons to reluctantly rejoin this politi- cal process (Smith 2006), while the principal opposition, the National League for Democracy (NLD), remained irreconcilable and was officially dissolved as a con- sequence. When its leader, Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, was finally released from house arrest, her political activities were initially declared “illegal” and she was threatened with reincarceration.3 Actors on the outside, too, were ineffectual in their central focus on effecting democratic change: U.N. mediation was repeatedly unsuccessful, and neither sanctions nor punitively low foreign aid4 directly coerced the junta into capitulation (Pedersen 2008, 232). China (Steinberg 2001a, 223–39), ASEAN (Tonkin 2008, 3–4), and India contin- ued to support the junta economically and covet it strategically, providing exter- nal cover from Western coercion. But beyond this, internal political challenge appeared anemic; the military-state maintained an effective monopoly over explicit political expression. And yet, despite its effective weathering of these paroxysms (protest, emer- gency, election), the military-state then began showing stunning signs of reform: by late 2011, political prisoners had been freed, the unheard-of phenomenon of public pressure leading to a change in policy (the halting of the Myitsone mega-dam project) had occurred, and the same Suu Kyi—threatened only months before to avoid politics—had been allowed to run for parliament. When this article went to print, debate was raging over what the changes signi- fied, if anything at all. Sanguine observers heralded nothing less than a new dawn in Myanmar (ICG 2011), while wary counterparts insisted that the superficial “reforms” risked papering over deeper consolidation of military control (Zarni 2011). How to reconcile these two stories? Rather than adjudicating between them, this article seeks two orthogonal objectives: first, to make the apparent contradic- tions explicable by describing the system of political economy and social regu- lation that has developed in the sixty years since independence. The second objective will be to argue that these political events risk capturing the attention of internal and external actors alike, when more important lessons generated by the events perhaps lay elsewhere. The paper will argue that recent events have illuminated actors that heretofore had been flying below the radars of many observers and policymakers: whether organizing protests, pulling bodies out of lakes, or delivering civic education seminars, civil society groups (hereafter “CS”) are literally and figuratively everywhere in Burma (Heidel 2006). As such, exploring how they function can stimulate a new way of seeing the challenges facing Myanmar: instead of making state-to-state or “international community”-to-state politics the only ways to contest an authoritarian regime, Burmese CS provide a window through which we can penetrate an opaque pol- itical economy and inform us about the way life (in the villages and urban slums) actually functions, and can also demonstrate how an alternative politics may contest the status quo. Myanmar scholars—including in a recent issue of this journal (Thawnghmung 2011)—are increasingly mining these political spaces and practices, exploring daily experiences of average citizens. This article hopes to continue this conversation, contributing to determining what role these largely forgotten actors can play in driving change from within. Indeed, if the government is serious about reform, these forgotten actors will be seminal in channeling and shaping it; if the government is not, these actors will need to emerge to help compel change. METHODOLOGIES Against simplistic binary descriptions—totalitarian accounts in Burmese commentary and classic authoritarian portrayals in political science—I describe Burma’s political space as incorporating multiple particular governmentalities (Foucault 2007); I examine those by exploring (a) the institutions or actors that de facto govern subjects (states, customary leaders, CS representatives, businesses, spiritual guides, etc.); (b) the modes that those forms of governance take (“rights”-based, negotiated bargains, implicit deals, etc.); therefore (c) the kinds of relationships that develop (patron/client, state/citizen, corporation/ employee, NGO/“partner,” “international community”/victim); through which (d) power then flows to produce, regulate, punish, discipline, or expel subjects. And finally (e) how the different zones constituted by these different fields of governmentality, with their respective intensities, intersect with and hence influ- ence one another to create a broader system or assemblage (Deleuze and Guatarri 1987 [1980]). Taking up each of these permutations is beyond the scope of any single paper, but this methodological framework informs the project. Indeed, only by more precisely understanding this system can collective political attitudes become comprehensible and social space at Myanmar’s periph- eries and within its interstices become apparent, thereby contextualizing current CS actions and animating our ability to perceive the form this potential takes. To accomplish this, inter alia, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 150 members of 61 Burmese CS and/or political organizations in December 2009 and January 2010. Organizations were identified through referrals, and cross-referenced with NGO lists compiled by the Burma Library (in Mae Sot, Thailand) and Local Resource Center in Yangon, respectively, to ensure adequate coverage. Organizations are kept anonymous due to their sensitive activities. Finally, two conceptual deviations from classic civil society conceptualizations attend my use of CS. First, I define CS as those groups making social decisions outside of direct state control and without ambition toward capture of, or partici- pation in, the state. I avoid language such as “individuals coming together” to “make collective decisions” because I neither imply quasi-democratic or even necessarily collaborative decision making, nor do I suggest that individuals are what drive CS decisions. Instead, CS often take on institutional conscious- nesses and logics that act recursively on those people who constitute them (Zizek 2008, 167). Second, CS will be used plurally—signifying a multiplicity of organizations—and will also imply an alternative space that CS both constitutes (by virtue of its operation) and enters into..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: The Journal of Asian Studies (Vol. 71, No. 2)
2012-05-00
Date of entry/update: 2021-10-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 148.52 KB (27 pages)
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Description: "Road accidents have killed 98 and injured 925 people on Myanmar's Yangon-Mandalay highway as of November this year, official media quoted highway police as reporting on Thursday. During the 11 months, 479 traffic accident cases were registered on the highway. In November alone, 37 accidents took place on the country's busiest highway, claiming nine lives and leaving 91 injured. Of them, 25 cases were caused by reckless driving while eight took place due to defective vehicles, three by reckless road crossing and one by inclement weather. There were a total of 473 accidents, leaving 103 deaths and 877 injured on Yangon-Mandalay highway in 2018..."
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
2019-12-05
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "Two people were killed with 72 others injured in the highway accidents of Myanmar during the public holidays of the traditional Thadingyut Lighting Festival, according to a release from the Highway Police Force on Wednesday. From Oct. 10 to Oct. 15, 26 highway accidents took place on Yangon-Mandalay highway. The Thadingyut Festival, known as the Festival of Lights, is traditionally celebrated for three days and falls on the 15th of the seventh month according to Myanmar calendar year, marking the end of the rainy season. Setting the festive days as the official holidays, well-known destinations and places in Myanmar were crowded with visitors from both home and abroad and its Yangon-Mandalay highway was packed with express buses and vehicles carrying holidaymakers. Reckless driving and over-speeding are mostly blamed for triggering accidents on the country's busiest highway..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
2019-10-16
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "Dramatic reforms in Myanmar in recent years have transformed this long-isolated country into a more open society, one actively seeking to re-engage with the region and the world. Competitive elections, a lively parliament, a more vibrant media, and a growing civil society have allowed for debates on a range of issues concerning the nature of the state and the development agenda that were previously not pos - sible. The landslide electoral victory of the opposition National League of Democracy under Aung San Suu Kyi?s leadership in November 2015 created the potential to deepen the democratic transition..."
Source/publisher: The Asia Foundation
2017-11-30
Date of entry/update: 2018-01-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 467.05 KB
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Description: "In the mid-1990s, there was a lot of enthusiasm for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the expansion of civil society in Southeast Asia. At the time, there was an efflorescence of activism as activists campaigned against trade agreements, foregrounded gender issues, worked to reduce poverty, improve health, protect the environment, advocated for workers and consumers, exposed corruption, bolstered human rights and agitated for democracy. The optimism of the decade was driven by a feeling of confidence that democracy was taking root in the region, growing on a foundation of thriving capitalist economies. The resonance of 1960s modernisation theory was palpable—the ?Third Wave” of democratisation was said to be washing over the region. This was emphasised by the triumphs of popular uprisings in the Philippines (1986), South Korea (1987), Thailand (1992) and Indonesia (1998). These events were associated in the theory with the rise of the middle class and an expansion of civil society. Two decades later, this optimism has faded. There is now more pessimism about civil society and democratisation. To understand these changing perspectives, it is necessary to give attention to recent political events, and rethink how we conceptualise civil society and its role in Southeast Asian politics today..."
Creator/author: Kevin Hewison
Source/publisher: "New Mandala"
2017-11-06
Date of entry/update: 2017-12-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Civil Society
Language: English
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Description: Abstract: "The research will be discussed on villager?s participation in connection with their ceremonies as their social role and also institution for new generation. They have altogether four main festivals; Shin Pyu Pwe 1, Shan New Year festival 2, Thingyan3 (water festival) and rite of passage; obligation. These are showed for their interest and familiarity among them and degree of involvement to meet his or her societal obligation in their social role. The research will be focus on connection, function and social role among their communities concerned with ritual and ceremony. In Zaw Ti Gone village, most of villagers practice ritual as Buddhist traditional way. The paper conduct participatory development, and interviewing are main research method for the research. Some semi-­structure questionnaires and structure questions were prepared before doing the research. Major field work duration was January 2013 to December 2013. After the time occasionally visit for doing field work up to June 2015. It will discuss Ritual and Ceremony of Shan, value system on social organization, interaction and obligation among groups and their hidden institution. The villagers are nearly half is Shan national and others are Bamar and migrant villagers. For village ritual and social affair, most of the leading persons are Shan nationals. Main ritual and seasonal ceremonies are Shinpyu Pwe, Thingyan festival, Waso festival, Sabbath days, Thadingyut (lighting festival), Kahtain festival and New Year Festival of Shan nationals. The study also observed rite of passage among villagers such as Monk birthday ceremony, wedding and funeral. The paper would like to find out "How and Why village social organizations are well organized among themselves and help each other based on these rituals?".....Paper delivered at the International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015.
Creator/author: Khin Moe Moe Kyu
Source/publisher: International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015
2015-07-26
Date of entry/update: 2015-09-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.05 MB
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Description: "How ordinary citizens stepped into the breach and responded to the nation?s worst disaster since Cyclone Nargis. A shirtless farmer trudges up to a semi-circle of singing volunteers. Without a word, he offs his military-issue motorbike helmet and pulls a 1000 kyat (US$ 1) note from the inner-rim, placing it gently on the loungyi (a wrap that often replaces trousers) laid out on the ground in front of a printed vinyl sign: ?Taungoo Artists Group ? Flood Victims Appeal”. He nods at the guitarist and shuffles back to the crowd, gathered to listen intently to songs honouring the victims of the flood written by local musicians and poets. Meanwhile, nine hours southeast a group of 15 students from an English language centre walk through the heavy rain in a small ethnic Karen, Buddhist town outside Karen State?s capital, Hpa-an. They hold a banner urging local residents to come out and donate to support Myanmar?s flood victims, although no insistence is needed..."
Creator/author: Justine Chambers & Gerard McCarthy
Source/publisher: "New Mandala"
2015-08-21
Date of entry/update: 2015-08-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Abstract: "The government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar is trying to upgrade all the sectors of society such as the economy, health, the environment and welfare in this transition period. Most of the researchers concerned with community development take into consideration material resources. It is necessary to take the social network into consideration in order to carry out the development of the society. This research aims to examine the dynamics of the Traditional Social Network of a village in Myanmar and to point out the various possibilities of traditional social networks in the context of community development. The study site is Simihtun village, Amarapura Township, Mandalay Region. It is situated in the suburban area of Mandalay. In this study, interviewing methods (KII, FGI) and observation methods were used. Research subjects are the leaders and members of the society. In the research area, there are social groups based on gender, tasks and age such as social groups of bachelors, an unmarried women?s group, a pagoda-­‐trusteeship group, an administration group, cooking groups and so on. The relationships among individuals or groups are shown through their social activities, and this study focuses on the traditional social networks based on these activities. What are the changes in traditional social networks? How does the social networks provide for the development of society? What are the hindrances encountered by social networks? The foregoing questions are examined in this research.".....Paper delivered at the International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015.
Creator/author: Thidar Htwe Win
Source/publisher: International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015
2015-07-26
Date of entry/update: 2015-08-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 3.44 MB
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Description: Abstract: "Myanmar is in the process of transition to democracy. Therefore, Promoting the culture of democracy and National harmony is of upmost importance. Democratic Culture is a culture in which all citizens can participate and feel that they have a stake. Civil society moved quickly to Democracy. The promotion of democratizing in Myanmar has become the main dominant theme in current situation. Myanmar?s democratization efforts have encountered many pitfalls contradictions and dilemmas that have forced the government to alter its approach. Social capital serves as intermediaries between the state and private citizens and sometimes exercises delegated authority in specific areas (such as education, development and resource management). Civil society actors are non-­‐profit and non-­‐government. Civil actors build social capital. The civil society organization of horizontal accountability can help respecting law and exercised properly state authority.eg. President respected public opinion and suspended the construction of the Myitsone dam (Ayeyarwaddy river). The government openly invited International Organization for promotion and protection of human rights, cooperation with UN agencies and partners already held a number of workshops and seminars since 2000, so as to promote public awareness on Human Rights problems and promotion. The most prominent one is a vibrant and developed civil society is the bedrock of democracy. In accordance with the above mentioned factors, several research questions have been raised. How does civil society support Myanmar Democratization process? How much democracy can we legitimately and realistically expect from civil society? How does Myanmar government get political pact from civil society? This paper will be used qualitative research method based on case study. The government has em barked upon a series of reforms such as expansion of civil and political space allowing civil society to function freely.".....Paper delivered at the International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015.
Creator/author: Thin Thin Aye
Source/publisher: International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015
2015-07-26
Date of entry/update: 2015-08-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 170.48 KB
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Description: Abstract: "In Myanmar, the discussion and engagement between the government and public is almost impossible during the previous government. Nowadays, there have been engagement between the government and public through the civil society organizations. It is very interesting to understand how these engagement are happening, how the relationship between government and public are happening, how the public is advocating to the government and addressing the important issues that the public is facing. Because these public and government engagement are critical important for Myanmar transition to Democracy. The objective of this study is to understand the role of civil society organizations in raising public voices to the government in Bogalay of Ayeyarwady Delta Region, Myanmar.This study is mainly qualitative research method base on Anthropology research conducted in Bogalay of Ayeyarwaddy Region from December 2014 to September 2015. One successful and another unsuccessful advocacy and engagement on issue are selected. Data are collected using methods of social anthropology; in-depth interviews with member of grassroots association, community members, and government official, and field observations of public-government relationship in Ayeyarwaddy. The outcomes and the relationship of public and government engagement can be different according to the having common interest among them, the participation of people, relationship among the stakeholders, different advocacy strategies and efforts. In conclusion, this study provides real life experiences of rural people and the civil society organizations engagement with the government authority addressing the issues which are critical important. By presenting the one successful and another unsuccessful engagements, this study find out the factor influencing on the engagement process.".....Paper delivered at the International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015.
Creator/author: Sandar Cho Oo
Source/publisher: International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015
2015-07-26
Date of entry/update: 2015-08-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 366.85 KB
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Description: "With the ?opening up” of Myanmar in 2011 after decades of repressive military rule, domestic civil society organizations, international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and aid organizations, have been eager to increase their activities inside the country. Corresponding with this ramp up, a remarkable occurrence unfolded between the summers of 2013 and 2014: the nation?s formerly authoritarian government opened its doors to a rigorous debate on the state of civil society in Myanmar and abandoned a restrictive law in place since the infamous 1988 crackdown. In recent decades Myanmar has enacted and carried out among the most draconian and repressive policies toward civil society organizations in the world. In this light, the fact that it allowed a representative body of 275 such organizations to air their criticisms of a recently passed law is virtually without precedent. Perhaps more remarkably, the government then revised the proposed 2013 law in response to these criticisms, and subsequently published the final version of the Association Registration Law in July 2014 thereby fundamentally altering the people?s right to freely associate..."
Creator/author: Andrew Morgan
Source/publisher: "New Mandala"
2015-03-30
Date of entry/update: 2015-05-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Civil Society
Language: English
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Description: Abstract: "After almost half a century of military rule, Myanmar is in its democratisation process gradually opening up to the outside world and re-introducing people?s right to free speech and assembly. Civil society, which was either banned or strictly controlled during the authoritarian military regime, may now have the opportunity to gain ground. It is assumed that international development organisations will play an important role in this development. However, the ambiguity and the actors? different perceptions of the term ?civil society? combined with the Burmese society still being affected by the past military structures may be a challenge for the strengthening of the civil society. These issues have been explored through a case study based on a civil society project implemented in the Ayeyarwady Delta in Myanmar, led by the INGO ActionAid Myanmar (AAM). The fieldwork was conducted in fall 2012, and it included 36 eye-opening interviews. The empirical data has been approached through a social constructionist perspective, and studied by applying a narrative analysis, thus providing the basis to study how the informants construct their feelings through their narratives. As the theoretical framework, Marina Ottaway?s (and Thomas Carothers) theories about ?traditional? and ?modern? civil society have been applied to discuss the ambiguity of civil society, and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and James Ferguson?s theories have been applied to study the relationship between civil society and the state. To discuss the role of AAM and its project implementation, Anthony Ware and Peter Oakley?s theoretical aspects on context-sensitive development have been applied. The thesis indicates that the main actors, the AAM and the villagers, have different understandings of civil society and this creates difficulties in implementing civil society projects in the Burmese context. Furthermore, it appears that the Burmese people are still affected by the past authoritarian ruling, and the informants express a need for everyone to change their mindsets. The political reforms undoubtedly have a positive influence on the Burmese people?s desire and possibilities of participating in civil society. It may, however, require more time in a country like Myanmar to fully adapt to the democratic environment, and hence fully exploit the potential of the reforms."
Creator/author: Marie Ditlevsen
Source/publisher: Institute of Society and Globalisation (ISG) Uni versity of Roskilde (Denmark)
2013-05-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Civil Society
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.72 MB
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Description: "This briefing paper written by Burma Partnership and Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) analyses and exposes the shrinking space for civil society in Burma. It shows how the Burma authorities have been arresting, detaining, charging, sentencing and imprisoning activists, farmers, human rights defenders, journalists and peaceful protestors throughout 2014, enacting legislation that is not in line with international human rights law, refusing to repeal draconian colonial- and junta-era legislation, and failing to protect people?s fundamental rights to freedom of assembly, association and expression..."
Source/publisher: Burma Partnership & the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners
2014-10-01
Date of entry/update: 2014-10-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Civil Society
Language: English
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Description: "A recent article in The Economist on the violence between Buddhist chauvinists and Muslims in Myanmar (?When the lid blows off?) lamented, ?so much for a plural society?. The suggestion seems to have been that the current ethnic and religious violence was an aberration for such diverse societies. But perhaps this view confuses a ?pluralistic? society with a ?plural society?. In fact, the great scholar of colonial society in Southeast Asia, John S. Furnivall, knew that this was the risk of plural societies everywhere. Furnivall?s concept of the ?plural society? (see Colonial Policy and Practice: a Comparative Study of Burma and Netherlands India [1948]) refers not simply to a diversity of races, but the problematic nature of such societies that emerged under European colonial regimes. In a plural society people ?mix but do not combine?. There is no common ?social will?; they are a ?crowd?, rather than a ?community?. Members of the plural society are bound not by ?custom?, but by ?law? imposed by outsiders. Furnivall argued that plural societies were unnatural and fragile precisely because they were held together only by economic self-interest, mediated by the market, and the coercive apparatus of European colonial power. Take away one of those factors and little is left to hold such societies together. If one looks at the fate of Southeast Asian societies post-independence, when economic crisis coincided with a political vacuum following the departure of the colonial powers, this was precisely the predicament many countries found themselves in. Ethnic violence was especially the fate of the commercially dominant ethnic Chinese, who often found themselves persecuted by impoverished, politically powerless indigenous majority populations and their governments. If we view the Burmese military regime as analogous to the colonial regimes, which similarly imposed order through coercion without rooting that order in ?social will?, then following Furnivall?s logic the weakening of central power as a result of Myanmar?s recent ?democratization? risks upsetting the delicate balance of Myanmar?s military-era plural society. So far, much of the media commentary on the violence in Myanmar has attributed the cause to Buddhist chauvinism, the conniving of the central military-dominated government – including the silence of the formerly respected figure, (ethnic Burman) Aung San Suu Kyi – or the mutual hatred of ?primordial? religious identities. Viewing the current violence through the lens of Furnivall?s concept of the ?plural society? may be a more helpful way of understanding what is going on in Myanmar today."
Creator/author: Patrick Jory
Source/publisher: "New Mandala"
2013-04-02
Date of entry/update: 2014-07-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Civil Society
Language: English
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Description: "The recent bombings in Myanmar have increased insecurity. People fear an unknown perpetrator with an unknown agenda. There is a lot of speculation. Are the perpetrators frustrated ethnic minorities, radical Buddhists, Muslim extremists or are elements from the government behind the attacks? One thing is certain, the bombings pose yet another threat to peace in Myanmar..."
Creator/author: Yola Verbruggen
Source/publisher: "New Mandala"
2013-10-21
Date of entry/update: 2014-07-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Civil Society
Language: English
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Description: This paper was prepared in the framework of the Civil Society Dialogue Network (CSDN) http://www.eplo.org/civil-society-dialogue-network.html The paper was produced as background for the CSDN meeting entitled ?Supporting Myanmar?s Evolving Peace Processes: What Roles for Civil Society and the EU?? which took place in Brussels on 7 March 2013...."The peace process currently underway in Myanmar represents the best opportunity in half a century to resolve ethnic and state-society conflicts. The most significant challenges facing the peace process are: to initiate substantial political dialogue between the government and NSAGs (broaden the peace process); to include participation of civil society and affected communities (deepen the peace process); to demonstrate the Myanmar Army?s willingness to support the peace agenda. Communities in many parts of the country are already experiencing benefits, particularly in terms of freedom of movement and reduction in more serious human rights abuses. Nevertheless, communities have serious concerns regarding the peace process, including in the incursion of business interests (e.g. natural resource extraction projects) into previously inaccessible, conflict-affected areas. Concerns also relate to the exclusion thus far of most local actors from meaningful participation in the peace process. Indeed, many civil society actors and political parties express growing resentment at being excluded from the peace process..."
Creator/author: Charles Petrie, Ashley South
Source/publisher: Civil Society Dialogue Network
2013-03-07
Date of entry/update: 2013-04-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 266.26 KB
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Description: Relying only on the state to implement democratic reforms in Burma is a fool?s errand. But there?s a better way... "Burma has entered a new period of political evolution. It?s a process rife with opportunity, to be sure. But perhaps this is also a good time to consider the risks. Defining a political path as "democratization" does not necessarily ensure that it will be democratic. In today?s Burma there is a distinct possibility that political elites -- in league with outside experts or capitalists --- will push ahead with reforms while ignoring the interests or ideas of average people, leaving many sections of the population even worse off than under tyranny. Such an approach must be contested. The voices of average Burmese must be incorporated into the decisions that will govern their future...a remarkably robust and powerful set of citizens, self-organized into groups outside of the state, has performed the necessary heavy lifting that has enabled society?s survival under a capricious and abusive military government. Many observers may have missed this because these groups have always flown under the radar. Their genius under the regime was to deliver services, subvert abusive policies, and mobilize local resources, all the while steering clear of anything that could be construed as politically threatening. Simply put, they learned to beg -- and beg quietly -- for permission to do the job the state should have been doing..."
Creator/author: Elliott Prasse-Freeman
Source/publisher: "Foreign Policy"
2012-06-22
Date of entry/update: 2012-06-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Burma/Myanmar is currently in a transition with important ramifications for capacity development efforts. The present preliminary study explores some of the critical issues at stake for capacity development activities in order to better understand how the field as a whole can continue to undertake effective trainings and evolve to adapt to current trends. Of particular interest to the researchers is the question of how to teach human rights and social sciences in complex settings such as in Burma/Myanmar and how this field may evolve. The preliminary research has two research interests: contemporary issues of concern in capacity development which need to be addressed by the current stakeholders; and the interaction between the stakeholders within the capacity development network (including Burma/Myanmar participants, Burma/Myanmar organizations, universities, Thai based organizations, political groups, and so on). As a preliminary study, this report seeks to give some first impressions of the current situation of the capacity development field during a period of change in Burma/Myanmar. This research does not attempt to quantify the field or undertake a mapping of it. Rather, the preliminary study intends to draw out issues and concerns expressed by stakeholders in capacity development which can guide future directions of activity, development, and research. The capacity development field is large, yet there has been limited analysis of how this field works and few studies of how stakeholders adapt to current changes. This report wishes to contribute to the understanding of capacity development in the field of human rights and social sciences in three specific ways: • Understanding how and why young Myanmar people get involved in civil society activities. • Understanding how the capacity development field is structured and how it operates. • Understanding what organizational and quality concerns capacity development organizations should be addressing..."
Creator/author: Camilla Buzzi, Mike Hayes, Matthew Mullen
Source/publisher: Institute for Human Rights and Peace Studies, Mahidol University
2012-02-21
Date of entry/update: 2012-02-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 404.07 KB
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Description: Conclusion: "Changes in state structure have profoundly affected the historical formation and mobilisation of ethnic identities in Burma. Since 1962, the ?ethnocratic state? has suppressed non-Burman political identities and the operation of civil society, with profound consequences for the conceptualisation and expressions of ethnicity. The altered relationship between the central government (and Burmese military) and some minority groups (and ethnic insurgents), as a result of the ceasefire process, constitutes a significant realignment of state-society relations. As a result, new forms of social and political organisation have begun to emerge within the Mon and other minority communities, which have the potential to affect state structures, including those of the ?liberated zones?. Whether the re-alignment of ethnic minority politics ultimately feeds back into the loop, and contributes towards transition at the national level, will depend on how politicians react to political opportunities - and attendant risks. Meanwhile, the NMSP is in danger of becoming marginalised, unless it can respond to the new environment with a new strategic vision. The ceasefire groups are uniquely positioned to take the lead in redefining the nature of civil-military relations in Burma. Ultimately, for both the Tatmadaw and the armed ethnic groups, the transition from insurgency to relative peace and stability - of which the present military regime is so proud - is less difficult than that from dictatorship to democracy. The first phase (peacemaking) is a prerequisite of the second phase (peace-building), but the latter addresses more fundamental issues. After decades of conflict, and amid on-going repression, opportunities exist for conflict resolution and political transition in Burma. To varying degrees, the SPDC, the NLD and ethnic minority leaders have all expressed their desire for peaceful social and political development. Although the scope and mechanics of any transition will be negotiated among elites, in order for recovery to be effective, members of the country?s diverse social and ethnic groups must enjoy participation and a sense of ?ownership? in the process. Post-conflict transformation thus requires the rehabilitation of Burmese civil society. This difficult and uneven process is already underway, and is worthy of support. Foreign governments, UN agencies and INGOs should work to empower those non-regime groups attempting to work inside Burma, under the most challenging circumstances. They should also continue to bring pressure on the SPDC to initiate political reform and enter into dialogue with representatives of Burma?s ethnic minority and opposition groups. Although the international community can play an important role in facilitating political transition, the success of this process will depend on the Burmese state and social groups. Based on a reading of British and French history, Skocpol suggests that ?states not only conduct decision-making, coercive, and adjudicative activities in different ways, but also give rise to various conceptions of the meaning and methods of ?politics? itself, conceptions that influence the behaviour of all groups and classes in national societies.? The field of political culture - attitudes to and valuations of power and politics - is often stubbornly resistant to change. As Alan Smith and Khin Maung Win observe, the absence of consensus and ?accumulated distrust and unwillingness to compromise between and centre- and Burman-dominated state … and non-Burman ethnic groups? is the most serious obstacle to political transition. In a recent report for the Minority Rights Group, Martin Smith concludes that ?conflict resolution, demilitarization and the building of civil society will be vital bridges in achieving reconciliation in the country and supporting the creation of conditions in which democracy can take root and minority rights be enjoyed.?78 However, as he - and many ethnic minority leaders - recognise, if it is to be sustained, peace and reconciliation must be accompanied by a just settlement of state-society issues."
Creator/author: Ashley South
Source/publisher: "Exploring Ethnic Diversity in Burma" (Nordic Institute of Asian Studies 2007), Chapter 6
2007-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2011-01-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Civil Society
Language: English
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Description: Abstract Civil society groups are among the most important private actors to fill some of the gaps that exist in Myanmar?s education system. As the state-run education system deteriorates, civil society actors develop alternative approaches to teaching and the provision of basic education materials. As its subtitle suggests, this article argues that even though the military regime of Myanmar is highly authoritarian, spaces for civil society actors do exist within two areas of state weakness: firstly, within various sectors of the weak welfare state; and secondly, within some of the negotiated spaces of relative ethnic autonomy in ceasefire areas. Against this backdrop, the emergence of civil-society-based self-help groups in the education sector provides but one specific example of a larger trend that is taking place in present-day Myanmar: The military regime has started to tolerate certain civil society activities in areas of tremendous welfare needs that the government is unable or unwilling to deal with itself.1 (Manuscript received February 1, 2007; accepted for publication March 27, 2007)... Keywords: Myanmar, civil society, education system, military regime, development cooperation, state failure..........Myanmars Zivilgesellschaft – ein L?ckenb??er f?r das staatliche Bildungssystem? Die Entstehung von Zivilgesellschaft in Bereichen schwacher Staatlichkeit Jasmin Lorch Abstract Zivilgesellschaftliche Gruppen geh?ren zu den bedeutendsten nichtstaatlichen Akteuren, die einige der zahlreichen L?cken, die in Myanmars Bildungssystem existieren, notd?rftig schlie?en. W?hrend das staatliche Bildungssystem zusehends erodiert, entwickeln zivilgesellschaftliche Akteure alternative Ans?tze der Selbsthilfe, um Grundbildung zu vermitteln und unentbehrliche Lehrmaterialen bereitzustellen.Wie der Untertitel dieses Artikels impliziert, argumentiert die Autorin, dass trotz der Repressivit?t des autorit?ren Regimes in Myanmar in mindestens zwei Bereichen, in denen der Staat schwach ist, Handlungsspielr?ume f?r zivilgesellschaftliche Akteure existieren: erstens in verschiedenen Sektoren des versagenden Wohlfahrtsstaates und zweitens in einigen der ausgehandelten Autonomiegebiete der ethnischen Minderheiten. Vor diesem Hintergrund stellt die Entstehung zivilgesellschaftlicher Selbsthilfeinitiativen im Bildungsbereich nur ein Beispiel f?r eine allgemeine Entwicklung dar, die gegenw?rtig in Myanmar stattfindet: Das Milit?rregime hat begonnen, in Bereichen, in denen enorme Wohlfahrtsdefizite herrschen, welche die Regierung selbst nicht zu beheben in der Lage – oder willens – ist, zivilgesellschaftliche Selbsthilfeaktivit?ten zu tolerieren. (Manuskript eingereicht am 01.02.2007; zur Ver?ffentlichung angenommen am 27.03.2007) Keywords: Myanmar, Bildungssystem, Entwicklungszusammenarbeit, Milit?rregime, Staatszerfall, Zivilgesellschaft
Creator/author: Jasmin Lorch
Source/publisher: GIGA (German Institute of Global and Area Studies) S?dostasien aktuell
2007-03-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Civil Society
Language: English (German abstract)
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Description: Contents:- Heike Loeschmann: Foreword...Ch 1, Intro: Joerg Wischermann: "Societal and Political Change in Vietnam. An Instructive Example for Myanmar/Burma? Introductory and Conceptual Reflections"...Gerhard Will: "Political and Societal Change in Myanmar/Burma and Vietnam. Old Limitations and New Chances for Civic Organizations"...Adam Fforde: "Economic Process and Its Role in Conservative Transition: Reflections on Vietnamese Experience and Implications for Myanmar/Burma".....Chapter 2: Societal and Political Change in Vietnam and Myanmar/Burma: The Pluralism of Societal Practices at Commune Level...David Koh: "Politics at the Ward Level in Ha Npi"...Khin Zaw Win: "Transition in a Time of Siege: The Pluralism of Societal and Political Practices at Ward/Village Level in Myanmar/Burma".....Chapter 3: Patterns of Societal and Political Change in Vietnam and Myanmar/Burma: The Diversification of Socio-Political Practices at Ward/Commune Level...Nguyen Quang Vinh: "Civic Organizations in Ho Chi Minh City: Their Activities and Aims, Room to Manoeuvre, Relationship with Governmental Organizations at Local Level"...Mai Ni Ni Aung: "Creating Space in Myanmar/Burma. Preserving the Traditions of Ethnic Minority Groups: A Catalyst for Community Building"...Jasmin Lorch: "Do Civil Society Actors Have Any Room for Manoeuvre in Myanmar/Burma? Locating Gaps in the Authoritarian System".....Chapter 4: "Building Pluralism and Institutions: Towards a Change in Governance and Governance Culture(s)?"...Thaveeporn Vasavakul: "Public Administration Reform and Practices of Co-Governance: Towards a Change in Governance and Governance Cultures in Vietnam"...Alex Mutebi: "Changing Governance and Governance Culture in Myanmar/Burma: Some Thoughts".....Chapter 5: Conclusion: Zarni "Thinking Politics Sociologically: Engaging with the State and Society in Vietnam and Myanmar/Burma"
Source/publisher: Heinrich Boell Foundation, SE Asia
2006-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-07-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Civil Society
Language: English
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Description: Executive Summary: "Cyclone Nargis is believed to be the worst recorded natural disaster in Myanmar?s history. It swept through the South Eastern region of Myanmar in early May 2008. It caused widespread destruction and devastation. This book contains a collection of narratives obtained through interviews with key actors involved in the cyclone relief effort. We primarily interviewed members of local organisations but have also included a number of alternate perspectives from external actors who work closely with the Myanmar context. The following summary reflects the main points gained from this project: * On the one hand, Cyclone Nargis brought so much destruction. At the same time, it brought people together and provided the opportunity for people in civil society to take action and mount a response to the disaster. This is of particular significance in the Myanmar context where civil society is struggling with the impact of decades of civil war and division amongst identity groups such as clan, ethnicity, religion, or geographic/regional affiliation, or a mixture of these. * As these narratives outline, the response to Cyclone Nargis was massive, immediate and greatly increased people?s capacities in building relationships, working with communities outside traditional target areas, integrating existing programs and working with the authorities. Those providing the response comprised NGOs, business entities, religious institutions, government authorities, and community organisations both highly organised and loosely organised. * Cyclone Nargis provided a number of opportunities for collaboration amongst actors who had previously been looking to work together for some time. It created the conditions for alliances to be forged and many organisations set out strategically to build their networks and integrate existing programs such as environmental awareness, participatory community organising, peacebuilding, etc. have had a much greater destructive impact. A great deal of international assistance was prevented from reaching affected populations due to Government restrictions on entering Myanmar. This situation provided the opportunity for local and international organisations, including the UN, to build their connections and develop strong relationships for their field operations during the relief effort. * Capacity building work carried out by NGOs prior to Cyclone Nargis was able to be capitalised upon in the wake of the disaster. Networks already existed so organisations were able to quickly mobilise community organisers, trauma healers and, in some instances, disaster response teams. Despite this however, capacity building was highlighted by the organisations we interviewed as a significant need of organisations in Myanmar and an area where external organisations can greatly assist. * Through Cyclone Nargis, young people were able to gain volunteer experience and employment as a result of the expansion in NGO activities in responding to the disaster. The focus on building the younger generation is particularly important in the Myanmar context as decades of civil war has led to a decline in education standards and employment opportunities for young people. Building a sense of community by engaging young people in community work and exposing them to different contexts can inspire and encourage young people to become socially active. * External organisations in Myanmar need to understand the local context and the conflict dynamics. This understanding is critical if the assistance provided by external organisations is going to have any resonance. Moreover, without understanding the context and conflict dynamics, local organisations will be unnecessarily burdened by the expectations of outside entities and can potentially be put at risk. * Isolationist policies adopted by the international community towards Myanmar need to be reconsidered. These policies further polarise issues resulting in the Government becoming more entrenched in their position. The majority of civil society groups we interviewed for this project were balancing working with the Government with their commitment to communities. * In carrying out emergency response work for Cyclone Nargis, organisations became aware of the interdisciplinary nature of relief work and the need to work holistically in responding to the context. This necessitated being flexible and creative. * An acceptance that organisations can develop a working relationship with Government and benefit from it, was a key learning expressed by many of the organisations we interviewed. This learning reinforces the importance of networking and building relationships. * A number of organisations interviewed expressed that external organisation should trust the local people to do the work and also support and strengthen local mechanisms in program cycle management. This includes building skills in reporting, monitoring and evaluation. A strong recommendation emerged that participation in developing frameworks and co-operation between external and local organisations and community people, is required."
Source/publisher: Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPCS)
2009-05-03
Date of entry/update: 2010-07-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 810.49 KB
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Description: Executive Summary: "Listening to Voices from Inside: Ethnic People Speak showcases the voices of people from civil society, and of different ethnic groups, who are rarely heard. Myanmar is an extremely ethnically diverse country. Regrettably, inter-ethnic conflict is a fundamental dynamic in Myanmar?s protracted civil war. Despite this, ethnic diversity and interethnic conflict seldom capture the attention of the international community who have a tendency to see inter-ethnic conflict as adjunct to the quest for peace and democracy in Myanmar. This publication, the result of a foundational study, presents the voices of eighty-seven civil society members from different ethnic groups who live in Myanmar. It documents their perceptions of opportunities and challenges in key areas of interactions with other ethnic groups, government and military relations, education, employment, health, and culture. It records their vision for the future and how external organisations can support that vision. Listening to Voices from Inside: Ethnic People Speak creates a channel for local people to be heard on inter-ethnic issues in Myanmar and is a resource to increase understanding of the issues among external and domestic actors. It brings inter-ethnic conflict back from the periphery to argue that transforming inter-ethnic conflict is central to building peace and democracy in Myanmar. The following summarises the key points under each section:..."
Source/publisher: Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies
2010-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-06-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Cyclone Nargis struck southern Burma on May 2-3, 2008, killing at least 140,000 people and bringing devastation to an estimated 2.4 million people in the Irrawaddy Delta and the former capital, Rangoon. The Burmese military government?s initial reaction to the cyclone shocked the world: instead of immediately allowing international humanitarian assistance to be delivered to survivors, as did countries affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) prevented both foreign disaster relief workers and urgently needed relief supplies from entering the delta during the crucial first weeks after the cyclone. The military government blocked large-scale international relief efforts by delaying the issuance of visas to aid workers, prohibiting foreign helicopters and boats from making deliveries to support the relief operation, obstructing travel by aid agencies to affected areas, and preventing local and international media from freely reporting from the disaster area. Rather than prioritizing the lives and well-being of the affected population, the military government?s actions were dictated by hostility to the international community, participation in the diversion of aid, and an obsession with holding a manipulated referendum on a longdelayed constitution. ?I Want to Help My Own People? 8 In the face of the government?s callous response, Burmese civil society groups and individuals raised money, collected supplies and traveled to the badly affected parts of the Irrawaddy Delta and around Rangoon to help survivors in shattered villages. Many efforts were spontaneous, but as the relief and recovery efforts gained pace, dozens of communitybased organizations and civil society groups organized themselves and gained unprecedented experience in providing humanitarian relief and initiating projects. Access for United Nations agencies and international humanitarian organizations improved starting in late May 2008 after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the delta, and the UN and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) brokered a deal with the Burmese government. They established the Tripartite Core Group (TCG), which became the central vehicle for coordinating aid, improving access for humanitarian organizations to the delta, and carrying out the ensuing recovery efforts. The two years since Cyclone Nargis have seen an unprecedented influx of humanitarian assistance to the delta, with a visible presence of local and international aid workers and improved access to provide humanitarian relief. While this opening has been rightly welcomed, it has not been the unmitigated success that many Burma analysts have portrayed it to be. Humanitarian access to the delta improved significantly by Burma standards following the establishment of the TCG mechanism, but it has remained far short of international standards. And partly because of the access restrictions imposed by the SPDC, humanitarian funding has not been sufficient to meet the needs of people in the cyclone-affected zones. As a result, two years after the cyclone, the recovery of many communities in the delta remains limited, particularly communities far from the towns where most relief efforts were organized. Such communities face continuing hardships and difficulties obtaining clean water and adequate sanitation, health resources, needed agricultural support, and recovery of livelihoods. Had the SPDC not continued to place unnecessary restrictions on the humanitarian relief effort in the delta, the cyclone-affected population would be much farther down the road to recovery. The Burmese government has failed to adequately support reconstruction efforts that benefit the population, contributing only paltry levels of aid despite having vast sums at its disposal from lucrative natural gas sales. Although the government has not announced total figures dedicated for cyclone relief and reconstruction, it allocated a mere 5 million kyat (US$50,000) for an emergency fund immediately after the storm. It is clear that its subsequent spending has also not been commensurate with available resources. Burma?s government is estimated to have more than US$5 billion in foreign reserves and receives an 9 Human Rights Watch │April 2010 estimated US$150 million in monthly gas export revenues. The Burmese government channels the limited assistance it does provide through its surrogates and contracts awarded to politically connected companies, in an effort to maintain social control. In addition, the government?s distribution of aid has been marred by serious allegations of favoritism. In most areas of Burma outside of the cyclone-affected areas, international humanitarian access is much more limited than in the delta, despite significant levels of preventable disease, malnutrition, and inadequate water and sanitation, particularly in the central dry zone and the ethnic minority areas of the border states. All of the UN staff, Burmese aid providers, and international humanitarian organization representatives Human Rights Watch spoke with in Burma in early 2010 praised the humanitarian opening in the delta, but then added that humanitarian space in the rest of Burma remains a major challenge. As one senior aid official told us: ?We were all hoping that the Nargis experience would be the wedge to open a lot of things, but this hasn?t happened.? The statistics speak for themselves: approximately one-third of Burmese citizens live below the poverty line. Most live on one to three US dollars a day, and suffer from inadequate food security. Maternal mortality is the worst in the Asian region after Afghanistan. While the economies of many of its neighbors rapidly develop, the people of Burma continue to suffer. The SPDC fails to invest its own available resources to address urgent social and economic needs and blocks the humanitarian community from doing all it can to help meet those needs in other parts of the country. A number of humanitarian aid experts we spoke with were hopeful that after national elections scheduled for the end of 2010 are completed, they will then be able to build on what was achieved in cyclone-affected areas, and expand the delivery of humanitarian aid to other areas in Burma where it is desperately needed. While the record of the Burmese government to date suggests this will be an uphill battle at best, the UN, ASEAN, and other influential international actors in Burma should make it a priority to continue to press for such expanded access. Natural disasters can sometimes work as a catalyst for peace-building and reform in conflict wracked societies, as occurred in Aceh, Indonesia, following the 2004 tsunami. In Burma, the military government is stronger and more confident two years after the cyclone, but it is no more accountable or respectful of basic rights...Finally, this reports details an under-appreciated positive legacy of the cyclone response: the development of a group of new, truly independent and experienced civil society organizations in Burma, which now seek to use their skills to address other humanitarian and development challenges in the country..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
2010-04-29
Date of entry/update: 2010-05-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.73 MB
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Description: "The issue of how International Non Governmental organisations (INGOs) should approach operating in Burma is a thorny one. This was particularly so in the early 1990s. Many development workers and the expatriate democracy movement felt that an NGO presence would provide the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC)[i], with much needed legitimacy. Warnings were sounded: INGOs would fall prey to the SLORC's manipulation, aid would be stolen and sold to profit the government, INGOs would be used in SLORC propaganda and meaningful development would not reach those it was intended for. They would become ?willing minions” executing the SLORC?s agendas. INGOs were urged that their priority should be the large refugee populations in neighbouring countries who were the most visible and accessible victims of the SLORC's misrule. Despite the heat of the debate in 1993, some fifteen INGOs have entered Burma and more continue to arrive to explore the environment (and some have subsequently withdraw).[ii] What has their experience been? As Burma approaches its thirty-fifth year of military rule, what are the issues for INGOs wanting to work with Burmese? What possibilities could be explored for facilitating the growth of civil society? What attitude should INGOs adopt towards the democracy movement inside Burma? This paper examines these questions, with a focus on INGO experience, and begins by outlining a theoretical model for understanding the variety of INGOs and how their approach to operating in Burma might be categorised..."... This paper is one of four presented at the conference organised by TNI and the Burma Centrum Nederland on December 4 and 5, 1997 in the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam, 'Strengthening Civil Society in Burma. Possibilities and Dilemmas for International NGOs'. A book of the same name, containing edited versions of the papers, an introduction and notes on the authors was subsequently published by Silkworm Books, Chiangmai 1999.
Creator/author: Marc Purcell, Australian Council for Overseas Aid
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute/Burma Centrum Nederland
1997-12-05
Date of entry/update: 2005-08-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm doc
Size: 275.78 KB 166.5 KB
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Description: "...The peaceful and lasting solution to the long-running ethnic conflicts in Burma is, without doubt, one of the most integral challenges facing the country today. Indeed, it can not be separated from the greater challenges of social, political and economic reform in the country at large. Since the seismic events of 1988, Burma has remained deadlocked in its third critical period of political and social transition since independence in 1948. However, despite the surface impasse, the political landscape has not remained static. During the past decade, the evidence of desire for fundamental political change has spread to virtually every sector of society, and, at different stages, this desire for change has been articulated by representatives of all the major political, ethnic, military and social organisations or factions. That Burma, therefore, has entered an era of enormous political volatility and transformation is not in dispute..."... This paper is one of four presented at the conference organised by TNI and the Burma Centrum Nederland on December 4 and 5, 1997 in the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam, 'Strengthening Civil Society in Burma. Possibilities and Dilemmas for International NGOs'. A book of the same name, containing edited versions of the papers, an introduction and notes on the authors was subsequently published by Silkworm Books, Chiangmai 1999.
Creator/author: Martin Smith
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute/Burma Centrum Nederland
1997-12-05
Date of entry/update: 2005-08-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm doc
Size: 254.9 KB 149.5 KB
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Description: "The development and maintenance of civil society - that is, free associations of citizens joined together to work for common concerns or implement social, cultural or political initiatives which compliment, as well as compete with the state - depends upon the citizens of any state being able to enjoy fundamental freedoms: freedom of thought, opinion, expression, association and movement. Underscoring and defending these freedoms must be an independent judiciary and the guarantee of the rule of law. In Burma today, none of these conditions exist. There is no freedom of the press in Burma: government censorship is heavy-handed and pervasive. While the opening up of the economy since 1988 had lead to a proliferation of private magazines and access to affordable video and satellite equipment has also resulted in a massive expansion of small scale video companies and TV/Videos parlours around the country, the organs of state censorship have kept pace with these developments, and virtually every sentence and every image which is produced by the indigenous media has to passed by the government's censorship board, and all non-local media are also carefully monitored and controlled. The Burmese services of the BBC, VOA and the Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma are often jammed; CNN and World Service broadcasts which include issues sensitive to the government mysteriously loose sound. New laws have been promulgated to restrict access to the internet, and it has been reported that the government has also purchased technology from Israel which can monitor and censor e-mail messages, and other equipment from Singapore to monitor satellite phones...".... This paper is one of four presented at the conference organised by TNI and the Burma Centrum Nederland on December 4 and 5, 1997 in the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam, 'Strengthening Civil Society in Burma. Possibilities and Dilemmas for International NGOs'. A book of the same name, containing edited versions of the papers, an introduction and notes on the authors was subsequently published by Silkworm Books, Chiangmai 1999.
Creator/author: Zunetta Liddell
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute/Burma Centrum Nederland
1997-12-05
Date of entry/update: 2005-08-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm doc
Size: 90.45 KB 71 KB
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Description: Links to 4 Papers from the conference of this name, Amsterdam, 4-5 December 1997, organised by the Burma Center Netherlands & Transnational Institute... (Also published by Silkworm Books, Chiangmai 1999, with Introduction and notes on the authors)... A Void in Myanmar: Civil Society in Burma by David Steinberg... Ethnic conflict and the challenge of civil society in Burma by Martin Smith... No Room to Move: Legal Constraints on Civil Society in Burma by Zunetta Liddell... "Axe-handles or willing minions?" International NGOs in Burma by Marc Purcell
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute/Burma Centrum Nederland
1997-12-05
Date of entry/update: 2005-08-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : html
Size: 3.33 KB
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Description: ABSTRACT: "This article examines social and political transition in Myanmar (Burma). Strategies for transition in Myanmar have tended to focus on elite-level politics, rather than grass-roots democratisation and social mobilisation. However, both approaches are necessary - although neither is sufficient in itself. While change at the national/elite level is urgently required, sustained democratic transition can only be achieved if accompanied by local participation. The tentative re-emergence of civil society networks within and between ethnic nationality/ minority communities over the past decade is one of the most significant - but under-examined - aspects of the social and political situation in Myanmar. ‘Development from below?, and efforts to build local democracy from the ‘bottom-up?, using local capacities and social capital, are underway in government-controlled areas, and in some ethnic nationality-populated ceasefire and war zones (including insurgent-controlled areas), as well as in neighbouring countries. However, the sector is still under-developed, and changes coming from civil society will be gradual, and need to be supported. This article examines the strategic challenges facing ethnic nationalist leaders and communities at this key period in Myanmar?s history. It also addresses the roles that foreign aid can play in supporting the re-emergence of civil society in Myanmar, and advocates a policy of selective (or targeted) engagement?..."
Creator/author: Ashley South
Source/publisher: Ashley South
2005-02-00
Date of entry/update: 2005-02-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 171.63 KB
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Description: "Burma?s poverty means that even providing funerals for loved ones can be difficult if not impossible. But a new social welfare association is lending a helping hand... Accompanied by some poor people, a famous Burmese movie star carries a coffin in Rangoon. In the coffin is the corpse of a poor man who is unrelated to the actor. This is not a scene for a film; it?s real. And to many people it?s amazing, because it?s so unheard of. The movie star, Kyaw Thu, has participated in many funerals as a sort of gravedigger, and he is vice president of a social welfare association known as the Free Funeral Services Society (FFSS)..."
Creator/author: Htain Linn
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 11, No. 10, December 2003
2003-12-00
Date of entry/update: 2004-02-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Transition in Burma may come abruptly - perhaps as a result of a 1988-style peoples? uprising - or more gradually, and with less bloodshed. The latter scenario may involve a power-sharing arrangement between the SPDC and the opposition, or a gradual process of ‘regime reform?, with little direct in-put from the wider society or opposition forces. Although opposition tactics will vary according to the circumstances, a number of strategic considerations remain the same. However and whenever change occurs, members of Burma?s diverse social groups must be ready to act. In general, opposition strategies have focused on elite-level politics, rather than grass-roots democratisation. However, both approaches are necessary - while neither is sufficient in itself. Change at the national level is urgently needed, but sustained democratic transition can only be achieved if accompanied by local participation and ‘development from below?. Among the three parties to any tripartite negotiations in Burma, the ethnic nationalities in particular could benefit from a combination of elite-level, blueprint-type solutions and a grass-roots, participatory approach, aimed at strengthening civil society. Although overseas-based activists and Burma-watchers have sometimes assumed that there is no civil society in the country, this far from true. The re-emergence of local networks within and between ethnic nationality communities over the past decade has been one of the most significant - but under-reported - aspects of the social and political situation in Burma. Efforts to build local democracy are already underway - in government-controlled areas, in some ethnic nationality-populated ceasefire and war zones, and in neighbouring countries. However, these 'bottom-up' initiatives will not bring about substantial change, without accompanying 'top-down', national-level reforms..." This text formed the basis of Ashley South's presentation to the ‘Burma Day 2003: Political and humanitarian options for the international community? conference, Brussels, Wednesday 8 October 2003. A slightly abridged version appeared in two parts, in the Irrawaddy Online, October 16-17.
Creator/author: Ashley South
2003-10-08
Date of entry/update: 2003-11-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 59.14 KB
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Description: Challenges and Prospects for Resolving Ethnic Conflict New York, October 24, 2000 Speaker: David Tharckabaw, Karen National Union "According to the dictionary, the word ?civil” means ?of human society or of people living together.” Another relevant meaning is ?politely helpful.” Ethnic means ?of race or the races of mankind” which is a wide subject. Ethnic can mean different things to different people. For our discussion, it would be suitable to keep to the idea that by ?ethnic” we mean ?of a people with more or less the same language, customs, culture, tradition, historical background and living in a separate area of land for centuries.” This would apply to the Irish, Scottish, Welsh and English peoples in Britain-the Romance, Italian, French and German peoples in Switzerland and the Montenegrin, Albanian, Croat and Slavic peoples of former Yugoslavia..."
Creator/author: David Tharckabaw
2000-10-24
Date of entry/update: 2003-07-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Civil Society
Language: English
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Description: If Asian values are about encouraging a harmonious relationship between the state and society, then ASEAN leaders have their work cut out in Burma. Now that Burma is a member of ASEAN, it would not be illogical to assume that ASEAN will now take some responsibility for the well-being of that unfortunate country - which is now an economic, political and social "basket case" in the regional forum.
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 5. No. 4-5
1997-08-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "...The human rights violations still continue in every area of Burma especially in the ethnic areas of Burma. Burmans are not being treated like ethnic people, but because of the civil war and the four cuts system in the ethnic areas the ethnic people suffer a lot. More than the Burman people. But Burmese people also suffer other kinds of human rights violations. In the ethnic areas there is forced portering and forced relocation on a massive scale, but at the same time inside Burma there is political detention and arrest of political activist still going on. We can not compare what is worse and which one is the better one, but the human rights situation is as bad as before like ten years ago. I would say that in some areas its getting worse and in some areas its getting better. Even after we get democracy or even after the SPDC is overthrown so people with the kind of basic knowledge can be helpful for the foundation of civil society for the future of Burma...I decided to do some kind of training to give the knowledge about human rights and give a chance for people to think about their basic rights. This is good for the future of Burma so that people know about their rights, so they know how to prevent abuses. If they know how to advocate then they can protect their human rights. Even after we get democracy or even after the SPDC is overthrown so people with the kind of basic knowledge can be helpful for the foundation of civil society for the future of Burma..."
Creator/author: Aung Myo Min
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy"
1999-07-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "This report addresses two key questions: How much of a role are organisations not controlled by the state playing, and how much can they play, in restoring democracy in Myanmar? ; and How much of a role are civil society organisations playing, and how much can they play, in promoting understanding of the ethnic issues at the root of many of Myanmar's political problems?...Around the world, much hope has been placed in the prospect that civil society ? the loose groupings of non-government actors in political processes ? would act as a major force to change or remove undemocratic governments. This has particularly been the case in Myanmar where there has been an expectation that students or monks might force the military government from power. This has not been realised; indeed civil society is at its weakest state in decades...Civil society organisations will be important in creating the backing for any solution, and in consolidating the democratisation process once it begins, but are not likely to be crucial players in achieving a momentum for change..."
Source/publisher: International Crisis Group
2001-12-06
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Civil Society
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 447.21 KB
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Description: "...For civil society to appear in Burma, military rule and its administration must be stamped out and a civilian administration and government must be substituted. Civil society and military rule are completely incompatible, and the prevention of human rights abuses is thus inconceivable in the absence of democratic rule..."
Creator/author: Thar Nyunt Oo
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 7, No. 7
1999-08-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Civil Society
Language: English
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Description: The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." - Albert Einstein. While attending an international conference last year, I met a few people who said to me: "You guys don?t have the ability to stand up to the military regime. You guys are always on the defensive." To that, I replied, "No, I don?t think so." Because, though the SPDC is still in power, I know of a number of events taking place in Burma right now which are believed to make the regime particularly vulnerable and the democracy movement stronger.
Creator/author: Min Zin
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 7. No. 2
1999-02-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Outmoded leadership styles and centralization are not favoured by Burma?s democrats. As for the so-called leaders who cling to the old model, Thar Nyunt Oo writes, their days are numbered. Burma?s people have grown accustomed to living in a closed society for many years. After the era of feudalism, Burma fell under colonial rule. Then, Burma was given spurious independence from Japan. Later, there was a period of parliamentary governance characterized by civil unrest and an absence of democratic rights and values. The military, calling themselves ?socialists,? seized power in 1962 and, to this day, has tried to draft a state constitution which solidifies the junta?s hold on the state apparatus. We have grown and matured in an atmosphere of oppression, human rights violations and a lack of democratic opportunities..." Burma?s people have grown accustomed to living in a closed society for many years. After the era of feudalism, Burma fell under colonial rule. Then, Burma was given spurious independence from Japan. Later, there was a period of parliamentary governance characterized by civil unrest and an absence of democratic rights and values. The military, calling themselves ?socialists,? seized power in 1962 and, to this day, has tried to draft a state constitution which solidifies the junta?s hold on the state apparatus. We have grown and matured in an atmosphere of oppression, human rights violations and a lack of democratic opportunities..."
Creator/author: Thar Nyunt Oo
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol 6, No. 4
1998-08-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Category: Civil Society
Language: English
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Description: "The term 'civil society' has been prominent in the history of Western intellectual thought for about two hundred years. Its con­notative vicissitudes, its origins and previous political uses from Hegel and Marx and beyond in a sense reflect a microcosm both of poli­ti­­cal and social science theory. For a period reflection on civil society was out of style, an anachronistic concept replaced by more fashionable intellectual formulations. Today, however, the term has once again come back into significance. Here, however, we are not concerned with its history, but rather with its contemporary use, as defined below, as one means to under­stand the dynamics of Burmese politics and society..."... This paper is one of four presented at the conference organised by TNI and the Burma Centrum Nederland on December 4 and 5, 1997 in the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam, 'Strengthening Civil Society in Burma. Possibilities and Dilemmas for International NGOs'. A book of the same name, containing edited versions of the papers, an introduction and notes on the authors was subsequently published by Silkworm Books, Chiangmai 1999.
Creator/author: David Steinberg
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute/Burma Centrum Nederland
1997-12-05
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm doc
Size: 85.2 KB 66.5 KB
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Description: A student activist with eight years of experience working underground in Burma reflects on the limitations and possibilities of "UG" activism. He points to a need to re-think strategies if long-term goals are to be achieved. Democracy will only succeed if there is a strong civil society in Burma; and now is the time to sow the seeds, Min Zin writes.
Creator/author: Min Zin
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 7. No. 5
1999-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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