NEWS-Myanmar Strives to Promote WOM

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Feature/ : Myanmar Strives to Promote WOMEN'S Role

            Xinhua
            13-JUL-98

            YANGON (July 14) XINHUA - Myanmar is paying special
attention to
            promotion of the role of women and is implementing a
national action
            plan to speed up efforts for improving women's conditions in
the
            nation. 

            These efforts include carrying out tasks in line with the
Beijing
            Declaration and Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth
World
            Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995 and the policy
of the
            state. 

            Myanmar reaffirmed that the country's women enjoy equal
rights with
            the men and pledges to uphold the tradition of Myanmar's
participation
            in multilateral cooperation and collaborate in the action
plan for
            development of the world's women. (IS RAPE BY THE ARMY EQUAL
RIGHTS?)

            After agreeing to the Beijing Declaration, Myanmar formed
the
            National Committee for Women's Affairs (NCWA) to carry out
the
            country's development projects for women including health,
education,
            socioeconomic development and protection of Myanmar women
            against violence. (AGAIN, THEY STILL SUFFER ATTACKS AND RAPE
BY THE 	    MILITARY AND THAI POLICE)

            According to the official media, the NCWA has been able to
adopt
            systematic plans and projects for uplifting the role of
women all over
            the country and success has been achieved. 

            Especially under the leadership of the NCWA, the Myanmar
Maternal,
            Child and Welfare Association (MMCWA), a non-governmental
            organization formed earlier in 1991, has made significant
progress in
            the past seven years, getting its more than 540,000 members
involved
            in activities such as providing health service to mothers
and children 	    in urban and rural areas, reducing the death rate of
mothers and babies
            and conducting education on breast-feeding. 

            Myanmar promulgated the MMCWA Law in 1990. Other women's
            organizations such as Myanmar Women's Sports Federation,
            Myanmar Medical Association and Myanmar Women
Entrepreneurial
            Association are also leading the country's women in carrying
out
            social welfare tasks. 

            Of Myanmar's total population of 46.4 million in the 1997-98
fiscal
            year, 23.6 million or 50.34 percent are women, according to
the latest
            official report on the country's financial, economic and
social
            conditions. (HOW CAN THEY BE SURE)

            The latest census in 1994 showed that 46 percent of Myanmar
women
            above the age of 10 were in the labor force in 1990. 

            Myanmar women have had a long history of access to
education. In the
            basic education system, the proportion of female to male
students is
            one to one according to a study on the education sector
while female
            students in higher education comprise about 58 percent of
the total
            enrollment. 

            Meanwhile, the national literacy rate of women has gone up
to 71.3
            percent in the past 10 years. (HOW ??? THE SCHOOLS HAVE BEEN
CLOSED 	    OFTEN IN 10 YEARS)