PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY IN BURMA : A VOLUNTEER PROGRAM TO EMPOWER LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS

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1 PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY IN BURMA : A VOLUNTEER PROGRAM TO EMPOWER LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS Info Birmanie - June 2014

2 OUR MISSION Over the past 15 years, Info Birmanie has been working with Burmese acvists and civil society organizaons campaigning for the promoon of human rights and democracy in Burma. Many were polical prisoners, and fought against the military regime alongside acvists from across the country. Today some of these acvists are working to promote peace, democrac transion and protect persecuted minories. We have seen the relevance and effecveness of their acvies in Burma, but the lack of human, financial and logiscal means such as lack of technical knowledge limits their impact. Info Birmanie wants to empower those organizaons to give them the resources and tools to sustain their acvies, expand their audience and be more efficient. We also wish to create bridges between the French and Burmese civil society to bring Burmese general knowledge of internaonal issues and to raise awareness of young French people to the principles of human rights, peace and democracy in the world. The raonale of the project is the convicon that without a strong civil society it is impossible to promote a culture of peace and tolerance, to protect civil and polical rights and engage the cizens in the democrac transion.

3 THE PROJECT The project s objecve is to help building a strong and informed civil society in order to give the people the opportunity to parcipate in the transion process. To meet this goal, Info Birmanie is launching a volunteer programme to empower civil society organizaons working for the promoon of peace, human rights and democracy. We mobilize French students who will volunteer in local organizaons in Burma and help them to idenfy and meet its development challenges (communicaon, advocacy, English, fundraising, internet and social networks trainings) WHAT KIND OF TRAINING? Internet and social networks Communicaon and media Advocacy Fundraising Interfaith dialogue English WHO ARE THE TRAINERS? French Students in communicaon, IT, engineering, internaonal relaons HOW MANY TRAININGS? The trainers will stay one to two months and provide one training per week. Local organizaons have to organize the trainings and find the trainees. In France, we inform the public and French authories to raise awareness on human rights, peace and democracy in Burma. We also target the French higher educaon instuons to encourage students parcipaon and promote exchanges between the French and Burmese civil sociees.

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5 PRESENTATION OF INFO BIRMANIE Info Birmanie was founded in 1996 by French cizens willing to support the struggle for human rights in Burma and to convey the demands for democracy expressed on several occasions by Burmese people since Info Birmanie is an advocacy and informaon centre, whose main mission is to inform and increase awareness of the polical, economic and social system, so as to promote peace, democracy and human rights in Burma. Info Birmanie is a partner of organisaons in civil society based in Burma, and acts as a bridge between local Burmese forces and civil society in France. These links enable us to relay quality praccal informaon. Info Birmanie serves this double objecve by organizing three types of acvies: Lobbying French public officials in order to get a stronger polical stand from the French government (ulmately to step up pressure on the Burmese military regime) whether it be in its bilateral relaons or via mullateral forums such as the European Union of the United Naons. Raising awareness and informing the general public and the media on the evoluon of the polical, economic and social situaon in Burma. Reinforcing Burmese democrac organizaons and the internaonal network supporng them in order to increase their credibility among public authories throughout the world. Info Birmanie La Ruche 84 quai de Jemmapes PARIS Website : infobirmanie@gmail.com Join us on Facebook & Twitter!