Reflections on Myanmar Civil Society Kepa, March 2015 In this series of papers, Kepa publishes reflections on the state of civil society in the regions in which it operates (Mekong region and regions around Nicaragua, Mozambique and Tanzania). These reflections, based on Kepa s own work with its partners, member organisations and their partners in the country, provide an overview and highlight some current issues and developments in the role of civil society organisations. Civil society consists of many different actors from small informal activist groups to big institutionalised organisations. In these reflections, civil society organisation (CSO) is used as an overall concept to cover all these actors. The term NGO is used only if it specifically refers to registered, institutionalised non-governmental organisations, while CBO stands for communitybased organisation. INGO refers to international non-governmental organisations. Kepa in Myanmar In the countries of the Mekong region (Cambodia, Laos, Thailand & Vietnam), Kepa operates from a regional office based in Bangkok. Kepa Mekong forms partnerships with civil society actors to support them in influencing development policy processes in the region. Partnerships are linked to Kepa s key policy themes: development cooperation, global economic policies and climate justice. Kepa Mekong does not yet include Myanmar, though many of the issues in the Mekong region do include interventions in Myanmar, which have been followed by the Kepa Mekong office in Bangkok for years. Also more and more Finnish CSOs start to work there with local partners. Myanmar is gradually democratizing and opening up to the rest of the world. That has brought both positive and negative phenomena. On the positive side, there is the increased space and freedom for NGOs and CSOs to operate. But a negative development is the rapid influx of foreign companies and development agencies that might use the fairly non-regulated environment to their own advantage. Historical background Burma / Myanmar was under brutal military dictatorship for 50 years before it started to change, from 2010 onwards, to be more open and democratic, according to the roadmap the military junta adopted in 2003. Few people, especially in the exiled Burmese community, believed in this roadmap, and therefore the change came unexpectedly. In 2008 at the Asia Europe Peoples Forum in Beijing, China the first direct contacts to the outside world started with organisations inside
Myanmar, as well as the first links between the exiled community and organisations from Myanmar. There have been NGOs and CBOs in Burma-Myanmar for many years, but they were mainly working in the informal social sector, such as for women, children, and health. The human rights and environmental movement was mostly in exile or working underground. A very active and diverse Burmese NGO community was in Chiang Mai, Thailand, but many of them did have contacts inside Burma/Myanmar also during the dictatorship. Almost all of them have now returned to Myanmar and picking up their work there. Main Actors in Myanmar Civil Society Prior to the changes of 2011, civil society consisted mainly of either religious organisations or some organisations with a leader from the junta's family. The Renewable Energy Association Myanmar (REAM) was established in 1994 by INGOs and was led by retired academics. REAM has a representative currently in the presidential advisory group for renewable energy. After 2011 the scene changed completely, and many genuine civil society organisations and NGOs were born or brought from outside. Suddenly the NGOs could work openly and address various issues without being afraid of harassment like before. Some critical NGOs are however practising self-censorship as some vocal activists have been arrested even recently. In January 2013 the author of this document was able to visit many of the NGOs and they could for first time talk about what they do. A couple of years earlier we would not have even been able to meet them. Only curious thing was that NGOs had offices in apartment houses, not in office houses openly with an address and a sign like in other Mekong countries. To find the NGOs we had to call them and let a taxi or motorcycle driver to talk to them to explain where they are. The situation has changed now and the NGOs have proper offices like in other countries. Nowadays NGOs can do advocacy work and challenge the authorities on various issues. Long-time activist Madame Khin Ni Ni Thein returned from Thailand back to Myanmar in 2012 and is currently lobbying the president and the government on green economy issues. The main actors of Burmese civil society include Paung Ku that works in capacity building of local CSOs and Metta Foundation. The capacity of the local NGOs is rather poor and any skilled person does not stay in the organisation more than couple of months after which he or she moves to better paid jobs. Capacity building is very crucial task now as the CSOs in Myanmar are getting more and more new contacts, money and resources. Government-civil society relations The word civil society started to appear in Myanmar in mid-1990 s though there have been some associations already in the British colonial period. The civil society activities were banned during the socialist period in Burma from 1962, only government organisations were allowed then. After cyclone Nargis in 2008 many charitable organisations were born, and at the moment there is around 10 000 NGOs in the country.
The law on the Formation of Organisations is from 1988, and in the past the registration of an NGO took a long time and politicians or government staff could not be part of or form an organisation. In July 2014, the law was amended to speed up the registration to take maximum 60 days, and the politicians and government people could join and form organisations. Current issues and latest developments The government is still dominated by military and most of the parliament is occupied with Union Party which is military based. The military has just changed its green uniform to civilian clothes. In March 2014 Myanmar CSOs hosted a successful ASEAN Peoples Forum with the help of their Mekong friends. It attracted some 3000 people and was the first NGO event ever organized in Burma/Myanmar. This was first opportunity ever to local CSOs to take part in international discussions on development, finance, human rights and environmental issues. Also the Minister of President Office, the representative of President Thein Sein, met with representatives of APF and the ASEAN Youth forum attended by our Thai DPO. After a very promising start some very worrying developments have been seen in Myanmar. At the moment (March 2015) a large group of students that demand freedom of education have been demonstrating and were surrounded by police, who violently cracked down the protests and arrested the students in a village some 140 km from Yangon. The students were supposed to march from Mandalay to Yangon. The treatment of a Muslim minority referred as Rohingyas is appalling and nears to genocide. Especially some Buddhist activists have had strong and violent hate speech against the Muslims in Myanmar. And the cease fire treaty is still in process and recent fighting has been in Kokang region in Northern Myanmar. Kokang people are Han Chinese who immigrated there some 300 years ago. Funding of Civil Society actors AusAid has been funding a civil society capacity building program in Myanmar. INGOs and regional organisations have been important sources for funding for local and other Burmese NGOs during the past years. Now that INGO and governmental development funding is pouring in, the local NGOs are extremely pressured with meeting with several donors every day. Embassy of Finland in Bangkok has been funding local CSOs with local cooperation funds for some years already. Lately the funding has centred in the projects around the peace process. The application of the Paris declaration on harmonizing the procedures and cooperation with various donors is desperately needed, along with other norms and regulations to safeguard the recipients. On the other hand, what the Myanmar NGOs are asking for most are contacts and information on what is happening in the rest of the world, as for many years they have been cut off from news about the world outside. They are less interested in financial support and more on networking and possibilities to see alternative development models.
Role of INGOs International NGOs are moving to Myanmar in increasing numbers. The rush has been so great that the office rents have soared. Some INGOs, like Terre des Hommes and Medecins sans frontière have been there for a long time, some are just moving in. Also Lutheran World Organisation and Assembly of Gods have operated there long time. Earlier also UN organisations operated like INGOs as cooperation with the military government was prohibited. Now UN is paying special attention to Myanmar civil society and trying to improve their capacity through platform such as Myanmar Information Management Unit MIMU which coordinates the MNGO Network. In 2007 the international NGOs operating in Myanmar established an INGO Forum which presently has some 78 members. INGO Forum seeks to coordinate the interventions of INGOs in Myanmar. This coordination is really needed now, as all major INGOs are now moving in. INGOs can have remarkable role to build the capacity of local NGOs to deal with development challenges. In this stage INGOs are also needed to offer service delivery, as government is just building its health and education system. But in a long run it should be transferred to government run by proper taxation. Finnish CSOs in Myanmar Many Finnish NGOs are now planning to implement projects in Myanmar. There have been three Finnish NGOs and two foundations with prolonged projects in Myanmar. Also Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland has decided to finance development cooperation with 16 million Euros in three years to make Myanmar the next long-time partner country in Mekong region after Vietnam. Finnish NGO Project Local partner Abilis Foundation Disabled people s projects Abilis Myanmar coordinator Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission FELM FIDA International Finnish Refugee Council Finnish Red Cross Work on Myanmar Peace and Reconciliation Regional project on coordination and a project on community development in 8 regions in Myanmar Supporting the repatriated refugees Rehabilitation after typhoon Nargis and a health project in Magway province Euro Burma Office, Yangon Assembly of Gods congregations (ASC), NGOs FRC office in Yangon Red Cross Myanmar Finn Church Aid Planning a program in Lutheran World Organisation
Womens Bank Siemenpuu Foundation Finnish Trade Union Solidarity Centre SASK VIKES Media and Communication Foundation Myanmar Saving and credit groups MEE Net program in Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Daw Developing Forest and Wood workers trade union Yangon Film School Metta Foundation FCA office in Yangon REAM, Thazin Development Foundation, Green Activities Building and Woodworkers' International (BWI) and Free Trade Union of Burma (FTUB) Yangon Film Services