2010 VOF Module 2 Draft

An organizer of a small local civil society organization

Moe Pauk used to be a paid staff for a social welfare program which was initiated by an entrepreneur of a leading IT and media firm in the country and his friends working in foreign countries. Personally, she is a strong believer in the relative importance between the well-being of children and the development of the country and she has a strong desire to work for poor children from grassroots community. In July 2009, her boss, some of the socially-mindful employees from the company, some interested outsiders who saw their Facebook initiative movement and herself sat together and tried to form a group which will not be part of their business and just as a social activism of active citizens to support vulnerable orphans in the society. Starting from that time, she has been a dedicated organizer for MOSN (Myanmar Orphans Support Network). Today, we can regard MOSN as an organization fulfilling the certain amount of needs for the community.

As an organizer, Moe Pauk really thanks all the volunteers who generously contribute their spare time with the group. However, working with may people through voluntarism is not an easy job. Some people do not come to the programs although they said that they would join. Some are very late to the crucial meeting for the organization. Everything is scattering within the group. She does not have any desire to blame anyone and she was so sorry for the situations and not being able to provide any incentives to them. Basically, just the funding source from individual well-wishers is not a workable and sustainable condition for an organization in Myanmar, a country lack of many basic needs. Why do not they apply a funding proposal to a donor agency? Absolutely, they have many acceptable answers and one of them is they do not have MoU (Memorandum of Understanding). Why do not they try to register for getting official status?

A founder of an organization

I had a chance to be friends and to collaborate with Kyi Pyar, who is a founder of an organization named AFP (Actions for Public). Her organization focuses on empowering PLHA women running sewing trainings, making a link between clothing industries in the markets and those women, giving support to their health and supporting micro finance program for them.

She is going to the United States of America very soon to pursue her master degree on Public Administration as a Fulbright scholar. For the sake of sustainability, those women can remain with their jobs from their homes even if AFP and Kyi Par no longer exist. Although their organization does not have legal registration, they have achieved a considerable amount of funding from some grant programs for renting building and logistic requirements and daily administrative things. And her organization has not faced many constraints and blockages attempted by the authority like many other organizations in urban cities as their office is in an unpopulated outskirts of Yangon and they do in a low-profile.

It was not a flowery rout to be able to stand in such a smooth position. At the very first steps of setting up AFP, she was about to give up it. After stopping the financial support by a donor which does not actually know the real local content and lack of practicing transparency and accountability in working humanitarian assistance works, the emergent small organization was inevitably in struggling circumstance. They also had to figure out the occupation that can be fitting with the PLHAs. In fact, the market they primarily endeavor was shoe-making and it was a very wearing out work for PLHAs. The organization still requires technical supports to complete the necessities of their beneficiaries in terms of mental, emotional, social and health care.

The predicaments in the reality

Instabilities, concern for the sustainable issue, inadequate resources such as fundamentally finance, human resource, capacity in terms of professionally and technically, not having systematic formal institutional structures, complicated and corrupted registration process, hindrances by the local authorities, just very tiny practice in accountability and transparency indicator within the organizations and partnering with other affiliates and highly demands of community are the major problems in Myanmar civil society.

If someone has keenness to conduct a research about the troubles in the civil society of Myanmar, everything is interconnected and can be seen clearly as a vicious cycle. The country has been a dictatorship military government which has been severely oppressed the people and spend the majority of country’s budget in the strengthening of the army and almost of the revenue goes to majors, senior officers and some elites who favor the regime and their families and relatives. Many percents of ordinary citizens are in poverty and cannot acquire the basic needs. NGOs, CBOs (Community Based Organization), CSOs (Civil Society Organization), faith based groups, self-help groups, youth groups, students alumni and women groups became the main components to fill the needs and gaps of the country which the state do not and cannot provide. The main concern of the junta, however, is to hold the power firmly as long as possible. Their perception is that strong civil society can pose a thread to the permanence of their reign. Whenever an organization implement a project or do a program, they can throw it with the reason of not having authorized MoU. So, the organization should industriously attempt to register legally, shouldn’t they? We have a bitter humor regarding the registration process to become an NGO. “We do not necessarily need to know any policy and we do not have reliable policy when we want to register our organizations, we just need to be familiar with a high-profile man such as generals or ministers and they are the policy”. In fact, we used to have legislative procedures for setting up an NGO. However, the policy maker themselves make their laws inconsistent and just their concerns and mouths can decide the condition. Later and later, the laws are dim and many people cannot access even about the existence of those laws. Whenever I ask someone the why they do not register their organization, they replied that it is very difficult. When I go on asking the reason of difficulties, most of them do not know exactly what is difficult. Therefore, even organizations are delivering their services to the people very carefully and cleverly in a low-profile ways, they are still facing many obstacles annoyed by the regime. As a result, the instability and inconsistency of organizations remain the situations of the people they are helping unchanged.

I had volunteered in a small organization based in British Council Burma’s library for two years starting from an apprentice who did not know any conceptual knowledge and skills of social and developmental works to a leading organizer. Since then, I have experienced and learnt infinity problems in NGO sector. Currently, working part-time for an INGO, I have been running a small CSO with my friends for two years to become a youth-led change agent in the country. Obviously, our organization does not have MoU and we are also facing many issues like other groups. Organizations like MOSN, AFP, organizers and founders like Moe Pauk and Kyi Pyar, aged 25 and 28 respectively young energetic ladies with many hopes for the future themselves and the country, volunteers, interns, beneficiaries, stakeholders, all those who are devoting in civil society, our colleagues, our comrades, our women, our sisters and our brothers are encountering those challenges on daily basis doing good and right things.

Background of civil society in Myanmar

Myanmar appreciated democratic rule from independence in 1948 until 1958 and from 1960 to 1962.
In the post-independence period, a rich civil society continued to develop in the cities and some towns, though not in the countryside. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, many of rural areas were damaged by
Civil War and hindered the development of civil society. In 1963 and 1964, private schools, missionary hospitals, and cinemas were nationalized and library associations were shut down by the Revolutionary Council, and public debates ended. The regime has not allowed civil society to function freely starting from during the period of 1988-1990 which was the stormiest time of the country’s political situation till now.

Thanks to the Cyclone Nargis in May 2008 which was the worst serious disaster historically and caused many damages, losses and causalities, several CSOs and CBOs emerged to serve for the relief and rehabilitation works. Based on the data form the NGOs in Myanmar website (http://www.ngoinmyanmar.org), 128 local NGOs, 99 international NGOs, 5 Red Cross movements, 13 UN agencies, 5 donor agencies, 105 NGO head offices and 9 NGO field offices are listed.

“So what”

An advisor in UN, Myanmar, as well as a former economic professor, a famous author and motivator for youths who also performed as a senior UN officer in Italy for a long time have said at a seminar the fact that Northern Italy is more developed than its Southern part. The cause is that the North has a vibrant civil society and it contributes a lot for the well-being of the locality. Absolutely, for the third-world country like Myanmar, the role of civil society is more crucial and can ultimately lead to democratization process.

As a result of efforts of NGOs, more children can access to education going to community school. Many youths can get exposure to UN, EU and international leading organizations, gain knowledge on globalization and the importance of quality education which can be very useful and helpful later in their lives and future of their country. NGOs introduced us about the transparency, accountability and participatory methods which are the basic principles of good governance. Together, the collective ideas can reach a positive change and our unite voices can amend democracy pieces by pieces. So, why should we focus on finding the solutions to fight against the unwanted adversities for ourselves, our people, our community and our country?

Seeking a space at a transition

Khaing Min from the Thingungyun township committee of NDF (National Democratic Force), one of the leading opposition political parties to the military government which won some proportions of seats in the very recent November 7 election, which is only and the first for the country after 1990, said that he, personally, hopes that civil society and authentic democratic allies in the coming Parliament can make a slice of positive change although USDP (Union Solidarity and Development Party), the regime’s party which won over 75 percents in the election. He believes, at a transition, winning democratic candidates can support civil society organizations proposing legal framework for civil society. He would like to urge CBOs and CSOs to make voices to be heard to the parliament. One of their party’s manifestos is to amend the international community to abrogate sanction affecting in Myanmar from the parliament. By this way, the international community plays a positive role in the right places. I agree with his ideology. Civil Society has to shout a loud about the limitations they have been facing to the democratic force and together we can propose and mandate effective policies for civil society organizations.

Although communication channels such as internet and mobile technologies are sensitively controlled, we all must connect, communicate, network, make partner and share the resources and information we have. Remember to practice transparency, accountability and participatory whenever working with other organizations and inside our own groups. Networks like Myanmar NGO Network and Myanmar Youth Forum can make a stronger voice than standing just as a group. Rural youths can present their ground experiences and urban youths can share their resources which are only available in cities like Yangon. So, exchange programs between rural and urban should be come out. Have holding strategic meetings among organizations. Personally, I would like to urge media industry to assist civil society. Benefit from international community. Think out of the box.

Myanmar is in a golden opportunity again. Grab it.