OIYP Blog Archive ? Movement Building in Burma

I have a firm and solid experience in facilitation subjects relating with Youth Development issues and have sound expertise in managing projects related with women and youth development. Since 2007, I have been working for the development of young people and women not only being as a volunteer but also as a program manager at NGO. Significantly, I founded Youth Education & Development Centre (YEDC) with my friends who want to make different our country by promoting quality education. In my opinion, young people are indispensible for nation?s development and it is very important for them to have adequate skills and knowledge. However, when I notice the situation of young people of Myanmar, I found that nearly 60% are unemployed and greater parts of them are being hopeless and helpless for their future. The system in Myanmar is highly decentralized which makes it difficult for young people to access the appropriate assistance to help them to receive training and support. There is a dire need for community-embedded organization to provide these services.
So, start form 2009, I concentrate my works on young people and women empowerment. I got an idea to establish Community Learning Center (CLC) that can support personal and societal development for Myanmar. The objective to establish CLC is by implementing that program, it has been one of the effective mechanisms for empowering individual and promoting community development in Yangon area. This program provides and open forum for young people to bridge their differences and develop cross-cultural, inter-faith relationships. Over and above, unlike with other community learning center my CLC provide training and resources to the women and youth groups who would otherwise not have the opportunity to do so. However, inadequate funding and lack of facilities led so many challenges to continue our work effectively and efficiently.
Among the challenges, we could do our best to curry on our movements and later we received some funding from American Embassy and Switzerland Embassy in 2011. Since then, we mainly focused our work in the following areas.
1.?Youth Space & Learning Market Place
I?ve got this idea when I participated in OIYP program that is to encourage youth to think differently and act differently for the community development. In Myanmar, we have to live under the rule of military regime that oppresses young people to think freely and critically. So, young people need a safe space to express their ideas and feelings: this is not widely encouraged in Myanmar for cultural and other reasons.? The Youth Space & Learning Market Place is open sessions and I arrange that session at least one time in a week. In the sessions, youth can reveal their ideas, though, feeling and requirement by words and letters. Under that activity youth have a safe space to reveal their innovative and creative ideas. Based on this space, I observe that which are the challenges for youth they currently facing and what kind of supports do they need by this experience, I organize monthly special talk programs which can give benefit for youth and that may leads a variety & plenty sources for learning opportunity.
2.?Cross Cultural Learning & Sharing
This is a unique program that provides and open forum for young people to bridge their differences and develop cross-cultural, inter-faith relationships.? In each program 15 participants form different Community Based organization (CBO) and students who are interested in the program participate and contribute their live experience and practical exercises. In the workshops, the participants will have a chance to present brief information of their organizations and why they are standing for. Youth from different groups and religious background would share their cultural belief, norms and their differences in order to build mutual trust and understanding among the groups.
3.?Library & Resource

I could establish a mini library as well community resource center. In the library, it has 350 books and more than 1,000 E-books. However, there is still need to add more resources to broaden learning opportunities for those young people accessing my program.
4.?Educational and Vocational Training
?In the Community Learning Center, we provide necessary training to youth but also for women who have only limited opportunities to access trainings and development. Every month, I arrange educational training and vocational training. For Educational training, I conducted the topic which is important for youth and current global issues such as Globalization, Time management, Leadership and Communication Skills, Personal Development and Health & Hygiene.? By those trainings, youth can realize themselves and start to think their individual development which is very important foundation for community development. These trainings help youth to live in better quality of life and youth will be developed capacities and self-confident. Vocational training is one of the most important activities for the livelihood of women and young people who has inadequate abilities to get good jobs and sustain by them. By through this training, women learnt about making Myanmar traditional foods, making fancy wears and bags and shaping fruits. So, after the training, they gained vocational skills and based on these new receiving skills they can make money for their better living.

In August 2010, I started to work with SMILE EDUCATION & DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION as a program manager as a paid job. Before this I used to work as a volunteer for small CBOs and I am still working as volunteer program manager for YEDC up to now. Working with Smile Education gave me a chance to participate in pro-democracy movements for political transition in Myanmar from Military junta to disciplined democracy. With Smile Education, I actively participated in the following movements.
Building Advocacy Networks
Nowadays, our country is a young democracy, in which strengthening of all the organs that may ensure democracy, is necessary. In democratic systems, the role of civil society organizations has traditionally been strong in interceding on behalf of their members, and also in monitoring the exercise of power, The CSOs are representing the people in large, and very often especially those, who are the most vulnerable. However, according to the government restrictions and some other challenges; civil society organizations are not as much as healthy and cannot be strengthen out their activities as they should.
?To fulfill the above need, I implement a project which envisages enhancing institutional capacities in terms of facilitating the organizations for preparing their organizations? operating procedures for effective delivery of their programs as well as setting strategic directions.? Under that project, I publish and distribute monthly newsletter for having linkages among CSOs and youth communities by introducing opportunities and available resources to uplift their status. Providing a networking space for CSOs to work together and connect with other social activists lead to develop cohesive collectives which can develop projects and work towards united goals. I arrange monthly networking meeting for member groups and launch joint-venture social activities for more effectiveness and efficiency of development activities. These workshop sessions carried out as combination of groups? presentations, special talks of ?live experiences and best practices? by the prominent social activist and brainstorming of how shall we overcome those challenges and issues.
Capacities Building for CSO
?Nowadays, the main problem of Myanmar CSO are, being activist centered voluntary organizations in nature these organizations lack organizational discipline and project management skills; which becomes a pre-requisite for these organizations when aspiring to work with INGOs and donors. This has not only limited the ability of these organizations to mobilize resources for their respective organizational projects but also donors trust on the capabilities of these organization. Furthermore, although there are so many civil society organizations in Myanmar, but, most of them are in the service providing level and do not attempts the true representative for their respective community to advocate for the policy changing. So that the voice from the people cannot be reached to the government policy making groups through the civil society as they are not playing the role that they should be.
?Civil societies and opponent political parties themselves are weak in good governance, transparency, accountability and sustainability. So that they cannot mobilize people power to bring change for a good transition to genuine democracy. There is an urgent need to capacitate political parties; admittedly ethnic parties are advanced; there is a need for civil society to identify allies ? the need to focus on individuals and leaders who can be molded to support people?s agenda for change.
?For the above issues, I implement a project for to enhance meaningful participation of people in democratization process and strengthening local civil society organizations for the development of communities. For that project, I conducted the Citizenship Awareness training not only in Yangon, but also in upper Myanmar and the targeted areas are Mandalay Division, Sagine Division and Shan State. I arrange training for Civil Society in those area and I also take parts as a trainer for the subject such as Project Cycle Management, Development Concept, Leadership Skills, Facilitation Skills, Personal Development and Community Mobilization.
?After the training, participants from targeted area had to go back to their respective area and shared the knowledge and skills that they gain from the training. They had to write proposal and do project and I had to manage, supervise for their sustainability and arrange to give small grant to some organizations. By doing so, we could broaden our network and establish small groups.

Source: http://oiyp.oxfam.org.au/blog/voice-newsletter/movement-building-in-burma/

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