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Can women play a greater role in ending conflict in Myanmar?

Women's role in the peace process remains marginalized under Aung San Suu Kyi's government
Can women play a greater role in ending conflict in Myanmar?

Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, left,  and Myanmar State Counselor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi, right, attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers' meeting in Yangon on Dec. 19, 2016. (Photo by AFP) 

Published: January 20, 2017 04:33 AM GMT
Updated: March 07, 2017 07:48 AM GMT

Under Aung San Suu Kyi's government, hopes were high that women would play a greater role in ending the conflict that has plagued Myanmar for more than half a century.

Yet the role of women remains marginalized. Rights activists' repeated calls for a minimum quota of 30 percent women for peace talk participants have largely been ignored.

Nang Phyu Phyu Lin is a member of the Steering Committee for the Alliance for Gender Inclusion in the Peace Process (AGIPP), a civil society coalition of women's rights groups. She told ucanews.com that that the 30 percent minimum quota is an international standard that has already been incorporated into the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) and the political dialogue framework.

"The challenge is implementation," explained Phyu Phyu Lin, an ethnic Shan activist. "It still remains only on paper. Implementation very much depends on key stakeholders such as government, the military and ethnic armed groups — how willing they are to consider women's participation."

According to an analysis by AGIPP, just 14 percent of official participants at 21st Century Panglong Conference held in August 2016 were women. The alliance said that the figure was even lower for the government delegation of 75 representatives at the conference, of whom only seven — or 9 percent — were women.

The second Panglong Conference is planned in February, and women activists are pushing for greater participation in the talks.

Phyu Phyu Lin said that the alliance had high hopes for Aung San Suu Kyi's government, but will take a "wait and see" approach to how the government will encourage women's participation in upcoming peace conferences. 

Shila Nan Taung, upper house lawmaker for the ruling National League for Democracy party in Kachin State, said that there are few women in the high level meetings.

"We see greater participation of women in civil society groups but few women are involved at the leadership levels," Nan Taung told ucanews.com. Nan Taung is a member of the newly-formed secretariat to oversee the peace process, the National Reconciliation and Peace Centre (NRPC).

There are only two women among the 11 members of the NRPC: Nan Taung and Suu Kyi herself. Nan Taung maintains that since Suu Kyi's government came to power, the role of women in leadership has remained marginal.

Despite pre-election campaign promises of increased women's participation, Suu Kyi is the only woman to hold a senior ministerial position in the government she leads as state counselor and foreign minister. Just 13 percent of elected MPs are women.

Women's rights campaigners have called on the country's first democratically elected government to implement its international obligations under U.N. Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, and its commitments to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

May Sabae Phyu, director of the Gender Equality Network in Myanmar, said that it is still a long way to go for the inclusion of women in peace talks.

"The current challenge that we face is that Aung San Suu Kyi is involved in the peace process so the perception is that other women's participation is not necessary," May Sabae Phyu, an ethnic Kachin, told ucanews.com.

Mae Sabae Phyu is a respected women's rights and peace activist who was named an International Woman of Courage by the U.S. State Department in 2015. She said that most people see Suu Kyi as a democracy icon and the leader of the country but they don't see her as a woman.

She said that peace process affects all of Myanmar's people. Since more than half of the country's people are women, neglecting their voices and involvement may undermine comprehensive and effective peace talks.

"Let women be involved in the peace process so that their different experiences and ideas can help facilitate a durable peace," said May Sabae Phyu.

The decades-old conflict in Myanmar's borderlands has had a particular impact on women. Hundreds of thousands of people remain displaced due to ongoing violence and the country's Constitution ensures continued impunity for members of the military who commit acts of sexual violence during conflict. At the same time women have consistently been marginalized from attempts to find a lasting end to civil wars.

"Challenges remain for the legal protection of women. The social and cultural barriers are deeply rooted in society," said Nang Phyu Phyu Lin.

While continuing fighting between the military and ethnic armed groups in Kachin and Shan States make peace elusive, female advocates are pressing ahead to make their voices heard.

"Greater women's participation in the peace process will make for a comprehensive and long term solution to ending the conflict," said May Sabe Phyu.

 

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