There is a huge lack of human resource in the country, and there are those who want to fill the gap.  But there is no existing legal mechanism that allows the Burma-natives, who have been in foreign country for a long, long time, to return and stay in the country for a good amount of time to make a difference.  Reports have been floated before that the Burmese government is thinking about granting permanent resident status to expatriates who are former citizens of Burma.  But, nothing concrete has yet developed.

In the meantime, whether the country can move onto development phase or not depends largely on how durable the ceasefire agreements are between the government and ethnic armed forces.  It seems premature to initiate development projects in ethnic areas, when there is no clear structure or boundary of authority and responsibility between the government and ethnic organizations.  And, it is uncertain if the ceasefire will turn into political negotiation process.  We all know that ceasefire is only a temporary step before political dialogues towards lasting political solution.

Though this may be the path less traveled by, we believe that empowering communities, especially different ethnic communities in conflict areas, is very important.  After all, the ethnic community themselves will have to make their own determination as to what kind of development they want and how they can achieve their goal of self-determination.

Posted by SI

Before 2015 elections, the government of Burma/Myanmar plans to collect national population census in 2014.  It will be the first census to be collected in 30 years.  Data collected from this census will play a critical role in Burma’s future politics and will likely impact the lives of citizens in many ways.  It is important we provide necessary information to the rural population so that they can participate properly and represent themselves accurately in the Census, so that that the government can accurately count population by ethnicity.   In the future, beyond 2015 in particular, the government will likely be forced to measure funding levels for programs and improvements at every level of societal living based on data collected from this Census.

Government funding for education, for example, may be distributed by population, which is measured by the Census.  Which ethnic language is to be taught at which school will also be determined by ethnic population count.  Many other public policy determinations will be made and debated based on the outcome of 2014 Census.   It is about time political parties and civil society organizations in Burma begin to educate the public and prepare for holding the government accountable for the accurate count of the country’s population. 

Posted by SI