{"id":4711,"date":"2018-01-18T12:35:57","date_gmt":"2018-01-18T06:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/new-eng\/?p=4711"},"modified":"2026-01-28T11:04:56","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T04:34:56","slug":"womens-participation-will-bolster-chances-for-peace-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/?p=4711","title":{"rendered":"Women\u2019s Participation Will Bolster Chances for Peace: Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0ZUE ZUE\u00a0<\/span>18 January 2018<\/p>\n

YANGON \u2014 A report on policies and strategies for promoting gender equality in Myanmar was released in Yangon on Jan. 15.<\/p>\n

The joint report was produced by the Salween Institute for Public Policy (SI) and Women\u2019s League of Burma (WLB), a coalition of 13 ethnic women\u2019s organizations engaged in promoting women\u2019s rights in Myanmar.<\/p>\n

The report provides wide-ranging recommendations for policymakers and activists to promote the role of women in Myanmar\u2019s peace process, nation-building and different levels of the legislative and executive branches.<\/p>\n

It explains the importance of gender equality and advantages of women\u2019s participation in leadership and decision-making, said officials of SI and WLB.<\/p>\n

The population of women is significantly higher than that of men in Myanmar, and if women are treated as the weaker sex, men will have to bear the burden of their female counterparts in the long run, argued Shine Ko Ko Lwin, a manager of SI.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, will we men bear their burden or give them a hand and work together as equals? Don\u2019t bear that burden. Working together as equals is beneficial to us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The four-part report elaborates on the benefits of increased participation of women in politics and decision-making, arguing that it could further cement peace agreements and bolster post-conflict rehabilitation and administration processes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWomen and children are hit hardest by clashes. So, it is fair to say that women want peace the most. But still, they are neglected. Without the voices of those who have borne the brunt, there will be no permanent peace,\u201d said Mal Soe Soe Nwe who is on the policy-making committee of WLB.<\/p>\n

Around half the peace agreements worldwide collapse within 10 years after the signing, but truces tend to last longer with higher women\u2019s participation in the process, said Ying Lao, a deputy director with SI.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, we can draw a conclusion that Myanmar\u2019s peace process is shaky now because of low women\u2019s participation,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The report also identifies the legal, societal, and institutional barriers that bar women from taking important roles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a societal belief that politics and leadership aren\u2019t suitable for women. Even women have that notion. We need to change that,\u201d said Ying Lao.<\/p>\n

Though political parties fielded women candidates in the 2015 election, voters tend to prefer men to represent and lead them, she claimed.<\/p>\n

According to UNESCO statistics, 34.2 percent of women and 25.7 percent of men have completed a high school education in Myanmar, while 80.5 percent of those with master\u2019s degrees and 80.8 of doctorate degree holders are women.<\/p>\n

This figure indicates that the number of educated women is much higher than that of men in Myanmar, and the notion that women\u2019s participation in politics and decision-making is low because of the low number of educated women is wrong, says the report.<\/p>\n

The report is designed for stakeholders such as the government, Parliament, ethnic armed groups, Tatmadaw, political parties, civil society organizations, media and international agencies.<\/p>\n

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.<\/em><\/p>\n

Irrawaddy News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0ZUE ZUE\u00a018 January 2018 YANGON \u2014 A report on policies and strategies for promoting gender equality in Myanmar was released in Yangon on Jan. 15. The joint report was produced by the Salween Institute for Public Policy (SI) and Women\u2019s League of Burma (WLB), a coalition of 13 ethnic women\u2019s organizations engaged in promoting women\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4711"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4713,"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4711\/revisions\/4713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equalitymyanmar.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}