Government sets date for second 21st Century Panglong Conference session Following the first Joint Implementation Coordination Meeting (JICM) on the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) held in Naypyidaw on April 24

th, the Government of Myanmar set the date for the second session of

the 21st Century Panglong peace conference for May 24

th, 2017.

State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma Army deputy commander in chief Senior General Soe Win, and Karen National Union (KNU) chairman Saw Mutu Say Poe delivered the opening speeches at the JICM, which was a t t e n d e d b y representatives of the government, the Burma Army, and ethnic armed organizations. The United Nations Secretary General will be invited to the opening of the second round of conference according to Khun Okkar, the patron of the Pa-O National Liberation Organisation (PNLO). Khun Okkar also told reporters in Naypyidaw that the UNFC has agreed to hold political negotiations at the upcoming conference. Click here.

April in Review

Outcome of political dialogue

to be submitted to upcoming

peace conference

Award-winning Burma peace

advocate: ‘The process needs

more women’

Women and War: A Karen

leader’s account

Myanmar military won’t accept

revision of peace agreement:

Deputy Commander-in-Chief

G o v e r n m e n t ’ s p e a c e

commission to meet with

Northern Alliance after water

festival

Shan state regional dialogue to

proceed but ethnic dialogue

stalled

“Achieve peace through

dialogue rather than arms”:

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

State Counsellor rejects

nat ional leve l po l i t ica l

dialogue in Rakhine state

AGIPP Monthly Newsletter

May 2017

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© Gender Equality Network

Policy Brief 2 & 3 launch and International Organization (IO) meeting to be held in May On May 18

th, 2017 AGIPP will launch two new policy Briefs on Women,

Peace and Security. Brief 2, entitled, ‘Moving from Discrimination to

Inclusion: Gender Perspectives on the Political Dialogue Themes’

examines women’s perspectives on the political dialogue themes, and

Brief 3, ‘International Standards guiding gender inclusion in Myanmar’s

peace process’ looks at the application of international norms and their

relevance in Myanmar. On May 18th AGIPP will also hold its 5

th IO/INGO

coordination meeting, introducing talking points to accompany these

Policy Briefs for use in international advocacy efforts on WPS.

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AGIPP’s Steering Committee member May Sabe Phyu speaks at TEDx in Yangon On May 21

st, Gender Equality Network

(GEN)’s Director and AGIPP Steering Committee member Daw May Sabe Phyu, will take the stage of TEDx Yangon to share her experience working as an advocate for women’s rights and gender equality in Myanmar. She will be accompanied by 22 other leaders from diverse sectors. The event will take place at the Rose Garden Hotel in Yangon. TED is the world famous Technology, Entertainment, Design conference, independently runs across the world to share inspiring ideas and dialogue in communities around the world. For more information about the TEDx event, visit: https://www.ted.com/talks

© Anna Widoff

AGIPP’s Steering C o m m i t t e e Meeting to be held on May 19th

& 20th On 19

th and 20

th of May

(following the AGIPP Policy Br ief launching event) , AGIPP’s Steering Committee members will gather for their regular meeting at Best West-ern Green Hill hotel. Details forthcoming.

© AGIPP

Outcome of political dialogue to be submitted to upcoming peace

conference

The three-day national-level political dialogue has ended in Taungyi, Myanmar’s southern Shan State. The outcome of the region-wide dialogue will be submitted to the upcoming Second Meeting of the country’s 21

st Century Panglong Peace

Conference, according to an official report released Wednesday. A total of 57 papers, submitted by representatives of signatory armed groups to the National Ceasefire Accord (NCA) and political parties were discussed at the three-day dialogue meeting which concluded on Tuesday. Various points of view

were compiled for further presentation to the Panglong peace conference. Click here.

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Award-winning Burma peace advocate: ‘The process needs more women’

An advocate lauded for her contribution to Burma’s peace process earlier this week has

stressed that women should be involved in “every single step” of the country’s journey to

stability.

Ethnic Kachin peace facilitator Ja Nan Lahtaw was honored by the European Union in its

Schuman Awards, along with human rights educator U Aung Myo Min and the late

prominent lawyer U Ko Ni.

Reflecting on the Schuman medal, she said, “It has given me the strength to move

forward with the work I am doing, despite all the challenges that lie ahead.”

The Schuman Awards—named after former French Foreign Minister and founding father of the European Union, Robert Schuman—were established this year to recognize the merits of those in Burma defending peace, democracy and human rights, according to the EU delegation website. Click here.

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Women and War: A Karen leader’s account

Naw Zipporah Sein was born in Karen State, where a 60-year-long conflict between

the Burma Army and ethnic groups fighting for independence has left hundreds of

thousands dead or displaced, with many Karen fleeing to neighboring Thailand.

Memories of war are painfully fresh for the former KNU vice chairperson.

“If men die in battle, it is over. If they don’t die, they win. For them, it sounds simple,

but for women, the suffering remains like a wound. It is traumatic. “Their fear of war

is like a clear picture that doesn’t fade away easily,” she tremors, reclining on her

wooden chair. Click here.

Shan state regional dialogue to proceed but ethnic dialogue

stalled

The government has convened the regional national-level dialogue in Shan State, from April 23-25, but the ethnic-based political dialogue led by the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) remains unable to proceed. The start of the regional political dialogue in Taunggyi “is out of step,” Lt-Col Sai Ngin, the spokesperson of the RCSS, said. He noted that the RCSS was told by the Burma Army not to conduct a large-scale public consultation in the state capital, but to do so in remote towns in RCSS-controlled areas. The Tatmadaw’s reluctance to agree to allow the RCSS—an NCA signatory—to gather the public in the state capital has delayed the process. “We have not acquired our common perspectives to share at the upcoming peace conference,” said Lt-Col Sai Ngin of the second session of the 21st Century Panglong event slated to be held

in May. Click here.

“Achieve peace through

dialogue rather than arms”:

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

said that peace could not be achieved

through armed struggle but by political

means and political dialogue. She was

speaking with rural youths at Myanmar

International Convention Centre in

Naypyitaw on April 11th.

Daw Suu Kyi said that peace was badly

and quickly needed to cure wounds and

injuries caused by 60 years of civil war.“If

we want to get rid of these wounds and

injuries we must work for achieving

peace faster,” she said. Click here.

State Counsellor rejects

na t iona l l eve l po l i t i ca l

dialogue in Rakhine state

State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi rejected the Arakan Liberation Party’s (ALP) request to hold an ethnic-based national level political dialogue in Arakan State because the region is perceived as being too sensitive, Daw Saw Mra Razar Lin, member of the ALP central executive committee, told the Irrawaddy. The national level political dialogue is a mandatory step of the nationwide cease-fire agreement (NCA), wherein regional stakeholders discuss suggestions at large scale pubic consultations—the re-sults of which are shared by representa-tives at the Union Peace Conference or

21st Century Panglong. Click here.

Myanmar military won’t accept revision of peace agreement:

Deputy Commander-in-Chief

Myanmar’s powerful military will not accept any revisions or amendments to a nationwide ceasefire agreement it signed in October 2015 with eight ethnic armed groups. Such revisions could be seen as accommodating the remaining militias that have refused to sign or have been excluded from the pact, Soe Win, the country’s deputy commend-in-chief of the armed forces said Monday. During a meeting on the implementation of the nationwide cease-fire agreement (NCA) in the capital Naypyidaw, Vice-Senior General Soe Win ruled out any changes to the NCA as part of the government’s efforts to end decades of civil wars that have stymied Myanmar’s political and economic development. That meeting comes as the military, government peace envoys, and representatives from ethnic armed groups prepare for another round of negotiations.

“Asking ethnic armed groups to sign the NCA is not asking them to abandon their weapons, but some groups have misunderstood this,” Soe Win, the country’s deputy commend-in-chief, said, “I want the leaders from the groups that have signed the NCA to explain this point to the people from non-NCA groups who have misunderstood this or who pretend not to understand it.” Click here.

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Government’s peace commission to

meet with Northern Alliance after

water festival

The government-formed peace commission and the Northern Alliance (which comprises the TNLA, the AA, the MNDAA and the KIA) have made a plan to hold a private meeting after Thingyan, according to Brigadier-General Tar Phone Kyaw, the general secretary of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA). The chairman of the peace commission contacted three members of the Northern Alliance to hold a meeting on April 7 and 8 ahead of Thingyan. But the appointment date coincided with the annual ceremony of the Arakan Army (AA), meaning that the three other members of the Northern Alliance (TNLA, the MNDAA and the KIA) were engaged but not the

AA. Click here.

ENPOWERING QUOTE

“I fundamentally believe our society works best when women are at the forefront.” _Justin Trudeau Prime Minister of Canada.

© National Post / Canada newspaper