CBOs hold Mon Women’s Conference consultations throughout Mon areas Woman and Child Rights Project – WCRP

March 21, 2016

WCRP: March 19, 2016

Last week Mon CBOs in Moulmein organised consultation sessions in 12 locations in Mon State and elsewhere, to support the second Mon Women’s Conference.

The Mon Women’s conference, to be held this year on March 19, aims to provide a space for Mon women from many different regions to present the problems they face to a wider audience.

CBOs in Moulmein recognised a need for consultation meetings prior to the second Mon Women’s Conference, after observing that representatives attending the first conference in 2013 were not well prepared to present their concerns.

Nai Chan Lawi, from the Mon Women’s Organization (MWO), explained, “During the previous Women’s Conference in 2013, the female representatives from different areas were very weak in their presentations on the problems and challenges they faced. They didn’t prepare their presentations in advance. So, this year we have organised consultation meetings, to collect the voices of women from different areas.”

Last week’s consultations were spearheaded by MWO, in collaboration with Mon CBO the Women’s Empowerment Program (WEP). Meetings were organised from March 15 to 18, in Kyaikmayaw, Taung Bauk, Ye Chaung Phyar, Three Pagodas Pass, Yebyu, Mudon, Chaung Zone, Southern Ye, Northern Ye, Thanbyuzayat, Paung and Kyar Inn Seik Kyi.

The consultations aimed to gather data about challenges facing Mon women, both in Mon State and other Mon-dominant areas. According to MWO’s Nai Chan Lawi, substantial data was collected from the meetings. Women complained of insufficient space in politics and the peace process, poor security, gender discrimination, harmful traditional practices, and poor legal mechanisms for victims of sexual abuse.

The consultations aimed to empower rural women by encouraging them to share their concerns, while exploring how CBOs and women’s organisations can solve problems faced by Mon women through promotion of women’s rights.

Written by Modinator · Filed Under News