Mon Women’s Conference calls for Mon Women to Participate in Burma’s Transition to Democracy

March 14, 2014

At last week’s inaugural Mon Women’s Conference (MWC), Mon women encouraged each other to raise their voices and demand their right to participate in decision-making processes throughout Burma’s civil and governmental sectors.

The first-ever MWC was held from March 8-12th, 2014, and welcomed 178 attendees to the 2500 Sarsana Monastery in Moulmein, Mon State. Included among the attendees were 139 women and 39 men from 42 organizations.

According MWC’s facilitator, objectives for the meeting were twofold. First, the MWC aimed to increase Mon women’s participation in seeking access to justice, as well as increasing participation in the peace process; secondly, the meeting aimed to increase the leadership skills of Mon women in order for them to better participate in Burma’s transitional process.

According to MWC organizing committee chairwoman, Mi Cherry Soe, topics discussed at the conference included health, education, society, protection, women’s rights, children’s rights, and cultural heritage. Mi Cherry Soe notes that, “Mon women were less invited to participate in working for politics and the peace process. We already raised our voice to [participate] long ago, but our request was not implemented. Now we asked again in this Mon Women’s Conference”.

The MWC released a statement stating their objectives, which include: (1) to open the Mon Women’s Network, (2) work to include women in politics and other areas of civil and public sectors, as seen in the rules of QUOTA, (3) to include 1/3% of women as members and representatives in the upcoming Mon National Conference, (4) to include 30% of women in political and peace process decision-making, (5) to recruit responsible people to seek justice on behalf of Mon women who have been victims of sexual violence, (6) to eliminate widespread drug issues found in local areas, (7) to protect and restore women and child rights, (8) to have ethnic language curricula taught in primary school, and the government must provide for the teachers.

The MWC welcomed Mon women’s group leaders from Rangoon Division, Tenasserism region, Mon State, and Karen State, as well as representatives from the New Mon State Party, the All Mon Regions Democracy Party, the Mon Democracy Party, the Shin Saw Pu Association, and representatives of youth groups such as the Mon Youth Progressive Organization, the Mon Youth Educator Organization and the Mon Social and Development Network.

Written by Modinator · Filed Under News