Mon women continue their fight at the Mon National Conference 2016

September 7, 2016

The Mon National Conference 2016 was held in Paw Law Kone Village, an area controlled by the New Mon State Party (NMSP), in Kyar Inn Seik Kyi Township, Mon State. The event was held on 3 days from August 22 to 24, 2016.

The conference was organized by the NMSP and 446 representatives from political parties, civil society organizations and the religious community. According to a statement released on August 24, 16% of participants were women.

The purpose of the conference was to adopt federal principles of Mon nationalities that would be presented at the Union Peace Conference – 21st Century Panglong and to discuss the unison of Mon political communities.

The women’s representatives discussed the federal system and the solidarity of the Mon political communities and urged to allow the participation of 30% of woman in political affairs.

However, Mi Ah Mu Chan, a female representative from the Women’s Empowerment Program – WEP, said that the conference had been dominated by male representatives and there were no women’s rights issues discussed in the conference.

“Nai Hong Sar, the vice-chairman of the NMSP, said he welcomed women’s participation in political affairs. However, he said, after getting married, (most) women have to focus on domestic tasks and have no time to participate in political affairs. Some representatives thought the fight to allow the participation of 30% of woman in political affairs was a joke. So as a female representative, I didn’t feel very well in the conference,” said Mi Ah Mu Chan.

Daw Ngwe Lay from the Jaytanar Foundation said the female participants urged the conference to allow 30% of woman in every sector and to give support to women who do not have the skills yet. She also emphasized that there was a very limited amount of time to discuss women’s issues in the conference.

Newspapers have promised to fight for gender equality and the fight against gender discrimination; however, it has not been materialized: women have not stopped fighting for their rights.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News