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Title: New Religious Legislation in Myanmar
Source/publisher: Conflict Prevention and Peace Forum
Date of publication: 2015-02-13
Description: "Since Myanmar?s opening in 2011, the country has seen a rise in Burman-Buddhist nationalism. Monk-led groups such as ?969? and the Organization for Protection of Race and Religion (?MaBaTha?) and their messages of religious chauvinism enjoy strong popular support. Islam and its followers are particular targets. In addition to sporadic outbreaks of mob violence, this nationalist sentiment has expressed itself in calls for laws to promote and protect Buddhism. This paper provides an overview of the current status of this draft legislation. It looks at origins of the bills currently before the legislature, a summary of their key provisions, the likely next steps and their political implications. It also discusses the recent moves to disenfranchise over a million Temporary Registration Card holders ? most of whom are Muslim, and many of whom are in Rakhine State..."
Creator/author: Richard Horsey
Date of entry/update: 2015-02-21
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 246.18 KB
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Title: Yearning to be heard - Mon Farmers? continued struggle for acknowledgement and protection of their rights (Burmese မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Source/publisher: Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM)
Date of publication: 2015-02-00
Description: "In October 2013, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) released "Disputed Territory", a report documenting the emerging trend of Mon farmers fighting for recognition of their land rights in the face of unjust land and property confiscations. The report analyzed specific barriers impeding their success, from weak land policy and inadequate dispute resolution mechanisms, to an absence of support from various sources. While "Disputed Territory" explored the broad spectrum of land right violations among Mon communities, our current report focuses more specifically on the progress, or lack thereof, in cases of military land confiscation. In this regard, over a year has passed and yet Mon farmers continue to find themselves in a fruitless struggle. New details of past and on-going unjust military land acquisition continue to be brought to HURFOM and other media outlets, on the one hand proving that Burma?s political climate has become a safer space for victims to petition their rights, while on the other hand showing that significant challenges continue to preclude true justice for housing land and property (HLP) rights violations. Since the release of "Disputed Territory", and addressing one of the barriers to justice it highlighted, Mon farmers have gained greater access to education regarding their HLP rights, and are more aware of procedural requirements for landholders under the 2012 land laws. However, while farmers have repositioned themselves, armed with information and supported by advocates, progress remains stalled: farmers? land rights and tenancy remain insecure, properties confiscated by the military have not been returned, and farmers have not yet been justly compensated. Although there are legal channels through which farmers may now petition for their rights, appeals go unanswered. Compounding the lack of restitution for previous infractions, Burma?s small-scale farmers continue to live under the threat of future, continued land confiscations. With the value of Burma?s land steadily increasing, farmers are eager to have their land returned to them, or be provided with just compensation. Patience is running thin among those seeking justice, as the government continues to deny responsibility for the military?s crimes and government bodies established to resolve land disputes fail to do so. Farmers have learned their lessons from the past, changed their strategy in fighting for their rights, but the results remain the same. Building on previous analysis, HURFOM contends that continuing barriers to progress lie primarily in the country?s broken land management system, the failures of recent land laws to secure the protection of farmers? land rights, the failure of government bodies and authorities to perform their responsibilities unbiased from military influence, and the total impunity of the military due to the independent structure of the courts-martial. Ultimately, HURFOM advocates that deep structural change regarding these deficiencies is required, in order to redress past violations and protect farmers? land security into the future; in doing so assisting the slow process of reconciliation and trust-building between Burma?s government and Mon populations..."
Date of entry/update: 2015-02-19
Type: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf
Size: 2.59 MB
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Title: Yearning to be heard - Mon Farmers? continued struggle for acknowledgement and protection of their rights
Source/publisher: Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM)
Date of publication: 2015-02-00
Description: "In October 2013, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) released "Disputed Territory", a report documenting the emerging trend of Mon farmers fighting for recognition of their land rights in the face of unjust land and property confiscations. The report analyzed specific barriers impeding their success, from weak land policy and inadequate dispute resolution mechanisms, to an absence of support from various sources. While "Disputed Territory" explored the broad spectrum of land right violations among Mon communities, our current report focuses more specifically on the progress, or lack thereof, in cases of military land confiscation. In this regard, over a year has passed and yet Mon farmers continue to find themselves in a fruitless struggle. New details of past and on-going unjust military land acquisition continue to be brought to HURFOM and other media outlets, on the one hand proving that Burma?s political climate has become a safer space for victims to petition their rights, while on the other hand showing that significant challenges continue to preclude true justice for housing land and property (HLP) rights violations. Since the release of "Disputed Territory", and addressing one of the barriers to justice it highlighted, Mon farmers have gained greater access to education regarding their HLP rights, and are more aware of procedural requirements for landholders under the 2012 land laws. However, while farmers have repositioned themselves, armed with information and supported by advocates, progress remains stalled: farmers? land rights and tenancy remain insecure, properties confiscated by the military have not been returned, and farmers have not yet been justly compensated. Although there are legal channels through which farmers may now petition for their rights, appeals go unanswered. Compounding the lack of restitution for previous infractions, Burma?s small-scale farmers continue to live under the threat of future, continued land confiscations. With the value of Burma?s land steadily increasing, farmers are eager to have their land returned to them, or be provided with just compensation. Patience is running thin among those seeking justice, as the government continues to deny responsibility for the military?s crimes and government bodies established to resolve land disputes fail to do so. Farmers have learned their lessons from the past, changed their strategy in fighting for their rights, but the results remain the same. Building on previous analysis, HURFOM contends that continuing barriers to progress lie primarily in the country?s broken land management system, the failures of recent land laws to secure the protection of farmers? land rights, the failure of government bodies and authorities to perform their responsibilities unbiased from military influence, and the total impunity of the military due to the independent structure of the courts-martial. Ultimately, HURFOM advocates that deep structural change regarding these deficiencies is required, in order to redress past violations and protect farmers? land security into the future; in doing so assisting the slow process of reconciliation and trust-building between Burma?s government and Mon populations..."
Date of entry/update: 2015-02-19
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 834.47 KB 2.59 MB
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Title: Disputed Territory - Mon farmers fight against unjust land acquisition and barriers to their progress
Source/publisher: Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM)
Date of publication: 2013-10-00
Description: "Over the years HURFOM has produced a number of accounts highlighting the hardships faced by Mon farmers who became victims of land confiscation or unjust land acquisition.1 In this report HURFOM follows-up on previously documented abuses and concentrates on an emerging new trend: farmers? active and collective pursuits for rights to their land. Disputed Territory aims to elaborate on the activities of and express solidarity with farmers who are resolutely, and in some cases for the first time, seeking justice regarding their land. To exhibit current challenges and bring into focus some of the key obstacles in the Mon context, this report uses case studies of appeals over past military land confiscations in Ye Township and on-going transgressions by various investors in Kyaikmayaw Township. Where barriers to justice exist, HURFOM recommends effective and immediate solutions. HURFOM contends that farmers? newly voiced demands present an important opportunity for President Thein Sein?s government. Inherent in an environment of growing activism is the chance to meet appeals with justice, thereby demonstrating to domestic and international critics that the administration is committed to a clear break with the abuses of past military regimes. Violations of farmers? rights need to be publicly condemned and owners of wrongfully seized land must have property restored or be given fair compensation. There is an urgent need for the establishment of a credible legal framework to prevent dispossession and violated rights from continuing to be hallmarks of agrarian life under this government?s nominally civilian rule..."
Date of entry/update: 2015-02-19
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.91 MB
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Title: THE CHALLENGE OF DEMOCRATIC AND INCLUSIVE LAND POLICYMAKING IN MYANMAR.
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI)
Date of publication: 2015-02-00
Description: A RESPONSE TO THE DRAFT NATIONAL LAND USE POLICY...."...The main problems with the current draft of the policy stem from: its failure to recognize that land has more than an economic function and that many past and present small land users have more than just economic attachments to their land; and from its failure to recognize that for any land policy to have political legitimacy and succeed, it must necessarily also have as one of its central purposes to seek to confront the twin issues of correcting past social injustices and promoting social justice. Additionally, the NLUP must address the question of how to move from an overly centralized system of governance in light of ethnic minority groups? desires to move towards a more federal system..."
Date of entry/update: 2015-02-18
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 356.4 KB
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Title: The Imperial Gazetteer of India (all 26 volumes)
Source/publisher: His Majesty?s Secretary of State for India
Date of publication: 1908-00-00
Description: The 26 volumes of The Imperial Gazetteer of India published in 1908 or 1909 when Burma was administered as part of India, are a major source of information about Burma. The most accessible online sources of the Gazetteer we have found are Archive.org, Osmania University Digital Library and Chicago University?s Digital South Asia Library. We have mainly used the versions at Archive.org, but since these are rather large files, we have reduced them using Finereader Pro 11 Optical Character Recognition software. We produced two ?OBL versions” of each volume, one with a crisp text of 3-4MB containing numerous digitisation errors, mostly figures, accents, transliteration symbols and tables (we did some light editing, but with a total of about 12,000 pages, detailed editing was beyond our capacity); and one of 12-16MB with fuzzier text but with less errors. The smaller files, some of which are taken direct from the Osmania University collection, can be opened and searched more easily, but if greater accuracy is needed, use the larger OBL versions or the original scans. These can be accessed via the links provided to Archive.org or the DSAL, which has read-only versions organised by volume and chapter and an overall search engine... The editions used here are those of 1908 or 1909. The online collections at Osmania University Digital Library and Archive.org also contain the editions of 1886
Date of entry/update: 2015-02-18
Type: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 119.61 KB
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Title: TOWARDS A HEALTHIER LEGAL ENVIRONMENT - A REVIEW OF MYANMAR?S DRUG LAWS(မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ မူးယစ်ဆေးဝါးဥပဒေများကို ပြင်ဆင်ရန် စိစစ်သုံးသပ်?
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI)
Date of publication: 2015-02-00
Description: "This report reviews Myanmar?s drug laws and related policies, including the 1917 Burma Excise Act; the 1993 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law; and the 1995 Rules relating to Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. Since these laws were enacted several important changes have taken place inside and outside of Myanmar. The decision of the Myanmar Government to review the law is not only timely but also offers a prospect to improve the drugs legislation and to ensure that the laws address drug-related problems in the country more effectively. It is an opportunity to ensure that affected populations have access to health care and development, taking into account both national conditions and international developments and best practices. This review paper will first give an overview of Myanmar?s current legal and policy framework related to drugs, followed by an overall analysis. After that it will make specific comments on a number of key articles. In addition, the review will outline some international obligations and best practices. Finally, the paper will make some overall conclusions and recommendations..." "ဤအစီရင်ခံစာသည် ၁၉၁၇ ခုနှစ် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံယစ်မျိုးအက်ဥပဒေ၊ ၁၉၉၃ ခုနှစ် မူးယစ်ဆေးဝါးနှင့် စိတ်ကိုပြောင်းလဲစေသော ဆေးဝါးများဆိုင်ရာဥပဒေ၊ ၁၉၉၅ ခုနှစ် မူးယစ်ဆေးဝါးနှင့် စိတ်ကိုပြောင်းလဲစေသောဆေးဝါးများဆိုင်ရာ နည်းဥပဒေ တို့အပါအဝင် မူးယစ်ဆေးဝါးနှင့် ပတ်သက်သည့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ တည်ဆဲဥပဒေများနှင့် မူဝါဒများကို ဆန်းစစ်သုံးသပ်ထားခြင်းဖြစ်သည်။ အဆိုပါဥပဒေများ စတင်အသက်ဝင် ပြီးနောက်ပိုင်း မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအတွင်းနှင့် နိုင်ငံတကာ၌ အရေးပါသည့် အပြောင်းအလဲများ ဖြစ်ပေါ်လာခဲ့သည်။ ဥပဒေကို စိစစ်ပြင်ဆင်မည့် မြန်မာအစိုးရ၏ ဆုံးဖြတ်ချက်သည် အချိန်ကိုက်ဖြစ်ရုံမျှမက မူးယစ်ဆေးဝါးဆိုင်ရာဥပဒေ ပြဋ္ဌာန်းချက်များကို ပိုမိုတိုးတက် ကောင်းမွန်လာအောင် ဆောင်ရွက်နိုင်မည့် အလားအလာကောင်းများကို ဖော်ထုတ် ပေးပြီးမြန်မာနိုင်ငံအတွင်း ရင်ဆိုင်ကြုံတွေ့နေရသည့် မူးယစ်ဆေးဝါးဆိုင်ရာ ပြဿနာ ရပ်များကို ထိထိရောက်ရောက် ကိုင်တွယ်ဖြေရှင်းနိုင်သည့် ဥပဒေများပေါ်ပေါက်လာ အောင်အထောက်အကူပြုလျက်ရှိသည်။ ပြည်တွင်းအနေအထားများ၊ နိုင်ငံတကာ ဖွံ့ဖြိုးရေးလုပ်ငန်းများနှင့် အကောင်းဆုံးအလေ့အထများကို ထည့်သွင်းပေါင်းစပ်၍ မူးယစ်ဆေးဝါးကြောင့် ထိခိုက်ခံစားရလျက်ရှိသည့် လူထုအတွက် လိုအပ်လျက်ရှိသည့် ကျန်းမာရေး ပြုစုစောင့်ရှောက်မှုနှင့် ဖွံ့ဖြိုးရေးအကူအညီများကို လက်လှမ်းမီအသုံးပြု နိုင်အောင် ဆောင်ရွက်ပေးနိုင်မည့် အလားအလာကောင်းတစ်ရပ်ဖြစ်သည်။ ဤဆန်းစစ်သုံးသပ်ချက်စာတမ်း၌ မူးယစ်ဆေးဝါးနှင့် ပတ်သက်သည့် မြန်မာ နိုင်ငံ၏ တည်ဆဲဥပဒေနှင့် မူဝါဒရေးရာမူဘောင်နှင့် ပတ်သက်၍ ခြုံငုံဆန်းစစ်ချက် အကျဉ်းပါရှိသည့် ယေဘုယျသုံးသပ်ချက်ဖြင့် စတင်ထားပါသည်။ ထို့နောက် ဥပဒေပါ အချို့သောပုဒ်မများအပေါ် အသေးစိတ်စိစစ်သုံးသပ်ချက်များဖြင့် ဆက်လက်ရှင်း လင်းဖော်ပြထားပါသည်။ ထို့ပြင် ဆန်းစစ်သုံးသပ်မှုအတွင်း နိုင်ငံတကာတာဝန်ဝတ္တရား များနှင့် အကောင်းဆုံးအလေ့အထများကိုလည်း မီးမောင်းထိုးပြထားပါသည်။ နောက်ဆုံး အနေဖြင့် စာတမ်းအဆုံးပိုင်း၌ နိဂုံးချုပ်သုံးသပ်ချက်များနှင့် အကြံပြုထောက်ခံချက် အချို့ကို သုံးသပ်တင်ပြထားပါသည်။...."
Creator/author: Martin Jelsma, Ernestien Jensema, Nang Pann Ei Kham, Tom Kramer, Gloria Lai, Tripti Tandon
Date of entry/update: 2015-02-16
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English & Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf
Size: 200.85 KB
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Title: The Myanmar Forest Rules of 1995 - သစ်တောနည်းဥပဒေများ
Source/publisher: Myamar Ministry of Forestry
Date of publication: 1995-12-01
Date of entry/update: 2015-02-12
Type: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf
Size: 247.93 KB
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Title: OPEN FOR BUSINESS? CORPORATE CRIME AND ABUSES AT MYANMAR COPPER MINE
Source/publisher: Amnesty International
Date of publication: 2015-02-10
Description: Executive Summary: "This report is the culmination of a one year investigation by Amnesty International into alleged human rights abuses by companies, including multinational companies, operating in Myanmar. The report focuses on the Monywa copper mine project and highlights forced evictions, substantial environmental and social impacts, and the repression, sometimes brutal, of those who try to protest. It also raises serious questions about opaque corporate dealings and possible infringements of economic sanctions on Myanmar. The report calls on the Government of Myanmar to urgently introduce strong measures for the protection of human rights, and on multinational companies and the home governments of those companies to ensure that due diligence is carried out to international standards for all investment in Myanmar...This report examines the issues in relation to one major mining operation - the Monywa project - made up of the Sabetaung and Kyisintaung (S&K) and the Letpadaung copper mines. During an extensive one-year investigation, Amnesty International examined incidents that are specific to the Monywa project as well as some of the wider structural issues ? such as the processes for acquisition of land and environmental protection ? that will affect other extractive projects in Myanmar. The organization found that, since its inception and throughout its various changes in ownership, the Monywa project has been characterised by serious human rights abuses and a lack of transparency. Thousands of people have been forcibly evicted by the government with the knowledge, and in some cases the participation, of foreign companies. Environmental impacts have been poorly assessed and managed, with grave long-term implications for the health and livelihoods of people living near the mine. Protests by communities have been met with excessive force by police...".....CONCLUSION: The Government of Myanmar is responsible for the serious human rights violations that have taken place at the Monywa project over many years. It has forcibly evicted people and has failed to put in place safeguards to protect mine-affected communities from environmental pollution which can im- pact their rights to water and health, amongst other rights. It has shown an unwillingness to monitor corporate activity or to hold companies accountable for the harm their operations cause. The companies involved also bear responsibility. Despite a history of human rights violations sur- rounding the mine, a Canadian company, and subsequently a Chinese company, have invested without undertaking appropriate due diligence to ensure that past abuses were remediated and future abuses prevented. They have profited from abuses that they knew or should have known were happening, and have, in certain cases, themselves abused rights by participating in forced evictions or failing to remediate environmental pollution. The system that enabled the transfer of the Monywa project to a business venture that involved My- anmar military interests, without any transparency as to how such a sale occurred, is emblematic of the lack of accountability that exists around allocations of concessions and contracts in the extractive industry in Myanmar. The people of Myanmar must not see a resource curse unfold as it has done in so many other countries where powerful economic interests profit from a context in which regulation is weak, the government is unwilling to hold powerful political interests accountable and there is little or no transparency. The home states of multinational corporations must ensure that these corporations do not unjustly enrich themselves at the expense of Myanmar?s poorest people. The home states of companies involved in the Monywa project ? Canada and China ? have failed to do this...".....The report also contains critical analyses of Myanmar?s land legislation.
Date of entry/update: 2015-02-11
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: ADDRESSING THE HUMAN RIGHTS IMPACTS OF ?LAND GRABBING?
Source/publisher: International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) for the European Parliament
Date of publication: 2014-12-10
Description: This Study discusses the human rights issues raised by large-scale land deals for plantation agriculture (?land grabbing?) in low and middle-income countries. Firstly, the Study takes stock of available data on large land deals, their features and their driving forces. It finds that ?land grabbing? is a serious issue requiring urgent attention. Secondly, the Study conceptualises the link between land deals and human rights, reviews relevant international human rights law and discusses evidence on actual and potential human rights impacts. It finds that important human rights dimensions are at stake, and that compressions of human rights have been documented in some contexts. Thirdly, the Study identifies the areas of EU policy that are most directly relevant to addressing the human rights impacts of ?land grabbing?, and in so doing it also briefly discusses developments in home and host countries as well as internationally. Fourthly, the Study proposes courses of action by which the EU, and the European Parliament in particular, can further prevent or remedy human rights violations linked to large-scale land deals.
Creator/author: Lorenzo COTULA
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-27
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 582.09 KB
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Title: Three-year monitoring of shifting cultivation fields in a Karen area of the Bago mountains, Myanmar
Source/publisher: Kyoto University
Date of publication: 2006-10-01
Description: Abstract: "We conducted a field survey in SN village, in the Bago Division of Myanmar. Through GPS mapping, interviews, and participant observation, we examined the present state of shifting cultivation in a Karen area by focusing on the vegetation in fallow lands and fallow period lengths. In 2002, 59 households (HHs) opened 60 plots for shifting cultivation. The village itself covered an area of 3970.62 ha (A). The 60 plots covered 161.46 ha (B1), corresponding to an average plot size of 2.69 ha. In 2003, 62 HHs opened 65 plots for shifting cultivation, which covered 141.10 ha (B2) total with an average plot size of 2.17 ha. In 2004, 74 HHs opened 75 plots for shifting cultivation, with an aggregate area of 179.91 ha (B3) and an average plot size of 2.40 ha. Based on these Figureures, the potential maximum numbers of fallow years were 24.6 (A/B1) for 2002, 28.1 (A/B2) for 2003, and 22.1 (A/B3) for 2004. During the first fallow year, the land was covered with Eupatorium odoratum, which was replaced by bamboo (Bambusa polymorpha and Bambusa tulda) over several years. After 12 years, tree species such as Xylia xylocarpa gradually dominated the fallow lands. Despite the potential fallow periods, the actual fallow periods were only 17.9 years in 2002, 15.1 years in 2003, and 12.8 years in 2004. This difference may have occurred because lands left fallow for 12 to 18 years are covered with trees and bamboo. These lands can be easily cleared and they provide good burning material for shifting cultivation."... Keywords: Karen area, Shifting cultivation, Taungya, Fallow period, GPS mapping
Creator/author: SUZUKI, Reiji, TAKEDA, Shinya, Hla Maung Thein
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-25
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 286.52 KB
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Title: Study on shifting cultivation and the socio-cultural integrity of indigenous peoples
Source/publisher: United Nations (Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues - E/C.19/2012/8)
Date of publication: 2012-02-24
Description: Summary: "At its tenth session in 2011, the Permanent Forum appointed Raja Devasish Roy, Bertie Xavier and Simon William M?Vidouboulou, members of the Forum, to conduct a study on shifting cultivation and the socio-cultural integrity of indigenous peoples, to be submitted to the Forum at its eleventh session in 2012. The present study assesses the importance of the various traditions, practices and usages of shifting cultivation in different parts of the world to the maintenance and protection of the socio-cultural integrity of indigenous peoples, including aspects of their identity as distinct peoples, their spirituality, history, traditions, democratic decision-making norms, social unity, community self-help practices, literature, music, dance and numerous other aspects of their culture that are intricately linked to shifting cultivation traditions and practices. These are vital not only to protect their social and cultural rights but are also closely related to their economic, civil and political rights. In a wider context, shifting cultivation is also closely related to forest protection, sustainable forest management, the protection of watersheds, the conservation of headwaters of rivers and streams and the maintenance of biological and linguistic diversity... The study concludes that the practice of shifting cultivation needs to be maintained, strengthened and promoted in its sustainable forms, in accordance with the rights acknowledged in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Convention No. 169 of the International Labour Organization (ILO) on indigenous and tribal peoples of 1989, ILO Convention No. 107 and Recommendation No. 104 on indigenous and tribal populations of 1957, and ILO Convention No. 111 on discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. The study also seeks to address some of the myths, misinformation and misconceptions that have been associated with the practice of shifting cultivation, based on a lack of understanding of the nuanced differences in the way shifting cultivation has been and is still practised today in Central America, South America, Africa and Asia."
Creator/author: Raja Devasish Roy, Bertie Xavier, Simon William M’Vidouboulou
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-24
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish also available on the 2nd UN link)
Format : pdf
Size: 77.94 KB
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Title: Rethinking Swidden Cultivation for Sustainable Upland Livelihoods and Food Security in Myanmar
Source/publisher: University of East Anglia, Pyoe Pyin
Date of publication: 2013-00-00
Description: "Swidden cultivation, also known as shifting cultivation or Shwe Pyaung Taung-ya, describes a spectrum of rotational agro-forestry practices at varying levels of intensity prevalent in Myanmar?s uplands. Swidden cultivation contributes to the livelihoods of millions of citizens, for whom it is a solution to upland food security. * During the Colonial era Forest Departments, attracted by timber, entered into competition for control of the uplands with swiddeners, and sought to restrict them. Even after Independence, Colonial era prejudices and hostile assumptions have persisted. But in recent years perceptions are becoming more sympathetic, mainly due to scientific studies which confirm that under conducive conditions swidden systems are efficient, productive, sustainable and environmentally beneficial. * The conducive conditions for stable swidden systems are however declining in many areas due to a range of factors: population increase, land shortage and tenure uncertainty, decline of technical skills and customary authority, market penetration and intergenerational cultural change. The cultivation systems are also becoming stressed as climate change threatens them further, including through increased fire incidence slowing fallows recovery. * The policy challenge is now how to support swidden cultivators to adapt their livelihoods to the changing conditions: 1) legitimate swidden cultivation practices 2) provide secure tenure, through reinforcing customary authorities, revising national land legislation, handing over community forests, and protecting against land grabbing 3) provide technical support for sustainable intensification, building on local technical knowledge and innovations 4) promote rural enterprises for jobs and cash incomes..."
Creator/author: Oliver Springate-Baginski
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-23
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 480.09 KB 532.92 KB
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Title: Ecological Factors Affecting Taungya Farmers Behavior in Teak Plantation Projects: A Case Study in Bago Range, Union of Myanmar
Source/publisher: "TROPICS" Vol. 10 (2): 273-286
Date of publication: 2000-12-25
Description: ABSTRACT" "Taungya system that originally started in 19th century British Burma is now applied in many countries to serve as a tool for reforestation of degraded areas. Understanding the behavior of taungya farmers is crucial for better management of taungya plantation projects but so far little research has been conducted on this subject. Through a case study in the Bago Range of Myanmar, this paper argues that ecological factors and the Burmans? customary land tenure were affecting the taungya farmers attitude towards the project. In the Reserved Forests (RF) there are cultivators who live on agriculture utilizing lowlands as well as uplands. Some of these cultivators were recruited by the Forest Department for the project, but at the same time the project itself was distributing taungya farmers as new cultivators in the RF, since the lowland was not involved in the project. Through this procedure the department was achieving plantation targets in remote areas, and virtually demarcating the boundary of the RF. However, the recruitment of cultivators is uncertain, and the lowlands escape from forest legislation. The cultivators are granted no legal right to live in the RF and they receive little administrative support from the government. Therefore, to ascertain sustainable man-made forest management, more investment in forest administration and social welfare might be required, and the department may face the necessity of seeking a way to accommodate more funding." Key words: Tectona grandis / taungya / Myanmar / Burmans / lowland
Creator/author: Yukako Tani
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-23
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English, Japanese
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 422.13 KB 5.46 MB
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Title: Shifting Cultivation: A New Old Paradigm for Managing Tropical Forests
Source/publisher: "BioScience" Volume 50, Issue 6, Pp. 521-528
Date of publication: 2000-06-00
Description: "...Failure to see the benefits as well as the costs of secondary vegetation and the swidden agricultural system has led to government policies for settling swidden farmers—many of which have been failures. A more efficient, as well as humane, policy would be to invest in research on methods of maintaining the biodiversity associated with swidden fallows while increasing their productivity and soil-sustaining properties. Failure to understand secondary successional vegetation has also meant that resource managers have often failed to recognize the implications, both positive and negative, of swidden agriculture on biodiversity, watershed hydrology, and carbon sequestration (Skole et al. 1998). Finally, models of global climatic change have been based on an extreme scenario of forest conversion to degraded pasture or impoverished grassland (Giambelluca 1996). Failure to account for the effects of landscape heterogeneity may mean that significant effects of land-cover change are not being recognized. Swidden cultivation is an old paradigm built around the temporary removal of trees but not of the forest. As we enter the new millennium, we would do well to recognize the power of this paradigm for managing tropical forest ecosystems..."
Creator/author: Jefferson Fox, Dao Minh Truong, A. Terry Rambo, Nghiem Phuong Tuyen, Le Trong Cuc, Stephen Leis
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-22
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Statement of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar
Source/publisher: United Nations
Date of publication: 2015-01-16
Description: "...Based on all the information I have gathered, I feel assured that in some areas, the Government is continuing to progress in its reform programme. I am pleased to see that programmes to improve education, health care and livelihood are underway, and commend the Government on its proposals for greater community consultation on land related projects. I was heartened by the release of U Kyaw Hla Aung released since my last visit. However, in some areas I have not observed progress since my last visit. In particular, land development projects frequently suffer from poor information and a lack of adequate consultation with affected communities. Consequential disputes have been met with harsh crackdowns. I have also observed areas where reforms fail to live up to expectations due to inadequate capacity or simply disregard, at the local level of implementation. In the area of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, positive gains risk being lost. Indeed, the possible signs of backtracking I noted in my first report have gained momentum in this area. I urge the Government to address these issues as a priority. I will elaborate this in my report to be submitted to the Human Rights Council in March..."
Creator/author: Yanghee Lee
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-21
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 105.71 KB
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Title: "Myanmar Eleven E-paper" (almost daily)
Source/publisher: Eleven Media Group, "The Nation"
Description: About 20 issues a month....."Welcome to Myanmar Eleven ePaper This 10+ pages ePaper Myanmar Eleven is a demonstration of a committed news reportings by Myanmar?s Eleven Media Group and Thailand?s The Nation. It is a soft launch of a coming print edition to be published in Myanmar shortly. It will serve Myanmar nationals overseas and foreign investors and visitors interested in the transformation of Myanmar - economically, politically, socially as well as culture. It is published with combined support from editorial teams in Yangon and Bangkok; and we are proud to be Myanmar?s first independent English-language national daily. The ePaper is published daily from Mon to Fri and it capitalises on the latest digital capability. Myanmar Eleven ePaper is available free-of-charge under this soft launch period http://pdf.asianewsnet.net. Shortly, the ePaper will expand to 24 pages and available for subscription through Nation?s ebook store. We hope you will enjoy Myanmar Eleven ePaper. We welcome your comments and suggestions. Please send by email to [email protected]. "
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-18
Type: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Title: Last Month in Parliament
Source/publisher: Burma Campaign UK
Description: "Last Month in Parliament is the only monthly round-up of issues relating to Burma in the British Parliament..."...Archive from April 2007
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-15
Type: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Title: Where is genuine peace? - A critique of the peace process in Karenni State
Source/publisher: Karenni Civil Society Network (KCSN)
Date of publication: 2014-12-05
Description: "A new report by the Karenni Civil Society Network (KCSN) raises concerns about international ?peace support” programming amid st increasing Burma Army militarization in Karenni State after the2012 ceasefire with the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP). The report ?Where is Genuine Peace?” exposes how a pilot resettlement project of the Norway-led Myanmar Peace Support Initiative (MPSI) in Shardaw Township is encouraging IDPs to return to an area controlled by the Burma Army where their safety cannot be guaranteed. The MPSI claims that between June 2013 and September 2014 it supported 1,431 IDPs to return to 10 Shadaw villages forcibly relocated in 1996. However, KCSN found only about a third of these IDPs in the villages, most of whom were working-age adults returning to carry out farming, but not daring to return permanently due to fears of renewed conflict. As in other parts of Karenni State, the Burma Army has been reinforcing troops and fortifying its positions in Shadaw, where there is a tactical command centre and over 20 military outposts. ?Instead of encouraging IDPs to return home be fore it is safe, international donors should be trying to ensure that the rights of conflict-affected villagers are protected,” said one of KCSN. ?There must be pressure on the government to pull back its troops from the ethnic areas and start political dialog ue towards federal reform.” KCSN also criticizes the MPSI for fuelling conflict by ignoring Karenni-managed social service organizations that have been providing primary health care and other support to IDPs in Shadaw for decades. MPSI?s health support was through the government system, which remains highly centralized and dysfunctional in Karenni State. ?Donors should not just give one-sided support to expand government services into ethnic conflict areas. This won?t be effective, and will only increase resentment and fuel conflict,” said KSWDC. The report also raises concerns about rampant resource extraction after the ceasefire, land confiscation, military expansions and lack of transparency around dam plans on the Salween and its tributaries in Karenni State. KCSN is calling for a moratorium on large-scale infrastructure and resource extraction projects in Karenni State until there is genuine peace." [from the KCSN press release of 5 December, 2014]
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-08
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.6 MB
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Title: The impacts of shifting cultivation on tropical forest soil: a review
Source/publisher: Bol. Mus. Para. Emílio Goeldi. Cienc. Hum., Belém, v. 8, n. 3, p. 693-727, set.-dez. 2013, Universidade de São Paulo.
Date of publication: 2013-00-00
Description: Abstract: "The sustainability of shifting cultivation is presently a topic of debate in scientific and institutional communities; however, there is no current consensus. To address this debate, we performed a search of the pertinent literature that was published during the last 30 years on the impact of shifting agriculture on tropical soils. This search revealed that the nature of the impact depends on the shifting cultivation system (SCS) phase (conversion, cultivation, or fallow) and on the soil properties (physical, chemical, and biological). We also suggest soil quality indicators for evaluating this agricultural practice in tropical forests, which may be used as a basis for analyses on the tendencies of conservation and degradation of impacted soils. Future research should improve the choices of these indicators, relying mostly on practical criteria, so they can be used by shifting cultivators".
Creator/author: Alexandre Antunes Ribeiro Filho, Cristina Adams, Rui Sergio Sereni Murrieta
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-07
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English (Portuguese also available)
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Title: Glass Palace Chronicle of the Kings of Burma
Date of publication: 1923-00-00
Description: Burmese chronicle compiled in 1829 by a committee of scholars appointed by King Bagyiday. The name of the chronicle was taken from the Palace of Glass, the chamber of which the compilation was made. The work relates the history of the kings of Burma.who are said to be descendants of the Buddha?s own people, the Śākyans.and among other topics, goes on to report on the establishment of Buddhism in the country and the acquisition of sacred relics.
Creator/author: Pe Maung Tin, Gordon H Luce (translators)
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-07
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.06 MB
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Title: David Rumsey Map Collection
Source/publisher: "The Times" World Atlas via Cornell University
Date of publication: 1895-00-00
Description: 2 maps - (1) South India, (2) Burma and the Malay Peninsular
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-07
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Myanmar 2014: Civic Knowledge and Values in a Changing Society (Burmese/ မြန်မာဘာသာ )
Source/publisher: Asia Foundation
Date of publication: 2014-12-11
Description: "Burmese version. A survey to document public knowledge and awareness of new government institutions and processes, and to gauge the political, social, and economic values held by people from diverse backgrounds, to inform the country?s long-term development. The survey included face-to-face interviews with more than 3,000 respondents across all 14 Myanmar states and regions.."
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-05
Type: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese/ မြန်မာဘာသာ
Format : pdf
Size: 13.55 MB
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Title: Governing the Commons
Source/publisher: Internet
Description: "The governance of natural resources used by many individuals in common is an issue of increasing concern to policy analysts. Both state control and privatisation of resources have been advocated, but neither the state nor the market have been uniformly successful in solving common pool resource problems. Offering a critique of the foundations of policy analysis as applied to natural resources, Elinor Ostrom here provides a unique body of empirical data to explore conditions under which common pool resource problems have been satisfactorily or unsatisfactorily solved. Dr Ostrom first describes three models most frequently used as the foundation for recommending state or market solutions. She then outlines theoretical and empirical alternatives to these models in order to illustrate the diversity of possible solutions. In the following chapters she uses institutional analysis to examine different ways - both successful and unsuccessful - of governing the commons. In contrast to the proposition of the tragedy of the commons argument, common pool problems sometimes are solved by voluntary organisations rather than by a coercive state. Among the cases considered are communal tenure in meadows and forests, irrigation communities and other water rights, and fisheries."
Creator/author: Elinor Ostrom
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-05
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 2.21 MB
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Title: Top Ethnic Leaders, Burma Army Reps Absent From Ceasefire Talks
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy"
Description: "RANGOON — Burma Army representatives and top leaders of ethnic armed groups are not attending the two-day nationwide ceasefire talks in Rangoon this week, a situation that indicates just how much the negotiations have suffered following the army?s surprise attack on a rebel training school last month. The government?s chief negotiator, Minister Aung Min, led a delegation that included Border Affairs Minister Lt-Gen. Htet Naing Win and Immigration Minister Khin Ye, but Burma Army representatives were conspicuously absent as the sides convened at the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC) in Rangoon on Monday morning. The National Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), an alliance representing 16 ethnic groups, sent NCCT representatives Khun Okkar and Kwe Htoo Win to the meeting, but NCCT Chairman Nai Hong Sar and Gen. Gun Maw, the influential deputy commander-in-chief of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), did not attend. Neither did leaders from the Ta?ang National Liberation Army (TNLA)..."
Creator/author: LAWI WENG
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-05
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Myanmar 2014: Civic Knowledge and Values in a Changing Society (English)
Source/publisher: Asia Foundation
Date of publication: 2014-12-00
Description: "A survey to document public knowledge and awareness of new government institutions and processes, and to gauge the political, social, and economic values held by people from diverse backgrounds, to inform the country?s long-term development. The survey included face-to-face interviews with more than 3,000 respondents across all 14 Myanmar states and regions."
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-05
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.39 MB
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Title: The Shillong Declaration on Shifting Cultivation in the Eastern Himalayas
Source/publisher: Shifting Cultivation Regional Policy Dialogue Workshop for the eastern Himalayas
Date of publication: 2004-10-08
Description: "...The regional, national, and local policies for Shifting Cultivation need to be reappraised and, where necessary, reformulated. For this purpose, the detailed recommendations of the ?Shifting Cultivation Regional Policy Dialogue Workshop for the Eastern Himalayas?, 6-8 October 2004, Shillong can provide input. WHERE ALL POLICIES AND ACTIONS SHOULD BE FOUNDED ON THE FOLLOWING GUIDING PRINCIPLES To support decentralised, participatory, multi-stakeholder, interdisciplinary, ecoregional, and adaptive management approaches that respect human and cultural diversity, gender equity, livelihood security, and enhancement as well as environmental sustainability, where we value and build upon both traditional and scientific information and knowledge."
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-03
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 75.96 KB
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Title: Debating Shifting Cultivation in the Eastern Himalayas - Farmers? Innovations as Lessons for Policy
Source/publisher: ICIMOD & IFAD
Date of publication: 2006-06-00
Description: Executive Summary: "In the eastern Himalayas, shifting cultivation is the most prominent farming system, providing a way of life for a large number of ethnic minorities and other poor and marginalised upland communities. The policy approach to deal with shifting cultivation is common across Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Myanmar, the countries in this study, and aims to replace it with permanent forms of land use. The current problems related to shifting cultivation, however, are found to be often as much a result of counterproductive policies as of inappropriate land use practices. Therefore, there is a need across the region for new, more effective and socially more acceptable policy options that help to improve shifting cultivation, rather than replace it. The research presented here identifies farmers? traditional practices and more recent indigenous innovations that contribute to the benefits this farming system has to offer. These benefits accrue both to the practitioners and to other stakeholders, including national governments. Shifting cultivation, and the farmers? innovations in particular, were found to contribute to forest cover and biodiversity conservation, while at the same time maintaining agricultural and forest productivity. Commercial niche products and organic farming contribute to economic development that is adjusted to mountain circumstances and builds on existing potential. The local institutions developed by shifting cultivation communities were found to be relatively strong, and they enhance social security and cultural integrity. Development approaches that build on these existing potentials and capacity are likely to be more achievable and acceptable to the farmers concerned. Realising this potential, and the need for policy change across region, the participants of the ?Shifting Cultivation Regional Policy Dialogue Workshop for the eastern Himalayas?, held in October 2004 in Shillong, India, adopted the Shillong Declaration and formulated concrete policy recommendations based on the research findings of this initiative. The participants included representatives of government agencies, farmers, international bodies, non-government organisations, academia, science and research institutions, local institutions, international donors and development assistance agencies, the private sector, and other professionals. They recommended policy makers to reexamine the policies in place, to remove explicit policies and policy instruments that discourage shifting cultivation, and to strengthen the implementation of existing beneficial policies. They also recommended that they address issues of land tenure security, research, and extension and their impact on traditional shifting cultivation practices; market development and commercialisation of niche products of shifting cultivation; strengthening and capacity building of customary institutions; credit policies in situations where common property regimes apply; and coordination among the different government agencies that have responsibilities for aspects of shifting cultivation.".....Includes the text of The Shillong Declaration on Shifting Cultivation in the Eastern Himalayas.
Creator/author: Elisabeth Kerkhoff, Eklabya Sharma
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-03
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Shifting cultivation and climate change
Source/publisher: International Workgroup on Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), Asian Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP)
Date of publication: 2009-00-00
Description: "In the age of global climate change, resource use and management practices that rely on the use of fire and thus emit carbon are coming under increased pressure. This is particularly the case with shifting cultivation. Because shifting cultivation is so different from the forms of agriculture practiced in the lowlands and by the majority populations, it is one of the most misunderstood land use systems. Thus, in the name of forest conservation and development, colonial and post-colonial governments in Asia have since more than a century devised policies and laws seeking to eradicate shifting cultivation. The reasons usually given for such restrictive state policies are that shifting cultivation is • Technologically primitive, inefficient and wasteful, prevents development and thus keeps people in poverty • Destructive to forests and soils Decades of research on virtually every aspect of shifting cultivation have generated sufficient evidence to prove that its sweeping condemnation by government bureaucrats, politicians or professionals is based on insufficient and erroneous information, or quite simply myth. Notwithstanding all evidence, however, attitudes by decision makers and, consequently, state policies have hardly changed..."
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-03
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.32 MB
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Title: Drivers of Deforestation? Facts to be considered regarding the impact of shifting cultivation in Asia
Source/publisher: International Workgroup on Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), Asian Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP)
Date of publication: 2012-05-00
Description: "Submission to the SBSTA on the Drivers of Deforestation including key findings of research on shifting cultivation, underpinning the dire need to earnestly consider indigenous peoples? perspectives while assessing its impact on forests and climate change, and the human rights violations and other impacts resulting from state policies prohibiting or unduly restricting shifting cultivation"
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-03
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 821.47 KB
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Title: Shifting cultivation and indigenous peoples in Asia
Source/publisher: "Indigenous Affairs" 2/2005 - Workgroup on Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA)
Date of publication: 2005-00-00
Description: "...Decades of research on virtually every aspect of shifting cultivation have generated sufficient evidence to prove that its sweeping condemnation by government bureaucrats, politicians or professionals is based on insufficient and erroneous information, or quite simply myth (see Pinkaew Laungaramsri?s article). As the articles in this issue show, in spite of all the evidence produced over the decades, little has changed. Deep-rooted prejudices continue to prevail and, with them, the discriminatory policies and programs that have enormously negative consequences for indigenous peoples. Sometimes the policies are subtle, such as the promotion of "modern" farming methods. Their impact can nevertheless be profound, as Kyrham Nongkynrih?s article shows. In the Northeast-Indian state of Meghalaya, government-sponsored cash cropping is leading to increasing privatization of communal land and concomitant changes in social relations within communities. In other cases, state policies are much less subtle and do not shy away from committing even severe human rights violations in pursuit of the goals of "modernization" and "national integration". The eradication of shifting cultivation is often seen as part of this process. As the article by Mi Dze on Laos shows, the eradication of shifting cultivation is given as one of the reasons for relocating over 200,000 people from their mountain villages to the lowlands. This happens despite studies that have clearly demonstrated that forced relocations have in this country led to increased poverty, malnutrition, a general deterioration in health and a higher mortality rate among the villagers affected..."
Creator/author: Christian Erni, Pinkaew Laungaramsri, Elisabeth Kerkhoff, Janet C. Sturgeon, Mi Dze
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-03
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 2.33 MB
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Title: Shifting Cultivation, Livelihood and Food Security New and Old - Challenges for Indigenous Peoples in Asia
Source/publisher: Asian Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) and International Workgroup on Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA)
Date of publication: 2014-05-00
Description: "... This briefing note presents the findings of seven case studies conducted from May to June 2014. The studies were conducted in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal and Thailand and looked into the livelihood and food security among indigenous shifting cultivation communities in South and Southeast Asia. The briefing note provides a summary of the main findings of the case studies and the common recommendations from a multi-stakeholders consultation held August 28-29 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Participants at the multi-stakeholder consultation included government agencies, UN agencies, regional NGOs, Indigenous Peoples? organisations, community leaders, and local governments..."
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-03
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.7 MB
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Title: Shifting Cultivation: The cultural heritage of indigenous communities and the source of livelihoods and food security for many indigenous peoples in Asia
Source/publisher: Asian Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP)
Date of publication: 2014-09-16
Description: "...Chiang Mai, Thailand: Indigenous peoples traditional land use systems, particularly shifting cultivation in most of the countries in Asia have long been contributing to the sustainable livelihoods; food security; sustainable natural resources management; and biodiversity conservation and enhancement. The traditional knowledge, cultural, spiritual and nutritional values attached to these livelihood systems demonstrate that they are not merely a technique of land use but their way of life. Most of the countries in Asia have adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) that guarantees the rights of indigenous peoples to continue their traditional land use systems. Despite this widespread adoption, there are policies on land use that consider shifting cultivation, as a driver of deforestation in many countries in Asia. These policies are damaging indigenous land use systems and have resulted in food insecurity, loss of biodiversity and traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples. Mr. Hiroyoki Konuma, Assistant Director General and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific (FAO- RAP), giving his welcome remarks to the participants of the ?Regional Multi-Stakeholder Consultation on Indigenous Peoples Livelihood and Food Security” said that shifting cultivation has been portrayed as the enemy of forest conservation. The victimization of shifting cultivation should be avoided. Mr. Konuma added that our aim should be to highlight the good practices of indigenous peoples and protect such traditional livelihoods that are important to indigenous peoples and also for us.” Mr. Konuma also added that ?Unless we target indigenous peoples, who are one of the largest portion of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in our society and work together with them as key partners, we would not be able to eradicate poverty and hunger, and our fundamental goal of equitable growth, social stability and sustainable development would never be achieved.”..."
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-03
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Characteristics and trends of Myanmar?s current perceptions of China
Source/publisher: "Public Diplomacy Quarterly"
Date of publication: 2014-12-03
Description: "Since the acceleration of democratic transition after the inauguration of U Thein Sein?s government in March 2011, Myanmar society has become increasingly diversified and perceptions of China by different entities has become more complicated. The negative perception of China by Myanmar civil society has has had an especially poor impact on Sino-Myanmar relations. China and Myanmar are both trying to guide public opinion by enhancing interaction in directions that would promote less negative views by Myanmar society. However, it will take more time for Myanmar society to form an objective perception of China..."
Creator/author: Song Qingrun
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-02
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English, Chinese
Format : pdf
Size: 93.99 KB
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Title: A strategic agricultural sector and food security diagnostic for Burma
Source/publisher: Department of Agricultiral Economics, Michigan State University via Eldis
Date of publication: 2013-01-01
Description: "Despite its enormous potential, Myanmar?s agriculture has underperformed over the past fifty years. Furthermore, given that two-thirds of the population works primarily in agriculture, low farm productivity translates into high rates of poverty and food insecurity. The current paper explains that a series of institutional, policy and structural constraints has hampered agricultural growth and contributed to Myanmar?s current high rates of hunger and malnutrition. The most critical of these problems include: a highly skewed land distribution, poor water control systems, a high-cost transportation system, weak rural financial institutions, and weak links between extension services and farmers. However, the paper argues that all of these impediments can be remedied through good policies, institutional reforms and key public investments. Accordingly, the author strongly advocates a strategy focused on the ?Long Game” approach (policy reforms necessary for rapid, broad-based agricultural), particularly a set of early actions necessary for enabling necessary structural reforms. Yet, at the same time, this must be complemented by ?Short Game” interventions (improving performance without policy reforms) that help to increase incomes, assets, farmer skills and water management systems that expand productive potential in the ?Long Game”. Equally important, the document underlines that the long-term political stability is also imperative for agricultural productivity growth."
Creator/author: S. Haggblade (ed); D. Boughton; G. Denning
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-02
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.04 MB
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Title: Agribusiness models for inclusive growth in Myanmar: diagnosis and ways forward
Source/publisher: Department of Agricultiral Economics, Michigan State University via Eldis
Date of publication: 2014-01-01
Description: "Successful development experiences have demonstrated the greater efficiency achieved with a growth strategy based on small and medium-scale farmers (SMFs). This study is sought to identify potential agribusiness models for enhancing inclusive growth through NGOs partnerships with SMFs in Myanmar. The paper illustrates that agricultural sector in Myanmar is characterised by already high land inequality and landlessness, and low productivity of most SMFs. Meanwhile, a growing share of land has been allocated to large land concessions with little evidence of growth impacts and significant evidence of social and environmental risks. The document argues that Myanmar needs to build on its most important asset base of its millions of SMFs to jump start economic growth. However, the challenge is how to tap the assets of agribusiness in terms of access to technology, capital, and markets. The paper concludes that: private investment by agribusiness, both small and medium enterprises and larger agribusiness companies, is critical to the realisation of SMFs-based economic growth viable alternative business models rather than land concessions are available to tap agribusiness for wider economic and social benefits (e.g. investment in seed industry) a freeze on awarding further land concessions until a more transparent and equitable process is put in place is highly recommended"
Creator/author: Dere K Byerlee, Dolly Kyaw, U San Thein, L Seng Kham
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-02
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 958.26 KB
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Title: Global Witness submission on Myanmar?s draft national land policy (Burmese မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Source/publisher: Global Witness
Date of publication: 2014-11-00
Description: နိုဝင်ဘာလ ၂၀၁၄ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ အမျိုးသားမြေအသုံးချမှုမူဝါဒမူကြမ်းနှင့်ပတ်သက်၍ Global Witness ၏ အဆိုပြုလွှာအနှစ်ချုပ် ဒီမိုကရေစီနိုင်ငံအဖြစ် ပြုပြင်ပြောင်းလဲမှုများပြုလုပ်ရာတွင်မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအစိုးရသည် အမျိုးသားမြေအသုံးချမှုမူဝါဒမူကြမ်းကို ၂၀၁၄ ခုနှစ် အောက်တိုဘာလတွင်ထုတ်ပြန်ခဲ့ပြီး ပြည်သူလူထုနှင့် တိုင်ပင်ဆွေးနွေးရန်နောက်ဆက်တွဲမြေယာဥပဒေတစ်ခုအတွက် အစီအစဉ်များကိုလည်းထုတ်ပြန်ခဲ့ပါသည်။ ထိုသို့ဆောင်ရွက်ခြင်းသည် အလွန်အရေးကြီးသည့်လုပ်ဆောင်ချက်ဖြစ်ပြီး Global Witness အနေဖြင့် မြေနှင့်ပတ်သက်ပြီးခိုင်မာသောဥပဒေပြဋ္ဌာန်းမှုဆိုင်ရာမူဘောင်နှင့် ပြည်သူလူထုပါဝင်လာနိုင်မည့်အခွင့်အရေးများအတွက် အလားအလာများကို လက်ကမ်း ကြိုဆိုပါသည်။ သို့သော် အလွန်အရေးကြီးသည်မှာ ထိုသို့သော တိုင်ပင်ဆွေးနွေးမှုသည် အဓိပ္ပါယ်ရှိရမည်ဖြစ်ပြီး စစ်မှန်စွာပါဝင်ဆောင်ရွက်ခြင်းဖြစ်ရမည်။ ထို့နောက် ရရှိလာသောတုန့်ပြန်ချက်များကို မြေအသုံးချမှုမူဝါဒနှင့် မြေ အသုံးချမှုဥပဒေတို့တွင် အပြည့်အဝပွင့်လင်းမြင်သာမှုဖြင့် ပေါင်းစပ်ထည့်သွင်းရမည်ဖြစ်သည်။ ထို့အပြင် အပြီးသတ်မြေအသုံးချမှုမူဝါဒနှင့် နောက်ဆက်တွဲမြေအသုံးချမှုဥပဒေတို့သည် ခိုင်ခံ့ရမည်ဖြစ်သည့်အပြင် အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာအခြေခံစံနှုန်းများဖြင့် ကိုက်ညီသင့်သည်။ အထူးသဖြင့် မြေ၊ ငါးလုပ်ငန်းနှင့် သစ်တောများဆိုင်ရာလုပ်ပိုင်ခွင့်အပေါ် တာဝန်သိသော အုပ်ချုပ်မှုနှင့်ပတ်သက်သည့် ကုလသမဂ္ဂ၏စေတနာအလျောက်လမ်းညွှန်ချက်များ(UN Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests) နှင့် ကိုက်ညီသင့်သည်။
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-02
Type: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf
Size: 301.4 KB
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Title: Global Witness submission on Myanmar?s draft national land policy (English)
Source/publisher: Global Witness
Date of publication: 2014-11-00
Description: Summary: "As part of its transition to democratic reform, in October 2014, the Government of Myanmar released a draft national land policy and plans for a subsequent Land Law, for public consultation. The importance of this cannot be understated and Global Witness welcomes both the potential for a strong codified framework for land, and the opportunity for public participation. It is crucial, however, that consultation is meaningful and genuinely participatory, and the resulting feedback is incorporated into the policy and Land Law in a process that is fully transparent. What?s more, the final land policy and subsequent land law should be robust and in line with international standards, most notably, the UN Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests1. The guiding principles of the draft national land policy state that its objectives are to ?benefit and harmonize the land use, development and environmental conservation of the land resources of the State, to protect the land use right of the citizens and to improve land administration system.? This aim is extremely welcome as an essential step in achieving the urgently needed reforms in the country?s land governance. However what is notably absent from the policy is a clear roadmap of priorities to be addressed: genuine sustainable development should prioritise the land and user rights, livelihoods and food security of its population, followed by participatory land-use mapping to help guide decisions around the management and use of land. Only then should an assessment be made of what is required in terms of land investments and what, if any, areas of land should be allocated for commercial investment purposes. In its current form, however, the draft land policy makes no reference to poverty alleviation or food security, and instead appears to be openly promoting commercial investment in large-scale projects, potentially at the expense of Myanmar?s rural smallholders ? the majority of the population. The draft land policy has come under criticism for being pro-business; however, industry should still remain cautious about the reforms being proposed. In its current form, the draft policy presents an uncertain legal landscape which requires much clarification, particularly on several contradictory articles on how land and user rights will be protected. Insecure land and user rights can present a financial risk to both governments and companies as demonstrated through recent research at the global level: both The Munden Project2 - a global think-tank working on finance and sustainability - and the international coalition group Rights and Resources Initiative have demonstrated the financial risk to both governments and businesses associated with land investments in countries where tenure rights are unclear through a number of global case studies. It is therefore recommended that the Government of Myanmar, with the assistance of its development partners, revise the current draft of the land policy to ensure it has clear aims and objectives, and is based on international standards in particular, the UN Voluntary Guidelines of the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security."
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-02
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Myanmar: Printing and Publishing Law (legal analysis by Article 19)
Source/publisher: Article 19
Date of publication: 2014-11-11
Description: Executive summary: In 2014, ARTICLE 19 analysed the 2014 Printing and Publishing Law of Myanmar in the light of international standards on freedom of expression. The Ministry of Information unveiled a draft of the Law in 2013, in a move that took observers by surprise. Responsibility to develop a law to replace the 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Law had previously been entrusted to the Interim Media Council. The Law was adopted and signed by the President in 2014. The Printing and Publishing Law (the Law) represents a step forward compared to the draconian 1962 law. It no longer facilitates prior censorship, and the penalties imposable under it are relatively modest. Oversight over the printing and publishing sector has been partly transferred from the government to the courts. At the same time, it is questionable whether a specific law to regulate the printing and publishing sector is needed at all. ARTICLE 19 is not convinced that the Printing and Publishing Law will contribute to its stated goals of promoting freedom of expression and supporting the development of a vibrant printing and publishing sector. Its primary effect is to create a series of bureaucratic formalities with which companies in the sector must comply, such as registering with the Ministry of Information and sending it information on imports and exports of publications. While these procedures are less problematic than those under the 1962 law, it is not clear why they are necessary. Vague definitions of what constitutes a ?printer,” ?publisher” or ?news agency” create confusion as to whom the Law applies to, and similarly vague restrictions on the content of publications risk having a chilling effect... Summary of key recommendations: •The stated goal of the Law to ensure ?ethical” practices and compliance with ?relevant laws” should be dropped and replaced with a more substantive guarantee for freedom of the media • The requirement to register should be abolished entirely. If the requirement to register is not abolished, the registration procedure should be amended and set out clearly within the Law itself. Those whose registration has been suspended or cancelled should have the right to appeal to a court • The content restrictions listed should be removed and dealt with using laws of general application, such as the penal code. If they are not removed, they should be defined more clearly and narrowly in line with international standards •The requirement to notify import and export of publications should be abolished entirely.
Date of entry/update: 2014-12-30
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 113.93 KB
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Title: National Land Use Policy - Draft (Burmese မြန်မာဘာသာ )
Source/publisher: Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar Land Use Allocation and Scrutinizing Committee
Date of publication: 2014-10-18
Description: "...[O]n 19th June, 2012, the President of the Union guided on the following land reform matters to draw and implement the national development long term and short term plans: (a) To manage, calculate, use and carry out systematically the Sustainable Development of natural resources such as land, water, forest, mines to enable to use them future generations; (b)To manage and carry out systematically the land use policy and land use management not to cause land problems such as land use, land fluctuation and land trespass; (c) To disburse, coordinate and carry out with the Union Government, the Land Use Allocation and Scrutinizing Committee, the Myanmar Investment Commission, the Privatization Commission, the Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Land Management Committee and relevant departments for urban and rural development plans and investment plans; (d)To carry out to renegotiate, draw and enact the laws and matters relating to tax and custom duty administered by the various departments relating to land in accord with international standards or existing situations..."
Date of entry/update: 2014-12-26
Type: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ) (Metadata: English)
Format : pdf
Size: 658.45 KB
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