Myanmar's Long Road to National Reconciliation (41 page)

While still evolving, this approach provides an example of how one international NGO is intentionally seeking to bring about growth of civil society. World Vision sees this as a process that begins with a situational analysis of a particular community (selected according to initial understanding of need and poverty level) followed by advocacy to local community leaders, both formal (to the local Peace and Development Committee (PDC)) and informal (to religious and traditional leaders), to inform them of the types and focus of World Vision programs. Once initial relationships have been formed, World Vision Myanmar staff spend some time in the community making a more thorough assessment of needs and potential responses to them. In the course of this assessment, community volunteers are identified (initially with the cooperation of the community
leaders), and these, with a limited number of World Vision Myanmar staff, become the primary interface between the World Vision program and the broader community.

Establishing a credible and trusted presence in a community takes time, and it is generally a year before volunteers form into an identifiable group to become the conduit through which World Vision-funded initiatives can be delivered. During this initial phase, volunteers elect a community development committee, which (ideally) becomes the decision-making body for the project. Usually these committees and the other community volunteers undergo training in participatory and democratic decision-making as well as in the more development-oriented skills of conducting a situational analysis, developing targeted initiatives to address community problems, monitoring and evaluation of projects, and even in preparation of proposals. Their intended role then is to identify key development issues and to develop strategies and operational plans to respond to those needs. At the present time, committees operate with varying levels of autonomy. A recent evaluation of one program found that the committee (which consisted of a groups of volunteers aged between sixteen and sixty) was extremely well organized and active. They attended the evaluation with a complete plan for activities they wished to pursue over the coming year, a plan that included a budget and an outline of how they saw World Vision’s role in the process.
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In some communities, a “community-based organization” (CBO) has been established with the encouragement of World Vision. These CBOs have been formed in the absence of longer-term child sponsorship funding in an effort to develop more sustainable interventions in a shorter space of time. They have been formed in a similar manner to the ADP committees, but from the beginning take far more responsibility for the development process and for the funding of initiatives. Whilst some funding is given by World Vision Myanmar, the community-based committees are also responsible for the development of income-generation activities that will provide ongoing financial support. In general, CBO activities focus on the quality of life of children in the community, with a particular emphasis on health and education. However, it is recognized that the well-being of children depends on the economic and social stability of their parents, and interventions of the CBOs take this into account. CBO committees represent villages or smaller urban communities and are elected by community members after a thorough orientation covering the aims and objectives of
World Vision as well as basic concepts of community development and empowerment. In turn, CBO committee members choose elected members to represent them on a township-wide committee. Each member is given training by World Vision staff in organizational management, conflict resolution, financial management, monitoring strategies, community mobilization, planning and implementing development projects, and technical aspects of projects.

Once established and trained, CBOs provide World Vision Myanmar with:

•   A clearly articulated analysis of the problem that is being addressed and the strategies through which this will be done;

•   A monitoring plan that is participative in nature — that is, which involves all stakeholders in understanding the impact of the project;

•   A timeline illustrating a clear understanding of process;

•   A sustainability plan that takes into account the reality of limited funding and seeks to attain financial sustainability within the given time frame;

•   A reporting system that will enable both narrative and financial reports to be submitted in a timely fashion and with sufficient detail to illustrate that the project is moving towards achieving its goals.

The CBO approach has now been in operation in a number of communities for several years and is proving to be extremely successful.
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There are obviously issues that need to be taken into account in developing such committees, and some would argue that it is simply too difficult to maintain independence from the government, which brings into question the extent to which such groups can actually be representative of civil society. However, World Vision experience has shown that these committees and CBOs can function in a democratic fashion and have led to substantial progress in the ability of communities to change their situation, even to develop a voice for advocacy, at least at a local level.

Another innovative program supported by World Vision Myanmar has been the Child Focussed Network (CFN). Initial funding from the Australian Government enabled World Vision Myanmar to encourage a group of local organizations dealing with disadvantaged children to come
together with the purpose of providing mutual support and creating a network that would evolve on the basis of meeting shared needs. A series of meetings and discussions over the course of almost a year (during 2002) saw the involvement of adult and child representatives from each of the participating organizations as well as from a number of other international organizations (UNICEF, Save the Children UK, and Save the Children US) in deciding on a vision for the network and developing a proposal that was submitted to the Australian Government for funding. At the end of 2004, the network has been in operation for over two years and has taken on a distinct child-rights focus, because increasing understanding of rights was a key area identified by participants. The network has both child and adult representatives (this is a requirement of membership) and meets regularly to plan both training events (in areas such as HIV/AIDS, child rights, and children’s participation) as well as more “fun-focused” activities, which have included sporting and art competitions and trips to places of interest. A major yearly event has been Child Protection Day, which has seen well over 2,000 children and adults from a wide variety of organizations come together in both Yangon and Mandalay for a day of celebration and activity based on the theme of child rights.

Although still in its infancy, the children’s network is already fulfilling a valuable role in the promotion of civil society in the country through:

•   Enabling isolated groups to come together around areas of shared need and concern;

•   Providing impetus for the promotion of child rights in the increasing number of non-government organizations that are looking after disadvantaged children;

•   Allowing children to be involved in decision-making around issues that affect their lives and thereby to develop skills and understanding of democratic processes;

•   Having an increasing influence in a number of forums about children in country being organized by UNICEF and other international NGOs.

Figure 10.1 illustrates how the various partners of the CFN operate.

While the government has yet to officially recognize the CFN, the Deputy Director for Social Welfare has attended a number of functions that have been facilitated by the network and has encouraged the network to apply for registration. In addition, the coordinator of the network has been invited to attended a number of UNICEF forums, including their annual review, at which a number of government ministries and departments have also been present.

The Myanmar NGO Consortium on HIV/AIDS is a creative partnership of five non-governmental organizations — four international NGOs (CARE Myanmar, Marie Stopes International, Save the Children UK, World Vision Myanmar) and one local NGO (Myanmar Nurses Association). Established in 2002, the Consortium aims to implement a comprehensive response against HIV/AIDS by increasing knowledge and skills, improving access to quality services, and promoting a more enabling environment. Each consortium member contributes to the overall HIV/AIDS prevention and care program to deliver the following response:

1.   Behaviour Change

a.   Young people living with HIV/AIDS

b.   High risk populations and their networks

2.   Care and support

a.   Birth spacing

b.   Sexually transmitted infection treatment

c.   Voluntary counselling

d.   Community home-based care

3. Enabling Environment

a.   Condom distribution

b.   Advocacy

c.   Reducing stigma and discrimination

d.   Gender sensitivity.

The Consortium works in over sixty townships around Myanmar and has funding from a variety of donors, in particular from the Fund for HIV/ AIDS in Myanmar (FHAM).
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The Consortium is unique in that it brings together a number of international NGOs and a local NGO partner in a collaborative work environment that allows for exchange of ideas and technical expertise at both a practical implementation level as well as at the more conceptual level of project design, monitoring, and evaluation. It contributes to developing civil society through the implementation of programs with the help of community volunteers, as outlined above, and
particularly through the partnership with the Myanmar Nurses Association. The Myanmar Nurses Association has benefited from its involvement with international NGOs, and has also contributed to development of the work of the International NGOs in the area of community home-based care for people living with AIDS.

The Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health, located in Melbourne, has two international centres that focus on public health. Both have been working in Burma/Myanmar for some years now, initially through consultancies to the UN and international NGOs, and more recently (over the past two years) in programming related to HIV/ AIDS.
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Though involved in a range of HIV-prevention activities, Burnet Institute’s approach has focused on the development of capacity of local groups to enable them to respond more effectively to the HIV epidemic. Over the course of the first year of the project, this capacity-building has included the following activities.

1.   A group of six local NGOs and two international NGOs were selected according to a set of criteria that included having a focus on HIV and young people, the ability to operate programs in communities, and the availability of staff to attend an extended training program. All except one of the participating local NGOs are listed in the
Directory of Local Non-Government Organizations in Myanmar
referred to above, the exception being the Myanmar Red Cross Society. Organizations were approached to see if they were interested in the program, then key personnel were interviewed to ensure that they met the criteria for the program. Agreements between the Burnet Institute and each organization were then signed.

2.   Candidates from participating organizations were chosen and attended a series of workshops which to date have included the following:

a.   An inception workshop (including an update on the HIV situation both around the world and in Burma/Myanmar, and an introduction to the program);

b.   A workshop on situation analysis and planning, that focused on skills in identifying underlying causes of HIV transmission
(including both qualitative and quantitative research methods) and potential responses;

c.   A workshop on proposal development, which taught participants how to develop proposals for submission to donors;

d.   A workshop on monitoring and evaluation;

e.   A workshop on project management.

3.   Between workshops, participants have been given tasks leading to the development of a project proposal for the Fund for HIV/AIDS in Myanmar.