Reshuffle puts 'right person in right place': government

20 News THE MYANMAR TIMES JULY 29 - AUGUST 4, 2013
Seng Raw receives
Magsaysay Award
CHERRY THEIN
t.cherry6@gmail.com
A KACHIN activist has won
the Philippines’ prestigious
Magsaysay Award.
Lahpai Seng Raw, the former
executive director of
one of the country’s longestrunning
NGOs, the Metta Development
Foundation, was
one of five winners. She will
travel to Manila on August 31
to collect the prize.
Lahpai Seng Raw said she
was deeply honoured to receive
the award and thanked
her family, friends and colleagues.
She reserved special
praise for the late chairman of
the Kachin Independence Organisation,
Maran Brang Seng,
whom she said persuaded her
to get involved in community
work, as well as the government
for providing opportunities
to assist conflict-affected
communities.
She pledged to use the prize
money, which was US$50,000
in 2012, on projects that will
protect and preserve the Myitsone
area in Kachin State
and provide sustainable livelihood
opportunities for its
communities.
“I will maintain my commitment
to work for sustainable
peace and a development
process that will be evenly
spread across the country,” she
said.
“My fervent hope is that the
Ayeyarwady will continue to
flow for all time, and that efforts
to make this a reality is a
factor that unites all citizens of
Myanmar.
“I am therefore most grateful
to the Ramon Magsaysay
Award Foundation for providing
me with the opportunity
not only to use my prize
money to protect and preserve
Myitsone but also [to have] a
powerful forum to publicise
the need to stop the dam construction
once and for all.
“Losing Myitsone for the
Kachin is like losing his or her
heart and soul. It would be a
loss of unbearable proportions,
not just for Kachin at the
source of the Ayeyarwady but
for the rest of the country also,
for whom the river is like a
mother who feeds Myanmar’s
citizens.”
Metta was established to assist
disadvantaged communities
regardless of ethnicity or
religion in a way that respects
different cultures and values.
Its activities also focus on postconflict
needs and creating
space for people with different
backgrounds to work together,
strengthen the peace process
and develop their regions.
The Magsaysay Awards were
established in 1957 and take
their name from the former
president of the Philippines,
Ramon Magsaysay.
Seven NGOs unite on
aid for displaced Kachin
CHERRY THEIN
t.cherry6@gmail.com
SEVEN local NGOs have drafted
a joint strategy aimed at
protecting those affected by ongoing
armed conflict in Kachin
and northern Shan states.
The strategy, which runs
from 2013 to 2015, seeks to
protect the rights, needs, dignity
and safety of internally displaced
people, said Daw Mary
Tawn of Wunpawng Ninghtoi,
one of the NGOs involved in
drafting the plan.
Despite a lull in fighting
between the Tatmadaw and
Kachin Independence Army in
recent months, about 80,000
people are living in 139 camps
for displaced people.
“The strategy aims to ensure
efficient and quality humanitarian
responses that address
the most urgent needs of people
in conflict areas,” she said
at a press conference last week.
She added that those in the
affected areas face “many challenges”
in spite of the best efforts
of NGOs, especially as
larger international organisations
and United Nations agencies
have so far had only limited
access to affected areas.
The joint strategy is an attempt
by the seven aid organisations
to maximise the impact
Children displaced by the conflict in Kachin State line up for their dinner ration at Pakahtawng camp
near Mai Ja Yang in Kachin State on January 21. Photo: Kaung Htet
of their efforts by adopting a
common understanding of how
the humanitarian response
should be designed, strategised,
targeted and managed, Daw
Mary Tawn said.
All aid will be delivered
with a strong commitment to
international humanitarian
principles and the joint strategy
will help reduce gaps and
overlaps between the efforts of
different aid groups. It will also
work to minimise donor-driven
policy and maximise the use
of international cooperation
opportunities.
The Kachin Baptist Convention,
Kachin Relief and Development
Committee, Karuna
Myanmar Social Services, Metta
Development Foundation, Shalom
Foundation and Bridging
Rural Integrated Development
and Grassroots Empowerment
were also involved in drafting
the strategy.
The steering committee
will release a report every six
months that will be used proactively
to feed the communication
and advocacy agenda,
the networking policy and
fundraising strategy.
But with local NGOs having
only limited access to funding,
the organisations expressed concern
that they might struggle to
sustain the project for its intended
duration.
U Gun Mai, from the Shalom
Foundation, said the three-year
budget requirement is estimated
at about US$70 million, but
they have so far received only
$13 million. Most of the funds
will be used before September,
he said, and commitments
for next year’s projects are
uncertain.
MILLION US$
13
The amount given to date for
relief activities in Kachin State
“Fundraising is one of the
important factors for a humanitarian
response. There are still
many gaps,” he said.
The executive director of
the Metta Development Foundation,
U Sai San Kham, said
the organisations welcome
internal or external experts
who can help meet needs in
under-resourced sectors, such
as psychosocial support and
rehabilitation for women and
children.
“We were unable to look
after young people properly in
the response program because
we were working on many
other priority issues,” U Sai
San Kham said. “Children in
[displaced persons’] camps are
rarely interested in education
when they doubt the government
will recognise the results
of exams in the camp.”
He said the lack of economic
opportunies is also a major
challenge for aid groups to
overcome. “The people in the
camps say they feel insecure
because they have no income.”
The groups said that while
the conflict might be resolved
before 2015, when their plan
ends, it is not clear when displaced
people will be able to
return to their homes.
“There are many scenarios
… that we need to consider,” U
Sai San Kham said. “It is very
difficult to tell when the conflict
will stop completely and
the IDP will be able to return
and resettle.
“Even if the ceasefire agreement
is attained, there will be
many processes necessary for
IDP returns, resettlement and
rehabilitation.”