Human rights and education

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Description: "Situation in Numbers 5,600,000 children in need of humanitarian assistance 17,600,000 people in need (HRP 2023) 1,438,600 Internally displaced people after 1 February 2021 (UNHCR) 52,200 People displaced to neighbouring countries since 1 February 2021 328,000 people living in protracted displacement before February 2021 Highlights The humanitarian and human rights situation in Myanmar remains volatile in the first quarter of 2023, with continuing displacement in the north-west and south-east. The number of people displaced nationally reached 1,766,600 with a slight decrease for those prior to 1 February 2021, now 328,000 displaced compared to previous report indicating 330,400. In Kachin, Shan and Rakhine states displaced people were instructed to return to their place of origins by the end of March, but with limited information on safe return or assistance. 31,187 people received primary health care services, and 465 children aged 9–18 months were vaccinated against measles in Rakhine, Kachin, and Shan with the assistance of partner organizations. Under the Bright Start programme, 71,155 people received telemedicine consultation services, including 59,936 consultations for children under 5 and 11,219 consultations for pregnant women. The programme also provided 1,360 investigations of antenatal care for pregnant women and 32 investigations for children under 5. Funding Overview and Partnerships UNICEF Myanmar Country Office is appealing for US$169.6 million in 2023 to address the needs of the 2.8 million people it has targeted, including an estimated 1.9 million children. During the reporting period, UNICEF secured US$19.15 million, 11.3 per cent of its Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) appeal. UNICEF has received this generous support from the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United States Fund for UNICEF, the Humanitarian Aid Department of the European Commission (ECHO), the Government of Japan, the Government of Norway, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), the World Health Organization (WHO), Gavi the vaccine alliance and through Global Humanitarian Thematic Funding. UNICEF and its partners continue to deliver much-needed services covering nutrition, health, HIV/AIDS, water sanitation and hygiene (WASH), education, child protection, gender-based violence in emergencies, protection against sexual exploitation and abuse, social protection and cash-based programming, accountability to affected populations (AAP), humanitarian leadership and cluster coordination. The programmes hope to scale up services to the targeted populations, especially to children in need, with continued support from donors. UNICEF expresses its sincere appreciation to all private and public sector donors for their contributions to supporting the children of Myanmar. Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs Armed conflicts continue across Myanmar, particularly in the southeast and northwest where there is regular heavy fighting, air strikes, artillery shelling and the destruction of civilian properties. The humanitarian and human rights situation in Myanmar remains volatile in the first quarter of 2023, with continued new displacement, especially in the north-west and south-east. The number of people displaced rose to 1.77 million across the country at the end of March1 up from 1.66 at the end of February. The situation is particularly acute in Sagaing Region, where there are 744,000 displaced people (as of 27 March 2023). Armed clashes are continuing and access to the region by road is blocked. Nationally, tight security measures have also restricted the delivery of supplies in northwest and southeast regions in particular, there are reports of luggage and supplies being inspected at several checkpoints, leading to delays in partner movements necessary for the implementation and monitoring of activities. Alongside these new displacements, there has been an increased focus by some state-level authorities for people in protracted displacement to return to their villages of origin. In Kachin, Shan and Rakhine states, local authorities instructed people living in displacement sites to return to their place of origins by the end of March. However, limited information on support for safe return has been provided and many displaced people remain concerned regarding safety, security, and lack of basic services in their places of origin. In some locations, populations have been offered some assistance, but this has been inconsistent across locations and generally considered to be insufficient to meet immediate basic needs. To date, due to access limitations, it has not been possible to carry out assessments in the majority of return locations. In Kayah (Karenni) State, the south-east regions, approximately 20,000 newly displaced people need food, medicines, and tarpaulins to make temporary shelters. Water shortage is another emerging issue with the lack of hygiene causing rashes and diarrhoea among children under 5. Most of the camps are far from any hospital or clinic making it difficult for people to seek medical assistance. Estimates suggest that a high percentage of displaced people, particularly women and children, are suffering from depression and trauma after losing their homes, property and/or family members..."
Source/publisher: UN Children's Fund (New York) via Reliefweb (New York)
2023-04-07
Date of entry/update: 2023-04-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "UNICEF gained access to Mindat for the first time since February 2021 to deliver urgent humanitarian relief supplies to displaced persons. * The names of the family have been changed to protect confidentiality. When conflict escalated between local armed groups and the Myanmar Armed Forces in the small mountain town of Mindat in the western State of Chin, Hay Mar, and her family decided to flee their home like most residents of the town. As the sounds of gunfire and explosions became louder, Htun, her five-year-old son, froze with fear and Hay Mar had to put him on her back and run as fast as she could into the dense forest near their home with the rest of the family. Those left behind were the most vulnerable - mostly the elderly and heavily pregnant women. “My mother-in-law could have run with us, but she said she didn’t want to. She wanted to stay in her home”, said Hay Mar. Like thousands of others, Hay Mar and her husband made makeshift shelters for their three children in the forest, but they had little protection from the monsoon rains that had just begun. Fortunately, after a couple of weeks, the family found refuge in a friend’s home in a nearby village. Humanitarian aid getting through despite conflict and pandemic In Mindat, martial law has been declared since May 2021 and alongside continuing armed clashes, the town has also been caught up in Myanmar’s devasting third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a United Nations humanitarian report, an estimated three million people in Myanmar need assistance and Mindat is reportedly one of the worst affected places in the country. This means there are several families like Hay Mar who are in urgent need of support. In August, The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) gained access to Mindat for the first time since February 2021 to deliver urgent humanitarian relief supplies to displaced persons in 10 camps for internally displaced people. UNICEF distributed critical supplies including multi-micronutrient tablets to pregnant and lactating women, a four-month supply of multi-micronutrient powder sachets for children under the age of five, hygiene kits that included 10-litre and 20-litre plastic buckets and water purification sachets, child protection and early childhood education kits for children and adolescents, including stationery and toys for the younger children. During this mission, UNICEF had hoped to reach more camps, but the continued operational disruptions did not allow the agency to access them. UNICEF, however, will remain committed to providing help to many children and families who are being forced to make temporary homes in these camps, often without even the most basic services. What does the future hold? “If we live in this situation, how will my children grow? I’m very worried about their future. I just want to live in peace.” Over two weeks had passed since Hay Mar and her family had to flee Mindat and she began to worry about her mother-in-law. With her three children, Hay Mar decided to return to the town to look for her. Htun, her youngest, was petrified as they re-entered their hometown, but he is now slowly showing signs of overcoming the trauma and returning to being the lively boy he once was, said Hay Mar. But while she is happy to see these positive changes in her son, she is unsure how long this period of peace and calm will last. Like most of the other children in Mindat, her two older children, aged 12 and 17, have now been out of school for almost two years. First, it was the pandemic that halted their education and lives, and now, there is a security situation threatening their safety. “If we live in this situation, how will my children grow? I’m very worried about their future. I just want to live in peace,” said an anxious Hay Mar, echoing the thoughts and voices of mothers across Myanmar.....မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၊ ချင်းပြည်နယ်ရှိ ပဋိပက္ခများကြောင့် စားနပ်ရိက္ခာများ ဆိုးဆိုးဝါးဝါး ဖြတ်တောက်ခံထားရသည့် မိသားစုများထံသို့ ယူနီဆက် ကယ်ဆယ်ရေးပစ္စည်းများရောက်ရှိ (လုံခြုံရေးအရ မိသားစု၏ အမည်များကို ပြောင်းလဲထားပါသည်) ချင်းပြည်နယ်အနောက်ပိုင်းက တောင်ပေါ်မြို့ငယ်လေးတစ်မြို့ဖြစ်တဲ့ မင်းတပ်မြို့မှာ ဒေသခံ လက်နက်ကိုင်အဖွဲ့တွေနဲ့ မြန်မာစစ်တပ်ကြား ပဋိပက္ခများ အရှိန်မြင့်လာချိန်မှာ ဟေမာနဲ့ သူ့မိသားစုဟာ မြို့ခံအများစုလိုပဲ အိမ်တွေကိုစွန့်ခွာထွက်ပြေးဖို့ ဆုံးဖြတ်ခဲ့ပါတယ်။ ဒါပေမဲ့ ငါးနှစ်အရွယ် သူ့သားအငယ်ဆုံးလေး ထွန်းဟာ သေနတ်သံတွေနဲ့ ပေါက်ကွဲသံတွေ ပိုပြီးကျယ်လောင်လာချိန်မှာ အကြောက်လွန်ပြီး အငိုအရယ်မရှိ ကြက်သေသေသွားခဲ့ပါတယ်။ ဒါကြောင့် ဟေမာက သားလေးကို ကျောပိုးပြီး ကျန်တဲ့မိသားစုတွေနဲ့အတူ အိမ်အနီးက တောထဲကို တတ်နိုင်သမျှ အမြန်ဆုံး ပြေးခဲ့ရပါတယ်။ ကျန်နေခဲ့ကြတဲ့သူတွေကလဲ အားနည်းထိခိုက်လွယ်ဆုံးသူတွေဖြစ်ပြီး အများစုကတော့ သက်ကြီးရွယ်အိုတွေရယ်၊ ကိုယ်ဝန်အရင့်အမာနဲ့ အမျိုးသမီးတွေရယ်ပဲဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ “ကျွန်မယောက္ခမကြီးက ကျွန်မတို့နဲ့အတူ ပြေးလို့ရပေမဲ့ သူကမပြေးချင်ဘူး၊ သူ့အိမ်မှာပဲနေခဲ့ချင်တယ်လို့ပြောတယ်” လို့ ဟေမာက ပြောပြပါတယ်။" အခြားထောင်ပေါင်းများစွာသောလူတွေလိုပဲ ဟေမာနဲ့ ခင်ပွန်းဖြစ်သူက တောထဲမှာ သူတို့ကလေးသုံးယောက်အတွက် ယာယီတဲလေးတစ်ခုဆောက်ခဲ့ပါတယ်။ ဒါပေမဲ့ အဲ့သည့်အချိန်မှ စကာစ မုတ်သုန်မိုးအတွက်တော့ အကာအကွယ်က မလုံလောက်ပါဘူး။ ကံကောင်းတာက နှစ်ပတ် သုံးပတ်ကြာပြီးနောက်မှာ ဟေမာတို့မိသားစု အနီးအနားရွာတစ်ရွာက မိတ်ဆွေတစ်ဦးရဲ့အိမ်မှာ ခိုလှုံခွင့်ရခဲ့တာပဲဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ ပဋိပက္ခနဲ့ ကပ်ဘေးများကြားမှပင် လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားရေး အကူအညီများ ရောက်ရှိ မင်းတပ်မြို့မှာ မာရှယ်လောအမိန့်ကြေညာထားပြီး လက်နက်ကိုင်တိုက်ပွဲများ ဆက်လက်ဖြစ်ပွားနေသလို ဒီဒေသမှာ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံရဲ့ ကိုဗစ်-၁၉ တတိယလှိုင်း ရိုက်ခတ်တဲ့ဒဏ်ကိုလည်း ခံခဲ့ရပါတယ်။ ကုလသမဂ္ဂ လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားရေးအစီရင်ခံစာအရ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံက လူပေါင်း သုံးသန်းခန့်နီးပါးက အကူအညီလိုအပ်မယ်လို့ မှန်းဆထားပါတယ်။ မင်းတပ်မြို့ဟာ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံက အဆိုးဝါးဆုံး ထိခိုက်ခံရတဲ့နေရာတွေထဲက တစ်ခုအပါအဝင်ဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ ဒါဟာ ဟေမာတို့မိသားစုလိုပဲ အရေးပေါ် အကူအညီတွေ လိုအပ်နေတဲ့ မိသားစုတွေ အများကြီးရှိနေတယ်ဆိုတာကို ပြနေပါတယ်။ သြဂုတ်လထဲမှာ ယူနီဆက်က မင်းတပ်မြို့ရှိ စစ်ရှောင်စခန်း ၁၀ ခုရှိ နေရပ်စွန့်ခွာသူများထံ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ မှစပြီး ပထမဦးဆုံးအကြိမ်အဖြစ် အရေးပေါ် လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားရေး အကူအညီများ ပေးပို့နိုင်ခဲ့ပါတယ်။ ယူနီဆက်က ကိုယ်ဝန်ဆောင်နဲ့ နို့တိုက်မိခင်တွေအတွက် ဘက်စုံအနုအာဟာရဆေးပြားများ၊ အသက် ငါးနှစ်အောက်ကလေးတွေအတွက် လေးလစာ အနုအာဟာရမှုန့်အထုပ်ငယ်များ၊ ၁၀ လီတာနဲ့ လီတာ ၂၀ ဆန့် ပလတ်စတစ်ရေပုံးများနဲ့ ရေသန့်ဆေးအထုပ်ငယ်များ ပါဝင်တဲ့ တစ်ကိုယ်ရေသန့်ရှင်းရေးသုံးပစ္စည်းများ၊ ကလေးငယ်များနဲ့ ဆယ်ကျော်သက်လူငယ်များအတွက် ကလေးသူငယ်များအား အကာအကွယ်ပေးခြင်းနှင့် အစောပိုင်းကလေးဘဝအရွယ်ဆိုင်ရာ ပညာရေးပစ္စည်းများ၊ စာရေးကိရိယာများနဲ့ ကစားစရာများ စတဲ့ အရေးပါတဲ့ ပံ့ပိုးရေးပစ္စည်းများကို ဖြန့်ဝေပေးခဲ့ပါတယ်။ ယူနီဆက်က နောက်ထပ်စစ်ဘေးရှောင်စခန်းများထံ အကူအညီများပေးနိုင်ဖို့ မျှော်လင့်ထားခဲ့ပေမဲ့ ဆက်လက်ဖြစ်ပေါ်နေတဲ့ အခက်အခဲများစွာကြောင့် မရောက်ရှိနိုင်ခဲ့ပါဘူး။ ဒါပေမဲ့လည်း အခြေခံအကျဆုံး ဝန်ဆောင်မှုတွေကိုတောင် မရရှိဘဲ စစ်ရှောင်စခန်းတွေမှာ ယာယီနေထိုင်နေကြရသူ ကလေးများစွာနဲ့ မိသားစုတွေအတွက် အကူအညီများပေးနိုင်ရန် ယူနီဆက်က မရပ်မနား ဆက်လက်ဆောင်ရွက်သွားမှာဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ အနာဂါတ်ကာလမှာ ဘာတွေဖြစ်လာမှာလဲ..? “ကျွန်မတို့ ဒီအခြေအနေမှာ ဆက်နေမယ်ဆိုရင် ကျွန်မကလေးတွေ ဘယ်လိုကြီးပြင်းလာရမှာလဲ ကျွန်မတို့အနာဂတ်အတွက် သိပ်စိတ်ပူတယ်၊ ကျွန်မ အေးအေးချမ်းချမ်းလေးပဲ နေချင်တာပါ။” ဟေမာတို့မိသားစု မင်းတပ်မြို့ကနေ စွန့်ခွာထွက်ပြေးလာတာ နှစ်ပါတ်ကျော်ကာလကိုရောက်လာပါပြီ။ ‌မြို့ထဲမှာကျန်ခဲ့တဲ့ ယောက္ခမဖြစ်သူကို စိုးရိမ်တဲ့အတွက် ကလေးသုံးယောက်နဲ့အတူ မင်းတပ်ကိုပြန်ဖို့ ဆုံးဖြတ်ခဲ့ပါတယ်။ ဟေမာ့ရဲ့ အငယ်ဆုံးသားလေးဖြစ်တဲ့ ထွန်းက သူတို့ဇာတိမြို့ကိုပြန်ဝင်လာချိန်မှာပဲ အကြောက်လွန်ပြီး တုန်လှုပ်သွားခဲ့ပါတယ်။ အခုကတော့ သူရဲ့ စိတ်ဒဏ်ရာကို ကျော်ဖြတ်နိုင်တဲ့ လက္ခဏာတွေကို ပြသလာပြီး အရင်ကလို ပျော်ပျော်နေတတ်တဲ့ကလေးလေး ပြန်ဖြစ်လာပါပြီလို့ ဟေမာက ပြောပြပါတယ်။ ထွန်းရဲ့ ကောင်းတဲ့ပြောင်းလဲမှုတွေအတွက် ဟေမာက ပျော်ပေမယ့် ဒီအခြေအနေကဘယ်လောက်ထိ ကြာမလဲဆိုတာ သူသေချာမသိဘူးလို့ ဖြည့်စွက်ပြောပါတယ်။ မင်းတပ်က ကလေးအများစုလိုပဲ သူ့ရဲ့နောက်ကလေးနှစ်ယောက်ဖြစ်တဲ့ အသက် ၁၂ နှစ်နဲ့ ၁၇ နှစ်အရွယ် ကလေးနှစ်ယောက်က ကျောင်းမတက်ရတာ နှစ်နှစ်နီးပါးရှိနေပါပြီ။ အစကတော့ ကပ်ရောဂါကြောင့် သူတို့အိမ်ပြန်လာကြတာပါ၊ ဒါပေမဲ့ နောက်ပိုင်းမှာတော့ လုံခြုံရေးအခြေအနေ ခြိမ်းခြောက်မှုတွေကြောင့်ဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ “ကျွန်မတို့ ဒီအခြေအနေမှာ ဆက်နေမယ်ဆိုရင် ကျွန်မကလေးတွေ ဘယ်လိုကြီးပြင်းလာရမှာလဲ” လို့ စိုးရိမ်ပူပန်စွာနဲ့ ဟေမာက မေးခဲ့ပါတယ်။ “ကျွန်မတို့အနာဂတ်အတွက် သိပ်စိတ်ပူတယ်၊ ကျွန်မ အေးအေးချမ်းချမ်းလေးပဲ နေချင်တာပါ။” လို့ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံက မိခင်အများစုရဲ့ သောကတွေကို ထင်ဟပ်အောင်ပြောပြသွားပါတယ်။..."
Source/publisher: UN Children's Fund (Myanmar) via Reliefweb (New York)
2021-10-18
Date of entry/update: 2021-10-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Highlights Cases of COVID-19 continue to rise sharply in East Asia and the Pacific. In total, 12.8 million positive cases and 274,923 deaths have been confirmed in the region, with Indonesia (4.2 million cases), Philippines (2.6 million cases), Malaysia (2.3 million cases) and Thailand (1.6 million cases) being the most affected. A combined approach of supporting vaccine roll-out while continuing to focus on efforts to contain the spread of the virus and respond to the social-economic impacts of the pandemic is needed in order to save lives and alleviate suffering, especially for children. An estimated 1.7 million children in the region are affected by severe wasting - this is expected to increase an average of 14 per cent from 2020 through 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. UNICEF has provided 16.5 million children and adolescents with messages on healthy diets. UNICEF has also supported 176,327 schools to implement safe school protocols and 32.2 million children with access to formal or non-formal education, including early learning. Regional Funding Overview In 2021, UNICEF is appealing for US$117.2 million to meet the humanitarian needs of children, adolescents and women affected by emergencies, including chronic, protracted humanitarian situations as well as UNICEF’s response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region. So far, a total of US$61.2 million has been received against the 2021 EAP HAC (including US$32.7 million carried-over from 2020 and US$28.5 million received in 2021) from donors, including the Governments of Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States of America, European Commission, Asian Development Bank, World Bank, CERF, Global Partnership for Education, Gavi, Solidarity Fund, United Nations Office for South South Cooperation, several private donors and UNICEF committees in Australia, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand, and the USA. UNICEF is currently in discussion with several public and private donors to raise funding for the US$56 million shortfall for the EAP regional response. UNICEF acknowledges the generous contribution of donors including private sectors supporting this joint effort to respond and mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and other emergencies in the EAP region. Please refer to Annex B and Annex C for more detailed information on funding per functional area and country. In addition, UNICEF has also received US$93.1 million for COVID-19 vaccine roll-out in East Asia and Pacific for 2021 in response to the Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) / COVAX appeal. The ACT-A / COVAX HAC appeal which was launched and is managed globally complements the EAP Regional HAC appeal by supporting country readiness for COVID-19 vaccine roll out, together with WHO and Gavi, while supporting the strengthening of health systems. This includes providing commodities needed for safe vaccine administration, such as cold chain equipment, personal protective equipment (PPE), and hand hygiene (soap and hand sanitizer), operational costs for vaccine delivery and associated technical assistance. Crucially, this also includes support for vaccine delivery to humanitarian populations. The seven support areas are in alignment with the categories of National Deployment and Vaccination Plans and include: planning and coordination, prioritization and targeting, service delivery, training, monitoring and evaluation, vaccine cold-chain and logistics, communication and community engagement. Funding and results from the ACT-A / COVAX HAC appeal are reported through a separate global ACT-A situation report. Regional Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs The number of confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19 in EAP continued to rise sharply over the past three months. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 12.8 million positive cases and 274,923 deaths have been confirmed in the region, with Indonesia (4.2 million cases), Philippines (2.6 million cases), Malaysia (2.3 million cases) and Thailand (1.6 million cases) being the most affected. Countries across the region continue racing to vaccinate their populations against COVID-19; however, the pandemic and related control measures continue to disrupt essential health, nutrition, and social services and to drive steep declines in household incomes. A combined approach of supporting vaccine roll-out while continuing to focus on efforts to contain the spread of the virus and respond to the social-economic impacts of the pandemic is needed in order to save lives and alleviate suffering, especially for children. The COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to increase all forms of malnutrition for young children, but the most imminent concern is its impact on life-threatening wasting, particularly amongst the poorest children, who face an even greater struggle to access nutritious and affordable foods and required nutrition services. An estimated 1.7 million children in EAP are affected by severe wasting - the most life-threatening form of malnutrition. And this is expected to increase an average of 14 per cent from 2020 through 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has also exposed the weaknesses in systems delivering water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in many contexts. Across the region, 89 million people do not have basic handwashing facilities with soap and water at home. At the beginning of the pandemic, three out of 10 households in East Asia and Pacific region did not have a dedicated place for washing hands with soap and water. More than half of the schools in the region did not have hand-washing facilities with soap and water available to students, and more than six out of 10 health care facilities in EAP lacked functional handwashing facilities with soap and water or hand sanitizer. As a result of the pandemic, millions of people had disrupted access to life-saving water and sanitation services as service providers struggled with staff health and safety concerns and financial difficulties. Meanwhile, in the face of continuing high cases of COVID-19 spread through the delta variant, many countries in EAP have only partially reopened schools. Schools are partially open in Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam, while schools have remained fully closed in Fiji and the Philippines. Emerging evidence indicates increasing dropouts and learning loss due to the recurring and prolonged school closures combined with distance learning programmes not being on par with face-to-face teaching and learning. Schools in the Philippines (hosting 24.9m children) have remained closed since end of March 2020, making it one of the last countries globally with schools continuously closed for face-to-face learning. Partly thanks to UNICEF Philippines Country Office advocacy, the government is now planning to reopen a small number of schools in low-risk areas as a pilot. UNICEF is providing technical assistance to the government on the pilot school reopening in the hope of wider school reopening following the initial pilot. UNICEF is also supporting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in developing comprehensive guidance for the safe reopening and operation of schools. As a result of school closures and economic shocks caused by COVID-19, the latest report on child labour (UNICEF/ILO) estimates that globally 9 million additional children are at risk of being pushed into child labour by the end of 2022. In EAP, 50,200 children are involved in child labour, accounting for one in every 16 children in the region, and 42 per cent of them are in hazardous work putting them at risk of physical and mental harm. Indonesia’s Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection has warned that the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak has increased the risk of children being pushed into child labour. Meanwhile, a regional survey on climate change and child protection in emergencies was carried out in Southeast Asia as part of a global joint initiative between IFRC and UNICEF. The survey reached 29,133 children and youth aged between 10 and 25 years. The findings suggest that climate change related disasters are a threat multiplier, elevating the potential risk of violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect against children. The findings informed a recently released IFRC policy brief on anticipatory action and child protection. The pandemic is also exacerbating the vulnerability of families to natural hazards, such as typhoons and floods, and protracted humanitarian situations due to unresolved conflict and political instability. This situation in Myanmar continues to deteriorate as the country falls deeper into a situation of armed conflict and targeted violence, pushing a growing number of children into a situation of humanitarian needs. Further details on the situation in Myanmar and UNICEF’s response can be found in a separate situation report dedicated to the Myanmar 2021 HAC appeal..."
Source/publisher: UN Children's Fund via Reliefweb (New York)
2021-10-12
Date of entry/update: 2021-10-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Myanmar’s higher education (HE) sector is stunted in almost every respect, due to prolonged underinvestment and over-centralization. Research has shown that the sector is ‘poor by any standard’ and is facing enormous challenges. For one, the state´s provision of HE is inadequate. Only 11% of Myanmar´s youth, which refers to a small number of middle-class students, have access to state-run higher education. Thus, the private sector, which includes both for-profit and non-profit institutions, has become an important HE provider in Myanmar. Despite this, private education provision, particularly of the non-profit sector, is largely overlooked by studies conducted on Myanmar´s education. Non-profit private higher education institutions (HEIs) deserve more research attention because they not only patch up the state´s weaknesses in educational provision, but they also make HE accessible and affordable in the country´s peripheries. Therefore, in a study conducted under ChinBridge Institute’s Research Fellowship program, from which this Tea Circle article is adapted, I discussed what it would take to sustain non-profits’ provision of higher education in Chin State, one of Myanmar’s most remote areas. The study was motivated by my volunteering experience as a teacher at the Chin Christian University, a non-profit private university in Hakha, Chin State. The study focused on how these HEIs can best use the readily available resources rather than acquiring more. Public HEIs in Myanmar Myanmar’s higher education sector is highly centralized and state-controlled. All of the country’s 174 public higher education institutions (HEIs) are overseen by the government, the European Union-funded project CHINLONE reported in 2018. CHINLONE stands for ‘Connecting Higher Education Institutions for a New Leadership in National Education’. It is also the name of a Myanmar traditional sport that emphasizes cooperation and teamwork. Eight ministries are involved in managing the HEIs, including the Ministry of Education. In Myanmar, private HEIs are not HEIs in a legal sense, regardless of whether they are for-profit or non-profit. They are registered as either companies under the Ministry of Trade and Commerce or as NGOs. In mid-2020, the government allowed private schools offering higher education to register, using a form called the “Private HEIs Form”. The government stated that the private school registration would be a pathway for these institutions to gain accreditation. However, private HEI registration was closed later that year before any HEIs were approved. Access to higher education in Chin State Now, let’s have a peek at how public HEIs are distributed across the country. In 2012, there were 164 public HEIs in the country. Mandalay had 36 HEIs, Yangon 33, Sagaing 14, and the country’s poorest states—Chin and Kayah state—had 3 public HEIs respectively, as reported in the 2013 Myanmar Comprehensive Education Sector Review (CESR) Report. The 3 public HEIs listed under Chin State in the CESR report, Kalay University, Technological University (Kalay) and University of Computer Studies (Kalay), are all situated in Kalay town in Sagaing Region. Kalay is at least a 6 hour-drive from Chin State’s capital, Hakha, depending on prevailing weather and road conditions, which is often at its worst during the rainy season. Thus, in fact, there were no public universities in Chin State in 2012. The first public university, Hakha University, came to Hakha only in November 2016. Why is that a problem? An average Chin family would probably have to sell a pig or two to get to Kalay. Living expenses would cost even more. Getting a university degree is expensive for marginalized Chin youth, given that they would have to travel far away from home. Access to higher education is also a problem elsewhere in Myanmar, but Chin State’s situation is particularly dire, due to Chin State’s remote geography and the government’s failure to establish sufficient HEIs there. Non-profit HEIs in Chin State As of 2021, Chin State has 6 public HEIs; namely Hakha University, Hakha Education College, Government Technical Institute, Hakha Midwife Training School, Falam Nursing Training School and Lungpi Agriculture High School. However, only one of these is a university. So, even today in Chin State, community-run non-profit HEIs are the oldest, most well-established, and most prevalent type of higher education. Most of them are Bible Schools run by the church community. Six public HEIs and about 13 non-profit HEIs currently exist in Chin State. Among them are Chin Christian University, Chin Christian Institute of Theology, Victoria Academy and Chin Initiative for Sustainable Society, to name a few. None of them are registered as HEIs under the MoE. There may be more than thirteen as I could have missed an institution or two in the counting. No official list of these non-profit HEIs exists. The community provision of higher education in Chin State dates back to 1953, when the first Bible school opened in Falam. The main purpose of non-profit HEIs has always been to make higher education accessible to local youth who cannot afford a university education in bigger cities. Through higher education, these community HEIs also allow Chin students to maintain their ethnic identity, culture and history amidst a Bamar-dominated education system. As primarily self-funding institutions, these HEIs are faced with financial shortages from time to time. Hence they often struggle with poor physical infrastructure and scarcity of resources. Not having enough qualified teachers, poor resource management, and inadequate tracking of students’ progress are also some challenges that exist within these HEIs. Many of their students undertake Distance Education in public HEIs on the side in order to obtain a formal degree that is recognized by the Myanmar state. This means that non-profit HEIs have to adjust their schedules based on public HEIs. Another challenge that non-profit HEIs face is the dilemma of which language of instruction to teach in. Language may seem like the last problem faced by local HEIs; however, there are at least 50 Chin dialects spoken in Chin State. So, Chin HEIs are also faced with very diverse classroom in terms of languages. Often, Burmese language, which is everyone’s second or third language, is used in class. Even so, the advantages of community-run HEIs outweigh these challenges. For one, students consider the quality of education provided by them better than that provided in state-run HEIs. Teaching methods are different and so is the curriculum. For instance, private HEIs use more participatory teaching methods compared to public HEIs, so students learn more effectively. The root cause of these advantages is that private HEIs have institutional autonomy, unlike public HEIs. My study sought to show why institutional autonomy is important, and how private HEIs can take better advantage of this situation. The importance of institutional autonomy So, what exactly is institutional autonomy? There are four internationally recognized aspects of institutional autonomy discussed in the 2018 CHINLONE report: organizational, academic, staffing and financial. To give a better understanding of this concept, I will paraphrase the CHINLONE’s explanation in the next paragraphs. Organizational autonomy refers to an institution’s capacity to determine its internal organization and decision-making process. This includes the election and dismissal of its leaders and its ability to change its academic structures. Academic autonomy is an institution’s freedom to manage their academic affairs. These affairs include academic programs and contents, student selection and evaluation criteria, the number of students to be admitted, the curriculum, and teaching methods. Having institutional autonomy in staffing gives non-profit private HEIs the right to recruit and manage their human resources. For example, a HEI with institutional autonomy could hire an English professor from England to teach, visa issues aside. Or it could ask a local businessman to teach marketing. None of these teacher appointments would require approval from the Ministry of Education. Financial autonomy gives non-profit HEIs the ability to manage their funds and allocate their budget. However, financial autonomy can push a lot of responsibilities and duties onto HEIs, as they will need to generate their own funds without a stable source of income. These are the four aspects of institutional autonomy that the private HEIs enjoyed compared to public HEIs, despite not being able to issue formal degrees that are recognized in Myanmar, at least until the coup on 1 February 2021. How their institutional autonomy will be affected by the coup is uncertain. How can non-profit HEIs sustain their work? In my research about this topic (which will be published later this year), I argue that non-profit HEIs should take better advantage of their institutional autonomy. This will not only improve their quality but also raise their competitiveness in the eyes of funders, and thereby sustain their work. How? Since this is not a full research report, I will only focus on one specific area which I think is essential and doable for non-profit HEIs. In particular, I recommend that non-profit HEIs enhance their networks and pursue collaborations with others, whether with local or international institutions. The aforementioned non-profit HEIs in Chin State already have partnerships and collaborations with both domestic and foreign organizations or HEIs. Through international partnerships, students and staff have opportunities to pursue further studies at partner institutions abroad and participate in study exchange programs. Surprisingly, these non-profit HEIs have more connections with other institutions abroad than between themselves. While international connections are important, domestic connections should not be overlooked as these non-profit HEIs can help each other grow in many ways through collaborations. In fact, some education leaders have mentioned the need for more domestic partnerships during my interviews but none of them had proactive plans to take the initiative. One principal remarked, ‘we (Chin HEIs leaders) always wait for a third party to initiate things like this, this is our weakness’. In my opinion, networking between similar HEIs within the whole country, especially within Chin State, is crucial for the sustainability of non-profit private HEIs for the following reasons. First, it might give the non-profit sector a better chance of impacting the national higher education policy as a stronger and more consolidated network. In the long run, this could allow non-profit HEIs to gain legal status and accreditation, so that students will no longer have to pursue parallel degrees at public universities. Second, resource sharing might be possible through networking as well, which will increase the quality of education in HEIs. Last but not least, networking will contribute to the organizational development of each institution by allowing them to learn from each other. It is through being with others that we become our better selves..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Tea Circle (Myanmar)
2021-08-25
Date of entry/update: 2021-08-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "1. Foreword 2020 was the deadliest year on record for refugee journeys in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea. Governments and leaders across Asia Pacific have been confronted with the question of whether we have collectively learned from history. Even more critically, we must ask ourselves whether we can sit by and repeat past tragic mistakes. These past twelve months call to mind the events of 2015, another harrowing, landmark year for refugees and migrants at sea. The world was shocked by not one but two major, almost simultaneous humanitarian emergencies: the Andaman Sea crisis followed swiftly by the desperate journeys of more than a million men, women and children by sea to Europe. Here in the Asia Pacific, the abandonment at sea of some 5,000 men, women and children by people- smugglers, with no government willing to bring them ashore, was a moment of reckoning. We watched in horror as human beings who had fled discrimination and persecution were left adrift, starving and sick, for months. Hundreds died. Not long afterwards, on the other side of the globe, the body of the young Syrian refugee, Alan Kurdi, washed ashore in Turkey. The collective tide of emotion was not only one of grief, but shame that such tragedies could happen. In South East Asia, governments resolved to prevent collective inaction and its fatal consequences. Through the 2016 Bali Declaration, States acknowledged the need for a reliable and concerted response to this genuinely regional challenge. In establishing the ASEAN Trust Fund, member states also committed in 2015 to provide financial support to emergency and humanitarian relief efforts during similar movements of people, so that such vessels are never denied entry for fear of carrying the responsibility for reception and solutions alone. Today, some six years later, these mechanisms have failed to live up to their promise. We see once again increasing movements of Rohingya refugees in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea. We know their voyages are becoming more deadly. The longer a ship remains at sea, the more refugees are exposed to life-threatening risks. Increasingly, a majority of those aboard are women and children. International Laws and conventions stipulate clear obligations for States to provide a safe harbour for those in distress at sea. But these legal frameworks derive from a much older and more instinctive truth – that rescue at sea is a fundamentally humanitarian act. We have seen this humanity reflected in myriad acts of ordinary citizens around the world and in Asia. Acehnese fisherman who, with no fanfare or agenda, quietly rescued some 470 Rohingya refugees and brought them ashore between June 2020 and June 2021. Host communities in Bangladesh who, despite limited resources, have taken in more than 800,000 Rohingya refugees and provided them with sanctuary. This report sets out the developing trends in movements of refugees in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, and the clear need for more comprehensive solutions. Equally critically, however, it gives voice to the thousands of refugees who have risked their lives in desperation – to reunite with family, to access education, to support themselves through gainful employment. Among them, a young Rohingya father who was reunited with his wife and daughter after their seven- month ordeal at sea. “It was the happiest day of my life,” he told UNHCR staff upon seeing his family for the first time in over six years. “We are faceless, homeless and left adrift; we need a solution. I want to say to the whole world, please find a solution for us.” Finally, this report makes clear and actionable recommendations on how to avoid further tragedies. These include bolstering search and rescue efforts at sea, stopping the deadly practice of pushbacks, and working towards a regional mechanism for predictable and equitable disembarkation. For as long as States bordering the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal are reluctant to rescue and land those in distress at sea, that collective failure to act will have tragic and fatal consequences. We can and must do better. Indrika Ratwatte Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees..."
Source/publisher: UN High Commissioner for Refugees (Geneva) via Reliefweb (New York)
2021-08-19
Date of entry/update: 2021-08-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf pdf
Size: (10.93 MB - Original version), (5.07 MB - Reduce version)
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Description: "The theme of corruption in education is important because bribery and corruption sabotages the development of educated, competent, and ethical young people, who are the future workforce, decision makers and leaders of Myanmar. Corruption in education erodes social trust, damages Myanmar’s reservoir of human capital and contaminates equality, ultimately undermining and destabilizing the well-being of our society. A contemporary picture suggests that at primary school level, only 81 per cent of children aged 6–10 years attend school. UNICEF(2019a) reported quoting the 2014 census a calculation that 1 in 5 children are not attending, either because they never entered school or dropped out. Fees related to education are said to be one of the main causes for many children to give up on schooling. Another main reason for children to drop out of school is the limited quality and relevance of the education that is offered. Economic hardships force many young children to give up education in order to work. UNICEF (2019b) supported the Myanmar Government to implement the National Education Strategic Plan 2016–2021 (NESP (2016), and implement the goals of a National Early Childhood Care and Development Policy. UNICEF (2019a)..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Academia.edu (San Francisco)
2021-07-00
Date of entry/update: 2021-07-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
Size: 41.92 KB
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Description: ကျန်းမာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ ထုတ်ပြန်ကြေငြာချက်အမှတ် (၅/၂၀၂၁) ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ၊ ဇွန်လ (၁၈) ရက်
Source/publisher: National Unity Government of Myanmar
2021-06-18
Date of entry/update: 2021-06-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
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Description: Ministry of Education: Order No.2/2021 - ပညာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန အမိန့်အမှတ် ၂/၂၀၂၁
Source/publisher: Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
2021-04-05
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Topic: Agriculture, Camp Coordination and Camp Management, Coordination, Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Logistics and Telecommunications, Protection and Human Rights, Shelter and Non-Food Items, Water Sanitation Hygiene
Topic: Agriculture, Camp Coordination and Camp Management, Coordination, Education, Food and Nutrition, Health, Logistics and Telecommunications, Protection and Human Rights, Shelter and Non-Food Items, Water Sanitation Hygiene
Description: "The present Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) seeks to mobilize assistance for close to 945,000 people in 2021, in support of the efforts of the Government of Myanmar to aid those affected by humanitarian crises and challenges in different parts of the country. As has been the case for previous years, the HRP places protection at the centre of an inclusive response tailored to the particular needs of the most vulnerable women and men, girls and boys. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 further demonstrated the critical importance of localization in Myanmar. In 2021, the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) will build on the partnerships with national NGOs and local civil society actors that were strengthened as we adjusted to new operational realities in 2020. We will redouble our efforts to put in place robust channels for systematic two-way dialogue and engagement with affected people, and to capitalize on innovations around cash and voucher assistance to further extend our reach. Humanitarian partners remain committed to contributing to the achievement of durable solutions for displaced people. The National Strategy on Resettlement of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) and Closure of IDP Camps provides a key entry point in this regard. Progress on implementation of the Strategy in 2020 was slowed down by COVID-19 but new opportunities are emerging. Our efforts in this regard in 2021 will seek to create new links across the humanitarian-development nexus, while remaining firmly anchored in the perspectives and concerns of displaced people themselves. In Rakhine, the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State will continue to be an important reference point for engagement between humanitarian organizations and the Government of Myanmar. Our dialogue with the authorities will continue to emphasize the importance of humanitarian access, so that needs can be fully assessed and analyzed, humanitarian activities can be prioritized on the basis of those needs, and the impact of our efforts can be effectively monitored. The Myanmar HCT remains committed to working in accordance with the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence, and without any adverse distinction based on region, ethnicity, religion or citizenship status..."
Source/publisher: OCHA (New York) via Reliefweb (New York)
2021-01-27
Date of entry/update: 2021-01-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Size: 10.58 MB
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Description: "Schoolchildren in Baw Du Pha village, Myanmar, have found new reasons to get excited about going to class, thanks to a brand new school building constructed by Islamic Relief. “Around 80 of us used to huddle in a classroom,” says thirteen-year old Mg Hla Myint, describing the makeshift classroom at her old school in Rakhine state. The schoolgirl is one of 12,300 people living in one of Sittwe’s two camps for those uprooted from their homes by communal violence. Thanks to Islamic Relief, she and her classmates now have a new school building with fit for purpose classrooms and brand new desks. “We shared a small desk. When I moved, I would hit my deskmate’s elbows… [now] our classroom is spacious. I feel fresh throughout the day as it is no longer crowded. I’m so happy!” The new classrooms can host a student-teacher ratio of 1:55, a huge improvement from the previous 1:90. Head teacher U Chit Swe commended the work of Islamic Relief, adding that children can now thrive in better learning environment. Islamic Relief, which has been working in Myanmar since Cyclone Nargis struck in 2008, built the school with the support of Organization of Islamic Cooperation Humanitarian Relief Fund (OICHF)..."
Source/publisher: "Reliefweb" via Islamic Relief
2019-09-14
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Spend a day in the life of a teacher and student in our virtual reality film, "Learning to Hope," set in a camp in Sittwe, Myanmar. Education cannot wait for any child, any where..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: UN Humanitarian
2017-04-26
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "The first National Education Strategic Plan (NESP) was launched today in Nay Pyi Taw by Myanmar’s State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The Plan includes a common policy framework which sets the strategic directions for the next five years; a clear road map for guiding all investments in the sector, both domestic and international; and a vehicle for coordinated implementation efforts. “The Plan is based in fundamental principles, namely that education in Myanmar is a right of every child, regardless of race, sex, socio-economic and citizenship status, and abilities, and regardless of where they live; as well as that those who were not given the chance to go to school or dropped out should not be left behind”, affirms Bertrand Bainvel, UNICEF Representative to Myanmar and Development Partner co-chair. “This is an historic moment for the country, an affirmation of what Education in Myanmar should always have been - a key to the country’s development, social cohesion, peace and national unity”. The Plan reaffirms that creative solutions and partnerships must be built to ensure that everyone is equipped with the skills to help them to continuously learn, chose and seize opportunities, and actively contribute to the country’s progress to democracy, peace and prosperity. Thousands of teachers, headmasters, education experts, civil society organisations and parliamentarians have been contributing to the nation-wide comprehensive education sector review (CESR) initiated in 2012. The Plan launched today is a culmination of this effort, and is based on evidence and inputs through an unprecedented consultation effort in Myanmar’s recent history. “The launch of the Plan is the achievement of a long journey which started with the education sector review, but it is also the beginning of a new one”, affirms Nicholas Coppel, Australia's ambassador to Myanmar and Development Partner co-chair. “We must continue to support this roadmap for the benefit of all children in Myanmar, so that it is owned by all stakeholders, and helps unite all actors in support of education.” The Plan can be a flexible instrument in the discussions on decentralisation and convergence of systems between those run by the Government and those run by Ethnic groups; as well as on performance improvement with full involvement of headmasters, teachers, parents and children. “Education is the key that unlocks the potential of individuals and of society as a whole’ ”, adds Nicholas Coppel “At the same time, we need peace for ending displacements that interrupt classes and we need to make schools more respectful of minorities, their identities and their languages to fulfill every girl and boy’s right to education in Myanmar”, concludes Bertrand Bainvel..." "ပထမဆုံးသော အမျိုးသားအဆင့် ပညာရေး မဟာဗျူဟာ အစီအစဉ်အား နိုင်ငံတော်၏ အတိုင်ပင်ခံပုဂ္ဂိုလ် ဒေါ်အောင်ဆန်းစုကြည်က ယနေ့ နေပြည်တော်တွင် မိတ်ဆက်လိုက်သည်။ ယင်းအစီအစဉ်တွင် နောင်လာမည့် ငါးနှစ်စာ မဟာဗျူဟာ နည်းလမ်းများ၊ ကဏ္ဍအတွင်း ပါဝင်သည့် ပြည်တွင်းနှင့် ပြည်ပရင်းနှီးမြှုပ်နှံမှုများအတွက် ရှင်းလင်းသည့် လမ်းညွှန်မှုနှင့် အကောင်အထည် ဖော်ဆောင်ရေးလုပ်ငန်းများတွင် အတူတကွပူးပေါင်း လုပ်ဆောင်ရန် အင်အားများအတွက်ကိရိယာတစ်ခု၊ စသည်တို့ပါဝင်သည့်ဘုံမူဝါဒချက်မှတ်ရေးမူဘောင်ပါဝင်သည်။ “ဒီမဟာဗျူဟာ အစီအစဉ်ဟာဆိုရင် လေးနက်ပြီး အခြေခံကျတဲ့ မူဘောင်တွေကို အခြေခံထားတာ ဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ အဓိကအနေနဲ့ဆိုရင်မြန်မာနိုင်ငံရဲ့ ပညာရေးအခွင့်အလမ်းဟာ ကလေးသူငယ်တိုင်း ရရှိရမယ့် အခွင့်အရေးတစ်ရပ်ဖြစ်ကြောင်း၊ လူမျိုးဘာသာ၊ ကျား၊မမရွေး၊ လူမှုစီးပွားရေးနဲ့ နိုင်ငံသား သတ်မှတ်ချက်တွေနဲ့ သူတို့လေးတွေရဲ့ လုပ်ဆောင်နိုင်မှုစွမ်းအား၊ မည်သည့်နေရာတွေမှာ နေထိုင်တယ် ဆိုတာတွေကိုကြည့်ပြီး ခွဲခြားမှုမရှိစေတဲ့အပြင် ကျောင်းပညာ ဆက်လက်သင်ယူနိုင်ခြင်း မရှိတော့တဲ့ ကလေးငယ်တွေအားလုံးလဲ နောက်ကျ ကျန်ခဲ့ခြင်းမရှိစေဖို့အတွက်အခြေခံထားပါတယ်။” ဟု ယူနီဆက်မှ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ ဌာနေကိုယ်စားလှယ်နှင့် ဖွံ့ဖြိုးမှုမိတ်ဖက်တွဲဖက်ဥက္ကဌ ဘတ်ထရန်ဘိန်း(ဗဲ)လ်က အခိုင်အမာ ပြောဆိုလိုက်သည်။ ”ဒါဟာ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအတွက်တကယ်ကို သမိုင်းဝင်စေတဲ့ အချိန်လေးပါ။ နိုင်ငံတော်ရဲ့ ဖွံ့ဖြိုးတိုးတက်မှု၊ လူမှုပေါင်းစည်းညီညွတ်မှု၊ ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးနဲ့ အမျိုးသား စည်းလုံးညီညွတ်ရေးစတဲ့ အရာတွေအတွက် ပညာရေးဆိုင်ရာကဏ္ဍဟာ အင်မတန်ပဓာနကျကြောင်း အခိုင်အမာ ဖော်ပြလိုက်တာပဲ ဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ လူတစ်ဦးတစ်ယောက်ချင်းစီအနေဖြင့် စဉ်ဆက်မပြတ် သင်ယူလေ့လာနိုင်ရေး၊ ရွေးချယ်ပိုင်ခွင့်နှင့် အခွင့်အလမ်းများကို လက်လှမ်းမီနိုင်ရေး၊ နိုင်ငံတော်စည်ပင်ကြွယ်ဝရေး၊ ဒီမိုကရေစီလမ်းကြောင်းနှင့် ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေး၊ အစရှိတဲ့ကဏ္ဍတွေမှာ တက်ကြွစွာ ပါဝင်ဆောင်ရွက်နိုင်ရေး၊ စသည့်အရာများအတွက် ဆန်းသစ်သည့် နည်းလမ်းအဖြေများနှင့် မိတ်ဖက်အဖြစ် ဆောင်ရွက်မှုများကို တည်ဆောက် အကောင်အထည်ဖော်ရမည်ဖြစ်ကြောင်း ယင်းမဟာဗျူဟာ အစီအစဉ်က အခိုင်အမာ ဖော်ပြထားသည်။ ထောင်နှင့်ချီသော ဆရာ၊ ဆရာမများ၊ ကျောင်းအုပ်ကြီးများ၊ ပညာရေးဆိုင်ရာ ကျွမ်းကျင်သူများ၊ အရပ်ဖက် လူ့အဖွဲ့အစည်းများနှင့် လွှတ်တော်အမတ်များအနေဖြင့် ၂၀၁၂ခုနှစ်မှ စတင်ခဲ့သည့် ပြည့်စုံကျယ်ပြန့်သော ပညာရေးကဏ္ဍဆိုင်ရာ ပြန်လည်ဆန်းစစ်သုံးသပ်ချက်(CESR)တွင် ပါဝင်ခဲ့ကြသည်။ ယနေ့တွင် မိတ်ဆက်လိုက်သည့် အစီအစဉ်သည် ယင်းကဲ့သို့ ပူးပေါင်းကြိုးပမ်းခဲ့မှုများ၏ ရလဒ်ကောင်းပင်ဖြစ်ပြီး မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ မကြာလှသေးသည့် သမိုင်းကြောင်းအတွင်း မကြုံဖူးသေးသည့် ညှိုနှိုင်းဆွေးနွေးတိုင်ပင်မှု ရလဒ်များကိုအခြေခံထားခြင်း ဖြစ်သည်။ “ယခုလိုမိတ်ဆက်လိုက်တဲ့အစီအစဉ်ဟာ ပညာရေးကဏ္ဍဆိုင်ရာ ပြန်လည်ဆန်းစစ်လေ့လာ သုံးသပ်ချက်ရဲ့ ခရီးလမ်းရှည်ကနေ စတင်ခဲ့တဲ့ အောင်မြင်မှုတခု ဖြစ်ပေမယ့်လည်း နောက်ထပ်ခရီးလမ်းကြောင်း အသစ်တခုရဲ့ အစပြုခြင်းဆိုလည်း မမှားပါဘူး” ဟု ဖွံ့ဖြိုးမှုမိတ်ဖက်တွဲဖက်ဥက္ကဌနှင့် ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံဆိုင်ရာ သြစတြေးလျနိုင်ငံ သံအမတ်ကြီး နီကိုလတ်(စ်) ကော်ပယ်(လ်)က ပြောသည်။ ”မြန်မာနိုင်ငံက ကလေးသူငယ်လေးတွေအားလုံးကို အကျိုးပြုနိုင်ဖို့ ဒီလို လမ်းကြောင်းချထားပြီးဖြစ်တဲ့ အစီအစဉ်ကို ကျွနု်ပ်တို့က ဆက်လက်ပံ့ပိုးကူညီသွားဖို့ လိုပါတယ်။ ဒါမှသာ မိတ်ဖက်ဖြစ်သူအားလုံးနဲ့ ပညာရေးကဏ္ဍအတွက်ကူညီလုပ်ကိုင်နေတဲ့ကဏ္ဍတွေအားလုံးက သိရှိပိုင်ဆိုင်နိုင်ပြီး တညီတညွတ်တည်း လုပ်ကိုင်နိုင်မှာ ဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ ဤမဟာဗျူဟာအစီအစဉ်သည် နိုင်ငံတော်အစိုးရနှင့် တိုင်းရင်းသားအဖွဲ့အစည်းများမှ ဦးဆောင် ဆောင်ရွက်သည့် ဗဟိုချုပ်ကိုင်မှုကို ဖျက်သိမ်းခြင်း၊ ပြန်လည်ဆုံမိနေသော နည်းစနစ်များအကြောင်း ဆွေးနွေးခြင်းနှင့် စွမ်းဆောင်မှုမြှင့်တင်ရေးတွင် အပြည့်အဝပါဝင် ဆောင်ရွက်ရမည့် ကျောင်းအုပ်ကြီးများ၊ ဆရာ၊ ဆရာမများ၊ မိဘများနှင့် ကျောင်းသားများအတွက် ပျော့ပြောင်းသည့် ကိရိယာတစ်ခုလည်း ဖြစ်စေပါသည်။ “ပညာရေးဆိုတာ လူတစ်ဦးချင်းစီတိုင်းနဲ့ အသိုင်းအဝိုင်းတစ်ခုလုံးရဲ့ စွမ်းဆောင်ရည်ကို လမ်းဖွင့်ပေးနိုင်တဲ့ အဓိက သော့ချက်ပဲဖြစ်ပါတယ်။” ဟုနီကိုလတ်(စ်) ကော်ပယ်(လ်)က ဖြည့်စွက်ပြောကြားသည်။ ”တချိန်တည်းမှာပဲ ကလေးသူငယ်တွေ ပညာသင်ကြားနေချိန်မှာ အတန်းချိန်တွေကို အနှောက်အယှက် ဖြစ်စေတဲ့ နေရပ်စွန့်ခွာပြောင်းရွှေ့နေထိုင်ရမှုတွေကို ရပ်တန့်သွားနိုင်ဖို့ ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးလိုအပ်ပါတယ်။ နောက်ပြီးတော့ စာသင်ကျောင်းတွေအနေနဲ့လည်း လူမျိုးအနည်းစုကို လေးစားမှုရှိပြီး မြန်မာနိုင်ငံမှာ ပညာရေးအခွင့်အလမ်းကို ကလေးသူငယ်တွေတိုင်း ရရှိဖို့အတွက် သူတို့ရဲ့ သွင်ပြင်လက္ခဏာတွေနဲ့ ဘာသာစကားတွေကိုလည်း လေးစားရမှာ ဖြစ်ပါတယ်။” ဟု ဘတ်ထရန် ဘိန်း(ဗဲ)လ်က နိဂုံးချုပ် ပြောကြားသည်။..."
Creator/author: Mariana Palavra, Jay Frere Harvey, Htet Htet Oo
Source/publisher: reliefwe via "The MIMU"
2017-02-23
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf pdf
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Description: "?We had never heard about human rights in the village,” Lway Chee Sangar tells me at the Palaung Women?s Organization (PWO) office in Mae Sot, Thailand. Sangar is 23 years old. The ethnic nationality group to which she belongs, called the Palaung or Ta?ang, has been caught in an armed struggle for self-determination against the brutal Burmese regime for the better part of the past five decades. Sangar began working with the PWO about three years ago when her parents, desperate to give her an opportunity to improve her life, sent her from their tiny, remote village in the northern Shan State of Burma to the PWO?s former training center in China. It took her a combined six months of training at the PWO to begin to grasp the idea that all humans have rights. Sangar?s story is speckled with brushes with conflict, starting from her birth. She was born on the run, when her parents had to flee their village due to an outbreak of fighting nearby. Today, the Ta?ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the armed wing of the Palaung State Liberation Front, is fighting off Burmese offensives and combatting opium cultivation in Palaung areas, according to their statement. Civilians are often caught in the cross-fire. Burmese forces have been known to use brutal tactics against civilians in conflict areas, including deadly forced portering and forced labor, torture, killing, and extortion of money, supplies, and drugs."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Link to the corresponding area in the OBL Human Rights section
Source/publisher: Online Burma/Myanmar Library
Date of entry/update: 2014-09-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "...Rampant corruption, a lack of transparency, and severe economic mismanagement has resulted in a steady decline in education and increasingly poor healthcare in Burma. Due to widespread poverty, coupled with an appallingly low expenditure on public welfare, only an elite few are able to receive basic healthcare services or achieve a moderate level of education. Moreover, junta sponsored corruption in these sectors acts to further devalue the academic competency and the quality of healthcare. Burma remains one of the most isolated countries with one of the lowest standards of living and poorest healthcare records in the developing world. The SPDC continues to fall short of fulfilling its obligations under international human rights law in respect to the rights to health and education. Plans and programs for reform in these sectors have failed to improve conditions. Meanwhile, the junta continues to arbitrarily shut down schools and implement policies that lower rather than raise the standard of living and quality of life throughout the country. Although there have been reports of increased regime cooperation and a willingness to engage with some UN agencies and NGOs, genuine progress in the field of health and education remains marginal. Since 1990, the juntaâ�?„?s expenditure on social sector services has steadily declined. According to the British governmentâ�?„?s Department for International Development, Burma has the lowest level of public investment in health and education services vis-?ƒ -vis military spending than any other ASEAN nation. Between 1992 and 2003, the SPDC allocated 29 percent of the central budget to defense. Meanwhile only eight percent went towards education and healthcare combined. Published budget figures show that per capita spending on the military is nine times higher than that of health services and twice that of education services..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB
2006-07-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-09-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 92.8 KB
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Description: "A strong education system has long been seen as the standard pre-requisite of overall national progress for both developed and developing nations. A country populated with educated citizens generally results in economic growth, innovation, public health and often a political system that voices the concerns and needs of its people. To all outward appearances, the SPDC has made legitimate attempts to position itself as a patron of education for all. In reality, this position amounts to little more than an elaborate show performed for an international audience. The disparity between government propaganda and the actual goals of the Burmese education system is striking. The vision of the Ministry of Education is stated to be, ?To create an education system that can generate a learning society capable of facing the challenges of the Knowledge Age.? 1 In October 2008, the state-run New Light of Myanmar ran an editorial emphasizing the importance of teachers providing an all-around developmental experience, stating that teachers should ?train and inculcate the students with knowledge, education and skill as well as with the habit of helping and understanding others and observing ethics and morality.? 2 Despite these lofty pronouncements, the SPDC treats the education system as something to be feared, watching closely as primary school students—when given an opportunity—grow into university students, who have proven to be some of the government?s most vocal protesters and opponents. In light of this culture of paranoia and suspicion, the SPDC has erected multiple barriers to accessing education. In addition to these obstacles, and despite legislation ensuring free and compulsory primary education, attending school is often an extravagance families struggle to afford. According to the United Nations Children?s Fund, while enrolment is high at 80%, less than 55% of enrolled students complete the primary cycle.3 With this high drop-out rate, the number of children left without significant skills increases, leaving them highly vulnerable to various exploitive trades, such as forced labour, forced conscription into the army or the sex trade. An almost complete lack of free speech and expression results in an environment in which rote learning is standard, and critical thinking is highly discouraged. If a student manages to successfully reach the university level, he or she incurs a new level of restrictions from the junta. University students and their teachers are feared most of all; as a group, they represent the future of democracy and freedom to their families and the world. Despite these significant hurdles, the Burmese culture highly values education and parents place great importance on sending their children to school. The struggle for these families is in overcoming the junta?s roadblocks in order to achieve their educational goals..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Docmentation Unit (HRDU)
2009-11-23
Date of entry/update: 2009-12-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 547.2 KB
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Description: "...The Burmese education sector is plagued by a severe lack of resources, stemming from an extremely small allocation of the national budget, which according to the United Nations Development Program?s (UNDP) Human Development Report, amounts to only 1.3 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). [1] Meanwhile, the SPDC maintains that 8.9 percent of the national budget is earmarked for education, although this figure is little more that a gross misrepresentation of reality. [2] However, such a small budget allocation is hardly surprising given the regime?s stated belief that the sole purpose of education is to ?nurture children to develop their mind, vision and living styles in accord with the wishes of the State?. [3] In other words, the aim of education is to indoctrinate the nation?s children to develop a sense of obedience to the SPDC while crushing all views which may be deemed to run contrary to those of the State. The education sector is also beset by widespread and rampant corruption from military officers, civil officials and even the teachers. Compounding such an insufficient allocation of public funds to the sector are the misguided and egregious economic policies which have impoverished much of the population to the point where many must struggle just to acquire enough food, let alone pay for the rising costs of education..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB (HRDU)
2008-09-09
Date of entry/update: 2008-12-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Size: 71.08 KB
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Description: "...the education system is so poor that illiteracy levels in rural areas are actually rising. These figures are hardly surprising considering that the SPDC spends only US$1 per person per year on health and education combined...While the state of the education system may not threaten Burma?s neighbours, it certainly threatens Burma?s future. Current estimates from the United Nations Children?s Fund (UNICEF) are that almost fifty percent of children are forced to drop out of primary school because of financial difficulties. With enrolment levels estimated at approximately fifty percent to begin with this leaves a population where only a quarter have completed primary education. On paper the SPDC complies with international standards and has enacted legislation stipulating that primary school is both free and compulsory but the situation on the ground is quite another story. Secondary education has become the preserve of the rich and those who do make it to university enter a system which is openly repressive. Ethnic minorities fare especially badly in respect of both health and education. Indigenous languages are prohibited, healthcare is barely minimal and human rights violations are routine..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB
2007-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2008-04-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : html
Size: 165.91 KB
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Description: Background... Situation of Education; Corruption and Extortion in the Education System; Primary Education; Secondary Education; Tertiary Education; Disparity between Civilian and Military Education; Educational Opportunities for Ethnic Minorities... Situation of Health: Access to Healthcare; HIV/AIDS; Avian Influenza; Malaria; Dengue Fever; Tuberculosis; Diarrhoea; Cholera; Typhoid; Lymphatic filariasis; Polio; Measles; Foot and Mouth Disease; Support for People with Disabilities; International Humanitarian Aid.
Source/publisher: Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB (HRDU)
2007-06-25
Date of entry/update: 2007-07-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 368.34 KB 7.17 MB
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Description: Government Spending on Health and Education; Situation of Education: Adult Illiteracy; High School Education; University Education; Disparity between Civilian and Military Education; Universities Supported by the Military; Access to IT Education; Updates on Education...Situation of Health: Access to Health Care; Malnutrition; Access to Clean Water and Sanitation; Malaria; Tuberculosis; HIV/AIDS; Mental Health; Support for People with Disabilities; International Humanitarian Aid...Personal Accounts: Personal Accounts Related to Heath - High cost of medical care in Mon State... Personal Accouts Related to Education - Excessive fees for primary education; The miserable conditions of Mandalay university students;
Source/publisher: Human Rights Documentaqtion Unit of the NCGUB
2004-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2005-05-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 116.76 KB
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Description: "Burma has one of the poorest health records and lowest standards of living in the developing world. Health and education are given incredibly low priorities in the national budget, and lip-service to these issues often takes the place of substantial reforms or programs. The root causes of problems in these arenas, such as the affects of landmines and forced labor on health and the effect of school closings and censorship on education, are not dealt with in meaningful ways because of political considerations. Low salaries and lack of transparent and effective supervision has made it easy for corruption to flourish among medical personnel and educators. Patients more often than not have to pay a bribe to be seen by a doctor, get a bed in a hospital or receive essential medicine. Primary school students can pay to receive better grades or get private tutoring from their teachers. Higher education in Burma is particularly substandard with students, during those times that the universities are actually open, being given rush degrees in order to prevent any political opposition to the military regime from springing up on college campuses. The political situation in Burma has a direct impact on the poor quality of education and healthcare available to the general public. The level of access a person has to health and education infrastructure depends on economic level, geographical location and individual, family or ethnic group relations with the military regime. For example, a Burmese military officer and his family living in Rangoon have access to education and medical treatment that are unavailable to a family that is part of an ethnic and religious minority group living in a conflict area on the border. As yet, the military regime has been unwilling to address these inequalities to ensure that all people living in Burma, regardless of their ethnic group, religion, political affiliation, economic status or geographical location have access to adequate health care and education. (For more information about the health and education situations of specific populations such as refugees, women, children, political prisoners and IDPs, please see appropriate chapters)..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Documentation Unit, NCGUB
2003-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-11-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 70.47 KB
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Description: "...Burma has one of the poorest health records and lowest standards of living in the developing world. The desire of the military government to hold on to power at any cost has meant that human rights, including the rights to health and education, are given scant attention in comparison to political and security issues. Health and education are given incredibly low priorities in the national budget, and lip-service to these issues often take the place of substantial reforms or programs. Because of political considerations the root causes of problems in these arenas, such as the affects of landmines and forced labor on health and the effect of school closings and censorship on education, are not dealt with in meaningful ways..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Documentation Unit, NCGUB
2001-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm htm
Size: 116.76 KB 6.04 KB
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Description: "...Burma has one of the poorest health records and lowest standards of living in the developing world. Health and education are given incredibly low priorities in the national budget, and lip-service to these issues often take the place of substantial reforms or programs. Because of political considerations the root causes of problems in these arenas, such as the affects of landmines and forced labor on health and the effect of school closings and censorship on education, are not dealt with in meaningful ways. Low salaries and lack of transparent and effective supervision has made it easy for corruption to flourish among medical personnel and educators. Patients more often than not have to pay a bribe to be seen by a doctor, get a bed in a hospital, or receive essential medicine. Primary school students can pay to receive better grades or get private tutoring from their teachers. Higher education in Burma is particularly substandard with students, during those times that the universities are actually open, being given rush degrees in order to prevent any political opposition to the military regime to spring up on college campuses..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Documentation Unit, NCGUB
2002-09-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 70.47 KB
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Description: In June 1990 another important student leader, Min Zeya, chairman of the smaller All Burma Students Democratic Association, was reportedly sentenced to eight years in jail. With the colleges now shut, the SLORC sent university and regional college teachers away on boot camp "re-education" courses at Phaunggyi, organized by the Military Intelligence Service. A standardized system of education was also introduced under the 1966 Basic Education Law and the 1973 Union of Burma Education Law.
Source/publisher: Article 19 (Censorship News No. 18)
1992-12-10
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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