Burmese Women’s Union MAE SOT, THAILAND
Quick Overview BWU exists to promote the role of women in Burma and to efficiently increase women's contributions to the political and social leadership functions in the struggle for democracy and human rights and the establishment of a genuine democratic federal union.
WWW.BURMESEWOMENSUNION.ORG
MIGRANT HEALTH AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Country: thailand and burma ! Thailand grew from a series of kingdoms dating back to the fall Khmer Empire in 1431. The area around Thailand was ruled by a series of monarchical empires up until being colonized by France in the east and Britain in the west. Thailand remained free as a buffer state between these two colonial powers. ! In 1932 a bloodless revolution reformed the government to a constitutional monarchy, which was essentially a military dictatorship. During the Cold War, Thailand went through a series of coups dʼetat and remained in support of the US until transitioning to a relatively stable democracy in the 1980ʼs. ! Since World War II, Thailand has had a problem with separatist fighting in the south. Violence has been escalating since 2004, and while no clear identity for the separatists has been labeled, they are becoming an increasing problem throughout the southern area. There have been human rights abuses on both sides, including attacks on Buddhist
villagers and Muslims, as well as a disregard for collateral damage by the police and military and “disappearances” after being brought into questioning. In recent years, clashes between Burmese government troops and various insurgents have displaced thousands and has caused many to take refuge across the Thai border. Since Burma gained its independence from Britain in 1948, tension between its numerous ethnic groups and its military government have caused radical resistance movements to
Thai-Burma Border
Statistics
Thailand population: 67,500,000 Over 2 million Burm ese migrants Thai daily minimum wage: $5.50 Actual wages paid to migrants: $2 Below poverty line: 9.6 %
be formed out of various ethnic groups, which has only exacerbated the violence. For decades, civil strife, political upheaval
and economic stagnation have caused more than 140,000 Burmese to settle in 9 different camps. The refugees vary across Burmaʼs range of ethnic groups, but about 60% are Karen. In the camps, refugees are subject to workplace exploitation, gang violence, and police harassment. There are also over 900,000 registered Burmese migrant workers in Thailand, and even more unregistered workers. The lack of legal status that these refugees have means they have little to no access to health care. In the actual camps, health care is provided by NGOs and other international aid organizations. Refugees living outside of the camps have very little access to health care and have restricted
Why do you want to work with students? “BWU knows that it is very important for the international community to understand the situation in Burma, especially as it effects the women of Burma. We understand the student networks in the United States to be very strong and engaged in the issues they believe in. We hope that these students, who clearly have a demonstrated commitment to social justice, will not only be able to learn from their experience within our Burmese community and help spread an understanding of reproductive health and rights to our target population, but also bring their experiences and insight back to the their universities and help BWU raise awareness about the situation of the women of Burma.” Thwel Zin Toe Donor Relations and Executive Committee Member
Thailand Health Sta
tistics
Infant mortality rat e: 1 in 100 1 in 5 children die bef ore 5 yrs 1 in 12 women die in childbirth HIV adult prevalence rate: 1.3%
movement, so getting to a Thai hospital is very difficult. The hospitals are overstretched by non-thai patients and the long distance travel that displaced people go through is a public health threat due to infectious diseases, such as TB, HIV, and malaria. From BWU: “The health care system within Burma has been steadily deteriorating since 1962, when the military took control of the country. A mere 1.3% of the 2011 budget was allocated to the Ministry of Health, while almost a quarter was given to the Ministry of Defense. Because women's rights are not fully accepted in Burmese society, domestic violence and rape are prevalent within the migrant communities and refugee camps. This, in combination with the lack of healthcare and health education, perpetuates the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, and contributes to unwanted pregnancies and low selfesteem and depression among migrant and refugee women.”
Organization: Burmese Women’s Union BWU was founded in 1995 by a group of young female students who fled Burma in the aftermath of the military junta's violent crackdown on the popular uprising in 1988. While working in the movement for peace and democracy along the Thai-Burma border, BWUʼs young founders recognized that there was a lack of awareness about women's rights and gender issues, among both women and men in Burmese society. They formed BWU to work towards the acceptance of women's rights in Burmese society and to encourage women to participate in the political and social reform that is necessary for peace and stability in Burma. By providing educational trainings, increasing access to accurate information, and providing women a safe place to gather and discuss their issues, BWU works to increase the capacity of women from Burma to participate in the pro-democracy movement. BWU believes that multi-ethnic unity and women's participation are imperative to the building of a democratic, peaceful society in Burma. BWU’s goals are to promote the role of women in Burma, to efficiently increase the contribution of women in the struggle for democracy, human rights, and establishment of a genuine democratic federal union, to advocate for the acceptance and exercise of womenʼs rights in Burmese society according to standards recognized internationally, and to use women's capacity to establish stable
peace and long term development in future society in Burma. PROGRAMS: News, Information & Documentation The New, Information & Documentation Program was established with the objective of documenting the activities of the Burmese women's rights and democracy movement. One of BWU's most successful projects, falling under this program, is Dove Women's Magazine, a bi-monthly Burmese-language publication. It includes articles, news reports and interviews related to women's issues and is intended to educate the women of Burma about politics and the global women's rights movement. Dove includes a health section, which publishes educational pieces and responses to readers' questions about reproductive health. BWU distributes it to female migrant workers and refugees along the border and throughout Thailand and it is one of the most widely read publications within the movement, read by both men and women alike. Other organizations frequently use it as a manual when conducting trainings for migrant workers and women. Dove was recently turned into an online edition, www.choelinpyar.com, to increase readership internationally, particularly within Burma.
Women’s Empowerment and Capacity Building Program The main activities that BWU runs are three Women's Empowerment and Resource Centers located in Mae Sot (Thailand), Rulli (China) and Churanchandpur (India). At the Centers, BWU staff members lead short-term trainings, workshops and topic-based discussions for women from Burma living within the migrant communities and refugee camps on the borders. The issues covered include the political history of Burma, the global women's rights movement, principles of democracy, peace-building and reproductive health, as well as other specific issues that the women themselves express that they would like to discuss and learn about. BWU runs libraries at the Centers which house publications pertaining to these same issues and are available to be checked out by both men and women from the migrant and refugee communities. There is also a health clinic with a trained Health Educator at the Centers to provide basic health care and advice and help women in situations of domestic violence. The health clinic is very busy, approximately 50 women visit the Mae Sot Center each month, the majority of whom take advantage of access to family planning supplies and information while they are there. Political Empowerment In addition to the short-term activities, BWU conducts two long-term trainings, the Political Empowerment Program (PEP) and an internship program, for young women from Burma to explore democracy, politics in Burma and peacebuilding through a gender-based
framework. They also learn professional skills and Thai and English language skills, with idea being that they will go on to become involved in the women's rights and pro-democracy movement with BWU or other organizations. These two trainings have been successful in engaging young women in the movement. Graduates have gone on to work for BWU, the Women's League of Burma (WLB), Burma Partnership and other organizations. Advocacy & Lobbying BWU has participated in advocacy missions with the Women's League of Burma (WLB) and Forum for Democracy in Burma (FDB), working to lobby local and international stakeholders, such as the UN General Assembly and other ASEAN countries. BWU also runs a Domestic Violence and Sexual Harassment campaign (DV/SH) to provide women with information and resources and raise awareness about the prevalence of domestic violence and sexual harassment in Burmese communities. To date BWU has produced posters, t-shirts, keychains, a handbook and is in the final stages of production of an educational film. Alliance & Partnership Building The Alliance & Partnership Building Program is the fourth program and BWU's initiative to collaborate with local, like-minded organizations in order to strengthen the Burmese women's movement and pro-democracy movement. BWU staff members lead trainings for Adolescent Reproductive Health Zone/Network (ARHZN) and participate in meetings and events with MAP Foundation, International Rescue Committee (IRC) and WE Women.
BWU was partnered with GlobeMed at Whitman College SINCE 2011. Due to the Whitman College’s logistical challenges of wiring money abroad, we have decided to partner them with a new GlobeMed Chapter. GlobeMed at Whitman aimed to fund a reproductive health training program and nursery school program for migrant and refugee women and their children. The reproductive health training program will provide a three-day training in the refugee camps, eight reproduction-training discussions among the migrant community, and 40 women with birth control for one year. The nursery school program will provide school supplies, three salaried teachers and food for 30 children in the Mae La Oo refugee camp.
TOP 5
country resources CIA World Factbook https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/theworld-factbook/geos/th.html International Human Development Indicators http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/ mmr.html Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/burma World Health Organization (WHO) http://www.who.int/gho/countries/mmr/en/ Burmese Migrants face ‘Systemic ‘ Exploitation near Border, Article http://bit.ly/1buArdi