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Myanmar

ICNL’s resources and information on Myanmar.

Overview

ICNL provided assistance to local civil society partners and parliamentarians in improving the draft Association Registration Law, which was enacted in 2014. Subsequently, ICNL helped facilitate constructive dialogue between government and CSOs on the implementation of the 2014 Law. In 2018, ICNL provided assistance to partners in Myanmar in pushing back against a restrictive draft Law on International NGOs.

Flag of Myanmar (Graphic Credit: Wikimedia)

Highlights

A group of uniformed schoolteachers protesting in Hpa-an on 9 February 2021 (photo credit: wiki commons CC BY-SA 4.0)

Unlawful Edicts: Rule by Decree under the Myanmar Tatmadaw

In the weeks following its February 1, 2021 coup, the Myanmar military (“Tatmadaw”) issued a flurry of edicts aimed at suppressing communication and civil society resistance. Working with local partners, ICNL prepared an analysis of relevant Tatmadaw orders, which includes in-depth explorations of several critical issues. Read the full analysis here.

protestors in Myanmar (photo credit: Wiki Commons Public Domain)

Civil Disobedience: Implications for Myanmar

Myanmar’s growing civil disobedience movement has garnered global attention for its use of non-violent tactics to oppose the military’s February 2021 coup. Regardless of whether civil disobedience actions are considered unlawful under national law, many peaceful acts of civil resistance are protected under the international law of peaceful assembly, and expression. This ICNL analysis examines the international law of peaceful assembly, and expression protections for Myanmar’s civil disobedience movement to the 2021 military coup.

Malaysia protest (photo credit: Wiki Commons)

Draft Cyber Security Law and Other Threats to Fundamental Freedoms

On February 1, 2021, the Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) staged a coup, overthrowing the National League for Democracy (NLD) government, elected overwhelmingly by Myanmar citizens in the November 2020 elections. The military has since placed restrictions on civil society including a proposed draft cyber security law that threatens fundamental freedoms and violates international law. This ICNL analysis explores some of the key issues and concerns surrounding the draft law.


Civil Society Organization Sustainability Index

The index, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development for twenty years, documents the development of civil society in seventy-one countries around the world, including Myanmar (Burma). ICNL and FHI 360 work with local partners to produce the index annually.

VISIT FHI360'S SITE FOR THE FULL CSOSI REPORT