hest levels of those negotiations; and she has campaigned for years on the importance of women being involved in every step of the peace process.
Before being elected leader of the Karen National Union, Zipporah was head of the Karen Women’s Association (KWO). KWO activities include providing training and support to women in Karen State and refugee camps, to promote women’s leadership and political participation, and to prevent violence against women.
The KNU signed an initial ceasefire with the government in January 2012, bringing hope for an end to one of the world’s longest-running civil wars. It is hard to gauge, but certainly, the KWO’s work on women’s political participation and Zipporah’s rise to political leadership have had considerable impacts on the KNU-led peace talks with the military-backed government. But there is always more to be done.
And here in Thailand, where exiles from Burma have been working tirelessly for human rights and democracy back in their home country for decades, women are often at the forefront of the movement, and not only in women’s organisations.
Khin Ohmar is the coordinator of Burma Partnership, an umbrella organisation supporting human rights and democratisation efforts in Burma. She was previously the coordinator and one of the founders of the Peacebuilding and Reconciliation Program at the Women’s League of Burma (WLB) which promotes the role of women in peacebuilding, conflict transformation and reconciliation among various ethnic and religious communities impacted by the civil war and repressive military rule.
“The lack of women’s participation is part of the ongoing challenge to really turn this into a more productive process,” says Khin Ohmar. “But having said that, I also think there is still a chance for the women of Burma to play their part, even though it is not easy at all, particularly for those women who have been on the front lines of advocacy and within the Burmese movement. There is an opportunity for us to raise our voices collectively and effectively, and make ourselves heard by policy makers.”
But Burma’s ethnic community and civil society organisations are concerned that, if not executed properly, these peace funds have the potential to undermine hopes for a more comprehensive nationwide peace process. Khin Ohmar echoes a number of local civil society groups who have expressed their disappointment in international efforts to support the peace process in Burma in recent months. They say it has been carried out with a lack of transparency and has been executed with a top-down approach that is siding with the government and fails to address a number of serious concerns, among them, the lack of women’s participation.
“Norway is a signatory to the UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which outlines the importance and necessity of women’s participation in all aspects of conflict resolution, and it is a shame that they do not appear to be following through with their obligations according to that resolution,” said Khin Ohmar.
And it isn’t only the Burmese government and the international community that are failing to place sufficient value on the importance of women’s involvement in the peace process. The political leaders of the rebel groups are also seemingly unconvinced of the benefits that women can bring to the negotiating table.
Women building peace
“Organisations like the Women’s League of Burma and many others have been conducting training and capacity building for years, with political training and political empowerment for women, but those women who are being trained are not being recruited into these organisations. We are trying to convince the men, but the men keep saying ‘oh, we don’t have any skillful women.’ It’s just not true…. We are here, we are ready, and we have the skills; we just need the opportunities.
But hope is not yet lost. Many of Burma’s most prominent women activists and leaders are coming together to push for greater women’s participation in all areas of political life, including the peace process.”
Yet Khin Omar highlights that, “Sometim