Established in 2009, the CPG is an excellent and poignant example of our community-based approach to promoting child protection.  The group frequently meets with Township authorities, including Myanmar Child Law sanctioned Township Child Rights Committees, to strategise on both preventive and response measures in addressing protection issues.  Led by a dynamic woman, the CPG has recently been able to resolve 30 child protection cases—15 of which involved the underage recruitment of children into the military.

Three boys who had been recruited—still under the age of 18—joined us on this afternoon to tell us their stories.  None had willingly joined.  All three had very similarly been duped into meeting a “broker” at a location to discuss the potential of some part-time work opportunities.  They were then taken to a couple of locations and eventually found themselves at a military recruitment centre.  The chances of gaining the quick release of children from the military are much greater in the first few days as recruits will then be sent to various training camps around the country. From there, they will be sent to other locations sometimes even to the “frontlines” of fighting.  One of the children we spoke with had been sent to the frontline in one of Myanmar’s restive ethnic regions and had witnessed and took part in fighting.

It was really due to the tenacity of the CPG in coordination with the children’s parents, Save the Children and ILO that these children were successfully released.  The CPG acted quickly in all three cases discussing the issue with parents, local authorities, including school authorities, and referring the cases to the ILO through their complaints mechanism.  Together with parents, they travelled to recruitment centres and tried to discuss the children in question with recruitment centre officials and administrators.  In one particular case, it was only after several visits with school authorities that the CPG was able to obtain a letter verifying that the boy had been attending school (in the absence of age verification/birth registration documentation, having a letter from a school authority is vital) per the requests of recruitment centre officials.

While the CPG’s tenacity is laudable, they offered suggestions for streamlining the process for release from recruitment centres.  CPGs across the country who have intervened in cases of underage recruitment tell similar stories—that they are often asked to produce a litany of documentation and letters, which more often than not can delay the process.  On a policy level, Save the Children is a key member of Myanmar’s Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting (CTFMR) and in addition to contributing to the bi-monthly and yearly reports on CAAC in the country, the CTFMR is currently working on a Joint Plan of Action with the Government, which includes more systematic regulations and requirements, including documentation, for both access to recruitment centres and gaining the release of children who have been recruited.

While some underage recruitment of children continues, the efforts and presence of the CPG has had a significant impact on reducing it. As the chair of the CPG told us, “Brokers don’t dare operate within the Ward anymore since they know that we monitor these things.  Recruitment can only take place on the fringes of the community, so we are working hard on community awareness raising and ensuring that both children and parents are aware of the risks and ways to keep themselves safe.”

http://talesfromethehood.com/2011/08/29/aid-marketing-id-love-to-see/

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They say that it’s difficult to do advocacy work in Myanmar.  While we may have to take a slightly different and more methodical approach, some of our recent, more modest accomplishments bode well for the year and for mainstreaming “voices from the field” into our advocacy work.

When asked to contribute our suggestions/recommendations for the government’s 2011 Anti-Trafficking Action Plan, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to not only use our knowledge of what is happening on the ground, but to bring in the huge amount of information and recommendations that we had garnered over the past year directly from children and youth, such as those from the Mekong Youth Forum that I blogged on earlier.

Here are a few of the highlights from the 2011 plan emanating from Save the Children recommendations:

§  More frequent and effective cooperation between Myanmar-Thai and Myanmar-China authorities and commitments to quicken the pace with which children are being repatriated and reintegrated back to their home communities.

§  Awareness raising will be extended to cover a number of new regions this year in recognition of the high numbers of children trafficked from those areas;

§  Acknowledging Save the Children’s excellent work in mobilizing community-based child protection groups, more focus on community monitoring was highlighted in the 2011 plan as well as commitments to form additional Anti-Trafficking Task Forces in regions currently without

§  New rehabilitation shelters will be constructed as well as the development of standard operating procedures for working with survivors of trafficking; and for working with child survivors of trafficking, new trainings for authorities.

§  Corruption along border regions in particular has frequently been highlighted by children.  In this year’s action plan, there is a renewed commitment to work on punishing perpetrators of trafficking and rooting out corruption amongst officials.

The entire child protection team here realises that while these new action items are welcome and good news, policies and action plans in and of themselves will not be able to protect children—only the implementation of them will.  What we have accomplished in the short-term, however, is an acknowledgement of thanks from the government for not only pointing out the shortcomings in previous year’s action plans and implementation, but recommending workable solutions, offering our expertise to conduct trainings and to continue mobilizing communities around anti-trafficking initiatives.

It’s not the advocacy end game for us either, but it is a great start to the year!



So, next time someone proposes to throw the latest technological gizmo at a problem or is convinced that marvelous “apps” will definitely cure all kinds of ills in the world, I suggest that you ask: Will ITs help to connect people in ways that facilitate communication and collective action? What communication challenge will be addressed? How do we know if people communicate better, then, they will be in a better position to deal with a problem? What has happened in the past when then-new ITs were introduced? What communication and development challenges could ITs help us understand and hopefully address? These questions should be at the center of “net thinking” for social change and development.

http://www.comminit.com/en/node/328504/bbc

Not one of Asia’s shining examples of transitional justice….

It was mostly a kitschy affair with the traditional dance being the real highlight (for me) of the evening.  Dances and songs typically went on for around 20 minutes or longer in some cases.  It almost had a nationalistic fervor to it with the backdrop of the rising sun (part of the Kayin flag and logo).  It did take place within the grounds of a buddhist paya, however, and monks seem to enjoy the festivities just as much as anyone else…

kayin dance

kayin dance

all together now

the handmade merry-go-round

finish with tea...