The Women’s League of Burma (WLB), a coalition of 13 women’s organizations representing Burma’s main ethnic groups, called on Wednesday for the inclusion of women in the country’s ongoing efforts to end decades of ethnic conflict.
The press conference, held to announce plans to submit an open letter and a petition with more than 17,000 signatures to Burma’s President Thein Sein, highlighted the continuing exclusion of women from ongoing talks between the government and ethnic armed groups.
The WLB noted that with the exception of Zipporah Sein, the general secretary of the Karen National Union, there have been almost no women involved in any of these negotiations. So far, even Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy, has played no direct role in the peace process.
Read the complete story at The Irrawaddy, published 20 June 2012.
The Women’s League of Burma (WLB), a coalition of 13 women’s organizations representing Burma’s main ethnic groups, called on Wednesday for the inclusion of women in the country’s ongoing efforts to end decades of ethnic conflict.
The press conference, held to announce plans to submit an open letter and a petition with more than 17,000 signatures to Burma’s President Thein Sein, highlighted the continuing exclusion of women from ongoing talks between the government and ethnic armed groups.
The WLB noted that with the exception of Zipporah Sein, the general secretary of the Karen National Union, there have been almost no women involved in any of these negotiations. So far, even Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy, has played no direct role in the peace process.
Read the complete story at The Irrawaddy, published 20 June 2012.