THIRD MYANMAR DIGITAL RIGHTS FORUM, 18-19 JANUARY 2019
PHANDEEYAR MYANMAR INNOVATION LAB, YANGON
Summary Report
The third Myanmar Digital Rights Forum (MDRF) took stock of the current state of digital
rights in the country, learned from international experience, and engaged with stakeholders to
identify advocacy and capacity-building priorities for action. The 3rd MDRF was co-organized
by Freedom of Expression Myanmar (FEM), Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business
(MCRB), Myanmar ICT Development Organization (MIDO) and Phandeeyar, and sponsored
by the Embassy of Sweden and Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Myanmar. The topics and format of the
forum was shaped by different CSOs representatives and local human rights defenders across
Myanmar with all-inclusive approach. Previous forums were held in December 2016 and
January 2018.
Figure 1 Representatives from six sectors. MDRF`19
This was the biggest forum yet, attended by approximately 250 participants (with a near even
split between women and men) with many new participants (Figure 1). Only 15% of
participants also attended in 2018. Those attending included senior government officials from
the Ministry of Transport and Communication (MoTC), Ministry of Labour, Immigration &
Population (MoLIP), Ministry of Information (MoI), and Ministry of Religious and Cultural
Affairs (MoRCA), parliamentarians, civil society organizations, human rights defenders,
journalists and tech sector businesses.
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