A/HRC/56/CRP.8 continue to be male-dominated, limiting the participation and leadership of women and LGBT people. 206. The National Unity Government has established a Ministry of Women, Youths and Children Affairs and a Ministry of Human Rights, the first of its kind in Myanmar’s history, headed by Myanmar’s first minister who openly identifies as LGBT. However, at the time of writing, there are only 3 female ministers and 3 female deputy ministers in the National Unity Government’s Ministerial Cabinet, compared with 14 male ministers and 14 male deputy ministers.92 207. The Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) is comprised of parliamentarians elected in the 2020 elections, in which women candidates won 16 percent of parliamentary seats.93 Women hold only three of 20 leadership positions in the CRPH.94 208. The underrepresentation of women in political institutions stands in sharp contrast to their active participation, commitment, and sacrifices in the broader resistance movement. A female activist told the Special Rapporteur: Women are on the frontline doing humanitarian assistance, trying to raise their voices not only about women’s situation but also for the whole movement and the federal democratic union. In general, within the resistance groups, I feel like there is more recognition and acknowledgement about what women can do and their leadership. But when we look at the higher level, even at the NUG, I feel like there is a lack of recognition of the role of women in the political movement…they say they understand on paper the importance of gender equality but still lack recognition and acknowledgment from those higher up like in NUG and some ethnic institutions as well. 209. The leadership of ethnic resistance organizations, which incorporate civilian institutions operating alongside military authorities, have historically been male dominated. The persistence and resilience of ethnic women has helped carve out greater influence with ethnic resistance organizations in the post-coup period, but most still have little to no representation of women in leadership positions. The Karen National Union (KNU) elected only one woman to serve on the 11-member KNU Central Executive Committee in 2023. Other ethnic resistance organizations, such as the Kachin Independence Organization/Army, reportedly include no women in leadership roles. 210. Newly established consultative councils and interim governance structures have prioritized women’s participation to a greater extent than institutions with roots in the precoup period. These institutions are playing an important role in laying the foundation for a federal, democratic Myanmar, raising hopes for greater equality and representation in future political structures. 211. The National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC), a policy-making body bringing together a wide range of actors committed to a federal, democratic Myanmar includes three women’s organizations and many other civil society groups among its 30 institutional members. Women were 34 percent of the delegates at the Second People’s Assembly convened by the NUCC in April 2024. The Karenni Interim Executive Council (IEC), formed as a provisional government for Kayah (Karenni) State in June 2023, is comprised of Karenni 92 93 94 National Unity Government, “Heads of National Unity Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar appointed in accordance with the Federal Democracy Charter,” https://nugmyanmar.org/ministries/ (accessed 11 June 2024). Nathalie Ebead and Atsuko Hirakawa, “Inclusion and Gender Equality in Post-Coup Myanmar,” International IDEA, May 2022, https://www.idea.int/sites/default/files/publications/inclusion-andgender-equality-in-post-coup-myanmar-CAWE4_0.pdf. Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, Secretary Board Composition, accessed 11 June 2024, https://crphmyanmar.org/structure/. 45