Section 2 | FOUNDATIONAL FACTORS CONFLICT-AFFECTED AREAS Since the country attained independence in 1948, tensions over resource management, IREX INSIGHT opposing alliances during World War II, and regional geopolitics have fed a civil war that Poverty and conflict are the continues to this day. In 1962 a military coup ushered in five decades of international greatest structural barriers to isolation, political repression, and escalating armed resistance from ethnic-based militias located in former frontier regions that had enjoyed relative autonomy under the British.70 Key informants describe a tense political environment in which, broadly speaking, the ongoing conflict ensures that the parliament democratically elected in November 2015 places both real and rhetorical prioritization on peace and stability, and issues considered divisive or contentious (such as gender equality) find few champions. Significantly, the equitable ICT access, skills, and benefits for all; gender norms further restrict digital skills acquisition and ICT-derived benefits for women who are poor, rural, and/or non-Myanmar conflict diverts national and state-level resources that could potentially be dedicated to speakers, particularly those living upgrading infrastructure and educational institutions in support of equitable, country- in conflict-affected areas. wide digital development, and prevents consensus and coordination of key investment decisions, such as locating fiber-optic cables and cell towers. But it also contributes to the gender digital divide by creating another category of (virtual) public space from which women, particularly minority women, are overwhelmingly excluded—the peace process.71 As social media is increasingly a tool of both nationalist agitators and supporters of the peace process, women are missing important opportunities to ensure their concerns (e.g., on mobility and sexual and gender-based violence in conflict-affected areas) are accounted for. As noted by diplomats and think tanks alike, one of the underlying causes and main spoilers to the peace process is the struggle for control over natural resources among the military, oligarchs, and ethnic militias. One of these—hydro-power—is essential to meet the increasing demands of Myanmar’s developing information society on the electrical grid. While respondents in a recent national survey did not cite lack of electricity as an obstacle to purchasing a mobile phone,72 key informants close to large-scale infrastructure reform processes noted that adequate aggregate electricity supply is an issue for public institutions in rural and conflict-affected areas. Even the commercial capital, Yangon, is plagued by near-daily power outages, and swaths of the country have no electricity access.73 Armed insurgents within Myanmar as well as neighboring countries such as China74 and Thailand75 “The fundamental tragedy of Myanmar is the civil war that has waged without interruption since independence in 1948 between the Buddhist ethnic majority residing in the central lowlands and a dozen major ethnic minorities residing in the country’s mountainous borders.” —Rieffel 2016 have deeply vested interests, complicating the peace process and preventing equitable digital development throughout the country. The military regime renamed the Union of Burma the Union of Myanmar in 1989. Lan Show Tsai, “From the Margins to the Center: Step It Up for Women and Girls in Myanmar’s Peace Process,” UN Women, October 31, 2016. 72 Galpaya et al., Mobile Phones, Internet, Information and Knowledge. 73 Catherine Trautwein, “Myanmar Entrepreneurs Take on Challenges in a Changing Landscape,” Unreasonable, October 10, 2016. 74 Bertil Lintner, “Why US Is No Match for China’s Carrot and Stick in Myanmar,” This Week in Asia, September 17, 2016. 75 Mary Callahan and David I. Steinberg, Drivers of Political Change in Post-Junta, Constitutional Burma (Washington, DC: MSA/USAID, February 2012). 70 71 Ending the Gender Digital Divide in Myanmar: A Problem-Driven Political Economy Assessment | 27