Section 2 | FOUNDATIONAL FACTORS In 1997 Myanmar became a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Since then the government has produced three reports on the status of women (in 1999, 2007, and 2015). Significantly, the CEDAW Committee expressed concern that the 2008 Constitution included references to women principally as mothers, maintaining that this may reinforce the gendered stereotype of women as quintessential mothers and in need of protection; that neither the Constitution nor domestic legislation, when approved, provided for temporary special measures to achieve gender equality; that some laws and customs discriminate against women “on grounds of ethnicity and within ethnic groups”; that despite prohibiting gender discrimination in appointments to government posts, the Constitution also clearly states that “nothing in this section shall prevent appointment of men to positions that are naturally suitable for men only.”142 Indeed, despite the range of international and national legal frameworks related to women’s rights, key informant interviews and gender assessments from the past five years document many ways in which implementation is weak or lacking.143 Significantly, the national government either has not mandated or not budgeted for incorporation and enforcement of CEDAW, NPSAW, and other gender equity laws and policies. For example, in 2014 the government disseminated a draft National Land Use Policy (NLUP) intended to provide a framework to guide the creation of a National Land Law and “harmonize” existing laws pertaining to land. Despite the mandate for rural women’s rights in Article 7c of the NSPAW, no women participated in the drafting of the NLUP, and women were underrepresented during the consultative process. Furthermore, the draft English-language version called explicitly for equal rights in land tenure and land use management between women and men, while the Burmese-language version omitted all mention of women or gender, except for references to taxation on husbands and wives.144 ADB et al., Gender Equality and Women’s Rights in Myanmar, xviii. ADB, Technical Assistance to Myanmar; Emerging Markets Consulting, USAID, and Winrock International, Value Chains for Rural Development: Social and Gender Assessment (Washington, DC: USAID, September 2015); ADB et al., Gender Equality and Women’s Rights in Myanmar. 144 Emerging Markets Consulting et al., Value Chains for Rural Development, 8–9 142 143 Ending the Gender Digital Divide in Myanmar: A Problem-Driven Political Economy Assessment | 44