!!%#-%$/<"&!5$+"&>)/ '$+/,&<$H&$+"&$)" '68*'6.-/59/5&<B%S “!!%#-%'</5:%&'G/5:%&$)" 0H=/!z-/5</<" #?%S $/.%&$6#3= (/5:%:A6>&9.%#Q; '68*'#:%8::%&73?%=/!z6#3$)" G:%68-"$/ -1$/2/5P>)/>:% #-%>:%&$)d&6#3= 6?"=%+"&=/5 '6>&?@-1#?%” \5 #6?"=%=68-"62<B%S '8*"&-1G:%693&6(3&<@#R&=2B%& '6>&?@<B%87!%6! $?@<B%87!%6! '6>&?@$B%\@6<" ?@9*+=%6L=":;% $/<"&!5$+"&= =/5?%2/5>"-A5!A '#/5:%& '$+/,&<$H&$+"&=/5 4/.%&*+,-%L=<B% \5 9/5-1<B%S Issue 8: Women included in decision making are selectively chosen by government While women’s voices are generally excluded from many forms of decision making, there was strong agreement from participants that those women’s voices who were raised and amplified were not independent and often selectively chosen by the government, particularly the relatives of government or military officials. The Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association (MMCWA) and the Myanmar Women’s Affairs Federation (MWAF) were set up under the military regime in 1991 and 2003 respectively, at a time when the right to form an association was severely restricted by the government. According to participants, both organisations lack the political independence from the government needed for them to be considered real non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The participants agreed that most of the organisations’ members are the wives of government officials or military officers, and that women gain seniority in these organisations according to the seniority of their husbands. All current and past presidents of MMCWA and MWAF, Khin Khin Win, Khin Thet Htay, Than Than Nwe, Khin Saw Hnin, Khin Khin Win and Khin Win Shwe, were the wives of senior generals. Women who do not have husbands in the government or military, or whose husbands are in the lower ranks, can join but will remain voiceless juniors. The participants believed it was clear that such organisations have no intention of representing women’s voices and have little effect on gender issues.175 One of the organisations is notorious for making political attacks on the leader of the National League for Democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi, who is the only senior woman’s voice in Myanmar politics.176 The participants also believed that the MMCWA and the MWAF actually work to counteract and undermine women’s voices in civic space, marginalising and disregarding them whenever possible. When the government committed to implementing the demands of women, as in the substantive and widely encompassing National Strategic Plan for the Advancement of Women, there is widespread distrust that the Plan will turn into anything more than a paper promise manipulated by these non-independent organisations. 8-^." (s) 9A 5 & 87#% * +=% * +-/ 5 : % * 3 : ; % # 3 : % -1G:% 6 <" '$+/ , &<$H & $+"&=/ 5 '!/ 5 & >= <#% $ ) # % 6 >3 & *+?% < B% S '$+/,&<$H&$+"&J '<A=/5 6?D5?+'"&87:;% 9A5&87#%*+=%*+-/5:%*3:;%-A5!A$+"&!3"$) L=T%7?%4"&!T%#3:%U 45#%67"%*A>6<" '$+/,&<$H&$+"&J'<A$)"2B%& 23#%2-%6<" '<A$+"&$\5#% '!/5&>= 6*1:%& ARTICLE 19 - Censored gender: Women’s right to freedom of expression and information in Myanmar - Page 65