| Overview : Under UNDP Myanmar’s Pillar 1 Local Governance Programme, Output 2 focuses on Civil Society and Media support. The effective participation of Civil Society Organizations (as representatives of the people) and the Media (as one of the organizations concerned with transparent, credible and accurate reporting of local news) is an integral element of sustainable human development and local governance. UNDP’s overall programme strategy for Myanmar (2013 – 2015) is aligned with the priorities of the Myanmar government and aims to support an enabling environment for development to reach out to all, democracy to flourish and citizens to realize their basic human rights. As highlighted by UNDP’s Local Governance Mapping and other studies, women’s engagement with and participation in local governance remains extremely low in Myanmar, and particularly in rural areas. This holds back achievement of Myanmar’s broader development goals. Output 2 places special emphasis on empowering rural women’s leadership in communities and their engagement in local development and monitoring of public service delivery, working inter alia with the leaders of federated Self-Reliant Groups (SRGs). UNDP’s earlier Human Development Initiative (HDI) programme in Myanmar for two decades focused predominantly on livelihoods and food security activities through the formation and mobilization of community based organizations, including SRGs. By the end of HDI in December 2012, over 8,000 villages in 63 townships across Myanmar received assistance and 5,503 SRGs were formed and supported with total membership of about 78,000. During the HDI transition phase (November 2012-September 2013), UNDP promoted a concept of federating SRGs to support their long term self-management and sustainability. On a voluntary basis, many SRGs federated from grassroots level to cluster level, and from cluster level to township level as Township Leading Groups (TLGs). As of December 2014, over 22,000 women members are directly participating and benefiting from approximately 2,000 federated SRGs across 31 townships in 8 Regions/States of Myanmar. During 2014, participatory capacity assessment exercise and leadership training were undertaken for leaders of the TLGs. In line with recommendations from this capacity assessment, UNDP instituted a program of Institutional Support Grants to the TLGs. The grants provide support for institutionalizing their township-level organizations and activities (such as training, civic education, and linkages with local administrations, other civil society organizations and private sector actors), and for strengthening TLG capacities to provide effective services to their members. The overall objective of the grants is to build the institutional capacity of TLGs so that they act as member-based civil society organizations to enhance the voices of rural women particularly in matters of local development and governance, while continuing to support the functioning of their respective cluster and village-level SRGs in their on-going work to improve living standards for member households. The initial round of Institutional Support Grants run for 14 months from November 2014 through December 2015. Conditional on successful performance and financial audit results, and with demonstrated potential for progressive realization of institutional sustainability, UNDP anticipates initiating a second round of grant support for the TLGs. |
