| Overview : UNDP in Myanmar, through its ‘Pillar 1’ Local Governance programme and ‘Pillar 3’ Democratic Governance programme, is implementing initiatives for rural women’s empowerment, gender equality, legal/rights awareness and advocacy, and addressing Gender Based Violence. A key platform for channeling cross-pillar and other multi-stakeholder support for these initiatives has emerged through the iWomen-Inspiring Women mobile application (iWomen app) for Myanmar. During 2015, UNDP had worked with May Doe Kabar National Network of Rural Women and its township-level leading groups across the country to co-design and prototype the iWomen app. iWomen app originally emerged in response to the challenge: “How to enable rural women to overcome physicial and emotional isolation, to inspire one another and to build enough self-confidence, vision and courage to become leaders within their communities?” Using a Human Centered Design approach, the app in its prototype form was developed to: - Foster and deliver inspiration through personal stories from both Myanmar and international women;
- Channel peer-support and mentoring using confidence-building games and a peer-to-peer sharing platform;
- Provide educational and reference resources on legal rights and violence against women, as well as skills such as leadership and mobile/information literacy;
- Provide a geographic locator and notice board to help women connect to local chapters of May Doe Kabar, with potential expansion to connection with other relevant organizations for referrals (e.g. for legal assistance).
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