Myanmar is in rapid political and economic transition, with a triple-reform agenda focused on democratic governance and rule of law; national unity and peace via reconciliation with political parties and ethnic armed organizations; market-oriented economic adjustments, inclusive growth, bottom-up planning and decentralization; improved management of government institutions; collaboration with the international community and Myanmar’s diaspora; and removal of media censorship.
Despite the progress, greater investment is needed to ensure that women and girls benefit equally with men and boys from the socioeconomic reforms. This would fulfill state commitments to gender equality and women’s rights, which are also critical for sustainable human development and the sustainability of Myanmar’s reform process. The government’s reform agenda is framed generically, with little to suggest that it addresses gender equality and women’s rights comprehensively and that it responds to gender and other interfacing inequalities. However, the National Strategic Plan for the Advancement of Women (2013–2022), based on the 12 priority areas of the Beijing Platform for Action, 1995, is an opportunity to instil a gender equality agenda. Implementation of the Plan for the Advancement of Women can occur through interministerial collaboration and gender mainstreaming into sectoral policies, plans, and programs. Implementation can build on the progress to date, with emphasis on resolving the continuing gaps and including gender equality perspectives more robustly
into the Framework for Economic and Social Reforms and the National Comprehensive Development Plan (2011-2030).
This situation analysis consolidates existing data (limited in some areas) on gender equality and women’s rights in critical areas of women’s lives, which are the basis of the National Strategic Plan for the Advancement of Women: livelihoods, participation in the economy, education, health care, violence, women’s leadership, political participation, and the peace processes. Making the best of the data challenges, this analytical profile serves to inform policy processes and implementation of the Plan for the Advancement of Women to benefit all dimensions of women’s lives.
Source: Asian Development Bank, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Population Fund, and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women Gender equality and women’s rights in Myanmar: A situation analysis. Mandaluyong City, Philippines: Asian Development Bank, 2016.
