Since 1998, CICR has been working in partnership with the National
Democratic Front and the Ethnic Nationalities Council (Union of Burma)
–
organizations consisting of many ethnic nationalities from Burma – to
facilitate their search for avenues of peaceful coexistence within and among
groups. The goal of the project is to help the ethnic groups participate as
a unified actor in the future governance of their country.
To achieve this goal of productive participation in government, CICR has designed an Interethnic Conflict Resolution Program for Burma’s Ethnic Nationalities to provide them with new tools and opportunities for dialogue and coexistence. Advanced workshops were offered in Chiang Mai and Mae Sot, Thailand to representatives from women’s and youth organizations. These workshops built upon preliminary seminars and focus group meetings.
CICR team members also conducted consultative visits with the ethnic nationalities’ political leaders and policymakers in Mae Sot and conducted a three-day seminar with political leaders in Chiang Mai. CICR then brought a delegation of political leaders to the United States and Canada in order to reinforce the leaders’ joint work and to improve the international community’s understanding of the conflict in Burma.
CICR is also undertaking an initiative to facilitate dissemination of reports on human rights abuses against the ethnic nationalities to decision makers in the international community.