Written by Yan Win Soe, PITCH focal point in Myanmar

Bringing issues of young KP on national level  

Back in 2018, Myanmar launched its first national youth policy. Up until then, PITCH partner Myanmar Youth Star Network (MYSN) had tried to engage in the policy-making process. However, this wasn’t easy. As Ma Ei Mon Kyaw, the manager of MYSN, says, “All young people were educated and came from rich families. They used jargon and mostly English. We felt embarrassed and stayed far away from the process.” 

MYSN engaged with technical experts from the World Health Organization and the United Nations Population Fund. They built up a wealth of knowledge and skills enabling them to not only set advocacy asks, but also have representatives in the youth policy implementation process and attend government meetings. MYSN now looks forward to enhancing their engagement in the implementation of the youth policy throughout Myanmar.

Earlier this year, together with the Yangon Youth Committee, MYSN organised the International Youth Day in Yangon. During the event, the Chief Minister of the Yangon Region U Phyo Min Thein officially thanked MYSN for their contribution. 

Parliamentarians praise efforts to defend human rights    

Following a violent incident in Kawthaung Township, when a woman with severe bruises and injuries was found abandoned on the riverbank, the Sex Workers in Myanmar Network (SWiM) took immediate action. They filed a complaint at the local police station, hired a lawyer to defend the case, and contacted the social welfare department to protect the victim. It soon became clear that there were two women who both were detained, physically abused for a long time and forced to do sex work. 

Thanks to EQUAL project, partially funded by PITCH, SWiM could respond to the brutal violations of human rights of the women. As a result of this intervention, the perpetrators were arrested and prosecuted. In addition, local government officials and parliamentarians appreciated SWiM’s timely response to save the innocent women. In a promising development, a parliamentarian from the native town of the abused women visited the SWiM’s office in Yangon and complimented their staff members for exemplary work.

We hope that this achievement will empower other sex workers in Myanmar and elsewhere to seek justice and fight for human rights.