Description:
"Executive Summary: The Myanmar Interim Arrangements Research Project (MIARP)
was funded by the Joint Peace Fund (JPF)1
, and implemented
between October 2017 and October 2018. Researchers spoke
to more than 450 people in Shan, Karen/Kayin and Mon States,
Tanintharyi Region, Naypyidaw, Yangon and Thailand, including confict-affected communities, representatives of Myanmar government and Army, leaders and members of Ethnic
Armed Organisations (EAOs), civil society organisations (CSOs),
political parties, diplomats and donors, and international aid
workers and analysts.
The term “Interim Arrangements” (ၾကားကာလအတြ߾္းေࠀာ߾္ရြက္ရ
မည့္အ߿ီအ߿ဥ္မ်ား) is a contested concept, meaning different
things to different stakeholders. The MIARP adopted the following working defnition of Interim Arrangements:
“Service delivery and governance in confictaffected areas, including the relationship
between EAOs and government systems, during
the period between initial ceasefres and a
comprehensive political settlement.”
Interim Arrangement refers to EAOs’ governance functions,
administrative authority and service delivery systems. The issue of which geographic areas are covered by Interim Arrangements is problematic. The Myanmar Army has pressed to
restrict EAOs’ service delivery and governance functions to
areas under armed groups’ exclusive control (which in most
cases have not yet been demarcated); on the ground however,
EAOs’ infuence and delivery of services and governance functions extend into areas where political and military authority
is mixed, and contested with the government and Tatmadaw.
In principle, the “interim” period extends until a comprehensive political settlement has been implemented, which given
recent setbacks in the peace process may take many years to
achieve. In the meantime, recognition of Interim Arrangements
refects the government’s acknowledgement of key EAOs’ political legitimacy and administrative responsibilities - at least,
for those groups which have signed the Nationwide Ceasefre
Agreement (NCA). One of the key recommendations of this
report is to support EAOs to exercise governance and administrative authority in a responsible and accountable manner.
The only offcial text referring to Interim Arrangements is
the October 2015 NCA. However, Interim Arrangements are
relevant in areas where EAOs have not signed the NCA, and
furthermore the NCA text fails to cover the full range of
meanings associated with the term.
Although Interim Arrangements are about more than the
NCA, Chapter 6 (Article 25) of this agreement does recognize
the roles of signatory EAOs in the felds of health, education, development, environmental conservation and natural
resource management, preservation and promotion of ethnic
cultures and languages, security and the rule of law, and illicit
drug eradication. The NCA allows EAOs to receive international aid, in coordination with the government. However, with
no agreed mechanism for addressing these goals through the
peace process architecture, the NCA has had limited impacts
on improving confict-affected communities’ access to equitable and effective governance and services. Furthermore,
on the ground in southeast Myanmar, government offcials
seem to regard EAOs primarily as service delivery actors, and/
or private companies, rather than legitimate governance and
administrative actors.
For many years, Myanmar’s larger EAOs have taken on governance and administration roles in their areas of control, often
delivering a wide range of services in partnership with CSOs.
In the southeast, groups like the Restoration Council of Shan
State (RCSS), Karen National Union (KNU) and New Mon State
Party (NMSP) are de-facto governments in relatively small pockets of territory. They also have infuence and provide some
services in wider areas of “mixed administration”, where EAO
authority overlaps with that of the government and Myanmar
Army. Between them for example, these three EAOs administer or support more than 2,000 schools, providing ethnic
language teaching to vulnerable children who would otherwise often be denied an education. They also work with local
partners to provide health services, access to justice and other
public goods.2
Similar arrangements exist in other parts of the country, both
in ceasefre areas where EAOs have not signed the NCA, and
in areas of on-going armed confict. For example, across much
of Kachin and northern Shan States, the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) and other EAOs provide elements of
governance, and life-saving if under resourced services to Internally Displaced People (IDPs) and other highly vulnerable
communities.
There are three principal rationales for supporting Interim Arrangements:
1. Effective Interim Arrangements will provide the best outcomes for vulnerable and marginalised communities in
confict-affected areas. Rather than reinventing the wheel,
existing EAO and CSO service delivery systems should
be supported on a case-by-case basis, recognising best
practice (an “appreciative inquiry” approach). Meeting the
government’s targets for school enrolment and universal
health coverage for example, will depend on the work
of EAOs and affliated civil society actors, who should be
seen as partners in meeting critical needs and achieving
development goals. Chapter 3 explores how these issues
play out in relation to specifc sectors and issues.
2. Several of Myanmar’s EAOs (including NCA signatory and
non-signatory groups) enjoy long-standing political legitimacy among the communities they seek to represent.
Supporting EAO governance regimes will counter perceptions of the peace process as a vehicle for state penetration
into previously autonomous areas, displacing existing EAO
authorities and services, without consulting local stakeholders. In order to be confict-sensitive, aid should be delivered in ways that do not undermine systems associated with
EAOs, to the beneft of the government (which is a party to
the confict). Timely peace dividends can best be provided
to vulnerable and marginalized communities by working
with existing and trusted local service delivery systems.
3. Interim Arrangements could be a key element in building “federalism from below” in Myanmar, supporting
effective local governance through equitable practices of
self-determination. The administrative functions and services provided by key EAOs (and their civil society partners) should be regarded as the building blocks of federalism in Myanmar - a political solution to decades of armed
confict which key stakeholders have endorsed.
It will be very diffcult for confict-affected parts of Myanmar
to move from the current mixture of service delivery systems
and governance regimes towards a formalized (federal) system, without better coordination, and substantial political
and technical negotiations. However, given the slow pace of
the peace process since 2016, Interim Arrangements have
been given relatively little attention.
Given that the Political Dialogue element of the peace process
appears stalled, it could be useful to identify a small number of
political priorities, to help deliver on ethnic stakeholders’ key
aims. These could be negotiated by EAOs (and political parties)
in a „fast track“ manner, resulting in a Union Peace Accord
that benefts both the government and ethnic stakeholders.
Areas for possible progress include education and language
policy (recognition of and funding for EAOs’ extensive school
systems; “mother tongue” teaching in government schools);
land issues (recognition of land title documents provided by
EAOs; revision of unjust land laws; compensation and restitution for people who have had their land unfairly taken); equitable natural resource management; and addressing forced
displacement – i.e. Interim Arrangements. This would not
prevent ethnic stakeholders from continuing to campaign for
federalism, including changes to the 2008 Constitution..."
Source/publisher:
Joint Peace Fund and Covenant Consult
Date of Publication:
2018-09-00
Date of entry:
2022-12-11
Grouping:
- Individual Documents
Category:
Countries:
Myanmar
Language:
English
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Format:
pdf
Size:
14.2 MB (100 pages) - Original version
Resource Type:
text
Text quality:
- Good