Women's Participation in Myanmar's Peace Process: Towards a New Narrative?

Abstract

The peace process in Myanmar has until now failed to integrate practices of gender equality. This is evident from the statistics of women’s participation at the peace table, which remains below the fixed quota of 30%. This research aims to identify the principle factors limiting women’s participation in Myanmar’s peace process, and to assess how effective international and national efforts have been in the promotion of women’s meaningful engagement in the future. Initially, the case studies of Colombia, Northern Ireland and Guatemala are investigated in order to ascertain the principle factors that have limited women’s participation internationally. The research also considers the importance of international frameworks against the backdrop of Myanmar. The analysis is therefore placed firmly in a global and historical context, before moving on to a detailed study of the challenges faced by women in Myanmar specifically. The discussion is heavily informed by a series of eleven interviews conducted predominantly with women who are working centrally in the campaign for greater women’s participation in the peace process in Myanmar. The voices and experiences of the individuals interviewed are placed at the forefront of the research to shed light on the challenges faced in improving women’s participation, and to introduce new interpretations and understandings to the historical narrative. In doing so, this research argues that social, cultural, strategic and structural barriers are the principle factors contributing towards women’s limited participation in Myanmar’s peace process. In light of these challenges, and despite the value of international norms and frameworks, it argues that the driving force for genuine social and political transformation at the national level will need to come from within Myanmar itself: from the high level political structures and the key stakeholders in the formal peace process, but also from the grassroots, including women’s organizations and civil society.