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International IDEA works with democratic stakeholders in Myanmar to consolidate the transition to democracy, contributing to strengthening of constitutional expertise, state-building, and governance in the country. International IDEA established its country presence in Myanmar in 2012. In response to the February 2021 military coup, International IDEA has temporarily closed its offices in Yangon and Naypyitaw and provides its democracy assistance from outside the country.
Our projects are developing knowledge resources, promoting institutional development and facilitating inclusive and informed dialogue about democratic reform options in Myanmar.
MyConstitution
MyConstitution supports partners in Myanmar to strengthen their expertise on constitution building with a view to building a home-grown, well-informed, and inclusive constitutional culture that contributes to democratic transition. We do this by providing:
- On-demand expert advisory services to those involved in negotiations and decision-makings relating to constitution building.
- Tailored learning on a range of relevant constitutional and governance issues relevant to the context of Myanmar and based on comparative experiences from around the world.
- Safe spaces and opportunities for dialogue on constitutional issues, including their links to democratization, good governance, and inclusion
- Knowledge materials and research on constitutional and governance issues in Myanmar language
- Practical tools and support to adapt well-established assessment methodologies to the Myanmar context.
MyConstitution targets a range of stakeholders, including interim governance institutions, political parties, members of parliament, ethnic armed groups, media, and civil society organizations (CSOs).
The MyConstitution project is hosted by International IDEA (Myanmar). The project is supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden.
The Myanmar Constitution Academy is a free, self-guided, intensive online course on the fundamentals of democratic constitutionalism.
The online course is aimed at giving participants from Myanmar an introduction to key constitutional principles and comparative practice in terms of both constitution-building processes and constitutional design.
The course focuses on the role of constitution-building in conflict and post-conflict or transitional settings, and in diverse or multi-ethnic countries, and covers constitutional issues directly relevant to the Myanmar context. It is available in English and Burmese and ends with a certificate.
Support to Electoral Processes and Democracy (STEP Democracy)
As part of the European Union-funded project Support to Electoral Processes and Democracy (STEP Democracy), International IDEA Myanmar has worked with the Union Election Commission (UEC) in support of peaceful, transparent and credible elections in Myanmar. Highlights include the development of a system and regulations to accredit election observers.
The phase of the programme from 2018 to 2021 focused on supporting political parties, CSOs and constitutional sub-national governments in reform processes that are more participatory, transparent, accountable, inclusive and reflective of stakeholder needs. STEP Democracy’s comprehensive elections program supported key electoral stakeholders, namely the national and subnational levels of the constitutional UEC, political parties, CSOs, constitutional sub-national governments and voters and first-time voters.
Download the 2020 General Election in Myanmar Fact Sheet.
As of 1 February 2021, the programme explored possibilities to contribute to its long term objective of supporting a democratic Myanmar by conducting research and analysis but was closed in agreement with the European Union due to the escalated risk to International IDEA and STEP Democracy partner staff in country.
SHWEBO - Support Hluttaw Work for Excellence in Budget Oversight
Launched in December 2019, SHWEBO - Support Hluttaw Work for Excellence in Budget Oversight, is an International IDEA’s four-year initiative to improve parliamentary budget oversight in Myanmar. SHWEBO provides parliamentarians and parliamentary staff members at the Union and State/ Region levels with action-oriented, interactive learning experience in acquiring new knowledge and skills and improving their oversight performance in the annual budget cycle through the three lines of activities: capacity development, technical assistance, and research and analysis.
This project is funded by two partners: the European Union and the United Kingdom’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
Maps presented do not imply on the part of the Institute any judgement on the legal status of any territory or the endorsement of such boundaries, nor does the placement or size of any country or territory reflect the political view of International IDEA. Maps are used in order to add visual clarity to data.
