SHAN STATE: TRAINING TRAINERS ON HUMAN RIGHTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L RANGOON 000595 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP AND IO; E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/24/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM BM SUBJECT: SHAN STATE: TRAINING TRAINERS ON HUMAN RIGHTS Classified By: Pol Officer Chelsia Wheeler for Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. The Hsai Pen Media Group (HPMG) spent nearly two weeks in June training Shan youth leaders on raising awareness of human rights and democracy using Embassy small grants funds. The hands-on training targeted 12 youth who have already taken leadership roles in their communities. One of the participants will use this training to plan a human rights awareness project for his own community in July. HPMG also plans to seek funds to conduct a conference in Shan State in advance of Burma's 2010 elections. End Summary. ¶2. (C) From June 8-19 the Hsai Pen Media Group (HPMG) trained trainers in a village near Lashio in Shan State on human rights and democracy awareness. The training, funded through Embassy Rangoon's small grants program, provided participants with a practical understanding of democracy and human rights. Sai Aung Thein, the project director, explained further that parts of the program covered the principles and documentation of human rights, and a discussion on how to get information on human rights violations to the outside world. The training also covered practical journalism skills such as interviewing and writing news articles and community building activities. ¶3. (C) Sai Aung Thein told us that by the end of the training, students had an understanding not just of the mechanics of elections, but of the individual responsibility each citizen has in a democracy. Most people in Shan State have a sense of hopelessness in their political and economic situations, he said. As a result, they take very little ownership of the development of their communities, but Sai Aung Thein hopes that this will start to change as a result of the project. ¶4. (C) Twelve youth from across Shan State participated in the course. Sai Aung Thein, himself in his late twenties, received his training at the American Center. He explained that HPMG selected participants based on leadership they had already demonstrated in their communities and in previous Embassy-funded human rights trainings. At the beginning of the training, they were shy, he said, but throughout the course, they gained confidence in their training skills and in discussions in the group. One participant followed up by already organizing a human rights and democracy training in his home village according to Sai Aung Thein. HPMG had also encouraged participants to discuss the issues raised in their trainings within the privacy of their homes, raising awareness one family at a time in an area that has little exposure to the principles of democracy. ¶5. (C) In preparation for the scheduled 2010 parliamentary elections in Burma, and to further raise democracy awareness among Shan youth, Sai Aung Thein would like to obtain funding for a conference on the election. The sooner he starts the work, he explained, the greater impact he will have and the greater the number of youth who understand the basics of how a free and fair election should look. One of the major downfalls of the May 10 referendum, he said, was that aside from the government's cheating, most voters did not even know how they were being cheated. ¶6. (C) Comment: Once again Embassy Rangoon's small grants program has produced tangible results in our top priority in Burma: promoting human rights and democracy. The Hsai Pen Media Group's grassroots level promotion of these topics allows them to spread the message of democracy widely to areas we would not otherwise have access to. For very modest sums, we assist Burmese to develop a greater understanding of democracy and their role in it. End Comment. VILLAROSA