LIOH hosted a zoom meeting discussion on Federal Land Governance (FLG) together with Burma Environmental Working Group (BEWG), Metta Development Foundation (Metta) and Kayah Earthrights Action Network (KEAN) on 14 October 2020. There were altogether 4 panelists and moderated by LIOH. This one-and-a-half hour discussion was streamed live on LIOH Facebook Page[1]. There were 98 registered people as zoom attendance[2] and LIVE streamed video on the Facebook Page reached up to 1.8K views.
The purpose of the FLG dialogue is “to raise the concerns around government’s current land reform situation” and “to consolidate the demands towards a federal land governance”. The outline questions for discussions are based on:
* The reflection & insights on the current situation around reform processes
* What is the direction of reform processes – are they moving forwards or shifting from federal goals
* What & how can we do to move forward to the federal land governance?
The discussion was organized with 2 main sessions with Q&A at the end. The first session allowed the panelists to express more on reflection, analyses & insights; and second session is followed by how can we move forward. Panelists took part for different topics and covered broad range of issues those all related to land reform & federalism for Myanmar – from history to the federal dreams in the near future.
- Looking at the Past, Reflecting the Present and setting the Federal Goal
This topic is discussed by Ko Si Thu from LIOH and includes the reflection on land reform efforts throughout the historical timeline. It also covers why the land reform pathway is shifted away from federal and what are the elements of federal land governance
- Reform Processes Insights & Federal Possibilities
This topic is discussed by Saw Eh Say from KEAN and includes the detail analysis on the reform processes and current mechanisms around peace & land. It also raised the possibilities towards federal land governance.
- FOOD: System, Sovereignty & Federal
This topic is discussed by Ma San Wai from Metta and explains the linkages amongst land, resources, food production, and exploitation of capitalism. She used the concrete examples of how peasants are wiped away from subsistent farming to urban squatters and raised critical questions.
- LAND: Resource, Conflicts & Federal Governance
This topic is discussed by Ko Khun Oo from BEWG and stressed out why peace processes were failed in the past & how it’s repeating in present situation. He highlighted the power sharing amongst Union & State governments and to consider 5Rs[3] for land reform/ governance.
[1] The original plan to stream on both LIOH Page & Khit-Thit Media Page at the same time though, technical issues allowed streaming only on LIOH Page.
[2] Actual attendance at discussion time is 60 participants
[3] Recognition, Restitution, Regeneration, Representation & Redistribution
The LIVE streamed video can be watched on LIOH Facebook Page.
