Committee Speaker Highlight - Brenda Belak

This year's case study on Myanmar will open with an insightful speech from UBC alum and pro-democracy activist, Brenda Belak.

 

Brenda Belak worked in Thailand with indigenous groups from Burma and pro-democracy organizations from 1993 to 2001.  During that time, she documented human rights and environmental issues in Burma for use in advocacy with a number of local NGOs, including Images Asia, an alternative media organization producing reports and documentaries about Southeast Asia. She participated in the UN Graca Machel Study of the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children, focusing on child soldiers, and provided information to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. She also provided information to the International Labour Organisation (ILO)'s High Level Investigation into the Use of Forced Labour in Burma and worked as a consultant to the ILO during its site visits to interview survivors of forced labour. 

Furthermore, she oversaw a three-year study of women's human rights in Burma, which culminated in a shadow report to the UN CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) Committee and a lobbying trip to the CEDAW Committee's January 2000 session in New York.  She subsequently wrote a book summarizing this research, "Gathering Strength:  Women from Burma on their Rights", published in 2002. 

Since returning to Canada, she has been an active member of the Pacific Burma Roundtable (formerly the Vancouver Burma Roundtable) and has assisted indigenous women's groups from Burma in providing information to the CEDAW Committee for periodic reviews.

Committee Speaker Highlight - Dr. Ashok Kotwal

Dr. Kotwal is professor at the Economics department at the University of British Columbia and will be speaking for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). This is a short introduction on Dr. Kotwal and his discussion at UBCMUN.

His major research areas include analysis of organizational structures in LDCs, labour and credit markets in LDCs, interaction between agriculture and industry, economic reforms in India and their impact on poverty, and political economy of developmental policy-making. His fields of interest in Economics have been Development Economics and International Trade and his geographical area of interest is South Asia. His current research projects include understanding the impact of economic reform on employment and poverty in India over the last 20 years.

Dr. Kotwal will be discussing “The Key Question in Development Today”. This will revolve discussions about what the top priority for the World Bank should be. As you may already know the World Bank’s main goal is to reduce world-wide poverty. But where it should focused its attention on? The poorest countries? Post-conflict societies and fragile states? Middle-income countries? Does it justify prioritizing on the poorest countries first before focusing on middle-income countries? Does it make sense to focus on post-conflict states as their infrastructure and physical assets are often destroyed? Should the World Bank even work on rebuilding these societies, given that about half relapse into violence within 10 years? Should it focus on middle-income countries as they already have some infrastructure but lack funds?

If you are interested in being a part of this discussion then sign-up for UBCMUN today!

Media Censorship in Myanmar

Myanmar, throughout the twentieth century, has faced considerable media censorship.  The situation was not always dire, however.  Before British colonization in 1878, Myanmar was a beacon of free press in Asia.  The Seventeen Articles, passed in 1873, were specifically aimed at safeguarding the freedom of press.  As aforementioned, following the British annexation of Lower Burma, censorship became common practice as the colonists repressed local-language propaganda against the British government.  Nevertheless, through the colonial years, Myanmar continued to develop its media.  The number of publications continued to increase until Burma finally gained independence in 1948.  The freedom of expression was eventually guaranteed under the new constitution, an important milestone for the nation. In addition, throughout the 50’s, Myanmar was continually recognized as having one of the freest presses in Asia.  Unfortunately, after the coup d’état of 1962, limits were placed on freedom of expression.   The regime has continually applied laws to its benefit to date.

                Today, in Myanmar under military rule, the dissemination of information is controlled extensively.  Since 1996 several laws passed under the military regime have prohibited any activities which can be perceived as undermining the authority of the government.  In large, this focuses on the media.  The Ministry of Communications, Post, and Telegraphs plays a substantial role in supplementing the government’s goals.  Domestic film production, ownership of media players, and any computer equipment are stringently reviewed by the Ministry.  The acquisition, distribution, or the development of any information that is found to be detrimental to state security is monitored by the Ministry of Communications, Post, and Telegraphs, and is a criminal offence in Myanmar.

                As well, international media in Myanmar is rarely able to work freely.  Since 1995, the BBC and several other international media outlets have been jammed from Burmese airwaves.  With the lack of regular entry of foreign reporters, Myanmar is left to the mercy of its 150 privately owned papers, all of which are subjected to pre-publication censorship by the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division, which is run by military officers.  This remains a major concern for the international community ahead of the November 7^th elections, the coverage of which has been limited in international media by the present regime.  The validity of the upcoming election has been heavily questioned by several human rights organizations that doubt the electoral process under the strict media censorship.