BI Organisation
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Who we are
The Peaceway Foundation was formed in February 2002. It operates as an umbrella organisation, under which is a project called Burma Issues. BI has operated since 1990. The formation of the Peace Way Foundation allowed us to be a recognised and registered organisation with the Thai Government. By becoming a Foundation our organisation has obtained legal status and ensured greater security for the work we do. One of the aims in forming the Foundation was also to allow us to expand our work and our ideology into other areas and countries, not to be secular in our work, but to strive to help build a global grassroots movement.
The organisation was initially founded in 1990 and acts as a private, non-profit organisation devoted to a peaceful resolution to Burma's struggle for human rights and democratic rule. We are non-partisan and do not advocate, campaign for or represent any leaders, political parties or ideologies as solutions to Burma's civil strife.
The Peaceway Foundation is unique in that we focus on the marginalised communities living in the war zones of Burma as the target group for building a peace based on justice for everyone. Our approach is based on concepts of community organising and empowerment of these marginalised communities. We are firmly committed to nonviolent forms of peacemaking and conflict transformation.
Background
As of the year 2002, Burma has suffered more than fifty years of armed conflict and forty years of one-party military rule. Despite growing international awareness of human rights abuses throughout the country, the resolution of Burma's conflicts and the strengthening of its democratic civil society will be a long-term struggle. This struggle must be nurtured and led by the people of Burma themselves, and international support for political change only will not help address the social and cultural aspects of the conflict.
The civil war has disrupted the lives of people all over the country, but has had an especially devastating effect on people living in the distant rural areas which lie along the border lines between Burma and its neighbours. These people are isolated from the rest of the country with little or no access to information and no chance to participate in the political and economic life of the country. They have little opportunity for education, health care, jobs, and adequate food supplies.
The Peaceway Foundation believes that the civil war in Burma is caused by chauvinism that can be found in all levels of society and among all groups. Chauvinism is an attitude or belief that an individual or specific group has the right to dominate another individual or group with the purpose of dividing the people, preventing their solidarity and fomenting discrimination and mistrust. This chauvinism feeds the forces of militarism and perpetuates violence in all areas of society including ethnicity, religion and gender.
The Peaceway Foundation attempts to target its work at areas where the suffering is the most severe and where people have the least opportunity to participate in crucial decision making processes. In many cases, the communities targeted are IDPs (Internally Displaced Person) communities which, The Peaceway Foundation believes, are the most oppressed of all communities in Burma.
While it is true that there are now many local and international organisations working at building and supporting the democratisation process in Burma, there are very few that truly focus on the marginalised people as major actors in bringing about much needed political, economic and social change in the country. The Peaceway Foundation, therefore, plays a very unique role in preparing these marginalised communities to voice their needs and opinions now and to be ready to effectively participate in a new society that will emerge once a civilian and democratic government can replace the military.
Program Aims and Objectives
Aim:
To participate in building up a movement of the marginalised people that is capable of carrying out the long-term struggle necessary to bring a true and lasting peace with justice to Burma.
Objectives:
To systematically document the events of the past and present through a documentation center in order to do effective analysis and to create strategies for building a better future.
To build up grassroots activists who have a vision for true change in Burma, are responsible and disciplined, and are clear in the nature of their commitment to the long-term struggle.
To encourage the grassroots people to lead the struggle for social, economic and political change in Burma.
To build up international awareness and support for the struggle in Burma by acting as a bridge between the grassroots people and the international support community in such a way that the grassroots people help international support groups focus actions on the most critical issues which prolong the cycle of war in the country.
Methods
The Peace Way Foundation is committed to building a long-term grassroots-based movement based on village level wisdom, experience, culture and needs. We focus specifically on the tasks of movement building, grassroots education and community organising rather than on solving immediate problems.
In our efforts to realise these tasks, we define and develop our activities according to three basic categories:
Grassroots organising:
Mobilising under-represented people to develop the courage and confidence they need to express their concerns and ideas, and to participate effectively in the decision-making processes which affect their lives.
Information for action: Supporting activities inside and outside Burma by supplying and helping to develop information, especially as it relates to oppression, human rights and peace.
Campaigns for peace: Advocating, publicising and participating in international dialogue and actions concerning human rights and peace in Burma.
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