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Within a Federal Governance Model in Myanmar ADVANCING GENDER E UALITY WITHIN A FEDERAL GOVERNANCE MODEL IN MYANMAR UN WOMEN 2017 UN Women is the United Nations organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their rights worldwide. UN Women supports United Nations Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality, and works with governments and civil society to design laws, polices, programmes and services needed to implement these standards. It stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on five priority areas; increasing women’s leadership and participation; ending violence against women; engaging women in all aspects of peace security processes; enhancing women’s economic empowerment; and making gender equality central to national development planning and budgeting. UN Women also leads, coordinates and promotes the Unit- ed Nations system’s work in advancing gender equality. Advancing Gender Equality within a Federal Governance Model in Myanmar Published UN Women, Myanmar 2017 Copyright © United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) All rights re- served. Reproduction and dissemination of materials in this publication for education and non-commercial purposes are authorized without prior written permission form UN Women provided the sources is fully acknowledged without permission from UN Women. Application for permission may be addressed to [email protected] ISBN No. 978-974-680-418-9 United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) Myanmar No. 23 (A), Inya Myaing Road, Shwe Taung Gyar Ward (2) Bahan Township, Yangon 11201 Myanmar Tel+ 951 2305960-69 The views expressed in this publication are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views of UN Women, the United Nations or any of its affiliated organizations. Produced by: UN Women, Myanmar Authors: Christine Mary Forster Copy Editor: Jeffrey Stern Graphic Designer: Kung Termvanich Printed by: Spectrum Printing House ADVANCING GENDER EQUALITY WITHIN A FEDERAL GOVERNANCE MODEL IN MYANMAR UN WOMEN 2017 ADVANCING GENDER EQUALITY WITHIN A FEDERAL GOVERNANCE MODEL IN MYANMAR PAGE 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 6 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 7 PART 1: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND CONTEXT 17 Background Context 17 Scope and Purpose 18 Literature Review 19 Literature Review of Federalism in Myanmar 19 Literature Review of Gender and Federalism 21 Report Methodology 24 Report Structure 25 PART 2: FEDERALISM IN THE MYANMAR CONTEXT 26 Current Model of Governance 26 Introducing and Defining Governance Concepts 29 Models of Governance 29 Models of Federalism 29 Negotiating a Federal Model that Advances Gender Equality 31 PART 3: GENDER AND FEDERALISM IN MYANMAR 34 Bill of Rights 34 Division of Law-making Powers and Administrative Functions 35 Overarching Gender Equality Issues 35 Family Law and Inheritance 37 Education 39 ADVANCING GENDER EQUALITY WITHIN A FEDERAL GOVERNANCE MODEL IN MYANMAR PAGE 5 Health 40 Employment and Business Opportunities 42 Public Goods and Services 44 Fiscal Arrangements 46 Sources of Revenue 46 Means of Collecting Revenue 47 Means of Distributing Revenue 48 Advancing Gender Equality through Fiscal Arrangements 49 Equal Gender Representation in Public Office 54 Numbers of Women in Elected Public Office 54 Barriers to Women’s Representation in Public Office 56 Importance of Women’s Representation in Public Office 57 Advancing Gender Representation in Public Office in a Federal 58 Model Security for Women and Girls 60 Institutional Protection and Implementation of Women’s Rights 62 Establishing an Independent Court System 64 BIBLIOGRAPHY 65 ADVANCING GENDER EQUALITY WITHIN A FEDERAL GOVERNANCE MODEL IN MYANMAR PAGE 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people and institutions have contributed to this publication. In particular, we would like to acknowledge and thank the following individuals and organizations for their contributions: Christine Forster, the researcher and author; key informant interviewees from civil society organizations, research institutions and think tanks for their valuable perspectives and insights; UN Women and the Hans Seidel Foundation, Myanmar for organizing the Gender and Federalism in 2016 workshop in Yangon for women leaders, which contributed to the information and perspectives embodied in the publication; the Pidaungsu Institute for published material, information and analysis; Jean D’Cunha, Head, UN Women Myanmar, for discussions and feedback throughout its production; Hanny Cueva-Beteta, Regional Advisor, Governance, Peace and Security, UN Women for resources provided to produce the publication; Sandar Win, Phyothunandar Aung, Ketsara Naungpaung, UN women for production support; Jeffrey Stern for copy-editing; Kung Termvanich for publication layout and design; U Toe Kyaw Hlaing for translation; and Spectrum Printing House for printing. This publication would not have been published without the generous support of the Government of Sweden and the Paung Sie Facility, Myanmar. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Christine Forster is an associate professor in the Law Faculty at the University of New South Wales in Sydney with expertise in the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), women’s human rights and governance. Christine has extensive practical experience in the legal implementation of CEDAW and has published widely in the area. She is co-author of the publications “Translating CEDAW into Law,” published by UNIFEM Pacific and the UNDP Pacific Centre (2007); and “Gender Equality Laws. Global Good Practices and a Review of Five Southeast Asian Countries,” published by UNIFEM (2010). She is the author of “Advancing the Implementation of CEDAW in the Cook Islands: Good Practice Approaches to a Civil Family Law Bill,” published by the UNDP Pacific Centre (2011); and “Good Practices in Advancing Gender Equality and Women’s Rights in Constitutions,” published by UNDP (2016). ADVANCING GENDER EQUALITY WITHIN A FEDERAL GOVERNANCE MODEL IN MYANMAR PAGE 7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PART 1 Part 1 of the report begins with a brief background of Myanmar’s political situation and the debate that led to the positing of a federal model as the most appropriate mechanism of governance for Myanmar as it moves towards democracy and peace. Part 1 also includes a literature review and a brief overview of the report methodology. In 2015, after over 50 years of military governance, the National League for Democracy formed a government led by U Htin Kyaw as President and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as State Counsellor. A new model of governance must be negotiated, one that provides Myanmar citizens with pride in the nation-state, that fully recognizes Myanmar’s diversity in ethnicity, language and culture and that secures and guarantees the human rights of all, including women and girls. A federal model, a likely choice, would enable states and regions to enjoy constitutionally guaranteed autonomy over certain legislative and policy areas while sharing power in other areas in accordance with agreed rules. Gender equality issues are more effectively addressed at the start of a process of institutional and constitutional restructuring and reform. In Myanmar, therefore, a unique opportunity has arisen as a new governance model is negotiated: an opportunity to introduce mechanisms to secure the rights of women and to advance gender equality. This report contributes to that process by providing an analysis — the first conducted to date — of gender and federalism in the Myanmar context. ADVANCING GENDER EQUALITY WITHIN A FEDERAL GOVERNANCE MODEL IN MYANMAR PAGE 8 As Myanmar advances towards further democratization, peace and economic and social development, it is crucial that it strongly embeds the principles of gender equality and women’s rights in its legal foundations. Therefore, this report aims to identify, within different models of federalism, the opportunities and drawbacks of each model for advancing gender equality. Further, this report utilizes examples from other jurisdictions in order to propose mechanisms that can be developed to ensure the advancement of rights for women and girls. PART 2 Part 2 of the report considers federalism in the Myanmar context. It begins with a discussion and overview of the current (nominally federal) governance model operating in Myanmar. It introduces and defines the concept of federalism and the models of federalism adopted in other countries, particularly those with geographic, cultural and political similarities to Myanmar. It considers, in general terms, the key gender equality issues that must be negotiated in different federal models of governance. The current governance model in Myanmar, framed by the Constitution of the Republic of Myanmar 2008, can advance gender equality and women’s right to a certain extent only. It is a centralized model of governance, with most power vested in the executive, legislature and judiciary arms of the Union government. Limited powers and functions are devolved from the Union government to the 14 states and regions, the one self-administered division and the five self-administered zones. Federal models vary greatly. Some confer a large amount of power in a central government to regulate the country; others grant more autonomy to states and regions. Some impose clear divisions in the powers of the central government and the states and regions, while others
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