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News & Updates
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Myanmar’s Election Commission Takes Steps to Achieve Gender Equality and Include Voters with Disabilities
After five decades of military rule, Myanmar has initiated an ongoing process of democratic reform, opening new and significant political space. However, persons with disabilities in Myanmar still face numerous obstacles in accessing their right to vote, and, at only 6.8 percent, Myanmar has one of the lowest percentages of women in parliament in the region.
News & Updates
Feature
Post-Election Advocacy Advances Disability Inclusion in Myanmar
During Myanmar’s historic general elections in November 2015, the Myanmar Independent Living Initiative (MILI), a disability rights organization based in Yangon, worked to ensure that the elections were the country’s most accessible and inclusive elections to date for persons with disabilities.
News & Updates
Press Release
IFES Announces International Recipient of 2016 Democracy Awards
IFES will honor Nay Lin Soe, a disability rights advocate and founder and CEO of the Myanmar Independent Living Initiative, with its 2016 Charles T. Manatt Democracy Award. This is the first time that IFES has honored both a disability rights advocate and an Asian citizen with the Democracy Award.
News & Updates
Interview/Speech/Testimony
Nay Lin Soe Remarks: 2016 Charles T. Manatt Democracy Awards Ceremony
Nay Lin Soe, a disability rights advocate and Founder and CEO of the Myanmar Independent Living Initiative, received the 2016 Charles T. Manatt Democracy Award for his work advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities in Myanmar and Southeast Asia. Read his remarks accepting the Democracy Award.
News & Updates
Feature
Nay Lin Soe and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Myanmar
Myanmar’s 2015 election was a historic moment for democracy in the Southeast Asian nation. Ahead of the elections, Nay Lin Soe’s collaboration with Myanmar’s Union Election Commission, government, civil society and media was critical to ushering in a new and inclusive era for Myanmar and serves as an exemplary model of how to advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities in nascent democracies.
News & Updates
Feature
Video: 2016 Democracy Awards Ceremony
On September 13, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) held its seventh annual Charles T. Manatt Democracy Awards ceremony in Washington D.C. This event brings diverse groups of domestic and international leaders together who share a belief in advancing good governance and democratic rights by empowering and encouraging active citizen participation.
News & Updates
Feature
Disability Rights Advocate and 2016 Charles T. Manatt Democracy Award Recipient
As Myanmar prepared for its historic 2015 general elections, IFES spoke with Nay Lin Soe, the articulate founder and CEO of the Myanmar Independent Living Initiative (MILI), to discuss the barriers encountered by persons with disabilities, the remarkable advances that have been achieved for persons with disabilities in Myanmar in the last five years, and MILI’s work in the lead up to Myanmar’s historic 2015 elections.
News & Updates
Feature
Training Myanmar DPOs on Disability Rights, Media, and Elections
On October 12-13, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) held a Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections (BRIDGE) training on “Disability Rights, Media, and Elections” for 25 people representing five disabled people’s organizations (DPOs) in Yangon, Myanmar including IFES’ local partner the Myanmar Independent Living Initiative (MILI).
News & Updates
Feature
Advancing Disability Rights in Southeast Asia through Regional Network of Advocates
In 2011, IFES established the General Election Network for Disability Access (AGENDA) across Southeast Asia. A creative partnership between disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs) and election-focused civil society organizations, AGENDA serves as a forum to improve access to political and electoral opportunities for persons with disabilities by increasing public awareness and elevating advocacy efforts that call for change.
News & Updates
Feature
Celebrating International Day of Persons with Disabilities
The annual International Day of Persons with Disabilities, held on December 3, commemorates the human rights of persons with disabilities. The theme for this year’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities is “Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality.” In 2018, IFES partnered with disabled people’s organizations in every region of the world to develop new tools and approaches to empower people with disabilities to participate in political life.