• Burmese
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
26 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

Relevance of Norway-Supported Peace Project Under Review

Saw Yan Naing by Saw Yan Naing
January 15, 2014
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0 0
A A
Relevance of Norway-Supported Peace Project Under Review

Burmese President Thein Sein

4.9k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The relevance of the Myanmar Peace Support Initiative (MPSI) is being reviewed two years after Norway spent US$2 million on dozens of development and aid projects in Burma’s ethnic conflict areas, the initiative’s director said.

“We are trying to see whether what the MPSI has been doing for two years is still as important and still relevant today,” Charles Petrie, who heads the MPSI, said in an interview in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.

“MPSI peace-related support might be no longer needed,” he said, adding that the project could be renamed and offer a different type of support to the peace process.

RelatedPosts

‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

July 9, 2025
97
Myanmar Junta’s Top Russian Arms Supplier Tosses in Quake ‘Donation’

Myanmar Junta’s Top Russian Arms Supplier Tosses in Quake ‘Donation’

July 9, 2025
171
Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

July 9, 2025
277

“What we are doing right now is reviewing what the MPSI has done,” he said, before adding, “I didn’t say that the MPSI is going to end.” Petrie said MPSI had spent about $2 million in the last two years.

The Norway-funded initiative began in January 2012 with the aim of supporting the peace process that was started by President Thein Sein’s reformist government and has resulted in the signing of more a dozen ceasefire agreements with ethnic armed groups in the past two years.

The MPSI launched dozens of pilot projects in Burma’s ethnic border areas, such as in Shan, Karen, Karenni, Mon, Chin states as well as Pegu and Tenasserim divisions. The projects focused on humanitarian aid, education support, development and the possible return of internally displaced people (IDPs) and refugees. Some 60,000 IDPs were issued national identity card with the support of MPSI, which also held consultations and workshops in ethnic areas.

The initiative funded projects by international organizations such as Norwegian People Aid, Norwegian Refugee Committee, the International Labor Organization and local relief groups, such as the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People.

However, some Burmese and ethnic community-based organizations (CBOs) working with conflict-affected ethnic groups and refugees in Thailand have criticized the Norway-led initiative. The groups said it lacks transparency, fails to consult CBOs, and risks channeling aid into conflict areas before Naypyidaw and ethnic armed groups have reached a political settlement to end their long-running conflicts.

Currently, the government and the ethnic rebels are trying to consolidate their ceasefire agreements; the sides are due to hold a second round of talks next month in Karen State capital Hpa-an to discuss the signing of a nationwide ceasefire agreement.

Petrie said the MPSI had been launched early on in the peace process in order “to test whether the commitments made by the government were real commitments, and to help the armed groups test those commitments.”

“We have a number of pilot projects … of 100,000 and 150,000 dollars. And they are basically a type of relief supports. They were used to test how the authorities and the IDPs can get along,” he said.

“Today, I think the situation is very different. You have ceasefires. It is very clear that the [ceasefire] process is serious,” Petrie said, adding that a review of the MPSI would be completed in February to assess whether its approach remains relevant.

Petrie said the project could change its name and offer other, scaled-down forms of support that would focus on new political structures that are likely to be created as a result of the peace process. The initiative might, for instance, focus on support for administrative zones run by ethnic groups, he added.

Although international donors have been enthusiastic about Thein Sein’s achievements in the peace process, local ethnic populations, CBOs and other NGOs remain cautious. They have stressed that ethnic people’s aspirations for greater political autonomy and control over their own natural resources need to be addressed first.

Meanwhile, reports of human rights violations in ethnic areas by the Burma Army continue to surface regularly. The military also still carries out operations in Kachin and Shan states, while many ethnic communities fear that the military is continuing to consolidate and expand its power in ethnic areas.

“Any outside parties, including MPSI, who want to offer their help for peace in Burma, must have in-depth understanding of ethnic people’s long-term struggle to achieve their birthrights. Superficial understanding will do more harm than good,” said Soe Aung, a spokesman of the Forum for Democracy in Burma, a Thailand-based political activist group.

Petrie defended the Norway-backed project from criticism that it had put aid projects before a political settlement, saying, “The MPSI has been very conscious of the fact that development must not displace political dialogue.”

While the Norwegian peace project is being reviewed and could end in the near future, some other foreign countries plan to greatly increase their role in Burma’s long-running, complex ethnic conflict.

Japan’s government and influential Japanese charity the Nippon Foundation announced last week that Japanese NGOs plan to spend a staggering $96 million on aid projects in Burma’s ethnic areas in the next five years. The projects would supposedly support peace by offering food aid and promoting local socio-economic development.

Veteran Swedish journalist Bertil Lintner, who authored several books on Burma and its ethnic conflict, questioned the relevance of MPSI and other international projects aimed at supporting the intricate peace process.

“There seems to be hordes of instant, foreign experts running around promoting ‘peace’ and ‘dialogue’ these days. They come with models which may have worked elsewhere in the world and believe it will work in Burma too. It’s become an industry,” said Lintner.

“The problem is that they don’t know enough about the ethnic conflicts. Economic development won’t solve anything,” he added.

Your Thoughts …
Saw Yan Naing

Saw Yan Naing

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang
Burma

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang

by Hein Htoo Zan
November 28, 2023
98.5k

Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army troops are opening roads and pathways through forests for people to flee Kokang’s capital as...

Read moreDetails
Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public
Burma

Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public

by The Irrawaddy
February 7, 2024
89.8k

People’s Defense Force says junta troops told every household in the village to send one member to witness the double...

Read moreDetails
Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State
War Against the Junta

Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State

by The Irrawaddy
November 29, 2023
87.1k

Brotherhood Alliance member says it now has complete control of Kokang’s northernmost section after the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion 125...

Read moreDetails
Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks
Burma

Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks

by The Irrawaddy
December 4, 2023
59k

The junta said deserters would not be punished for minor crimes, highlighting the military’s shortage of troops as resistance offensives...

Read moreDetails
As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue
Burma

As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue

by The Irrawaddy
April 19, 2024
47k

The junta’s No. 2 has not been seen in public since April 3, sparking rumors that he was either gravely...

Read moreDetails
Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow
Burma

Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow

by The Irrawaddy
February 12, 2024
44.7k

Ethnic armed grouping says it will continue Operation 1027 offensive until goal of ousting the junta is achieved. 

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Burma Defense Ministry Puts Forward Budget Request

Burma Defense Ministry Puts Forward Budget Request

Concerns Over Impunity in Burma Soldier’s Alleged Rape of 13-Year-Old

Concerns Over Impunity in Burma Soldier’s Alleged Rape of 13-Year-Old

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

37 Years and Counting: Why Has Myanmar’s Democracy Struggle Taken So Long?

37 Years and Counting: Why Has Myanmar’s Democracy Struggle Taken So Long?

6 days ago
1.3k
Myanmar Junta Blacklists 200 Firms for Dodging Hard Currency Grab

Myanmar Junta Blacklists 200 Firms for Dodging Hard Currency Grab

1 week ago
1.3k

Most Read

  • Chin Resistance Tensions Boil Over as CNA Seizes Rival’s Myanmar HQ

    Chin Resistance Tensions Boil Over as CNA Seizes Rival’s Myanmar HQ

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Starves Last Rakhine Strongholds as AA Closes In

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • China’s Surveillance State Watches Everyone, Everywhere

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Trains Staff on Electronic Voting Machines Across the Country

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.