Empowerment through Economic Literacy Training:he ALTSEAN Experience
ALTSEAN-BurmaI

n 1996, Burma’s impending membership into the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (asean) caused concern among members of the humanrights community. he combination of the military-ruled country's notorious human rights record and the poor performance of asean memberstates in the human rights and democracy ield was a recipe for disaster. It
justiied the fear that Burma’s entry into asean would lower the bar of human rights accountability within the organization rather than promote thecountry’s democratization.
The Birth of ALTSEAN-Burma
Southeast Asian human rights organizations held an alternative asean
meeting on Burma at the Chulalongkorn University in October 1996 insolidarity with and support for the people of Burma in their struggle forhuman rights and democracy. his meeting sought to develop alternatives
to the oicial policy and practice adopted by asean member-governments,
seen by majority of the Burmese citizens as promoting anti-human rights
sentiments.
his meeting concluded with the establishment of the Alternative asean Network on Burma, or altsean-Burma. he network members consisted of human rights and social justice non-governmental organizations(ngos), political parties, think tanks, academics, journalists, and student
activists from asean member-states. It adopted the primary objective of
forming a solidarity movement that would hold asean accountable for accepting Burma into the organization despite the Burmese government’s
well-documented human rights abuses.
Altsean-Burma has the following goals:• To contribute to eforts to achieve a democratic transition in
Burma;35

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To advance asean reforms that will uphold democracy and humanrights among member-states, particularly Burma;
To contribute to a more efective Southeast Asian Burma movement;
To support meaningful participation of women and youth fromBurma in the movement;
To enhance capacity-building programs to address the human resources and strategic needs of Burmese organizations; andTo promote mutually reinforcing advocacy messages and strategies
by the Burma movement.

Altsean-Burma seeks to meet these goals through a variety of programs and activities. It is engaged in advocacy, campaigns, and capacitybuilding to support the human rights and democracy movements in Burma.
his is done by building and strengthening strategic relationships among the
key networks and organizations from Burma, asean and the international
community. It seeks to implement innovative strategies that are responsive
to the emerging needs and urgent developments, both in Burma and within
asean. It undertakes activities to empower local Burmese activists from all
ethnic groups of Burma, particularly women and youth. In line with its purpose of building subregional solidarity, the network has also supported human rights causes in other countries within the subregion.
In the nineteen years of its existence, altsean-Burma has provided
valuable information on matters relating to Burma and asean, particularly
the current human rights situation in Burma, to legislators, legislative aides,
diplomats, NGO representatives, and other key decision-makers in the international community.
It maintains good relations with journalists, providing both on-the-record and of-the-record analysis on the developments in Burma and in theregion. Its research team has produced a variety of publications and materials on Burma. As of February 2015, the research team has produced ninety-nine issues of altsean-Burma’s main publication, the monthly Burma
Bulletin, as well as over eighty thematic briefers on a variety of subjects suchas elections, Rohingya violence, armed conlict, arrest of human rights activists, and land coniscations.
Altsean-Burma regularly conducts the Women’s Internship Program,which is the irst women-speciic training program for Burma. It began in
1997, and has greatly increased women’s participation and leadership inEmpowerment hrough Economic Literary Training: he ALTSEAN Experience37

the Burmese human rights movement. As of December 2014, a total of one
hundred thirty-nine women had completed altsean-Burma’s intensive internship program. hey came from thirty-seven women, youth, and environmental organizations from thirteen ethnic groups in Burma. Many havegone on to become leaders in their own communities and movements.
Filling in the Human Rights Advocacy Gap
In the course of its work, altsean-Burma began to recognize the gap in thehuman rights advocacy work being done in Burma. Speciically, the members of the organization saw the need to examine the impact that economic
mismanagement of the government had in the democratization process inthe country, as well as the linkages between human rights abuses and severe
economic mismanagement.
here was also a growing awareness that in many post-conlict or postauthoritarian transitional situations, the focus of most human rights groups
was on political reforms, while economic or human security concerns were
not prioritized. But, as made plainly evident in the transition processes ofcountries emerging from post-conlict or post-authoritarian situations,
without the implementation of relevant and people-centered economic policies during transition, the consequent economic policies can actually intensify rather than alleviate the inequities and injustices sufered under repressive regimes or conlict. As altsean-Burma’s coordinator, Debbie Stothard,
perfectly sums up, “[y]ou can’t eat democracy, but you should be able to eat
better because of democracy; democracy involves public participation in thedevelopment of economic policy.”
To address this gap, altsean-Burma developed an Economic Literacy
Training (elt) Program for Burmese activists and advocates. he elt program aims to help Burmese activists and advocates gain a general understanding of key economic issues in the context of Burma. It also seeks todevelop their skills in using economic data and economic arguments in promoting human rights and democracy in Burma. In this way, the program allows Burmese activists and advocates to increase their ability to actively participate in economic policy development debates during Burma’s transition.
In the short term, the elt program aims to build the capacity of local
activists and advocates to recognize the links between economics and human rights. hus they learn economic terms and concepts that would enable

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them to use economic arguments in their human rights advocacy. his approach strengthens the impact of their advocacies, particularly among statesand stakeholders that prioritize economic interests over human rights anddemocracy.
In the medium term, the elt program aims to build the capacities of
Burmese activists to participate in the formulation of Burma’s economic
policies. Given their experiences on the ground, they are well-placed topropose policy solutions that address the economic injustices in their communities, as well as throughout the country. he elt program also aims todevelop the skills and capabilities of Burmese activists in protecting and ensuring sustainability of economic development at the local level.
The ELT Workshops
he elt program is implemented through a series of workshops. he irst
elt workshop was held in January 2005. Since then, the contents of theworkshop have expanded and were tailored to address the particular challenges currently facing Burma as it opened up to foreign direct investment
and to multinational corporations interested in its vast natural resources.
he elt workshop at present covers the following main topics:
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Political economy and the meaning of development;
Agriculture;
Natural resources;
Industry and services;
Human resources and human capital development;
Financing development; andInternational trade and inance.

Each topic is presented in a module that includes the following basic
components: a) identiication of sectors in the country afected by issues related to the topic; b) discussion of the common challenges that these sectors
face; and c) analysis of examples of solutions to challenges adopted in othercountries. Participants undertake the exercise of developing policy proposals to address particular challenges faced by the diferent sectors.
An additional module, the “Making Policies Come Alive” module, isimplemented whenever time allows. his module identiies stakeholders inEmpowerment hrough Economic Literary Training: he ALTSEAN Experience

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policy discussions and how they (stakeholders) should interact with the government in policy formulation and implementation. he participants consider key questions in policy formulation and implementation under thismodule:What are the pros and cons of a policy in terms of people
who may beneit and those who may lose out from it? (CostBeneit Analysis, Opportunity Costs & Risk Assessment)
How will communities, businesses and other stakeholders
be involved in the design, implementation and evaluation of thispolicy? Is the government playing a signiicant role in its implementation or is it simply providing incentives to stakeholders
and regulatory framework for implementation?
Who exactly is in charge of the implementation of each aspect of the policy? Who will have the inal say in case of conlict
among stakeholders?
How will this policy be communicated to the public and key
stakeholders to ensure optimal public support?
his module also gives participants a glimpse of the process of translating national goals and policies into local initiatives at the community level.
It looks at how the people in the communities themselves can come up with
their implementing initiatives at the local level, within the general framework and guidelines of the national policy.
After discussing these topics, the participants are given the opportunity
to put their knowledge to the test. In the inal group exercise, participantsrole play as ministers of government, tasked with developing a key economic policy based on the demands of their constituencies. Each minister presents the draft policy before the other ministers of government. After thesepresentations, the ministers engage in parliamentary debate; they negotiate
and argue in defense of their policies in case of conlict with those fromthe other ministers. In this way, participants get a glimpse of the challenges
that government ministers face in coming up with policies that address theneeds of their constituencies, and are not in conlict with the priorities ofother ministries at the same time.
Nexus Between Economics and Human rights
he elt workshops take a political economy approach to the study of economics, focusing on the interplay between the economy, society, and politi-

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cal institutions. In particular, the emphasis is on deining the diferent kindsof development and examining who beneits from certain types of development. Prominent in these discussions are economic, social, and culturalrights and how these rights are afected in the country’s quest for economic
development.
One of the most problematic consequences of the current government’s
economic development model and the numerous large-scale development
projects it has embarked on in the past several years is the widespread increase in the number of land coniscation cases. hese land coniscations,seen as necessary adjuncts to pave the way for the country’s economic
growth, violate the right to food security, right to livelihood, and right toadequate standards of living of those in the afected areas. hese violations
have resulted in a resurgence of social conlict in afected areas, with discontent growing among the displaced communities.
his, in turn, has given rise to militarization, with troops being stationed to protect large-scale development projects. he presence of military
battalions around or near villages has resulted in increasing instances of human rights violations in the form of forced labor, illegal taxation/extortion,and sexual violence.
Other pressing issues covered during the workshop include the problems that arise in the transition from subsistence agriculture to agro-business economy. he problems take the form of forced growing of crops andforced sale of harvests. he social and environmental costs of natural resource exploitation, particularly the adverse impact of projects that fundamentally afect the social development of communities, are also essential
subject matters included in the workshop.
The Experience So Far
Altsean-Burma has provided more than ifty elt workshops to over seven
hundred participants (more than half of them were women) at the end of
2014. he responses from participants and partner organizations have been
overwhelmingly positive, with altsean-Burma getting regular requests for
elt workshops.
he elt workshops provide a common focus for the participants who
are afected by ethnic, religious, gender, linguistic, social and geographicaldiferences. Since the economic problems of the country and the efects ofEmpowerment hrough Economic Literary Training: he ALTSEAN Experience

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economic mismanagement are felt across all communities, regardless of
ethnic identity, the participants more easily recognize the similarities of
their experiences rather than focus on their diferences. And at the end of
the workshop, the participants have the opportunity to identify possible solutions by consensus.
he workshops have also helped participants to appreciate the needto strike a balance in the country’s economic policy between the needs ofspeciic communities, environmental protection and the need for national
development. his is particularly true with regards to the policies pertaining to the use of the country’s vast natural resources. Given the potential ofnatural resources fueling economic and social development, and the dangerof environmental devastation as consequence, inding an economic policythat ensures sustainable natural resource management is a key matter.
Additionally, the workshops enabled the participants to understand theconnection between the government’s economic policies and their efects
on the lives of ordinary citizens. he Safron Revolution is an example. In
2005, when the elt program began, fuel subsidies were greatly reduced andthe price of gas went up by several hundred percent. Despite this, there wasminimal mobilization or protest in the country. But in 2007, the increasein gas prices caused by the further removal of fuel subsidies was enough tospark massive protests that spread throughout the country.
he demands made during the Safron Revolution had the same economic arguments as those employed in rallying people to join the protests
in 2007. What happened between 2005 and 2007?
Debbie Stothard believes that altsean-Burma’s implementation of theelt program contributed greatly to the surge in discussions about the economic misrule of the country, with citizens becoming aware of economic
justice and their right to demand for access to food and to adequate standards of living. Activists were more conident to use these arguments to rally
and mobilize an already aggrieved population in nationwide protests thatsurprised the international community.
In 2008, a forum of organizations from diferent ethnic communities
called the Ethnic Community Development Forum (ecdf)1 embarked ona project implemented throughout Burma to come up with an alternative
development policy. he elt program was an integral part of this process.
Prior to the formulation of this alternative development policy, altseanBurma was called upon to deliver two elt workshops with diferent groups

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of Burmese youth. Armed with the knowledge gained from these workshops,
these youth returned to the diferent states in Burma and organized their own
elt workshops with grassroots activists, farmers, and other youth, paying
particular attention to the development, agriculture, and natural resources
modules. he ecdf held approximately two hundred consultation meetings
at the grassroots level, meeting with farmers to ind out how the country’s
economic policies were afecting them and asking for their proposals on how
to address the issues resulting from these policies.
hese consultations resulted in the formulation of alternative local
development policies for the agricultural and natural resources sectors,
launched between the end of 2010 and early 2011. For the irst time, local
stakeholders were empowered with the voice to come up with solutions
and recommendations to the economic problems of the country. Given the
personal nature of the problems encountered by the local stakeholders as aresult of the economic mismanagement occurring at the national level, thepolicy proposals coming from the ground were practical and sensible, taking into consideration a number of factors that were often overlooked by
the politicians in the capital. Unfortunately, when ecdf irst tried to present
these alternative local development policies to the legislators, they were ignored. But the struggle continued.
his project illustrates the empowering efect that the elt workshops
have on the participants. hey provide participants with a working knowledge of the basics of economics, and the impacts of the economic system on
their everyday lives. At the same time, they value the capacity of these participants to come up with their own solutions by harnessing the knowledge
they acquired from living with the realities of economic mismanagement.
Several partner organizations inside Burma have also begun incorporating economic analysis in their human rights reports, providing a more
holistic presentation for their readers. hese reports cover a variety of topics, ranging from human traicking to drug production in Burma. he international human rights organizations have responded positively to the morenuanced presentations of the issues by the partner organizations inside
Burma, and paid more attention to the fundamental linkages between human rights abuses and the dire economic situation in the country.
Interactions during these workshops have also contributed much toaltsean-Burma’s understanding of the extent of economic mismanagement, cronyism and corruption inside Burma. Some examples include theEmpowerment hrough Economic Literary Training: he ALTSEAN Experience43

prevailing fertilizer and seed monopolies that are among the challenges thatmost small farmers have to contend with. In the course of these workshops,
the participants have been very candid in sharing information and the experiences of their communities. Participants’ contributions in the form of
personal narratives have brought the realities of conlict, militarization, andrepression closer to home for altsean-Burma, giving abstract issues a human face and a human voice.
During one of the seminars, a Shan farmer disclosed how, because of
the militarization in his area, the families of some members of the military
took over land in the area and built a small dam on the river used by thecommunity as their water source. his efectively reduced his harvest fromtwo cycles in a year to only one. Because of his decreased income, he could
no longer aford to buy pesticides for the next crop cycle. When a pest infestation hit the farms in the area, he lost half his harvest. In efect, he had
reduced his agricultural output down to 25 percent of his original output
in the space of two years. he farmer also explained how these conditions
served as push factors for those in the area to seek work outside the country
and become migrant workers.
his personal narrative demonstrated the very real economic impactthat violent conlict in the region had on the surrounding areas. Apart fromviolence, forced labor, and the attendant displacement of communities, militarization and violent conlict also afect the political economy in the vicinity. In particular, the changed situation arose from the direct intervention of
the state, via the increased military presence in the area, which resulted inviolations of the rights of the local community to adequate standard of living, including the right to be free from hunger, as well as the opportunity tohave continuous improvement of their living conditions.
The Future of the ELT Program
Altsean-Burma continues to improve the elt program. It is developinga Business and Human Rights module. he new module aims to make local communities and activists understand the interest of the international
community, particularly foreign businesses, in Burma. his module willconcentrate on the role of businesses in either the promotion or the obstruction of human rights protection in the country. It seeks to provide thelocal people with knowledge about measures that can help prevent the im-

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punity perpetrated by the government, with the complicity and often forthe beneit of big businesses. hese measures include the corporate social
responsibility programs, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative,
the United Nations Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights,
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (oecd)
Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, among others. Knowledge of thesemeasures can help improve the capacity of the local people to negotiate withthe government as well as with the large corporations that are coming to dobusiness in Burma.
Another enhancement in the program is the addition of a module on
economic policy reforms that play an important role in facilitating transitional justice in the country as it emerges from its repressive past. his module seeks to extend the coverage of transitional justice from the traditional
focus on violations of civil and political rights to inclusion of economic justice and redress of socioeconomic grievances.
Conclusion
Burma is a country in lux. With the government’s current stance of opening up to foreign investments and foreign companies lining up to do business inside Burma, economic development is on a precipice. he arrival offoreign companies into the country, particularly those interested in Burma’s
natural resources, increases the possibilities for more severe cases of economic mismanagement, with the corresponding human rights abuses.
In this regard, having a population aware of the nexus between economic policies and human rights becomes all the more important for thehuman rights and democratization movements in Burma. his is what
altsean-Burma’s elt program endeavors to do – to equip local Burmese
activists with the knowledge, skills, and vocabulary that they need to ight
against human rights abuses arising from economic mismanagement.
Ultimately, the goal is for altsean-Burma’s elt program to become redundant, with local Burmese activists having the capacity to conduct theelt program themselves inside the country.
Endnote1. For more information on ecdf, visit www.ecdfburma.org/.