Burma

A. Internal Organizing and Coalition Building

$15,000
To monitor the human rights situation in Burma and educate monks and Buddhist lay people about the nonviolent struggle for democracy in Burma. The organization will produce and distribute material, including pamphlets, stickers, and calendars, on human rights and democracy and support efforts to organize the Buddhist community inside Burma.

$80,000*
To support the organizing efforts of prodemocracy groups in Burma. The organization will distribute human rights and democracy materials inside Burma, train party activists in effective techniques of nonviolent political action, and provide humanitarian support for party activists and others along the Thai-Burma border and inside Burma.

$53,300*
To strengthen the ability of the Burmese people to participate in peaceful efforts to promote democracy and political reconciliation in Burma. The forum will offer community-organizing training courses and produce several Burmese-language reports on successful examples of democracy movements from around the world.

$33,000*
To promote political capacity building in northern Burma. The project will consist of four interrelated components the translation and publication of a course on democratic theory, workshops in democratic theory and practice, political study groups, and a community library.

$35,000*
To improve access to information and communications technology in Burma. The institute will establish three adult education learning centers in Burma, which will provide classes in subjects such as business management, journalism, and information technology, and offer reasonably-priced internet access.

$85,000*
To support efforts to bring about national reconciliation and political reform in Burma. The coalition will work to increase contact, trust, and cooperation between ethnic and prodemocracy forces, expand its organizing activities inside Burma, and draw international attention to the political situation inside the country.

$15,000*
To empower ethnic nationality political parties and to promote their inclusion in the political process. The organization will support efforts to educate key stakeholders about a federal constitution and democratic state constitutions within a federal framework, and support organizing efforts to promote ethnic nationality participation in resolving Burma's long-standing political and economic problems.

$50,000*
To strengthen civil society in Burma by supporting former political prisoners and activists. The organization will work with partners inside Burma to establish two institutions for former political prisoners that provide educational opportunities, modern communication facilities, and an emergency medical support fund.

International Republican Institute
$47,002*
To strengthen the technological capacity of prodemocracy groups working in Burma. IRI will create a team of technicians who can provide skills and knowledge to democratic forces and upgrade the existing computer technology of pro-democracy organizations.

International Republican Institute
$350,000*
To support efforts to coordinate prodemocracy groups' activities inside Burma. The organization will work to expand its network of democracy activists in Burma, train more activists in nonviolent political action, and push for reform of the Burmese military.

International Republican Institute
$230,000
To promote democracy in Burma. IRI will support the efforts of prodemocracy activists in exile to provide financial, logistical, and technical support to nonviolent political activists inside Burma.

B. Independent Media

$22,777*
To support increased access to information inside Burma by promoting the use of information and communication technology. The organization will provide technology training to Burmese journalists, distribute news and information inside Burma through the Internet, transcribe information into Burmese Unicode, and provide a secure website for users in Burma to share information.

$40,000
To improve the professional capacity of Burmese journalists and to facilitate cooperation among Burma-related media groups. The group will organize and convene the fourth Burma Media Conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The conference will bring together more than 120 journalists who cover Burma to discuss issues, exchange ideas, and coordinate activities related to freedom of information and expression in Burma.

$175,000*
To support Burmese- and ethnic-language radio broadcasts of independent news and opinion into Burma. The organization will improve the quality of its programs, invest in advanced training and education for its staff, and maintain regional infrastructure for its broadcasts.

$175,000*
To promote access to independent media in Burma. The organization will produce and broadcast a Burmese-language satellite television program to complement its long-running daily shortwave radio program.

$133,741*
To support independent media in Burma and to provide independent news and information about Burma and events in Southeast Asia. The organization will produce a monthly English-language news magazine, distribute a daily electronic news bulletin, and maintain a Burmese- and English-language website.

$15,000
To inform people in Burma about news and events in eastern Burma and to expose them to basic principles of human rights and democracy. The organization will produce an independent, bi-weekly Burmese-language newspaper covering news and issues for the Karenni community in Burma, in refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border, and for ethnic and prodemocracy groups in exile.

$17,750*
To inform Karen people in Burma about events and news and to expose them to basic principles of human rights and democracy. The organization will publish a 32-page newsletter in Burmese and Karen that provides an alternative news source for Karen people in Burma, in refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border, and for ethnic and prodemocracy groups in exile.

$15,700*
To encourage a deeper and more critical understanding of democratic practice and theory within the Burmese democracy movement. The group will translate and print selected articles from each issue of the Journal of Democracy and distribute the Burmese-language translations to democracy activists and others inside Burma and in exile.

$40,000*
To provide independent and accurate information about the state of Burma and a forum to discuss a wide range of issues. The news group will produce a daily electronic information service that covers developments in Burma, India, and the India-Burma border; maintain a Burmese- and English-language website; publish a monthly Burmese-language newspaper; organize forums on India's Burma policy; and run a journalism internship program.

$12,000*
To provide accurate and reliable information about political, social, and economic developments in Arakan State. The organization will operate a daily news service in English and Burmese concentrating on current events and human rights in Arakan State.

$150,000*
To support independent media in Burma. The organization will publish and distribute inside Burma an independent, monthly Burmese-language newspaper focusing on the struggle for human rights and democracy and maintain a Burmese- and English-language website.

$27,934*
To publish a bilingual, monthly newspaper. The newspaper will provide accurate and reliable information to the Shan and wider Burmese communities, as well as Thai and international audiences, about political, social, and economic developments in Shan State. The newspaper will also provide information about the efforts of prodemocracy, student, ethnic, and labor organizations to promote peace and democracy in Burma.

C. Human Rights Education, Documentation and Advocacy

$50,000*
To educate and empower teachers and promote civic education in Burma. The organization will continue a civic education program for Burmese teachers from Karen, Karenni, and Mon States in Burma and develop teams of teacher-trainers who will travel into Burma to reach even less accessible populations. The organization will also publish a small resource book containing essential democracy and human rights documents that can be used in training workshops and classrooms.

$125,000*
To support human rights in Burma by raising awareness about, and supporting, political prisoners. The organization will research and document the situation of political prisoners inside Burma; provide assistance to political prisoners, former political prisoners, and their families; and raise international awareness about the human rights crisis inside Burma.

$90,000*
To promote respect for human rights and the rule of law in Burma. The organization will manage a legal research and education program, produce a quarterly journal on legal issues, organize an in-depth training program, and advocate for rule of law and democracy in Burma.

$35,000*
To document human rights violations and social conditions in Burma. Funds will support the work of a photographer and writer to produce photographs and essays on political repression, forced relocation, forced labor, and other human rights violations in Burma.

$45,000*
To publicize the human rights situation in Chin State, Burma. The organization will publish and distribute a human rights newsletter, advocate on human rights issues internationally, and organize a conference inside Burma.

$60,000*
To promote respect for human rights and to build the capacity of local human rights organizations through training courses, written material, and consultations. The organization will organize a human rights trainers' forum and training-of-trainer courses, offer a human rights internship program for ethnic-nationality youth, and publish an ethnic language version of its human rights manual.

$75,000*
To document the human rights situation and promote human rights education in Mon State and among Mon refugees. The organization runs six core projects human rights documentation, human rights and civic education, human rights defenders, civil society development, ethnic-language publications, and women's and children's rights.

$45,000*
To build inter-ethnic cooperation and solidarity through education programs for refugees and ethnic populations inside Burma. The committee's programs will strengthen local educational capacity through curriculum development, educational research, teacher training, educational material development, and management training workshops.

$18,150*
To document human rights violations in eastern Burma. The organization will publish and distribute monthly ethnic- and English-language human rights newsletters to audiences in Shan state, the exile community in Thailand, and the broader international community.

D. International Advocacy and Organizing

$80,000*
To support efforts in Southeast Asia to increase pressure for political reform in Burma. The organization will organize a campaign by parliamentarians from ASEAN countries to secure the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, improve the human rights situation in Burma, and encourage the Association of Southeast Asian Nationals (ASEAN) to adopt a policy toward Burma that supports political reform.

$300,000*
To support efforts to create a political environment in Burma and in the international community conducive to resolving Burma's long-standing political crisis. The organization will support the coordination of international and domestic political action, coalition building, transition planning, and institutional development.

$40,000*
To encourage and support grassroots activism in the ASEAN countries on the issue of democracy and human rights in Burma. The organization will conduct four core activities research and data collection, networking with regional and international NGOs, campaigning and public outreach, and an internship program for Burmese ethnic nationality youth.

$50,000
To increase awareness about political developments in Burma and to strengthen international support for Burma's prodemocracy movement. The institute will work to ensure that important research and reports produced in Thailand by Burmese democracy activists reach a targeted audience in the international community, keep the international media informed of important political initiatives and developments in Burma, and coordinate various initiatives to increase pressure on the regime for reform.

$35,000*
To strengthen support for democracy in Burma throughout Asia. The organization will engage and encourage governments, organizations, and individuals to take a supportive role in the effort to promote freedom in Burma, to secure the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and to ensure that any national reconciliation process includes the National League for Democracy and leading ethnic-nationality prodemocracy parties.

$40,000*
To strengthen Thai support for democracy in Burma. The organization will engage in policy advocacy, public information campaigns, legal support to Burmese who suffer human rights violations in Thailand, and efforts to strengthen Burmese prodemocracy organizations in Thailand.

E. Ethnic Nationalities

$32,000*
To publish and distribute reliable information about federalism and the Chin State Constitution. The forum will support a series of training-of-trainers courses on issues of federalism, constitutionalism, and the role of Chin State in a future federal structure of Burma, and convene a meeting of its elected leadership to evaluate the forum's performance and plan for future activities.

$25,000*
To support the institutional capacity of the committee to distribute humanitarian aid and to document the plight of the IDP Karen population. The committee will publish a bi-monthly newsletter, upgrade its computer equipment, and provide training courses for its field staff. 

$20,000*
To promote civic awareness and participation in Mon State. The organization will produce a Mon-language journal and operate a civic education program designed to encourage increased cooperation and understanding among Mon youth.

$25,000*
To promote greater understanding of democracy and human rights among the Palaung people and empower Palaung youth to strengthen community networks and organizations. The organization will organize a series of three human rights and democracy trainings for Palaung youth from inside Burma.

$25,000*
To build the capacity of youth from Shan State and to increase youth participation in the movement for social and political change leading toward a genuine democratic Burma. The school will educate, train, and empower ethnic young people from Shan State through nine months of English-language, social studies, and computer courses.

F. Women's Participation and Empowerment

$50,000*
To promote understanding among Burmese women of human rights, women's rights, democracy, and community development. The organization will maintain community libraries; publish a bi-monthly Burmese-language journal; launch public awareness campaigns about women's rights, gender equality, and social change; run an internship program; manage a center for migrant workers; hold roundtable discussions and commemorative events; organize a week-long leadership workshop; and run a six-month long intensive women's leadership school.

$20,000
To promote the rights of women and children in northern Burma and encourage understanding and cooperation among Burman and ethnic-minority women. The organization will maintain a central office to carry out a range of activities to support the empowerment of Kachin women, including the publication of a newsletter, booklets, and other materials on democracy and women's rights.

$17,500*
To educate Karen people about democracy, human rights, and current affairs and to ensure Karen women's participation in the drafting of a Karen State constitution. The organization will conduct democracy and human rights courses and hold workshops to discuss and gather feedback on the Karen State Constitution in refugee camps, high schools, and for the broader community.

$35,000*
To increase women's participation in Burma's democracy movement and provide Shan women with the necessary skills to assume decision-making positions in their communities and organizations. Projects will include women's empowerment and capacity building workshops, documentation and reporting on the situation of women in Shan State, and basic social services for Shan women.

$55,000*
To promote increased understanding among Burmese women of human rights, women's rights, democracy, federalism, peace-building, community development, and health issues. Projects will include a series of women's rights and empowerment training workshops for Burmese refugees; capacity-building workshops for Burmese women in India, Thailand, and Bangladesh; and an ongoing peace-advocacy program.

$12,500*
To educate, train, and empower Burmese women in exile in India to take a more active role in the prodemocracy struggle and to promote women's rights in Burma and among the exile community. The group will organize training courses on politics, democratic institutions, and organizational systems and create a forum for ethnic and Burmese women to discuss common issues and concerns.