Burma

American Center for International Labor Solidarity
$300,000
To promote worker rights and democratic development in Burma. The Solidarity Center will support the work of Burmese trade unions to improve their ability to exercise their rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining. The Solidarity Center will also support the documentation of the human rights violations and undemocratic practices of the Burmese government.

International Republican Institute
$375,000
To promote democratic reform in Burma through emerging political and civil society organizations in Burma, IRI will hire a Bangkok-based resident country director to conduct regular consultative and training visits to Rangoon. IRI will also continue to fund select activities in Thailand.

International Republican Institute
$250,000
To support the prodemocracy movement during a period of prospective democratic reform and political change, the Institute will increase its consultative presence with border-based partners, and, through a subgrant, support its subgrantee in developing and conducting adaptive, dynamic activities that capitalize on emerging political opportunities and expand its work in ethnic nationality regions inside Burma.

National Democratic Institute for International Affairs
$315,000
To continue assisting the ASEAN-based Burma democracy groups in exile and to expand the Institute's scope of work, for the first time, to incorporate assistance to groups working for democracy and reform within Burma's borders. NDI's programming will seek to improve collaboration and coordination among Burmese democracy groups, enhance the leadership skills of selected emerging political party leaders, and expand women organizations' activities in political organizing and mobilization.

CIVIC EDUCATION
$42,000
To build the capacity and knowledge of civil society activists to help them better understand the recent changes in the Burmese political system and better grasp democratic transitions in other countries. The organization will host a series of intensive five-day workshops and three-month residential courses focused on democratic transitions, comparative politics, and English-language communication for civil society leaders representing a range of Burma-based and cross-border prodemocracy organizations.

$43,000
To build the capacity of prodemocracy youth and civil society activists in Shan State. The organization will organize two two-month residential training programs focused on democracy and human rights, citizen journalism, public policy, conflict resolution, and documentation and research skills.

$54,000
To promote human rights in Burma through education, capacity building, community organizing, and advocacy. The institute will broadcast television series and dramas on human rights topics; organize a series of human rights education trainings and community organizing workshops; conduct an advocacy campaign to stop the use of child soldiers in Burma and prevent child trafficking; and implement a women’s rights program.

$27,000
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 its students through an eight-month intensive course focused on social justice, community development, and human rights.

$16,450
To educate a new generation of Burmese youth about the basic tenets of democracy and democratic transitions around the world. The organization will offer a variety of classes for Burmese youth and conduct research on political science topics relevant to the Burmese political environment.

DEMOCRATIC IDEAS AND VALUES
$38,000
To educate citizens in Chin State about the principles of democracy and human rights. The organization will support a series of workshops on democracy, development of civil society, and the role of Chin State in a future democratic Burma.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
$40,400
To build the professional capacity of Burmese journalists inside Burma in preparation for a future free press in the country. The Rangoon-based institute will train approximately 80 young journalists in basic journalism skills and seek to promote a broader political awareness among the participants.

$400,000
To support Burmese- and ethnic-language shortwave radio and satellite television broadcasts of independent news and opinion. The organization will produce a daily shortwave radio program, a daily satellite TV program, and articles and features for its website.

$19,455
To provide skills-based and leadership training to youth and young professionals in Burma to enhance information flow and communication within Burma and with the international community. The organization will run a resource center in central Burma that provides training in English language, information communication technology, and leadership and management, as well as affordable access to the Internet.

$150,000
To support independent media in Burma and to provide independent news and information about Burma and events in Southeast Asia. The organization will maintain a Burmese- and English-language website and distribute a daily electronic news bulletin.

$20,000
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 publish an independent monthly Burmese- and Karenni- language newspaper covering news and issues for the Karenni community in Burma, in refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border, and for ethnic and democracy groups in exile.

$25,800
To inform Karen about events and news in Karen State and Burma, and to expose them to basic principles of human rights and democracy. The organization will publish a newsletter and maintain a website in Burmese and Karen that provides an alternative news source for Karen in Burma, in refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border, and for ethnic and democracy groups in exile.

$60,000
To provide independent and accurate news and information about Burma. The news group will produce a daily electronic information service that covers developments in Burma, India, Thailand, and the Thailand- and India-Burma borders; maintain a Burmese- and English-language website; launch a new weekly e-zine; and publish a monthly Burmese-language newspaper.

$28,120
To promote freedom of expression in Burma. Through networking trips, a national conference, the publication of a quarterly journal, and literary seminars and symposia, the organization will seek to create a group of writers dedicated to freedom of expression in the country.

$28,100
To publish accurate and reliable information about political, social, and economic developments in Arakan State. The organization will operate a daily online news service in English and Burmese, concentrating on current events and human rights in Arakan State.

$75,000
To engage the youth of Burma in political discourse through the publication of a current affairs journal and the maintaining of libraries and book clubs. The organization will publish a Burmese-language monthly journal focusing on economics, health, the environment, and international affairs, and support libraries inside the country.

$45,000
To 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 as well as in Burma. The organization will maintain its multilingual website and distribute a weekly electronic news bulletin that provide information about the efforts of prodemocracy, student, ethnic, and labor organizations to promote peace and democracy in Burma.

$12,000
To provide accurate and reliable information about political, social, and economic developments within the Burmese military. The organization will maintain a Burmese-language news website that posts regular articles, interviews, and analysis about the military.

HUMAN RIGHTS
$60,000
To support the nonviolent prodemocracy activities of the Buddhist monastic community, or sangha. The organization will support information and outreach campaigns for both the monastic community and the general public, organize technical assistance training workshops for monks, and provide emergency assistance to monks who are under threat.

$30,000
To build and advance international support for the Burmese prodemocracy movement. The network links academics, activists, journalists, diplomats, and politicians in Burma, Thailand, and throughout Southeast Asia in an effort to promote democracy and human rights in Burma through multi-pronged efforts and initiatives.

$25,000
To raise awareness, strengthen local networks, and mobilize activists in resource rich areas of Western Burma. The organization will train local field researchers in information documentation and community mobilization methods and raise awareness internationally and within the affected areas about the government's natural resource extraction projects.

$60,000
To support efforts in Southeast Asia to promote democracy in Burma. The organization will manage a campaign by parliamentarians from ASEAN countries to improve the human rights situation in Burma and encourage ASEAN to adopt a policy toward Burma supportive of political reform.

$100,000
To support human rights in Burma by raising awareness about and supporting political prisoners and former 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.

$200,000
To support human rights in Burma by raising awareness about and supporting political prisoners and former 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.

$20,000
To advocate and campaign on behalf of democracy in Burma in India. The organization will coordinate a variety of activities in support of these goals, including outreach to Members of Parliament, Government of India officials, civil society organizations, and the media.

$65,000
To document, report on, and raise awareness about the human rights situation in Chin State and western Burma. The organization will publish and distribute a human rights newsletter, advocate on human rights issues internationally, build the capacity of local activists, and organize a student conference.

$21,350
To support the institutional capacity of the organization to distribute humanitarian aid and to document the plight of the internally displaced Karen population. The committee will publish an electronic quarterly newsletter and provide training courses for its field staff and volunteers.

$90,000
To support the organizing efforts of prodemocracy groups and activists in Burma. The organization will distribute human rights and democracy materials inside Burma, train party activists in techniques of nonviolent political action, and provide humanitarian support for democracy activists inside Burma.

$50,000
To strengthen the ability of Burmese citizens to participate in peaceful efforts to promote democracy and political reconciliation in Burma. Through its network of members and supporters inside Burma, the organization will organize political activities supporting democratic goals, raise awareness about democracy and human rights, and mobilize citizens.

$40,000
To raise awareness among the Burmese general population and youth in particular about human rights and democracy in an effort to encourage participation in the democracy movement. The Rangoon-based organization will provide support for a variety of campaigns and initiatives designed to encourage the peaceful, nonviolent participation of Burmese youth in the democracy movement and for a series of strategic planning and organizational development workshops for its members.

$50,000
To build trust between Burman and ethnic activists. The organization will conduct networking trips for Burman activists to ethnic areas and organize a training program for ethnic activists to lay the foundation for a network of activists dedicated to the creation of a federal union of Burma.

$38,012
To provide basic humanitarian assistance to political prisoners and their families in Burma. The Rangoon-based foundation will provide assistance to political prisoners, former political prisoners, and their families; and raise awareness about the human rights crisis inside Burma.

$100,000
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; community organizing and human rights defenders; civil society development; ethnic-language publications; and women's and children's rights.

$175,000
To facilitate the development of independent centers of political activity throughout the country. The organization will provide assistance to human rights defenders, student and youth groups, and legal aid providers, and will support a wide variety of activities designed to raise political awareness among the general population in Burma.

$64,250
To maintain international attention on and interest in Burma and to provide continued international support for Burma's prodemocracy movement. The center will work to keep the international media informed of important developments in Burma and coordinate various initiatives to strengthen international resolve for continued improvement in the political and human rights situations in Burma.

$45,000
To promote the rights of women and children in northern Burma and to strengthen the capacity of Kachin women to participate in politics. The organization will carry out a range of activities to support the empowerment of Kachin women, including the publication of a newsletter on democracy and women's rights, and programs focused on capacity building, political and human rights education, health services, trafficking, migrant workers, and income generation.

$25,000
To provide accurate and reliable information about the human rights situation in Karen State and to empower and build the capacity of Karen field researchers and human rights defenders to advocate for civil and political rights. The organization will produce thematic human rights reports, launch campaigns around the reports, develop village-level strategies to resist human rights abuses, and strengthen the capacity of its staff in organizational management and strategic planning.

$33,000
To promote civic awareness and participation in Mon State. The organization will produce a Mon-language bulletin on youth issues and manage a civic education and community organizing program designed to encourage increased cooperation and understanding among Mon youth.

$88,553
To strengthen civil society organizations and to empower democracy activists inside Burma. The organization will provide support for information and outreach campaigns targeting the general public and to allow activists to organize and network among themselves.

$15,000
To increase the capacity of Pa-O women to participate in political developments in southern Shan State and within the broader prodemocracy movement. The organization will train women community leaders from six townships through a one-month intensive course focused on human rights, community organizing, and political education.

$30,000
To strengthen the capacity of Palaung women to participate in the movement for democracy and human rights in Burma. The organization will carry out a range of activities to support women's empowerment, including human rights documentation and research, human rights and political empowerment trainings for ethnic women, and workshops on preventing gender-based violence.

$21,700
To document human rights violations in Shan State. The organization will gather extensive first-hand evidence of human rights violations, maintain a website, and distribute a monthly English-language electronic newsletter.

$36,000
To increase women's participation in Burma's democracy movement and to provide Shan women with the skills necessary to assume decision-making positions in their communities and organizations. Projects will include women's empowerment and capacity building workshops, documentation and advocacy on the situation of women in Shan State, and basic social services for Shan women and refugees.

$32,000
To promote greater understanding of democracy and human rights and to strengthen community networks and organizations among the Ta'ang. The organization will organize a series of human rights and democracy trainings for Ta'ang youth from inside Burma and hold a strategic planning workshop for its members and executive committee.

$200,000
To strengthen civil society in Burma. The organization will work with partners inside Burma to run two institutions that provide educational opportunities and modern communication facilities, continue an emergency medical support fund for activists and former political prisoners, conduct information and outreach campaigns for the monastic community, support an independent public health initiative, and develop a women's empowerment program.

$80,000
To promote increased understanding among Burmese women of human rights, women's rights, democracy, federalism, and peacebuilding. The coalition will carry out a range of activities to support women's empowerment, including human rights documentation and research, human rights and political empowerment trainings for Burmese women, and workshops on preventing gender-based violence.

$19,800
To promote youth participation in Burmese politics. Through networking trips, political study discussions, and the publication of a journal, the organization will build a nation-wide network of young people dedicated to promoting democracy throughout Burma.

NGO STRENGTHENING
$30,000
To support the development of small-scale civil society initiatives in Burma and to strengthen the investigative skills of journalists inside Burma. The organization will support nascent civil society initiatives run by democracy activists and organize journalism and human rights training workshops as well as expand a website for alumni of its training courses.

RULE OF LAW
$28,000
To promote legal reform and to raise awareness of legal rights and responsibilities in Burma. The Rangoon-based organization will maintain a legal resource center and library inside Burma and publish a monthly legal journal.

Grant descriptions are from the 2012 NED Annual Report.