Peacetalk

Over 100 Karen youth leaders from Karen and Mon states, as well as Bago, Tanintharyi and Yangon regions gathered in the past week at a networking event to discuss how ethnic youth can get involved in the peace process and work together more closely. In the hopes of rallying young leaders and future negotiators, the Karen Youth Organization (KYO) and…

The Karen National Union held an emergency meeting to try to re-energize current peace talks between Ethnic Armed Organisation and Burma’s government. KNU sources claim the peace talks have become bogged down since the much vaunted second 21st century Pang Long Peace Conference took place in May. The Karen National Union Central Standing Committee held the emergency meeting on the…

The Karen diaspora is showing increasing irritation at the Karen National Union’s ceasefire stance. The International Karen Organization (IKO) issued a statement on September 9 calling for a review of the current peace process in order to achieve a genuine political settlement. The statement was issued following IKO’s first conference in Melbourne, Australia from September 6 to 8. The IKO,…

The US ambassador to Myanmar met with the Karen National Union on July 21 to get input about supporting local health and education projects in a bid to spur peace through development, according to a KNU official present at the gathering. The meeting at the KNU’s liaison office in the Karen State capital lasted over an hour. “The ambassador himself…

With peace still looking elusive and negotiations as fractured as ever, a steering committee established by the ceasefire signatories has agreed to conduct a broad review of the peace process. The Peace Process Steering Team (PPST) announced on July 2 that it would undertake the survey. The team, compromised of representatives from the eight ethnic armed groups party to the…

Naw Zipporeah Sein, has spent the last four years negotiating with the Burma government as a key member and Vice-chairperson of the Karen National Union. Ms Sein recently took the time to analyze the Union Peace Conference that was held from 24 to 29 May, 2017 in the country’s capital, Nawpyitaw. The result of the conference was the Union Accord…

The Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) and its armed wing, the Arakan Liberation Army, signed a preliminary ceasefire with the Rakhine State government in April 2012 before joining seven other ethnic armed groups in inking the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) in October 2015. Nineteen representatives from the ALP are currently attending the second session of the Union Peace Conference, also known…

Peace negotiators are anxious to see long-promised mine clearance activities get underway so that refugee resettlement and development can move forward. The head of the Union-level Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committee called on the public to urge their local officials to make good on pledges to clear the unexploded ordinance. “In my opinion, they [the state-level Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committees] need…

On April 7, the highly anticipated 16th KNU Congress came to an end with the election of a new leadership to drive the organization for the next four years. Unlike many past congresses, the 16th KNU Congress attracted enormous interest from Burma watchers and from the Karen community around the world because many believed that the outcome would have a…

The current 16th Karen National Union (KNU) Congress entered its final stage from the first week of April, 2017. Election of new leadership that will take office for the next four years start tomorrow, on April 6. During the previous weeks, representatives debated several issues before an agreement and understanding could be reached. These issues include the Burma Army’s militarization…