Community-Based Reconciliation&Dialogue

Aung Kyaw Moe is a peacebuilder, humanitarian worker, and a human rights advocate who has worked with diverse international NGOs for over 14 years, contributing to peacebuilding efforts around the world, during his time in Thailand, Singapore, Afghanistan, and Liberia. Today, Aung Kyaw Moe is the founder and executive director of the Center for Social Integrity (CSI), which he established in order to promote social cohesion in the most fractured regions of Myanmar. Aung Kyaw Moe actively advocates for the resolution of the conflict in his region and country; and the rights of his community, the Rohingya people. In just three years, Aung Kyaw Moe’s work through the Center for Social Integrity has already begun to gain global recognition for its impact and its unique position as a national NGO in Rakhine State.

Rakhine state is characterized by a state of fragile stability in which segregation between Buddhist and Muslim communities has become entrenched, and in which accessing information, and various education and professional opportunities, can be very limited and challenging. A lack of common understanding and realization towards shared communal values, goals, and spaces prevent reconciliation between diverse communities. The Community Based Reconciliation and Dialogue (CBRD) Project elevates humanity by fostering an inclusive environment conducive to reconciliation by promoting capacities in tolerance and resilience amongst diverse communities. Specifically, CBRD creates designated areas for social change, empowers local youths as change agents, and promotes reconciliation and tolerance between and amongst diverse communities around shared self-development and learning opportunities.

In Rakhine, different ethnic and religious communities have become increasingly segregated from one another. Aside from occasional exchanges through trade, communities have little incentives to come together in their daily lives. While these communities live close to each other, networks of exchange and cooperation have deteriorated in the last few years. In particular, due to the inter-communal violence outbreak between ethnic Rakhine and Rohingya communities in 2012, over 200 individuals and approximately 140,000 were displaced, most of whom are still in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps. The situation worsened again in August 2017, with more than 700,000 Muslims, as well as Hindus and other smaller communities, being led to flee across the border to Bangladesh. Remaining communities were left with extensive grievances and mistrust.

Social cohesion is further undermined by traditional structures of power which exclude youth from decision-making processes which impact their future. Exclusion and marginalization of youths contributes to intra-communal tensions and frustration, with youths often leaving their communities to seek out other opportunities, and a local decision-making system that is increasingly disconnected from the expectations of the newest generation.

For this project, we selected 6 village tracts (a group of village) which represented particularly strategic locations due to them being mixed-ethnicity village tracts, or alongside key axis of travel and trade in the region. In each village tract, we created a committee which grouped village leaders from all surrounding communities. With their support, we identified a land where we could build Community Learning Centers. In total, we built 6 Community Learning Centers, covering an overall community of around 28,000 people. The Centers are equipped with libraries, a TV, computers, sewing machines, tables and chairs, and are open 5 days a week to all surrounding communities. These centers are managed on a day to day basis by 18 youth volunteers trained in community mobilization, conflict sensitivity, human rights and peacebuilding, working under this program. They help engage the communities in diverse mobilization activities – like literacy talks or sports events – and community development opportunities – vocational trainings which currently include sewing and computer courses. We also use the Centers to organize classes for adolescent girls who have never gone to school, providing them with basic literacy and numeracy classes ever morning before opening up the Centers to the public.

Rakhine is one of the poorest and least developed states in Myanmar, and home to the Rohingya, a primarily Muslim and persecuted minority in Myanmar. Decades of armed conflict, and a long-standing internet blackout in the region, make it difficult for local communities to seek out learning and self-development opportunities, or even access basic information and daily news. Movement restrictions on Rohingya people make it even hard for them to access professional and education opportunities. Since building the Centers, we have been able to conduct community assessments to get information about what type of skills and activities people want to engage in. Based on these assessments, we began organizing computer and sewing classes. There is, however, much more which could be done, and we hope to provide people with more vocational and skills training opportunities. We have created a 5-year agreement with the communities, to continue facilitating community-building activities, and we hope to keep growing our support provided we can get the necessary funding.

The project establishes a nexus between self-development and learning opportunities, and inter-communal cohesion and peacebuilding. By establishing shared inter-communal spaces, communities can interact with other ethnic and religious peoples more regularly and in more diverse settings.

The “Community Based Reconciliation and Dialogue” (CBRD) project provides a safe and open space for intercommunal interaction among people from diverse social group. We build Community Learning Centers, which become a convergence point where diverse people can have active conversations and exchange of ideas. This then leads to different members of community coming together and pro-actively and collectively collaborating in community development activities as well as addressing conflict dynamics at the local level. As a result, social cohesion mechanisms at the local level are re-established or further strengthened – improving intercommunal interaction among diverse people.

As someone who was unable to access education and professional opportunities due to being a Rohingya and having to live under movement restrictions, I quickly learned the importance of accessing information, and belonging to a network. The former broadens your mind and grants you awareness, the latter provides you with support, opportunities and, in certain situations, safety. I wanted that for communities in Rakhine State. Due to movement restrictions, conflict, and intercommunal tensions, so many people live in their own bubble, without ever having the opportunity to develop meaningful interactions with members of different communities. With the internet blackout, that is even more so the case now. 

I just wanted to create a space, which would be open to everyone. A space with books, television, internet, where people could come get information. A space where we could organize trainings, talks, classes for isolated youths… As people would come to access information, they would meet, talk, get to know each other, and become more connected with neighboring communities. It was not so much something I suddenly came up with, as much as it was something I have always wanted for the communities in my home region.

I was born in a small village in Maungdaw township, Rakhine State, Myanmar. I was one of the lucky few from my community to be born to parents, and grandparents, possessing the Myanmar citizenship. Growing up, I was an avid reader, and was able to learn English from an early age – mostly thanks to my father. I was doing quite well in school, which led me to aspire to an English bachelors in Yangon after finishing high school. I was one of two Rohingya students accepted in the program that year. However, government-imposed travel restrictions for Rohingya people made it impossible for people like me to travel away from home. Delays in obtaining travel authorizations led me to miss exams and important classes, forcing me to eventually drop out of the program and not obtain a higher education degree. Instead of continuing my studies, I threw myself into the professional world and began my career in the humanitarian and development world.

That is why providing people, particularly youth, with opportunities to learn has always been my key motivation.

I created Center for Social Integrity at the end of 2016. I grew up in a context of repression, movement restrictions, obstructed access to opportunities… After years working as a humanitarian professional, in Myanmar and in other conflict settings around the world, I realized I had reached a position from which I could now support communities of Rakhine.

In this region of Myanmar, there are very few people with the necessary education, professional experience, linguistic skills, and networks, to take a stand and lead a localized response to the conflict, displacement and extreme poverty we face. Most of the response force in Rakhine at the moment consists of international actors, like the United Nations or big International NGOS. Today, very few Rohingya people with the necessary identification documents, resources, experience and, most importantly, support network, to undertake this sort of project.

Securing funding for this project has been a key difficulty. Very few donors are willing to take the risk of investing in this type of long-term imitative in a context like Rakhine – daily armed conflict, access restrictions, etc.

As the COVID-19 pandemic reached Myanmar, we have been able to maintain the Centers and volunteers by organizing a coordinated COVID-19 prevention and awareness campaign in all of our village tracts. The volunteers were already trained in community mobilization, and the Centers could be easily used to gather village leaders and organize a response. Right now, we are even using the sewing machines in the centers to hire local women volunteers and produce re-usable masks for the surrounding population. We will continue to adapt the project to respond to changing needs in the region, and ensure Communities can still access vital information and services.

I created Center for Social Integrity by investing 5,000 USD of my own money, finding local friends and colleagues who could spare some of their time to support me, and training junior staff from the ground up. In 3 years, I have undertaken extensive fundraising to grow the organization and our capacity to respond to increasing needs in Rakhine. I am now leading around 100 staff and 70 paid volunteers which come from all kinds of ethnic and religious backgrounds.  

More than any figure, I am most proud that Rohingya people will now see that this sort of initiative is possible. Beyond that, all peoples of Myanmar will be able to look at Center for Social Integrity, and see Buddhists and Muslims working side by side in harmony, and collaboratively creating positive change for all communities in need.

In the context of Rakhine state, many international organizations are organizing food distributions, education support programs, hygiene and health projects, etc. This support remains subject to external and fast-changing international politics and priorities.  Most governments and donors are hesitant to invest in long-term community programs, particularly in a context as volatile as Rakhine State.

Our work is disruptive, because it is a locally-led peacebuilding response, though which we are able to engage communities, earn the trust of local leaders, and introduce words such as “social cohesion”, “peace-building”, “communal development”, and “human rights” within the emergency context that is Rakhine State. I am able to organize this type of initiative because I created an organization which is consists of local people who are directly from the communities we operate in. Our staff intrinsically understand the needs of the communities, and are able to lead and accompany community change step by step.  

Our theory is that by creating designated areas and opportunities for social change, empowering local youths as the agents of change, an environment conducive to reconciliation will be fostered. To do this, the CBRD project adopts the following theory of change:

• All communities in Rakhine State face common challenges in accessing learning and self-development opportunities, or even basic information and news. By creating more opportunities to access information, learn new skills and attend cultural or vocational events, people will be able to improve their livelihoods in a context where they come into contact with other ethnic and religious people. By providing communities access to shared inter-communal areas, they will become more familiar with other ethnic and religious peoples. Establishing or strengthening mechanisms of interaction and collaboration will empower communities in Rakhine State to pro-actively and collectively contribute to social cohesion and dialogue, addressing conflict dynamics and partaking in community development at the local level.
• In order for youth to effectively engage their communities in mechanisms of inter-communal interaction and collaboration, they will undergo capacity building and training to gain the necessary skills and awareness to mobilize their communities around inter-communal issues. Northern Rakhine youths will be empowered in an inter-ethnic and inter-faith environment to become local champions of community dialogue. As they grow older, youths who possess this capacity lead change and mobilize communities will become inclusive leaders who realize the importance of intercommunal interaction.

Our project currently counts 6 Community Learning Centers in 6 Village Tracts. Upon creating each Center, we enter into a 5-year agreement with the communities, to keep organizing diverse activities through the Centers, before gradually entrusting the management of the Centers to the communities themselves. At the moment, our Centers cover an area with a population of 28,000 people in total. Their engagement with the Centers varies, as some people come very regularly to check out books or attend activities, and other only come once in while when there is a specific training. 

On a regular basis, around 300-400 people attend the first 3 Centers we built, on a regular basis within one month (for diverse activities). We are hoping to maintain this level of monthly attendance in the next 5 years for these centers. The 3 new Centers we build in the second year have not fully started to engage communities in activities due the COVID-19 disruptions,  but we are hoping to see an additional 300-400 people attend these 3 centers in the coming year.

Provided we can find suitable funding, we hope to build an additional 2 Centers in Northern Rakhine in the next 5 years. This would allow us to cover most of the strategic areas in the region. 

We are also set on developing women-focused activities in the long term. Rakhine is a conservative region, and traditional religious practices make it difficult to engage women. Our goal in the next 5 years is to build local women’s leadership capacity, to bring them to the table and include them in village tract dialogue spheres, and create self-development and empowerment opportunities they can realistically engage in. We hope to continue accompanying the 150 adolescent girls currently benefiting from basic literacy and numeracy classes, and help them to access vocational opportunities.

Armed conflict

• High militarization and multiple checkpoints: Project team and community members, particularly Rohingya Muslims, face continuous dangerous as they operate in a conflict setting. Fighting can occur everywhere, and the presence of mines and other explosive devices is a risk through the whole area. Intensified fighting also prevents community members from accessing the centers or implementing community development activities.

Financial

• Financial sustainability: CBRD intends to reach out to more communities in northern Rakhine State and build capacity of local leaders and youth in organizing social change and development opportunities. Securing long-term funding is particularly challenging and makes it difficult to plan our response. As previously mentioned: very few donors are willing to take the risk of investing in this type of long-term imitative in a context like Rakhine – daily armed conflict, government restrictions, etc. We currently pool small sources of funding from diverse donors with which we have a strong relationship, in order to upkeep the project’s basic needs, but struggle to organize long-term activities and trainings due to the short-term and decentralized nature of funding opportunities.

The project has been on-going since 2018 and a good relationship with local authorities has already been established. The project will continue its advocacy to all parties in the community and ensure that both project team and community members are given necessary orientation, support, training, and equipment to support their community development activities.

CBRD as it is now, is being supported by donations from generous individuals and organizations. Since financial resources are not sufficient for CBRD to scale-up, current activities are focused on limited areas, and we pool funding from different sources to fund different activities.We are still fundraising to secure resources to organize vocational trainings and other types of activities.

We are implementing this project by ourselves.

Receiving The Elevate Prize would help me to address and overcome the second barrier I mentioned. Financial support from Elevate Prize will be directed towards organizing more community activities, and vocational trainings; and to ensure we can keep organizing social cohesion initiatives despite fast-changing international donor priorities in Myanmar. In particular, this would give me the freedom to continue leading a locally-led response which prioritizes the needs of local communities.