“Myanmar is the only country where International IDEA operates in two offices, in two different cities. They are located 400km from each other: one is in Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar, and the other one in the nation’s new capital Nay Pyi Taw, at the Union Election Commission (UEC) building.
Our team has grown to 13 staff members (and counting), of which four are permanently based in Nay Pyi Taw. Our team includes a variety of experts, who share their technical expertise.
We have great partners. International IDEA first focused on knowledge generation, in partnership with Norway and the Local Resource Centre, a local NGO in Myanmar. Together we worked on a democratic glossary in Myanmar language. Today, we have expanded to directly support the Pyithu Hlutaw (the Assembly of the Union) on parliamentary oversight, in partnership with the Canadian Parliamentary Centre; we cooperate with the UEC in its preparations for the upcoming General Elections, with support from the European Union.
Our work in elections is part of STEP Democracy (Support to Electoral Processes and Democracy). STEP is a three-year, International IDEA-led project. STEP is formed by seven other organizations–four local and three international–in a very fruitful and ambitious partnership with the European Union in Myanmar. The four local organisations are focused on voter and civic education in ethnic remote areas of the country: Hornbill Organization, Myanmar Egress, Naushawng Education Network and the Scholar Institute. The other three international organisations are the Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy, Democracy Reporting International and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom.”
