Studies and Conference on Decentralization in selected policy fields

Decentralization is a process under which power is transferred from the central government to local government. Myanmar’s decentralization process started with the adoption of its 2008 Constitution which establishes 14 parliaments in addition to the Union parliament, one for each State and Region. It is a measure to grant more autonomy to the non-Burmese ethnic groups living in those states and regions, many of whom aspire after a federal state. KAS has been supportive of this process most notably through our “Decentralization project”, which combines the research of our 3 local partners, each specializing in one aspect of decentralization: the Panna Institute on the perceptions of decentralization by local stakeholders, NEI on the role of decentralization in the SME sector, and Urbanize on elements of decentralization in the teaching of ethnic languages in the education sector. On the 20th of February we held our conference on the topic in front of an audience of around 80 participants. H.E Thomas Neisinger, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Myanmar, gave welcoming remarks and highlighted the importance of the very topics presented. You may find the research of Urbanize published in the book “Teaching ethnic minority languages in government schools and developing the local curriculum: elements of decentralization in language-in-education-policy”. The findings of the Panna Institute and of NEI will be published in the weeks to come.