On 1st of February 2021 the military coup happened and our project activities came to a standstill; our project partner Loka Ahlinn immediately put all activities on hold, strongly rejecting this illegitimate coup. In line with the European Union and the Government of the Netherlands, we adopted the principle of non-engagement with the regime but remained committed to support the people in Myanmar and keep our governance focus. This paper captures our efforts of the past year, continuing two local governance projects and learning and developing a crisis approach. We experienced (1) the relevance of ‘keeping a presence on the ground’, (2) the need to allow flexibility to adapt beyond existing project frameworks (3) and the shift from partnership to localized leadership.
Read the whole paper here.