NAY PYI TAW, Myanmar - As Myanmar releases the bulk of the results from its 2014 census which was carried out with the support of UNFPA, concerns remain over the government not having counted certain ethnic minorities including the Rohingya. UNFPA has been pressing the government on these challenges and will continue to do so. Nonetheless, the census -- Myanmar's first in 30 years -- represents a significant milestone in the country's democratic transition. Many who participated in the process felt it is a step in the right direction, including 65-year-old U Thein Tun. Here is his story.
U Thein Tun was a skeptic of previous Myanmar government in its ability to carry out a worthwhile census but he thinks that this past year's nation-wide population count is proving to be different and promises to play a key role in efforts to improve the lives of Myanmar citizens.
UNFPA sat down with 65-year-old U Thein Tun to hear why he has been part of a group conducting census orientations in and around Tachileik, in east Myanmar’s Shan State. The most recent of these events took place on 21-22 May 2015 and he was ready to talk about the benefits he thought that Myanmar’s first census in over three decades would bring to the country.
Wearing brightly coloured aubergine trouser, velvet Myanmar slippers and a baby blue polo shirt with the embroidered MANA - Myanmar Anti-Narcotics Association - logo blazoned on its front, it is instantly obvious that this is going to be a colourful treat. Despite U Thein Tun’s rather bright appearance, his voice is surprisingly soft as he vividly starts to recall the past two days workshop which he held on the Myanmar census for a mixed group of local civil society organisations (CSOs) in his hometown of Tachileik, located in Myanmar's hilly Shan State and on the borders with Thailand and Laos from 21-22 May, 2015.
Tachileik,a border town to Thailand also referred to as the city of the golden triangle, notorious for its illegal cross border drugs, is where U Thein Tun has lived all of his life and it is here that he first learned about Myanmar's first census in 1973 and 1983. "It has been more than forty years since I first encountered a census. During the two previous censuses I was very skeptical as the whole thing seemed very confusing and I did not understand what was going on or what the point of a census was. I guess they did not have the necessary technology to carry it out,” said U Thein Tun.
He stressed that this time around he wanted to get involved after having received a lot of information on the census. “Now the census it is crystal clear to me and I fully understand why it is important to conduct a census. That is why I wanted to get involved in the process,” he said. Prior to the census enumeration U Thein Tun signed up to become a member of the census committee for Tachileik district and assisted during the enumeration as a census verifier for the census payment process.
For the Myanmar census enumeration payment, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) entered into partnership with Kambawza bank (KBZ) in disbursing over $20 million dollars of UNFPA and donor funds to 124,317 census trainers, supervisors, enumerators, township officers and support staff across the country. U Thein Tun was one of the payment verifiers that ensured that the payment was done timely and in accordance with international standards.
“My wife also assists me with promoting the importance and the benefits of the census through her faith based organisation in our community. She too is a great supporter of the Myanmar census and we are both excited about what the data will show once released on the 29th, as it will be the first time in over thirty years that Myanmar will have reliable data that can help plan for the development of our communities,” said U Thein Tun.
U Thein Tun has been working for UNFPA’s implementing partner the Myanmar Anti-Narcotics Association (MANA) for 13 years as District Secretary as well as Chairman for the East Shan State’s civil society organisations (CSOs). He is actively championing the key benefits and importance of the Myanmar census data through census orientation training sessions with key stakeholders in the Tachileik area.
'Census data will be useful to future development'
Ko Sai Nay Win, 31 year-old administrative officer at the Mong Lin township office, a nearby village of Tachileik was one of fifty participants that attended the two-day census orientation workshop, which U Thein Tun conducted. “I found the census training to be very useful and I will share what I have learnt over the past two days on the census with the village leaders. Based on the census data the village leaders will be able to apply for future development of our community, such as a much needed water supply source. Currently we do not have a stable water supply and water is carried from afar. The census data will now help us develop plans to get water distribution to our community,” he said.
Ko Sai Nay Win also stressed that based on the census population figure Myanmar will be able to develop the nation’s infrastructure and industry, so that people can get jobs instead of having to go to Thailand. “The census will help us develop the region. We need more schools and jobs.”
U Thein Tun is one of a team of so-called “census ambassadors” from across Myanmar comprising of representatives of civil society organizations that attended specially designed census “Training of Trainers” (TOT) sessions held in February and March, to increase understanding on the use, importance and benefits of the census data and information within their communities. The “training of trainers” over the past few months have been undertaking dialogue and orientation training within the communities to help highlight the importance of the census data in the run up to the release of the main census result on 29 May. It will be the first time in thirty years that Myanmar will have access to credible and reliable data needed for the future development planning and policy making of the country as part of the on-going reform process.
Daw Tin Tin Hla, 77 year-old retired health worker from the Myanmar Maternal Child Welfare Association (MMCWA) said that the reason why she attended the two-day training was because she was extremely interested in learning more about the census. “I plan to share the knowledge from the training with my fellow colleagues from the MMCWA and our communities up to the village level during next week’s multiplier training session on the census data,” said Daw Tin Tin Hla.
When asked what she thought of the two-day census training as well as the trainer she emphasized that she had found the two days to be “very comprehensive”. “The trainer was very good, he explained everything in detail and I now understand the importance of the census data well. The previous data from the 1973 and 1983 censuses were not good, but this data from the 2014 census is very systematic and it will greatly benefit our country to help design programmes needed all the down to the village level.”
Fifty participants from local and village level civil society organisations’ attended the two day census training representing the Myanmar Maternal Child Welfare Association (MMCWA), Myanmar Women Affairs Federation (MWAF), Shan National Development Party (SNDP) including census commission members, administrative workers, teachers, fire fighters and farmers.
