ADRN

The East Asia Institute, in partnership with Sandhi Governance Institute, hosted an international conference featuring presentations by local Myanmar civil society organizations on current issues and offering evidence-based policy recommendations aimed at bettering governance practices in Myanmar. The conference, which was held at the Park Royal Hotel in Yangon, was the culmination of the second year of the program “Strengthening Civil Society Organizations in Myanmar”, which aimed to build the research and institutional capacity of think tanks in the country. In the second year of this program, EAI held two workshops in Yangon for seven Myanmar partner organizations covering topics such as participatory research methods, policy analysis, advocacy strategy, and social science research. EAI also invited our Myanmar partner organizations to attend the Seoul ADRN Forum in August 2017.

Participating organizations conducted individual research projects on a diverse array of topics including transportation reform, water policy, women’s empowerment, federalism, civic engagement, and others. Sandhi Governance Institute, the Yangon School of Political Science, the Open Myanmar Initiative, the Salween Institute for Public Policy, Yone Kyi Yar, Another Development, and Naushawng Development Institute presented the results of their research to the public at the conference. 

Discussion panels featured experts from across Asia who provided input and recommendations on the policy suggestions put forth. As the partner organizations presented their research at the conference, there were thoughtful and lively discussions on how the government is using the country’s resources, how to strengthen the power and voice of women, how to promote active civic engagement and dialogue between constituents and their local representatives, and the role that think tanks have to play in promoting good governance. EAI plans to expand and build upon the positive results and experiences of this program in 2018 by continuing to support our partner organizations in producing quality research.

The "Strengthening Civil Society in Myanmar" program is supported by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

Program

Discussant Profiles

Dr. Thawilwadee Bureekul is the Director of Research and Development Office, King Prajadhipok’s Institute (KPI) where she is involved in the planning, management, implementation, and coordination of the Institute’s research projects. In addition to her role at the KPI, Dr. Bureekul is professor in several universities in Thailand, including the Asian Institute of Technology, Thammasat University, Burapha University, Mahidol University and Silpakorn University. In 2003, she received the outstanding research award in Political Science and Public Administration for her research project on “Development of Indicators for Good Governance” from Thailand Research Council. In 2012, she received the outstanding research award in Sociology Research for her research project on “the Study of Social Capital for Sustainable Community Development: Case Study of Tambon Klongkanan, Pakasai and Talingchan Communities, Amphoe Nue Klong, Krabi Province”. Her research work is mostly related to democratization, good governance, social equality, public participation, public policy and election behavior. She was a former member of the National Reform Council and member of the Constitution Drafting Committee and a former member of the National Reform Steering Assembly where she played an important role in the reformation process of Thailand. She also succeeded in proposing ‘Gender Responsive Budgeting’ in the Thai Constitution and was given the ‘Women of the Year 2017’ award accordingly.

Mr. Francisco Gentoral is a development practitioner with over 25 years of experience managing large local economic, environmental, and governance projects throughout the Philippines. He currently serves as an Independent Consultant on Local Economic Development and Local Governance. In this role, Francis provides advice, facilitates trainings and conducts evaluation studies on economic zone development, local economic development and local climate change action planning for national and local governments supported by the Local Government Academy and the Institute for Solidarity of Asia. He also lectures on Business Research, Strategic Management and Business Management University of San Agustin, Iloilo City-MBA Program. Francis is a former National Field Director for Government of Canada’s Philippines Local Governance Support Program for Local Economic Development and the Regional Manager for Government of Canada’s Urban Partnerships Program in Southeast Asia.

Dr. Naoko Kumada (Nu Nu Lwin)’s main research focus is in Myanmar and Southeast Asia.  
Her doctoral dissertation on Myanmar society, religion and economy in the context of daily life and practice was one of the first anthropological studies by a foreign scholar to build on long-term fieldwork in rural Burma and to rely on fluency in the Burmese language. She has worked on migrant community and immigration issues of the Myanmar community in Japan and of the Latino community in the US. After the opening of Myanmar she spent time as a policy advisor with the Myanmar government on urbanization. She has also monitored government policy in Myanmar with a view to its regional implications in the newly emerging geopolitical environment.

Dr. Kaustuv Kanti Bandyopadhyay is the Director of Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA). He is an accomplished researcher and capacity building practitioner on local governance, citizen participation, social accountability and civil society development. He has three decades of professional experience with university, research institution and CSOs. He is serving on the Steering Committee of Asia Democracy Research Networks (ADRN) and Asia Democracy Network (ADN). He has also served as the Global Coordinator and Executive Member of LogoLink – a global network on citizen participation and local governance. He has managed the Global Secretariat of International Forum on Capacity Building (IFCB) from 1998 to 2002. He has travelled and worked extensively in more than 30 countries in the world. He has authored a number of articles, manuals, books, and publications, which contributed to knowledge building on participatory urban governance, civil society, and democracy in Asia. He holds a Ph. D degree in Anthropology for his work with Parhaiya tribes of Chotanagpur in India.

Ms. Maxine Tanya Hamada served most recently as the executive director of iLEAD. She is currently a member of the steering committee of the World Movement for Democracy. Previously, she was assistant secretary for monitoring and evaluation in the Philippines’ Department of Budget and Management (2014–2016), where she helped set up a national evaluation policy for the bureaucracy, oversaw the Grassroots Planning and Budgeting Program and relations with civil society, and assisted in the Open Government Partnership and the Cabinet Cluster on Good Governance. In recognition of her civic work, she was invited in 2011 to participate in the U.S. Department of State’s 100-Years-100-Women International Visitor Leadership Program.

Mr. Ryan Patrick Garcia-Evangelista has nearly 20 years of professional experience as a chamber of commerce executive, economic development, trade policy and business enabling environment specialist and institutional strengthening consultant. He currently serves as regional project coordinator of Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) managing projects in areas such as capacity development for economic think tanks in Southeast Asia, anti-corruption and good governance. He also serves as business-enabling environment and investment promotion expert of Strengthening Urban Resilience for Growth with Equity (SURGE) Project of USAID/Philippines, benchmarking and institutional strengthening consultant of the United Nations International Trade Centre (ITC-WTO-UNCTAD), associate governance fellow of the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA), chairperson of the corporate governance committee of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and steering committee member of the Free Enterprise and Democracy Network (FEDN). He obtained his Master of Arts in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy-Tufts University, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A and his Bachelor of Science in Business in Economics from De La Salle University-Dasmarinas Philippines. He also completed his academic credentials for a Master of Arts in Development Policy at De La Salle University-Manila.

Dr. Jae Hyeok Shin is an Associate Professor of Political Science & International Relations at Korea University. He teaches courses in political institutions, quantitative methods, and Southeast Asian politics. He also serves as the Director of the Center for Southeast Asian Political Studies (CSEAPS) and Director of the Korea-Asia Center for Development & Cooperation (KACDC). He received his Ph.D. in political science from University of California, Los Angeles in 2011. His research interests include electoral systems, parties, legislative politics, and political & economic development in new democracies especially in East and Southeast Asia. His works have appeared in journals including Party Politics, Political Science Quarterly, Government & Opposition, Democratization, and the Journal of East Asian Studies.