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EAI held the first workshop of the “Strengthening Civil Society Organizations in Myanmar 2018-2019” program in Yangon, Myanmar between the 5^th and the 12^thof November 2018. This program first began in 2015 to strengthen the institutional and research capacity of nascent think tanks in Myanmar so that they may develop new and innovative policies and ideas to support the democratic transition currently underway in Myanmar.

The first workshop focused on local governance and federalism. There was a discussion on the introduction of Myanmar's federal system and how to assess the current system based on Korean cases. In order to deepen participant understanding of essential federalismtheories and strengthen their fundamentalresearch capabilities, Hankook Research staff members Dr. Hanwool Jeong, senior research fellow, and Mr. Chunseok Kim, senior executive director, introduced relevant cases of public opinion polling in Korea. They also detailed examples of how to utilize public opinion polls in policy making. During this session, participants practiced using the SPSS quantitative statistical analysis program using actual local public opinion polling data from Myanmar.

EAI also held individual consultative sessions regarding the individual research projects being conducted by participating organizations.EAI met with all seven of its partner organizations in Myanmar (Sandhi Governance Institute, Open Myanmar Initiative, Yangon School of Political Science, Salween Institute for Public Policy, Another Development, Naushawng Development Institute, and Yone Kyi Yar) to provide detailed and personalized support for their 2018-2019 research projects that will be conducted as part of this program. The seven organizations will collaborate to produce a comprehensive report detailing aspects of federalism and local governance policy throughout Myanmar for the 2018-2019 project year, which will be presented at a conference in Yangon in spring 2019.

EAIutilizes an international professional network to support policy research by Myanmar's participating institutions. This program is funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

Workshop Attendees

Hankook Research

Hanwool Jeong, Senior Research Fellow
Chunseok Kim, Senior Executive Director

EAI

Kyung Jun Choi, Executive Director, East Asia Institute
Jinkyung Baek, Research Associate/Project Manager, East Asia Institute

Myanmar Civil Society Organizations

Sandhi Governance Institute
Yangon School of Political Science
Open Myanmar Initiative
Another Development
Salween Institute for Public Polic)
Yone Kyi Yar Knowledge Propagation Society
Naushawng Development Institute