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Lahu Women's Organization (LWO)

Lahu Ya Mi Aw Mon

Background
Lahu women, like from other nationalities of Burma, have fled to Thailand to seek refuge because the successive governments of Burma have systematically oppressed their own people including ethnic minorities. Burma has been controlled by a military dictatorship since 1962 when they took power from the elected government. The suffering of the Lahu has increased under the State Peace and Developmen Council (SPDC, formerly the SLORC) which staged a coup again in 1988 after killing thousands of peaceful demonstrators who demanded the restoration of democracy in Burma. The army troops, the backbone of SPDC, have committed inhumane persecution, including forced labour, torture, rape of women, and killing of innocent villagers. They have also confiscated people’s property and lands and forced them to labour in their military "development" projects.

In 1997, Lahu women who had arrived in Thailand decided to form a women’s organization, named LWO, to help address the needs of Lahu women and children, and to defend the rights of women. There are many Lahu refugees in the Thai border areas in Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Song and Chiang Rai provinces, who are facing many problems, including lack of accessibility to health care and education because they have no ID cards in Thailand and are surviving as stateless persons.

The Lahu women’s organization was formed in Oct 30, 1997 in a Lahu village in Thailand.

 

Aims & Objectives                   

  •       To preserve the Lahu cultural traditions

  •       To improve the education of Lahu children, youth and women

  •       To address the health needs of Lahu people

  •       To resist discrimination between women and men

  •       To work for the development of Lahu women in every sphere together with other indigenous women

  •       To promote the participation of women in the democracy movement in Burma

  •       To reduce illiteracy among Lahu women.

LWO's Activities

      Basic education  program for Lahu refugees: orphan school and Lahu language schools started in 1999 at the Thai- Burma Border; several teacher training workshops held

  •      Training and workshops

  •       Skills training for women: income generation, basic computer and English, officie management,

  •       Workshops to empower women: including peace-building, human rights and women's rights, conflict resolution,

  •       Basic health/ HIV training inside Burma

  •       Awareness-raising about child trafficking

  •      Publications (Lahu and Burmese language )

  •      Documentations of human rights violations

 

Organizational structure