Burma

We, in UNICEF, were given the task to delegate 5 million dollars for one purpose. We have chosen the Burmese people, and we will in the following argue for our choice and tell a little bit about the situation in Burma today.

Have you ever heard how the Burmese people are governed?

In the beginning Burma, also called Myanmar by the military junta, was a colony, led by the British Commonwealth, before general Aung San become a democratic leader. However the Country today is led by a military junta. The junta has spent much of the country’s proceeds to build and maintain one of East Asia's largest military forces to control and suppress their own civil population. They are using half of the Burmese government’s budget on the military and only 1.3 % of the GNP on health and teaching. This is an extremely small proportion in relation to the expenditure used in the western world.

The Burmese government are violating human rights. Murdering, use of child soldiers, use of child workers, lack of freedom of speech, and getting sentenced whiteout a trial are all common practice in this country. On top of that: religious discrimination is also widespread and religious groups like the Muslims and Christians are attacked by the rulers. It is estimated that between 300’000 to 1 million children are on the run inside in Burma.

The government is kind of a superstitious, communist dictatorship, supported by their neighbor, China. At the same time the state religion is Buddhism, a religion which preaches are far from the practice we today see in this country. The military Junta has opened up for a democratic election. The most popular candidate for presidency, the Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, has for years been under house arrest because she wanted a more democratic Burma.

Have you ever heard about the Karen people?

The Karen people are one of the oppressed minorities in Burma. The Karen people, in contrast to most of the Burmese, are Christians. They emigrated originally from Tibet, and the Karen people are now living partly in the hills in eastern Burma and on the border north in Thailand. There are about seven million Karen people living in Burma and about four hundred thousand living in Thailand. The Karen people are almost entirely left to themselves. They get nearly no help from the international community and are hardly on the UN list of priorities.

Do you remember the cyclone Nargis?

The cyclone was following the tsunami, and some years later that tragedy 2,5 million people were affected by the cyclone. Approximatley 140 000 people lost thei lives to the cyclone! Surprisingly during the first 48 hours, the military junta banned international aid. Even though they opened for international aid, the junta decided that Muslims were not allowed to participate in helping other citizens and only few other helpers were allowed. Norway allocated first ten million then 50 million and eventually 100 million NOK, given that the helpers were given access to the area. There was little help available from the military and no efforts were made to rebuild damaged properties in the country.

This people need help!

The infant mortality in Burma comes to second-last place in Asia and about 400 children die everyday due to malnutrition or diseases that could have been healed for just small amount of money. This is why, children, the most vulnerable amongst the population, need help. However, the karen tribe also suffer a lot and only a dollar a day for each person, could do a lot of help. Think about what we all could do with 5 million dollars! We can help 5.000 children extend their lives, up to three years longer, by giving them vaccines and other necessary medications. Today in 2010, two years after the cyclone, there are still schools that need to be rebuilt and the general situation for the population give little hope for the future.

Illiteracy in Burma is about 14%. The country's official schooling consists of a 5-years primary school, 4-years secondary school and finally 2-years high school. Many parents can’t afford to let their children go to school. However in practice less than half of the population of children finishes the 5-years of primary school. With only a small amount of money we can let the kids go to school instead of being child workers.

This people need the money because they are harassed by the government, the living conditions in Burma are under the standard. Many ethnic groups in Burma are oppressed by the military junta. They have been hit by nature disasters and many public institutions are ruined. By giving these children this sum of money, they and their parents will understand that there actually exists a world that cares about them, and hopefully this will give them some extra hope and inspiration.

With 5 million dollars, we can make a change!