DS Again Highlighting HLP Issues in Myanmar

DS Director Scott Leckie and DS associate Zeke Simperingham again visited Myanmar for a two-week DS mission in May 2016 to explore recent developments in the land sector, and the prospects for restitution forming part of the expanding peace process in the country.  With the new NLD-led government in power for the first time, the prospects for positive action within the land sector are noteworthy. DS worked together with the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in developing recommendations for the British Government’s aid agency DFID, and how the UK might best support land-related activities in the context of the peace process. Land is key negotiating issue between the government and the various ethnic negotiating partners, and will invariably form a key basis for the eventual conclusion of peace agreements in the future. DS will continue to expand its Myanmar HLP Initiative in the coming year with a variety of projects within the land sector, including a joint project with Landesa on climate displacement within the country.