The forum was held from July 26-27 at the Shwe Myint Moe Htun Hotel in Mon State’s capital of Moulmein, and was attended by 287 civil society representatives; members of the Mon State government; and Mon State Hluttaw representatives, including the Hluttaw chairmen.

Mon State Hluttaw representative Dr. Aung Naing Oo attributes the lack of cooperation between the Mon State government and civil society to the absence of a legal framework under which the two sectors can work together.

“Because there aren’t [relevant] laws yet, on the government side there seems to be some weakness in cooperating with civil society organizations. With respect to civil society, not many organizations have registered as legal groups or organizations as required by law. Many civil organizations are founded without being [properly] registered,” said Dr. Aung Naing Oo.

At the forum, Dr. Aung Naing Oo remarked that the Mon State government doesn’t hold the activities of civil organizations in high regard, and that civil society doesn’t have much knowledge of state laws. He concluded by saying that the two sectors should make greater efforts to cooperate.

Mon State Civil Society Forum organizer Min Aung Htoo said that “The authorities do not give permission easily when civil society organizations hold meetings or trainings; they want to ban those activities, and the organizations face threats. We pointed out these matters again at the forum. The government should understand these matters.”
 
Min Aung Htoo added that state authorities are concerned that the number of civil organizations will increase and start competing with the state government.

Mon State Hluttaw representative Dr. Aung Naing Oo cited one particular case which illustrated the lack of understanding between the Mon State government and civil society: “A year ago, an NGO group came to provide training in Chaungzone Township. Its request to conduct training had already been submitted to the township administration, but after training for 1-2 days the authorities came and stopped the training.”

Dr. Aung Naing Oo noted that the former military government’s policy of preventing the development civil society has been carried over by the present local authorities,  indicating that local authorities don’t know about the recent changes or reforms that have been occurring in the country.

Although President Thein Sein signed a law regarding the formation and establishment of civil associations and organizations on July 18th, this law won’t have any effect until certain other laws are also passed. In particular, in order to become a lawful civil organization a law must be passed that enables civil organization members to register their organizations at local government offices.

According to a statement released on the last day of the forum, the objectives of the Mon State Civil Society Forum were to facilitate capacity-building at civil organizations; build networks between civil organizations; and strengthen civil organizations involved with reform at the national level.

Civil organizations in Mon State held the Mon State Civil Society Forum with financial support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).