Today, July 6th, marks Myanmar Women’s Day. Celebrations were held throughout the country, though many women spent the day instead wondering why equality and political rights remain so elusive for the Burmese.

In charge of the ‘Women’s Day’ was the Myanmar Women’s Affairs Federation (MWAF), an organization many say is more noble in theory than practice.

Supported by the military government with working committees in every available level of Burmese society, from cities to villages, they are dedicated in charter to combating such issues as trafficking of women and children.

However, according to a 2005 report by the Kachin Women’s Association-Thailand (KWAT), the MWAF is made up largely of military wives who look the other way when they encounter most complaints and this nepotistic relationship intimidates many women out of presenting their problems.

Because of the intertwined nature of the MWAF and the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), NGOs such as the Burma Women Union (BWU)see them as unable to stand independently in support of women.

BWU general secretary Daw Tin Tin Nyo said, “there are many women in prison for political crimes. For example, Ma Su Su New, Ma Ni Lar Thein and Ma Mi Mi…they have many problems [there]. In fact, the MWAF could help these women with many things but instead [they] do nothing.”

Mi Jarai Non, coordinator of the Women and Children Rights Project reflected on a current hot-button issue inside Burma: “We can look at Daw Aung San Kyi, who is on trial now. The MWAF should stand with her...[they] should not see her [Daw Aung San Kyi] as against the government leaders, but as a woman.”

She added that the MWAF also does not work to improve the education of women, a malnourished part of Burmese life and a push factor for migrant women motivated to go to countries such as Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia in search of work.

Many of these women are illegally trafficked and/or sold into sex work, exactly the type of issues the MWAF states it is dedicated to combating. Though the KWAT report mentioned earlier in this article also point out that many reports of trafficking the MWAF received went completely ignored.

In December 2003, the MWAF took its current name from its different-only-in-name predecessor, the Myanmar National Committee for Women’s Affairs.