Background

Civil war broke out in Burma shortly after independence in 1948. Since 1962, under the rule of successive military regimes, the people of Burma have suffered from repression, abuse of human rights, economic mismanagement, lack of democracy and corruption. Its diverse ethnic nationalities have lost all their basic human rights and continue to suffer from the rule of military which has steered the country towards its status as one of the least developed countries in the world.

It is miserable to see that all ethnic nationalities are suffering many social misfortunes and have lost all basic human rights.

In order to regain the human rights- especially the right to education and the right to health care and- to bring new vision and hope for education and health in Burma, we, a coalition of ethnic nationalities' organizations and democratic organizations, established the National Health and Education Committee (NHEC).

The NHEC is an umbrella organization for the health and education of ethnic nationalities and democratic groups. Its member organizations are basically political in nature and operate within the broader movement towards national reconciliation in Burma.

The National Health Committee (NHC) and the National Education Committee (NEC) were formed in 1992 and 1993 respectively, comprising those responsible for health and education in the opposition organizations making up the Democratic Alliance of Burma (DAB) and the National Democratic Front (NDF) together with the NLD (Liberated Area) and National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB). The two committees were combined into a single committee - the National Health and Education Committee (NHEC) - on 21st December 1995. In January 1996, the National Health and Education Committee (Western Branch) was established in New Delhi, India. ¬There are at present 28 members and affiliated organizations operating in different parts of the country and along the Thailand-Burma border, China-Burma borders, India-Burma border, and Bangladesh-Burma border. At the present, there are 28 member and affiliated organizations working with the NHEC.

The NHEC strives to play a coordinating role and develop a capacity to support the professional expertise of member organizations within the education and health sectors.

The main function of NHEC is to facilitate the humanitarian needs of its member and affiliated organizations especially in health and education. In the past, the activities of NHEC were mainly focused on fundraising for health and education programs of member organizations, distribution of materials, monitoring and reporting.

In accordance with the dramatic changes in both the country's political development and the committee's long-term perspectives, the NHEC has extended its training activities - producing more skilled health workers and teachers working for long term change in the health and education sectors. At the same time, the NHEC has come to realize that policy development in the health and education sectors of a future democratic federal union of Burma is essential and must seriously be taken into account.

Aim

• To create, adopt and implement a national education and health policy in equal partnership with all nationalities.

National Context and Problem Analysis

• National Context

The on-going political deadlock and crisis in Burma have resulted the people of Burma totally deprived of basic rights. Majority of its people are now living far below the poverty line, and the whole country is suffering from oppression and militarism. The military rules, abuse of human rights, lack of democracy, mismanagement and corruption have resulted in widespread poverty, poor health care, and low educational standards.  Now after two decades of being ‘Least-Developed Country’ status, coupled with continued oppression and lack of freedom and protracted civil war, there is no doubt that Burma is facing the humanitarian crisis. Read more...

• Problem Analysis

Although the military regime regularly reports to international organization such as UNICEF and WHO about the situation on education and health, there has never been systematic analysis on deteriorating social problems. After decades of political and social crisis, it is clear that basic rights in education and health are urgent issues to be addressed. Any approach to health and education should be right based. Therefore, education and health research and surveys are also in need for assessment and policy development. This will help to implement development projects effectively and democratizing policy making process for future health and educational development of Burma. Read more...

Objectives

• To encourage and assist health and education work among member and affiliated organizations.
• To share knowledge and experience among member and affiliated organizations.
• To achieve mutual understanding, fraternity and solidarity among member and affiliated organizations.
• To facilitate increased collaboration between member and affiliated groups and international organizations in order to speed up the implementation of education and health work.
• To create and adopt the appropriate educational and health policy and schemes.
• To implement these schemes in consultation with member and affiliated organizations.
• To conduct ongoing health and education research.