Founders of the KRW

And also coalition members of KRW   KORD, KESAN, KYO, KSNG, KWO, FTUK

KRW supports the grassroots organisations so that the Karen communities are able to protest the Salween dam projects and raise their awareness of the environmental and human rights issues at stake. We also facilitate international advocacy to pressure the international community to acknowledge the ongoing abuses under development used by the regime in pursuing power.

A. Karen Office of Relief and Development (KORD)

In 1992, when the Burmese troops conducted the Operation Dragon King, to take control of Manerplaw, the then headquarters both of the KNU and other opposition groups, it affected 8,000 villagers in districts adjourning the areas [Papun, Nyaunglaybin, Thaton and Paan]. As the international community was well informed of the operation, humanitarian assistance for those displaced villagers was delivered to their IDP settlements by the cooperation of the KNU formed Emergency Relief Committee (ERC) to facilitate food assistance for affected villagers.

With this initial assistance and the further development of a mechanism assisting IDPs in the Karen State war zone, in September 1993 KORD was formed by the then Departments of Kawthoolei Government (health, education, and agriculture) to coordinate the international assistance for civilians in Karen State.

KORD also has the Department of Development, which implements small skill development programmes with communities mostly in IDP areas. Currently, the programme has been carrying out grassroots empowerment with 70 villages (approximately 35,000 people) in Papun, Paan, Nyaunglaybin, Duplaya, and Taungoo districts.

Currently KORD play a leading role in networking with other ethnic organisations in relief and development issues.

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 B. Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN)

KESAN was formed by individual Karen who are interested in environmental issues in Karen State in 2002. KESAN is involved in both local advocacy by publishing an environment magazine and reports on deforestation and international advocacy by participating in numerous forums and meetings.

With its operations and focus, KESAN is regarded as an NGO expert on environment issues in Karen State. In relation to the KRW coalition, KESAN plays an important role in providing its skills in environmental knowledge and policies.            

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www.kesan.org.au

C. Karen Youth Organisation (KYO)

KYO was formed by young active Karen youth in 1989 to respond to the real needs of the young Karen people in the Karen community.  For many years the KYO has performed valuable work on behalf of the Karen community, helping young Karen to develop their potential to work in and on behalf of the Karen community.  Its role in the community has become more important for the younger generation.  It is structured to maximise youth participation in and ownership of their entire programmes.  The KYO currently has committees at four levels, they are central, district, township and village levels. Currently with 42,000 both active and non-active members, KYO is active in the fields of grassroots organising, leadership development, child protection and social and environmental education. KYO plays a leading role in initiating youth integrated activities such as the Youth Forum for the development of political awareness of Karen youth.

KYO is a member of the United Nationalities Youth League of Burma (UNYL), which was formed by different ethnic youth organisations.  KYO is also a member of the Students and Youth Congress of Burma (SYCB).

In relation to the Salween dam movement, KYO initiated the link between Thai NGOs and KYO in 1994 for information sharing and coordination. KYO is playing an important role in youth involvement in the dam issue in the KRW coalition where its members are active in reaching sections of KRW.                                                                                                     

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D. Karen Student Network Group (KSNG)

KSNG was formed in July 1996 by student groups in some Karen refugee camps to work in a wider network with the close advice of individual and former teachers. Currently KSNG has 2,000 both active and non-active members in most of the Karen refugee camps and an IDP community in Day Bu Noe Public School in Papun District.

KSNG has a Student Assembly [a legislative body of KSNG] composed of representatives of student working groups in different camps [currently there are 9 student working groups] where every two years they elect Executive Committees [an executive body of KSNG] that carries out activities for the member groups. Activities outside the groups are approved by the Student Assembly every year at the General Assembly (the meeting of Student Assembly).

Currently, KSNG is apparent as a leading high school student body along the border and brings different student communities in different camps together in formulating activities according to the aspirations of student communities. These activities include sports and fellowship, publication, student radio program, IDPs school assistance and political awareness raising among the students via Theatre for Social Change.

KSNG has gained much support from local adult Karen and overseas Karen where 50 percent of its funds come from individual donors. The KSNG has also gained much acknowledgment by other ethnic youth groups by its style and model for youth civil society in resistance areas. KSNG has been playing a proactive role in the development of a network with Karen social organisations and youth activities.

In relation to the KRW coalition, KSNG had initiated a seminar on the Salween dam which led to the formation of the KRW coalition at the meeting in June 2003. KSNG is involved in the administration of KRW and will further extend its cooperation by bringing in its program of Theatre for Social Change in grassroots mobilising that is planned by KRW.                           

top             KSNG webpage

E. Karen Women Organization (KWO)

KWO was formed in 1949 with the aim of supporting and organising Women's contribution to the Karen struggle for freedom, democracy and equality. Due to the civil war, the KWO activities and its development were restricted. In 1985, the KWO was reformed and currently operates as the women wing of the KNU. With over 30,000 members from IDP areas inside Karen State, refugee camps and overseas, KWO is run by an Executive Committee body elected by the KWO Congress which is formed by the representatives from the 7 KNU districts every four years. The District Congress of KWO also elects a separate committee for the district level. KWO committees are constituted at the Central, District, Township, and Village Levels.

KWO works both in social welfare and political awareness among Karen women in its constitutional area. These activities range from running and supporting income-generating projects; centres for women, leadership schools for young women; documentation and dissemination of reports on women's issues; and activities on women's rights enforcement, such as domestic violence monitoring task force in camps.

KWO also play a leading role in the women movement in Burma and is a founding member of the Women League of Burma (WLB), formed by women's organisations from Burma in the border areas in 1999.

In relation to the Salween dams, KWO plays a role in the training section of KRW for local villagers and issues position statements regarding the dam issue, for example.                                                                                                                                       top

www.karenwomen.org

F. Federation of Trade Union Kawthoolei (FTUK)

FTUK was formed in 1998 to work specifically with workers who work in education, health and agriculture etc. FTUK is working closely with FTUB (Federation of Trade Union of Burma) and international trade unions. After it was formed, FTUK was able to identify the important role of trade unions in other countries with relation to the investment in Burma.

FTUK is a Karen organisation for occupational based individuals which has huge potential to mobilise the villagers and workers and is able to link the immediate needs of the target groups to the ineffectiveness of the current regime's economic and agricultural policies.

Currently the Executive Committee is elected by representatives from the different districts of Karen State, the refugee camps and sub-unions (health, education, and agriculture) every four years in a congress.

Relating to the KRW coalition, FTUK continues to play a role in administration.                            top