ERI’s Trainings on the
Asia Development Bank (ADB)
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In the past year, ERI has
piloted 7 trainings on the Asian Development Bank for Burma activists, helping to build a strong
coalition of leaders and NGO partners that will ensure that ADB involvement in Burma
requires a negotiated decision-making process and informed consent of the
people affected by development projects.
The
trainings provided 1) A basic understanding of the ADB’s general structure,
operations, and impact on the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS); 2) an overview on
the ADB’s involvement in Burma though the GMS program; and 3) a basic
understanding of ADB lobbying skills for effective strategies both inside and
outside the ADB with a focus on Burma and the GMS program.
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In
total, over 155 activists from Burma
have attended these 7 trainings, representing over 50 local civil society
organizations. The trainers included
Alisa Loveman from ERI’s Burma Project Team, Jelson Garcia fro the Bank Information
Center, Boy Neura from the NGO Forum
on the ADB, and guest speakers such as Stephanie
Fried, a senior researcher of Environmental Defense, and Titi Soentoro, founder
of NADI, an NGO headquartered in Jakarta
with a focus on public finance.
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The trainings combined
presentations and group activities. To explain the operations and influence of
the ADB in the region to the group of grassroots activists, we approached each
topic with a Burma
focus and included many examples and case studies. In addition, we developed small group
activities to make the concepts easily accessible to our participants.
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We have seen many positive outputs from these trainings. Participants have
conducted briefings on the ADB involvement in Burma
at large gatherings of civil society organizations and political opposition
groups, both inside and outside Burma.
Other participants have also published stories on the ADB and Burma in the local media. Recently, we have also developed an ADB
training manual as a reference for activists who want to conduct their own
trainings on the ADB.
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These trainings have improved basic understanding among Burma activists of the ADB’s operations and its
involvement in Burma
via the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), and provided concrete examples of
advocacy techniques for lobbying the ADB.
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Fact Finding training with Lahu National Development
Organization - 2006
Earthrights conducted
two training workshops with the Lahu National Development Organization (LNDO),
focusing on the human rights, environmental and livelihood impacts of Chinese
companies operating in Burma
along Mekong River. These companies, under the
supervision of the Burmese military regime, have engaged in mining and logging,
as well as dredging and straightening the Mekong River
to make way for shipping. The Upper Mekong Navigation Improvement
Project, now in full swing, is part of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Economic
Cooperation Program, involving Burma,
Cambodia, Laos, Thailand,
Vietnam, and Yunnan province
of China. Taking
advantage of the conflict status of the area China together with Burmese and
other business partners are exploiting the situation to huge profit but still
local people in this area are very little concerned for their rights and for
their environment.
LNDO is one of a number
of groups that are working toward change in these area by documenting and exposing
human rights violations and environmental abuses in this area. Our workshops trained
20 participants from the LNDO in fact-finding and the general earth rights
issues associated with this kind of military-controlled "development."
The Public Interest
Strategic Litigation Workshop
March 28-30, 2006, UlaanBaatar, Mongolia
In March, 2006, ERI’s Burma Project travelled to UlaanBaatar,
Mongolia to participate in
two workshops at the Open Society Forum, in partnership with Global Rights in Washington DC and the
Center for Human Rights and Development (CHRD) in UlaanBaatar. “The Public Interest Strategic
Litigation Workshop” was attended by approximately 35 Mongolians, including
Mongolian judges, lawyers, advocates, and human rights activists, as well as
ERI Program Coordinators.
The workshop was part of an ongoing CHRD/Global Rights
project for promoting strategic human rights advocacy among Mongolian NGOs,
meant to support local pro bono public interest work in the area of human
rights and the environment. ERI’s Lillian Manzella
presented on using international law in domestic struggles for justice,
principles of corporate social responsibility and accountability, and ERI’s
groundbreaking lawsuit against Unocal Corporation for abuses committed in Burma.
| The Environmental
Strategic Advocacy Workshop
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April 4-7, 2006, UlaanBaatar, Mongolia
In April, 2006, ERI’s Burma Project travelled to UlaanBaatar, Mongolia,
to participate in the Environmental Strategic Advocacy Workshop,
organized
jointly by DC-based Global Rights and UlaanBaatar-based Center for
Human Rights
and Development (CHRD). Approximately 35 local community leaders,
politicians,
lawyers, and activists attended the workshop. EarthRights International
conducted a full-day training on fact finding
and
documentation of earth rights abuses, and campaigning for earth rights
at the
local and international level. Other topics covered included citizens’
participation within the Mongolian legal framework, an introduction to
citizen-centered advocacy, issue identification, leadership
and organizational development, community organizing, and strategic
litigation.
Participants concluded by devising a detailed plan of action on local
environmental issues.
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