International Women’s Day Commemoration Address

Keynote addressed by

Naw Susanna Hla Hla Soe,

Union Minister, Ministry of Women, Youths and Children Affairs,

National Unity Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar

in commemorating International Women’s Day

1. International Women’s Day (March is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality

2. For this year’s International Women’s Day, today, we celebrate with the slogan _Count Her In: Invest in Women, Accelerate Progress. It is crucial that accelerating women’s leadership in combating violence against women and being used as weapons-of-war in conflicts, as well as be further invested with necessary financial resources, technical resources, and human resources.

3. Women’s participation not only in world history but also in every political corner of Myanmar is the reason for today’s celebration proudly. Meanwhile, we solemnly witnessed and commemorate the women’s bravery and sacrifices in the Spring Revolution of Myanmar. To date, there were 1,134 women and girls tortured and killed by the indiscriminate inhumanity of the military of which 280 were from the age group of 18 to 35 years old, and 215, under the age of 18. According to the statistics, 5339 women were arbitrarily arrested, detained and unjustly imprisoned, including 1118 young adult women under 35 years old and 114 girls under the age of eighteen.

4. As for the Ministry of Women, Youth and Children’s Affaiir of the interim National Unity Government of Myanmar, the following Programmes are being implemented in responding not only to the practical needs but also for the strategic needs of women and girls_

• Improving women’s leadership through capacity building trainings and supporting pregnant mothers,

• Supporting women political prisoners with needs including to get lawyer and legal assistance,

• Financial assistance and access to justice for women survivors of sexual violence,

• Developing and implementation of policies for Women’s Rights Protection

• Providing and facilitating access to economic loans to restore business for recovery and rehabilitation

• Campaigns on Special Days for women’s rights and gender equality

Moving forward, the ministry is prioritizing for

• development and implementation of State/Union level Gender Policy and

• developing guidelines for Women’s Peace and Security

5. As the Ministry of Women, Youths and Children Affairs, we sincerely appreciate and Thank you to all organizations, financiers, international organizations, and individuals who have supported this far in solidarity with the people of Myanmar. We urge the international community to continue investing in women and support for the establishment of a federal democratic union that Myanmar’s people yearn for.

Thank you.