Blog Elements – ND-Burma

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Myanmar Civil Society Presses World Bank to Engage Democratic and Ethnic Governance Actors and Open Dialogue at 2026 Annual Meetings

October 15, 2026/in Press Releases and Statements

A delegation of Myanmar civil society organizations joined the 2026 IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok this week, calling on the World Bank Group to engage democratic and ethnic governance actors in Myanmar that are building a federal democracy from the ground up, with territorial control, administrative functions, and effective public service delivery systems, and […]

Skeletons of 12 Civilians Discovered in Mass Graves in Myanmar’s Myaing Township

October 5, 2026/in News

The human remains of 12 civilians abducted by Myanmar military forces in June 2023 have been discovered in two mass graves near Wetpoke Village in Magway Region’s Myaing Township, according to local resistance fighters and a civil society group. The remains, found blindfolded with hands bound, were unearthed on October 4 after a resident foraging […]

Myanmar Civil Society Presses World Bank to Engage Democratic and Ethnic Governance Actors and Open Dialogue at 2026 Annual Meetings

October 15, 2026/in Press Releases and Statements

Skeletons of 12 Civilians Discovered in Mass Graves in Myanmar’s Myaing Township

October 5, 2026/in News

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Myanmar Civil Society Presses World Bank to Engage Democratic and Ethnic Governance Actors and Open Dialogue at 2026 Annual Meetings

October 15, 2026/in Press Releases and Statements

The World Bank scaled down its country programming in response to the fragile and active violence in Myanmar since the attempted military coup of February 2021. Despite the enormous contextual and operational risks, the World Bank has maintained its presence in the country, as highlighted by the operation of six humanitarian and resilience projects approved by the Board and management over the last five years. These projects have been implemented by third-parties that are mainly international humanitarian organizations. However, there is no clear partnership framework that enables democratic and governance actors and local civil society organizations involved in project design, management and delivery to manage risks and meet targeted results.

At the Civil Society Townhall on 12 October, Khin Ohmar, Founder and Acting Executive Director of Progressive Voice, directly asked World Bank Group President Ajay Banga why they have not engaged democratic governance actors and civil society as part of its Myanmar projects to help manage the safeguards and integrity risks necessary to avoid compromising these projects. President Banga was also asked to instruct his Myanmar team to answer Myanmar civil society organizations’ April 2026 letter and repeated meeting requests.

The delegation also held meetings with the executive director’s offices of the World Bank. They were provided with a contextual update on Myanmar in relation to the Bank’s projects and were asked to use their leverage to ensure that the Bank engages with local and regional governance actors outside military junta control. The Bank must open a series of constructive dialogues with Myanmar civil society and maintain the current policy that no Bank funds, whether grants, administered trust funds, or concessional loans, flow through junta-controlled systems. The Bank must have a clear partnership framework with Myanmar CSOs and local democratic actors in humanitarian and resilience initiatives and engage independent third-party monitors to ensure aid reaches the target communities, responds to priority needs, and avoids being instrumentalized to discriminate against civilians.

Khin Ohmar, Founder and Acting Executive Director of Progressive Voice, said: “Myanmar’s vibrant civil society groups have had long-standing engagement with the Bank since before 2010, when the Bank developed its Myanmar’s interim country strategy note for the reengagement with the country. Now, with the military junta’s active campaign of violence against civilians while it actively bids for international legitimacy under civilian disguise, Myanmar is a test case for the Bank’s Fragility, Conflict and Violence (FCV) Strategy. The Bank must engage with civil society operating outside military control to give input into the operationalization of the 2026-2030 strategy into the Myanmar context so the Bank can implement its humanitarian responses through third parties with integrity, safeguards, and meaningful objectives.”

Shwe Shwe Sein Latt, Director of Creative Home, stressed: “The March 2025 Sagaing earthquake taught an important lesson for the Bank: Work with local actors to reach people struggling to survive from disasters. Myanmar’s civil society organizations, alongside local responders, reached affected communities within 48 hours despite huge personal risks. Had the Bank enabled the participation of local democratic actors from design to implementation and monitoring, its response could have provided a genuine lifeline for more communities severely hit by recent disasters.”

Han Gyi, Coordinator of Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma (ND-Burma), emphasized: “Engaging local and regional governance units is critical. Even where the World Bank’s humanitarian response projects since 2021 have been implemented by international humanitarian organizations, we have witnessed and reported gaps in transparency, consultation, and implementation arrangements, compromising the effectiveness and impact they seek to deliver. We asked whether their office would support engaging well-established, capable, functioning, tested, and people-supported governance units as service delivery partners to ensure aid is not weaponized to discriminate against people or perpetuate the military junta’s abusive system.”

ET, Program Manager of Nyan Lynn Thit Analytica, highlighted: “The military junta is bombing schools and clinics, which means Myanmar’s human capital and future are being destroyed. On top of these atrocities, at least 100,000 young people have been forced into conscription, torn from their workplaces and schools, some used as human shields and forced laborers. At the same time, children in conflict-affected areas are cut off from basic health services like vaccination because the junta weaponizes aid and discriminates in its distribution. The Bank cannot reach these children and youth through junta-controlled systems. The Bank must work with the local governance actors and civil society that are capable of co-delivering such services with safeguards and accountability.”

For more information, please contact:

Khin Ohmar, Progressive Voice; info@progressive-voice.org
Shwe Shwe Sein Latt, Creative Home; director@chmyanmar.org
Han Gyi, Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma; hangyi@ndburma.org
ET, Nyan Lynn Thit Analytica; eit@nyanlynnthit.org

Skeletons of 12 Civilians Discovered in Mass Graves in Myanmar’s Myaing Township

October 5, 2026/in News

The remains, found blindfolded with hands bound, were unearthed on October 4 after a resident foraging for mushrooms accidentally stumbled upon the burial site in a forested area.

Local resistance forces subsequently excavated the site, uncovering two shallow pits containing the victims’ skeletons alongside personal identification documents.

“Officials went to the site after the villager reported the location,” said a spokesperson for the Anyarmyae Civil Society Organization-Myaing. “The victims had their hands and bodies tied before being shot. Among them was a student.”

The victims were identified as nine villagers from Gwaykone, and one each from Magyikone, Thanchaung, and Magyikan villages, through national IDs, a student card, birth certificates, and other personal items found at the site.

All 12 had been missing since a junta military column swept through the area in mid-2023.

Local rights activists allege that U Win Htay, a leader of the junta-aligned Pyusawhti militia based in Wetpoke, and a military column commander known as Bo Phyu were responsible for the abductions and executions. NMG could not independently verify these claims.

Activists and resistance forces express concern that additional mass graves may exist in the region, where numerous villagers remain missing following military sweeps.

Resistance forces seized Wetpoke Village—a former Pyusawhti stronghold—in 2024. Previous clearance operations in the surrounding area had also uncovered evidence of extrajudicial killings and mass burials.

Anyarmyae Civil Society Organization-Myaing has released photographs documenting the excavated remains, recovered identification documents, and physical evidence collected from the site.

Photo caption: Skeletons and some personal belongings of 12 civilians who were killed and buried in a mass grave near Wetpoke Village. Photo – Anyarmyae Civil Society Organization-Myaing

BNI News

Other Human Rights Reports

Human rights situation in Myanmar plummets to new low amid unrelenting violations and unregulated exploitation of natural resources – UN reportAugust 26, 2026 - 8:34 am
GENEVA – The human rights situation in Myanmar, in particular that of minority communities, has plummeted to a new low, from the ever-worsening brutal abuse of the Rohingya population to the devastating impact of illicit economies, notably illegal mining for rare earths, a new UN Human Rights report has found. The report details how unrelenting violence and a […]

Spring Revolution

Civil Society Position Paper on ASEAN’s Goal of a Myanmar-Owned and -Led SolutionDecember 18, 2024 - 12:11 pm
Recommendations to ASEAN and Its Member States (1) Move beyond the 5PC to achieve a Myanmar people-led and people-centered solution to the crisis in Myanmar. ASEAN’s “Myanmar-owned and -led” approach must be backed by genuine political will that aligns with and supports the collective aspirations of the people of Myanmar. (2) Cease all pressure on […]
The Airstrikes after the journey to the China of the Junta Military LeaderDecember 10, 2024 - 1:28 pm
Operation 1027 was a coordinated military attack against the junta on October 27th, 2023. It was carried out by the Northern Brotherhood, which includes the Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army. Several months later, the Three Brotherhood Alliance held three meetings to negotiate with China on January 11 […]

Multimedia

GenocideSeptember 2, 2025 - 9:42 am
Crimes Against HumanityJune 16, 2025 - 7:55 am
International Humanitarian Law Cartoon AnimatonApril 29, 2025 - 8:37 am
အတိတ်မှ ဆိုးရွားသည့် အကြီးအကျယ် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်မှုများ ထပ်မံမဖြစ်ပွားစေရေးအ တွက် အာမခံခြင်း (Guarantees of non-recurrence)February 10, 2025 - 9:58 am

ND Burma

ND-Burma formed in 2004 in order to provide a way for Burma human rights organizations to collaborate on the human rights documentation process. The 13 ND-Burma member organizations seek to collectively use the truth of what communities in Burma have endured to advocate for justice for victims. ND-Burma trains local organizations in human rights documentation; coordinates members’ input into a common database using Martus, a secure open-source software; and engages in joint-advocacy campaigns.

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Myanmar Civil Society Presses World Bank to Engage Democratic and Ethnic Governance Actors and Open Dialogue at 2026 Annual Meetings

Skeletons of 12 Civilians Discovered in Mass Graves in Myanmar’s Myaing Township

Myanmar Civil Society Presses World Bank to Engage Democratic and Ethnic Governance Actors and Open Dialogue at 2026 Annual Meetings

Skeletons of 12 Civilians Discovered in Mass Graves in Myanmar’s Myaing Township

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Myanmar Civil Society Presses World Bank to Engage Democratic and Ethnic Governance Actors and Open Dialogue at 2026 Annual Meetings

Skeletons of 12 Civilians Discovered in Mass Graves in Myanmar’s Myaing Township

ND Burma

Contact

Office Hours