The India-based Women's Rights and Welfare Association of Burma (WRWAB) organized a political training session for women at the Hall of the Burmese Community Resource Center in New Delhi from November 11th to 13th.
Secretary-General of the WRWAB Ma Thin Thin Aung said, "We organized this political training with the aim of instructing these women, newly arrived from Burma, on the basics of politics...because women absolutely need to know at least the basics of politics."
She continued, "the women are mainly taught about the current political situation in Burma. The training also aims to get more women involved in the process of national reconciliation and in bringing peace to Burma."
The first day focused on the basic rights of women and the activities of the United Nations with regard to women's issues.
The second day gave an overview of democracy, federalism, government administration and the respective constitutional levels.
The third day of the training session concentrated on the possibilities for women's involvement in conflict resolution and democratic changes in Burma. According to Thin Thin Aung, participants expressed their appreciation of the exercise, stating they would like to encourage other women and girls to get involved in such courses in the future.
As Thin Thin Aung paraphrased, one participant said she used to consider the word 'politics' as hostile and provoking. Through participating in this training, she acquired understanding of what politics means to the social and economics spheres.