Posted at 07:49h in
General by admin “
In societies where men are truly confident of their own worth, women are not merely tolerated but valued." - Aung San Suu Kyi, 1995
Like Mahatma Gandhi in India and Nelson Mandela in South Africa, Aung San Suu Kyi has become an international symbol of democracy and non-violence resistance. Being placed under house arrest for 15 out of the past 21 years, Ms Suu Kyi has finally sworn to the oath and she is now the leader of the opposition in the Burmese parliament after she led her party, National League for Democracy, to a landslide victory in the 2012 by-election. It is seen as a historical moment as the Cambodia Foreign Minister points out “So that people in Myanmar can enjoy better opportunities to realize their aspirations for peace, national reconciliation, democracy and national development”.
At Wedu we believe that not only Ms Suu Kyi’s victory is significant to Myanmar’s political development, it is indeed also a sign of women’s empowerment within the country. Traditionally, gender inequalities have been prevalent in the Burmese society and it is still an existing problem today. In 2011, the Human Development Index for Myanmar was 0.483 and under the Gender Inequality Index, the country’s score is 0.492 (96 out of 146 countries). This is particularly true