Capacity building in Myanmar

Is Participatory Video an appropriate and effective means for communities in Myanmar to advocate for improved social and economic services and livelihoods? In this article for the Glocal Times, Gareth Benest (Director of Programmes at InsightShare) describes a capacity-building in Participatory Video – the first ever in Myanmar – undertaken in 2013 and shares some of the challenges and successes experiences during this groundbreaking programme.

Through many different voices from the community, the video explains how youth migration is impacting on the village; youth are not around, so they are not involved in the village’s development activities or decision-making processes; the elderly often find themselves alone and without family to support them; there is a lack of labour for the key moments in the farming cycle. The film highlights the difficult choices facing the youth and families in the village, the risks that accompany these youth as they leave the villages and the worries their families live with day-to-day.

Capacity building in Myanmar
By Gareth Benest
Published by Glocal Times (Malmö University)
2014