Women and Children: Toward Multilingual Society.- Ethnic Children and the Community-based Monastic Education System.- The Importance of the Protection and Promotion of Women’s Rights: The Changing Roles of Women.- Community Based Initiatives for Securing Rights of Myanmar’s Children: A Border Region Clinic and A Monastic School.- Building Equality and Social Cohesion in Myanmar: Plurilingualism as a Platform for Establishing Peace Culture.- Language Rights, Ethnic Identity, and Conflict in Myanmar: A Prospect for Multilingual Education to Bridge the Divided Society.- Reflections.
Makiko Takeda is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Policy Studies, Aichi Gakuin University, Japan. Her recent publications include papers on promotion of women’s rights, children’s rights, civil society initiatives and community development. Makiko is one of the founding members in establishing Asian University Network Forum on Advances in Research (AUNFAIR), Thailand-India-Japan Conclave (TIJC) and Euro-Aunfair Roundtable (EAR).
This book explores the need for deep-seated social change in Myanmar if the country’s democratic transition and peace process is to deliver tangible benefits for those that have long faced profound vulnerability and marginalisation. Drawing on detailed case studies, it showcases a range of initiatives taking place in Myanmar aimed at strengthening women’s and children’s rights, improving education provision, and promoting respect for ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity, as well as the challenges these initiatives face, and the foundations still needed for a more equal and socially cohesive society. The timely and insightful analysis presented in this book is a key read for those interested in understanding the challenges facing Myanmar and other highly diverse, and divided, countries.