For the first time in 14 years of publication, the Landmine Monitor was able to launch its country report on Myanmar or Burma, in the country.
On Tuesday, 13th November, a Press Conference was held at the Taw-Win Rose Garden in Yangon. Almost 60 members of Myanmar’s print, radio and TV news media attended the event.
The press conference was ground breaking, as there had not been previous events which focused on war and peace issues within the country, or which focused so specifically on the effects of a particular weapon on the civilian population during many years of armed conflict.
Until only 3 months before this press conference, Myanmar’s draconian press censorship laws prohibited writing about this topic.
The press conference was moderated by Dr. Zaw Than, Chief Editor of Healthcare Journal. A description of the Landmine Monitor as a civil society transparency initiative was provided, followed by basic background on what landmines are and why they matter.
A summary of the 2012 report, as well as hard copies of the report were provided to all journalists in attendance. The full report is available in both Burmese and English from this site (see sidebar, left). The presentation was followed by an energetic session of questions and answers.