Democracy Center
Democracy Centre is a space where government, political parties and civil society can meet, share information and collaborate. As a nonpartisan atmosphere is of vital importance for building trust, not only for sharing information, but also enhancing cooperation between key stakeholders, the centre endeavours to foster this during events, seminars and workshops. A public library is attached, where books and resources on democracy and relevant issues are available.
Myanmar School of Politics
The center provides a space where government, political parties and civil society can meet, share information and collaborate in a space which is impartial and non-partisan. This is very important for creating an atmosphere of trust and neutrality that is essential for diverse organisations and stakeholders to come together to address issues related to Myanmar’s democratic development, a topic that remains to be controversial and sensitive at times.
Yaung Chi Thit
Different CSOs including national and local organizations are using the center as a common place for not only learning and sharing but also building network and further collaboration. It is really great opportunity for all of us to use the center for various events. The center is crucial requirement for the development of active citizen who are essential to drive Myanmar’s progress to an inclusive and genuine democracy.
September 2012 - present
2012 - 2016
The centre was first launched by Pandita in 2012 under the name of the Youth Resource Centre, with funding support from the Open Society Foundation (OSF) and has quickly became a shared space where civil society organizations, political party members and activists could meet; create networks; organize training; workshop, talks and seminars on civic and political topics. Later, the Swedish Embassy provided the centre with assistance to develop its information technology facilities, so that it could more effectively.
2016 - 2017
Later, it became clear that the Youth Resource Centre should be transformed into a Democracy Centre in order to play a more supportive role in the democratic transition of Myanmar. So in 2016, Pandita stepped forward to transform the Youth Resource Centre into the Myanmar Electoral Resource and Information Network (MERIN) Centre as a pilot project. This transition was carried out in cooperation with International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) with funding from Australian Aid, UK Aid and the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation. The centre became a trusted place for individual citizens, legislators and election commissions not only to collect or distribute information and resources about elections and politics but also to build networks and organize events.
2017 -
In order to support Myanmar’s democratic transition more effectively, the MERIN centre has now transitioned. With support from Norwegian People’s Aid, we opened the Democracy Centre with the following objectives:
- Providing a natural and independent space where key stakeholders can meet, share information and collaborate for democratic enhancement.
- Sharing information and resources related to democracy among non-profit organizations and individuals working on democracy enhancement.
Pandita Development Institute (Pandita) has been officially registered pursuant to the Association Registration Law No.31.2014; a domestic nonprofit association registered at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) with the endorsement of the Ministry of Information (MOI).