In spite of a long-awaited and victorious democratic election in 2015 in Myanmar, the National League for Democracy (NLD) government fell to the country's third and most devastating military takeover on Feb. 1, 2021. Since then, over 1200 civilians including women and children have been killed by the military, and over 7000 peaceful protestors have been indefinitely detained, in prisons infamous for torture. Prior to the coup, the military government has for decades inflicted horrid violence in indigenous regions, including the genocide waged against the Rohingya in Rakhine State in 2017 that triggered 740,000 survivors to flee by foot to refugee camps in Bangladesh.
| Months after the coup, with urban and rural civilians enduring increased atrocities, no sign of international support to stop the violent tyranny, and yet the junta continuing to receive foreign weapons, the shadow NLD government established the People Defense Force (PDF) as a last effort to rid the country of military rule. The situation is now dire as the nation enters a longstanding civil war, already displacing 250,000 people in ethnic regions, while battling COVD-19 as aid and health services are controlled by the junta. |  Rice field in rural Myanmar. Credit: KP |
Connecting with and supporting renewable energy practitioners in Myanmar amidst the dismal humanitarian situation, we are observing glimpses of resilience in the continued efforts of local mini-grid communities, developers, and civil society organizations (CSOs) -- as listed below. [Names and locations have purposely been omitted for safety.]
Considering that the post-coup context makes it difficult for international aid and development agencies to continue in Myanmar, it’s clear that robust rural development requires local actors at the forefront.
- Project installation. Local micro hydro developers have been committed to the promises made to communities prior to the coup, innovating installation methods to continue under difficult safety conditions. They have utilized quarantine time to build new skills, e.g. programming languages.
Locally innovated and fabricated, self-cleaning Caonda screen for intake weir. Credit: MM
Weir with Coanda screen and settling basin. Credit: MM
- Self-financed upgrades. Pico and micro hydro communities, as planned prior to the pandemic and coup, have raised local finance to upgrade electro-mechanical equipment, civil structures, and distribution lines.
- Forest restoration. With droughts worsening every summer, communities are initiating forest landscape restoration, including reforestation, tree ordaining, and other conservation efforts..
- Participatory resource mapping. CSOs continue their efforts to bring awareness to communities on how natural resources can be tapped for enhancing rural livelihoods using renewable energy.
- Energy access monitoring and advocacy. CSOs continue policy advocacy for the transition to renewable energy and minimizing dependency on mega dams and fossil fuel sources. They also keep tabs on the socioeconomic conditions of rural regions. For example, they are now observing that government-run utilities are no longer charged based on energy meters. This has meant communities are not able to pay the tariffs, and electricity is being cut in hundreds of villages -- making community-based energy solutions vital.
- Local capacity building. CSOs have remained determined to fully complete capacity building initiatives planned long before the government upheaval, including on natural resource management, mapping, policy advocacy, and exposure to various community energy solutions.
