1. Local-global partnerships for generating quantitative evidence to inform national policy: An example using land confiscations in Myanmar William W. Davis, DrPH Physicians for Human Rights, NY, USA and Center for Public Health and Human Rights, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, MD, USA wdavis29@jhu.edu

2. Today’s talk  Land and rights in Myanmar  Changes under new government  Challenges- national policy, remedy for forced relocations  Intervention – data and advocacy  Methods-INGO-CBO partnerships

3. Land Confiscation in Myanmar  Long history- under military dictatorship  Continuing under new government  Loopholes in new investment and land use laws  Increased foreign investment for dams, agriculture plantations, factories  Gov’t changed but practices towards civilians haven’t  Corruption  “Get it while you can” attitude  100,000 people affected by land confiscations in non-conflict areas since 2011

4. Land policy in Myanmar  Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (2008): Article 37 of the constitution identifies the state as being the ultimate owner of all land in Burma, giving the government the right to forcibly acquire land from its citizens.  Foreign Investment Law (2012): Allows the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) to designate the minimum amount of investment capital for foreign businesses. Foreign investment is restricted in 11 areas, including agriculture, livestock breeding, and fishing sectors. However, foreign investors can form a joint venture with a Burmese counter-part, with foreign-ownership caps to be set at a later stage. Foreign investors can be allowed into restricted sectors in cases of national interest. Foreign investors can lease land from the state or from authorized private owners for up to 50 years with possible extension up to 70 years.2 This law has been seen as a motivator for local cronies to seize land in anticipation of such deals.  Vacant Lands, Fallow Lands and Virgin Lands Management Law (2012): Gives the regime the authority to designate a piece of land as vacant, fallow, or virgin. Land designated as vacant, fallow, or virgin can be used for domestic activities as specified by the regime, or for foreign investment with the agreement of the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC). This law also allows the regime to seize back land if natural resources are found within the plot or if the land is needed for a project that is “in the interest of the State.”3  The Land Acquisition Act (1894): Has until recently been the main legal justification used by the state to confiscate land. The Act has provisions for appropriate land acquisition procedures including compensation, but these have usually been disregarded. A sister law, the Land Acquisition (Mines) Act (1895), applies to cases in which minerals or mines are situated under land.4 1 Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (2008), Chapter 1 2 Foreign Investment Law, Articles 10(a)(iii), Article 4, Article 10(a)(iv), Article 5, and Articles 30 and 31 respectively 3 Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Land Management Law, Chapter III, Article 4 and 7, Chapter VI, Article 16(g); and Chapter VII, Article 19(b),(c),(d) respectively 4 Displacement Solutions & The HLP Institute (2009) Housing, Land and Property Rights in Burma: The Current Legal Framework http://www.altsean.org/Docs/PDF%20Format/Thematic%20Briefers/Land%20Confiscation%20in%20Burma_5%20May%202014 From: ALTSEAN Burma http://www.altsean.org/Docs/PDF%20Format/Thematic%20Briefers/Land%20Confiscation%20in%20Burma_5%20May%202014.pdf

5. Advocacy on land policy in Myanmar  Led by civil society groups  Engaging government for the first time  Goals:  national land use policy that protects small farmers, recognizes traditional land tenure systems  Compensation for people forcibly relocated  Fair processes for forced relocations  Individual cases, some lawsuits  Very little quantitative data

6. Advocacy – not easy  About 1/3 of current political prisoners are land rights activists  Plaintiffs in land confiscation cases are often targets of (more successful) countersuits  Police actions against protestors  Physical violence  Death  Some military officers who were appointed to Parliament, state governments, township administrative units are very resistant to change

7. Quantitative data to document impacts of land confiscations  Can estimate the impact if forced displacements on a group of people  Highlights scope of problem  Generates approximations of land use  Strengthens advocacy  “Methodological innovations”  INGO-CSO partnerships  Survey tool and methods

8. Partnership model  Goal – to generate quantitative evidence that CSOs can use for advocacy  Principle – INGO gives minimum inputs, CSO leads on as much as possible  A process:  Tool development, data collection, analysis, interpretation, advocacy

9. Figure 1. Partnership Model – initial roles PHR tasks CSO tasks Tool development Training – surveyors Survey team Field research supervision Decides which data to use in report Data entry Gives context for quantitative data Data analysis Inputs on report outline Leads data and advocacy workshop Presenting at press conference Writes report Meetings with local and national gov’t officials Report release plans US and foreign advocacy Funding

10. Figure 2. Partnership Model—task shifting PHR tasks CSO tasks Tool refinement1 Training – surveyors Survey team Field research supervision 2 Decides which data to use in report Data entry3 Gives context for quantitative data Data analysis4Inputs on report outline Leads data and advocacy workshop 5Presenting at press conference Writes report6 Meetings with local and national gov’t officials Report release plans7 US and foreign advocacy Funding8

11. Tool development  Household survey  International guidelines for forced relocation  Operationalize Guiding Principles on Internally Displaced Persons (Guiding Principles) and the Basic Principles and Guidelines on Development-based Evictions and Displacement (Basic Principles and Guidelines)  Before and after questions  Household hunger  Coping mechanisms  UNDP, LFT surveys - comparable  Sphere- access to water  Main source of income  Main source of rice  income  PHQ-2 screen for depression  Months of adequate food production  Community resilience/ community activism

12. Training and surveys  2-day training, covers:  International human rights, land rights, using data for policy, quantitative and qualitative research methods, informed consent and research ethics, interviewing techniques (quantitative and qualitative)  CSOs implemented surveys with PHR field research supervisors  Data interpretation workshop  What were the results, how do we explain them, how do we communicate them in reports?

13. Two surveys

15. Results of Paunglaung Survey

17. Land ownership  Land owned for average of 30 years  Had some kind of government ownership documents: 45%  Using traditional land tenure system, but not recognized by government  Average household 3 to 0.1 acres  Average household 80% drop in income

20. Food security in Myanmar Percent of households reporting household hunger Level of household hunger PHR Paunglaung survey "before displacement" question PHR Paunglaung survey "after displacement" question LIFT national survey SCI dry zone survey Mild96639498 Moderate33152 Severe1610

21. Advocacy  Calls  Address humanitarian needs  Proper compensation for displaced persons  Land use policy (and implementation) should prevent this from happening  Methods  Report and press conference  Meetings with government  Meetings with special economic zone officals

22. Advocacy  Thilawa- committee to address problems of displaced persons  Drinking water  Waste disposal  Debt relief  Ongoing  Paunglaung  Just started  National  Yangon parliament used data to discuss potential problems with suburban development  National land use policy

23. Limitations  Recall bias  Social desirability bias  Subjective measures of food security  Cross-sectional – no causal inference

24. Next steps  “Preventive” surveys  Documenting all types, including communal, land use  IMF guidelines on displacement (not Guiding Principles)  Shift from paper to tablet-based survey (and automatic descriptive analysis)  Scale-up  Cautiously hopeful with results on Nov 2015 elections –newer government in power

25. Thanks!