Will Myanmar’s ‘Triple Transition’ Help Eradicate Crushing Poverty?

Novice monks beg for alms near the Sule Pagoda in downtown Yangon. The barbed wire barricades behind them were once a permanent feature on this busy road, but have been pushed aside to make way for peace. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPSBy Amantha PereraYANGON, Nov 21 2014 (IPS)Myanmar is never out of the news for long. This has been the case since a popular uprising challenged military rule in 1988. For over two decades, the country was featured in mainstream media primarily as one unable to cope with its own internal contradictions, a nation crippled by violence.Since 2011, with the release of pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, as well as democratic reforms, the country experienced a makeover in the eyes of the world, no longer a lost cause but one of the bright new hopes in Asia.U.S. President Barack Obama has visited the country twice since 2011, most recently this month for the 9th annual East Asia Summit (EAS).But beneath the veneer of a nation in transition, on the road to a prosperous future, lies a people deep in poverty, struggling to make a living, some even struggling to make it through a single day.A woman loads bags full of vegetables on to a train carriage in Yangon. Many use the slow-moving passenger trains to transport goods that they will sell in outlying villages, since few can afford road transportation. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS Arranging vegetables into small bundles, this vendor tells IPS she wakes up at three a.m. three days a week ...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Tags: Active Citizens Aid Asia-Pacific Civil Society Democracy Development & Aid Economy & Trade Editors' Choice Featured Food & Agriculture Global Governance Headlines Health Human Rights Labour Peace Population Poverty & MDGs Source Type: news