Pyaw Gya Meh – Let’s talk: Transforming gendered power relations for peace and social cohesion

In 2012, International Alert began working in Myanmar with local organisations promoting gender equality, highlighting the rights of women and girls, and preventing gender-based violence.

The programme focused on transforming masculinities expectations, researching the interplay of conflict and masculinities in different areas of the country, examining masculinities and disabilities in the contexts of armed conflict and displacement, and targeting men to reduce gender-based violence during the Covid-19 pandemic.

International Alert has previously implemented similar approaches in other countries. One of the most successful interventions was Zindagii Shoista (Living with Dignity) in Tajikistan, which effectively and sustainably reduced gender-based violence in the target communities and, as a positive unintended impact, also increased social cohesion in the communities. The design of the Pyaw Gya Meh (Let’s talk) project was based on and adapted from the Zindagii Shoista project.

This report provides the background to the Pyaw Gya Meh project, including a summary of the research questions, methodology and key findings from the evaluation research, and concluding with a discussion and recommendations.