Environmental sustainability, strong and inclusive communities
Our Sone Sie programme is based on the premise that transparency and agreement over equitable management of land, resources and the environment is an essential building block for a peaceful and sustainable future.
Sone Sie - or ဆုံစည်း, which means convergence in Burmese – promotes inclusion and youth engagement through grassroots projects that bring together a range of civil society actors including local NGOs, youth and gender groups, and ethnic community interests. The goal is to build a common understanding of issues; create new platforms for inclusive dialogue that engages young people; improve skills and capacity for local leaders to achieve environmental sustainability, peace and political dialogue.
Our approach uses political economy analysis (PEA) to identify both the issues affecting communities – like deforestation or illegal mining - and identify instances where there is an opportunity to engage stakeholders and achieve positive change. The themes and issues on which we work are always changing as the needs, interests and conditions in Myanmar evolve: our projects currently focus on issues related with natural resource management, civil society resilience, climate change and the environment.
Sone Sie phase 2 launched in August 2020, funded by UKAID and delivered by the British Council. Sone Sie’s adaptive approach and local expertise has enabled it to successfully deliver results in what remains a very dynamic and fluid operating environment.
Sone Sie’s project work with civil society organisations, youth and communities typically target improvements in forest management, equitable land tenure and environmental conservation at the community level. These projects build foundations for better environmental management at state and national level, and contribute to global climate goals. Sone Sie is a programme where shared, overlapping goals for conflict reduction, improved governance, peacebuilding and climate change – converge.