In his inaugural speech in March 2011, Myanmar President Thein Sein declared a political and economic reform agenda based on the fundamental rights of citizens. The peace process with armed ethnic groups (EAGs) was made a top priority. In 2012, he requested the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs to help mobilise international support. Norway then engaged former Humanitarian Coordinator and Resident Representative in Myanmar, Charles Petrie, in order to launch a flexible initiative to assist EAGs in formulating and developing ceasefires. The resulting Myanmar Peace Support Initiative (MPSI) was neither a donor nor an implementer but a means to create links between the different parties and a short-term mechanism to stabilise the peace process.
In the report "Testing Ceasefires, Building Trust: Myanmar Peace Support Initiative Operational Review", Michael Lidauer and Chris Johnson review the activities of the MPSI as a whole. The focus is on learning lessons and disseminating the experiences. The review was commissioned by the Nordic International Support Foundation (NIS), upon request from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (NMFA).
Chris Johnson has worked in conflict-affected countries for more than 20 years, primarily on issues of conflict resolution and peace building. She has worked for NGOS, the UN, a number of different research units, the European Union, the UK Stabilisation Unit and the World Bank.
The report is available as a full-text download.