The Union Peace Conference – 21st Century Panglong () was a peace conference, the first session of which was held from 31 August to 4 September 2016 at the Myanmar Convention Centre 2 in

Naypyidaw Naypyidaw (), officially Romanization of Burmese, romanized as Nay Pyi Taw (NPT), is the capital city, capital and third-largest city of Myanmar. The city is located at the centre of the Naypyidaw Union Territory. It is unusual among Myanmar's ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

(Burma). Three follow-up sessions were held in May 2017, July 2018, and August 2020. The first

Panglong Conference The Panglong Conference (), held in February 1947, was a historic meeting that took place at Panglong, Southern Shan State, Panglong in the Shan States in Burma between the Shan people, Shan, Kachin people, Kachin and Chin people, Chin ethnic mi ...

was held in the Panglong region of

British Burma British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

in 1947, and was negotiated between

Aung San Aung San (, ; 13 February 191519 July 1947), known honorifically as '' Bogyoke'' Aung San, was a Burmese politician, independence activist and revolutionary. He was instrumental in Myanmar's struggle for independence from British rule, but he w ...

and ethnic leaders. As of August 2020, ten ethnic armed organizations have signed the

Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement The Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), officially the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement between the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and the Ethnic Armed Organisations (), was a landmark ceasefire agreement between the governmen ...

(NCA). Eighteen ethnic insurgent groups attended the first session of the conference, whilst three ethnic insurgent groups (The

Arakan Army The Arakan Army (; Abbreviation, abbreviated AA), sometimes referred to as the Arakha Army is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnic-List of insurgent groups in Myanmar, armed organisation based in Rakhine State (Arakan). Founded in April 2009, the Ara ...

, the

Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) is an armed Insurgency, resistance group in the Kokang region of Myanmar (Burma). The army has existed since 1989, having been the first one to sign a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese gov ...

, and the

Ta'ang National Liberation Army The Ta'ang National Liberation Army (; abbreviated TNLA) is a political organization and armed group in Myanmar. It is the armed wing of the Palaung State Liberation Front (PSLF). History The PSLF has its origins in the Palaung National Front ...

), who were actively engaged with the national army, did not attend.

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was the South Korean minister ...

, the

Secretary-General of the United Nations The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

, also attended the opening ceremony. The

United Wa State Army The United Wa State Army ( Parauk: , zh, s=佤邦联合军, t=佤邦聯合軍, p=Wǎbāng Liánhéjūn; , ), abbreviated as the UWSA or the UWS Army, is the military wing of the United Wa State Party (UWSP), the ''de facto'' ruling party of ...

left the conference early, saying they were only permitted observer status. The government planned to continue the conference sessions semiannually, until a permanent ceasefire and peace agreement was implemented. Originally, only signatories of the NCA would be permitted to attend, although this requirement was subsequently scrapped. The original schedule was optimistic and the second session was not held until May of 2017. The first session of the conference was chaired by Lt. Gen. Yar Pyae from the

Tatmadaw The Tatmadaw, also known as the Sit-Tat, is the armed forces of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include ...

, Tin Myo Win from the union government, Shila Nan Taung from the

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, Khun Myint Tun from the ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) and Myint Soe from the political parties. The EAOs called for a federal system that "guarantees justice, equality, self-administration and protection of racial, religious and political rights of ethnic minorities." On 15 October 2016, the

Burmese government Myanmar (Names of Myanmar, formerly Burma) () operates ''de jure'' as a unitary state, unitary assembly-independent republic under its 2008 Constitution of Myanmar, 2008 constitution. On 1 February 2021, Tatmadaw, Myanmar's military took ove ...

announced their "Seven Steps Roadmap for National Reconciliation and Union Peace". The goals are: # To review the political dialogue framework # To amend the political dialogue framework # To convene the Union Peace Conference—the 21st Century Panglong in accordance with the amended and approved political dialogue framework # To sign union agreement— the 21st Century Panglong Conference Agreement based on the results of the 21st Century Panglong Conference # To amend the constitution in accordance with the union agreement and approve the amended constitution # To hold the multi-party democracy general elections in accordance with the amended and approved constitution # To build a democratic federal union in accordance with the results of the multi-party democracy general elections

References

Peace conferences 2016 in Myanmar August 2016 in Asia {{DEFAULTSORT:Union Peace Conference - 21st Century Panglong

See also

References