Civilian representatives from different levels of Joint Monitoring Committees held their 9th roundtable discussions on ceasefire yesterday.
 

The meeting at the National Reconciliation and Peace Centre in Yangon was opened with the speech of Rev Saw Mathew Aye, the JMC-U Vice-Chairman (2). He said that the JMC-U resumed its meeting in Nay Pyi Taw in early July after two years of suspension; civilian representatives from different levels of JMC made 12 negotiation visits to ethnic armed organizations; they held 54 public meetings during this period, as well as the five discussions which were attended by 361 representatives from 148 civil society organizations; they explained JMC to the EAOs three times and held two panel discussions on JMC, while conducting 15 JMC courses, two sport competition events and 13 exhibitions to promote JMC. The 19th JMC-U meeting also approved 12 points out of 21 suggested by the civilian representatives of JMC from different levels. Rev Saw Mathew also encouraged the civil representatives for having self-confidence in future peace-making efforts as they are working among armed organizations, and they need to promote their capacity and the technical support centre could provide assistance to them. A total of 35 civilian representatives from local and regional levels of JMC attended the meeting.
 

The State/Regional-level JMC representatives from Shan, Taninthayi, Kayin, Mon and Bago and the local-level JMC representatives from Langkho and Papun reported their works, the TSC explained implementation of decisions in the 8th roundtable discussion and the 19th JMC-U meeting.
 

The meeting will continue on 23 July. U Ko Ko Gyi, the member of JMC-U explained the formation of LCM and JMC-L. He said the local ceasefire monitoring groups are expected to form after more bilateral talks, while the JMC-L has been formed in Papun and Langkho. The civilian representatives from different levels of Joint Monitoring Committees held its 8th meeting in Dawei Township in the second week of December 2019, and it decided to hold the meetings every four months. Although the 9th meeting was scheduled for 2 to 4 April in Kalaw Township of southern Shan State, it was postponed due to the threats of COVID-19.—Ye Gaung Nyunt 

(Translated by Aung Khin)