At the beginning of this passionate talk by Chin rights activist Cheery Zahau, she quoted “empowering women is the key to building the future we want”, setting the scene as she argues that empowering the 18 million rural women in Myanmar is an investment where there is no end to its returns. Most rural women in Myanmar not only cook and clean but also pull their weight in the fields and in society, yet their economic contributions are not only not counted, but also underestimated and belittled. This raises a tantalising question: how much further and faster can Myanmar’s economy go if these women are empowered and their contributions are counted?
Cheery Zahau is a human rights activist and feminist from Chin State in Western Myanmar. She was a founder of the "Women’s League of Chinland” and a major author for “Unsafe State” report which includes first-hand research on sexual violence against Chin women committed by the government military troops. She has testified at the United Nations, the UK Parliament, US Congressional Hearing and other international forums on the human rights situation in Chin State and in Myanmar. She was awarded “Chin Person of the Year 2011” by the Chin people. She had been featured and quoted in numerous articles.
Cheery ran for a lower house seat in last November's elections in her hometown in Falam for the Chin Progressive Party (CPP) but lost to the National League for Democracy (NLD).
