The Nobel Women's Initiative Delegation, led by Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams and Mia Farrow, met today with women from Burma as well as various Thai ethnic groups at Chiang Mai University. The symposium was co-organized by the Women's Studies Department at Chiang Mai University and the Nobel Women's Initiative for the purpose of highlighting the political rights crises faced by women in Thailand and Burma.

Jody Williams initiated the program declaring, "We're here to bring messages of the women of Burma, of the marginalised, to the world. We're here to listen. We're here to learn the common concerns that women of the world seem to share."

Women attending the symposium shared stories of discrimination, concerns about the struggle for survivors of cyclone Nargis, as well as the detention of Nobel Peace Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the crisis of refugees along Burma's borders. In attendance, renowned human rights activist, Charm Tong of Shan Women's Action Network, aptly stated, "Aid alone will not solve Burma's problems. Unless political issues are addressed, this crisis will continue."

During the moving discussion, delegate Mia Farrow conveyed to the audience at Chiang Mai, "I am still shaking [from listening to the women]. I am moved and inspired to go forward stronger than ever. I want to be part of the solution anyway I can."

After Thailand, the Delegation will join delegate leader and Nobel Peace Laureate, Wangari Maathai to meet with women's organizations in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Juba in South Sudan, concluding the trip at Chadian refugee camps.

Follow along on the Delegation.

MEDIA

• Nobel laureate meets Burmese women, Bangkokpost.com, 22 July 2008
• Nobel Laureate Doubts Suu Kyi will be Released, The Irrawaddy, 22 July 2008
• Mia farrow to attend thai seminar, The Nation 7 July 2008
• Mia Farrow Calls for Global Pressure at Olympics for Burma, The Irrawaddy, 25 July 2008.
• Farrow: Nations Should Protest China at Olympics, Associated Press, 25 July 2008
• Mia Farrow Slams Myanmar Post Cyclone Rights Record, AFP, 25 July 2008
• Burma: Females hit worst by cyclone Nargis, IPS, 27 July 2008
• Mia Farrow calls for global pressure at Olympics, International Herald Tribune, 25 July 2008
• Quarter of aid to Myanmar lost, Al Jazeera, 28 July 2008
  

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