The mission of MATA is ensure the participation of citizens and civil society and the incorporation of the principles of transparency and accountability in the development and implementation of policies, laws and guidelines in Myanmar.
The vision of MATA is that civil society efforts for transparency and accountability lead to a sustainable federal democracy in Myanmar.
MATA will try very hard to achieve the following objectives for the success of its goals:
The Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability is a national network comprised of over 450 civil society actors and individuals from all of Myanmar’s 14 states and regions. MATA supports members to collaboratively examine economic, political and social reform issues and to advocate for transparency and accountability of governance in Myanmar – with a focus on extractive industries.
MATA was formed during 2013 amid heightened civil society activity around the EITI mechanism. A number of civil society actors had focused on EITI before 2013 however the alliance formed a critical mass following a commitment from the President of Myanmar to join EITI. In October 2013, a core group of civil society actors collaboratively organised an EITI National Conference of CSOs. These groups formed MATA – then named the Myanmar Coalition 4 Transparency; subsequently changed to reflect a focus on accountability issues. A Conference output was a CSO Statement expressing the terms upon which civil society would engage with the EITI process: as a product of extensive negotiations among CSOs, this statement set the standards of inclusiveness and collaboration that MATA was to follow.
In early 2014, MATA was formed as an independent Myanmar NGO with support from multiple donors to support civil society coordination and engagement with transparency and accountability in governance, including mechanisms beyond EITI. An initial focus on coordinating networks has grown to encompass targeted research activities to inform the development and sharing of evidence-based policy alternatives.
Key achievements of MATA (2013 to 2015)
In 2013, an inclusive process was initiated to ensure that civil society representatives were elected for EITI’s MSG to represent broad interests from across the country. Related achievements since include:
By March 2014, civil society working groups in each state and region finalised the selection of representatives to participate in the national steering group where they join civil society MSG representatives to make decisions collectively;
During 2014 to 2015,