Learn About Us
The MyPACK Hub was founded in 2024 with an understanding of the need for innovative policy solutions for Myanmar. Myanmar’s situation is complicated and dynamic, with many actors claiming political legitimacy and a mandate to govern. This is not a typical policy situation, and the MyPACK Hub is not a typical policy hub.
Research
Like other policy groups, we produce briefs and reports for political decision-makers in Ottawa, Myanmar and elsewhere, and we provide training to our fellows and affiliates in the norms of policy research and writing, lobbying, and effective communication.
Insights from the Myanmar Community
But we also recognize that community knowledge and experience need to be valued and considered just as much as conventional policy skills. Our fellows and affiliates are all embedded as members of community groups, either within the diaspora or in Myanmar. Some of them are also pursuing higher education, but this is not a prerequisite to contributing to the MyPACK Hub.
Providing Solutions to Aid Distribution that Targets the Underserved
National governments and international aid organisations have a role to play in supporting the people of Myanmar in their struggle against the military and their efforts to build an inclusive, federal, democratic country. But the reality is that this revolutionary movement has been almost entirely crowdfunded by the Myanmar diaspora and supported by mutual aid activities among communities in the country. If the people of Myanmar have been the ones to sustain this resistance so effectively, their knowledge, experiences and needs should be prioritized when developing policy.
Policy that Engages the Canadian Government
In seeking to influence Myanmar-oriented policy, the MyPACK Hub engages with multiple actors. One is the Canadian government—including elected officials, policy-makers at Global Affairs Canada, and other political decision-makers. We aim to share not only the results and insights of research conducted by our Fellows and affiliates, but more generally to amplify the knowledge and expertise of communities in Myanmar and in the diaspora who know their own situations the best.
On-the-Ground Engagement in Myanmar
Fellows at the MyPACK Hub have also built relationships with government and policy actors in Myanmar, including the NUG, NUCC and ethnic governance institutions. In addition to sharing their research and recommendations, they also work to ensure that these Myanmar policy actors are engaged with and listening to a wide range of Myanmar perspectives. The grassroots institutions and processes that have been developed before and since the coup will be an essential part of the country’s future democratic processes and are important contributors during this revolutionary period.
Outreach and Impact
The MyPACK Hub uses multiple platforms and modes of communication to engage with different stakeholders, aiming to make our outputs available at least in Burmese and English, and in other languages where possible or appropriate. Our published outputs include policy briefs and research reports (published here and on sites like Tea Circle), op-eds in Canadian, Myanmar and Southeast Asian media, as well as bespoke reports for community partners. We also hold private briefings for policy-makers, for the purpose of sharing research results and conducting advocacy. And we use our networks and institutional platforms to convene roundtables, forums and other events, both in-person and virtual, to put a wider range of policy perspectives in conversation.