Norway’s UN representative has expressed concern that Burmese women’s voices were not being heard in a UN Security Council closed-door session on Myanmar held on Monday.

The Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General on Myanmar, Noeleen Heyzer, reportedly met on Monday with Security Council members, in closed consultations.

According to UN media, Heyzer was going to update the Council on her efforts to support the implementation of resolution 2669 (2022) adopted by the Council last December and in response to the Council’s request for an update on the UN support to the implementation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Five-Point Consensus, which calls for an end to violence, engagement of all stakeholders and delivery of humanitarian assistance. In the closed-door session, she was going to provide an overview of the current situation and brief on her cooperation with ASEAN and engagements with key stakeholders. The Special Envoy was also going to brief on her initiatives to support an inclusive humanitarian access, Rohingya education, women, peace and security, among other salient issues.

The UN announced a “live” online briefing Monday for the media after Heyzer’s Council report but the briefing was cancelled with no explanation.

The UN Special Envoy Heyzer will reportedly offer a public statement on the Myanmar situation this Thursday.

Aware that Burmese women are not receiving an adequate voice in international discussions on the Myanmar crisis, following the 2021 military coup, the Permanent Representative of Norway to the UN, Ambassador Mona Juul, provided a platform on Monday at the UN for two Burmese NGO representatives - Woman Advocacy Coalition Myanmar, Ms May Sabe Phuy and Women's League of Burma, Ms Naw Hser Hser – to voice their concerns.

As Ms Juul noted, two years have passed since the military coup in Myanmar and the situation is critical, with more than 17 million people in humanitarian need and ongoing armed clashes.

For women and girls in particular, the coup has reversed a decade of progress. Women human rights defenders have become political targets resulting in harassment, forcible detention, displacement, torture and death. Many women have been forced to flee their country for safety. During Myanmar's democratic transition, women-led civil society organisations used the opening of civic space to grow and establish strong networks. They became key actors in policy development for women and girls.

Despite the significant challenges they now face, these networks and individual women human rights defenders continue to play a critical leadership role in promoting human rights – for all - and in defining the political future for the country.

She said it is absolutely critical to protect women civil society, and to include women in political processes, in order to save the future of Myanmar.

Pointing to the UN Security Council meeting on Myanmar, Ms Juul told the panel that the closed-door meeting would have “no civil society briefers. That prevents the Council from hearing directly from those most affected. We therefore think it is important that Myanmar women themselves can voice their concerns and recommendations to the UN and its member states.”

Both May Sabe Phuy and Naw Hser Hser expressed concerns to the panel that UN Special Envoy Heyzer had not officially met with the National Unity Government (NUG) and other representatives of the opposition to the military junta.

It should be noted that Heyzer had previously come under fire publicly for meeting with the Myanmar junta and calling for negotiations with the junta that many if not most of Myanmar citizens consider illegitimate.

May Sabe Phuy told the meeting panel session that they cannot just complain and give up because of the existing (diplomacy and negotiation) mechanisms and processes are not working. “If these existing mechanisms are not working of course we have to find a new way to find a solution. Our expectation for the UN Security Council is for them to think outside of the box and not handing Myanmar issues on to ASEAN but trying to help in a way that will produce tangible results and progress.”

As she said, they are not diplomats but are “representing the voice and suffering of the people who are living inside the country, so that is why we will be very strict. We civil society organizations, women’s organizations, we are unhappy with the position the UN Special Envoy is taking on our situation. We understand that. A lot of people are talking about it is impossible, or it will be more difficult if we would like to remove the military from the entire politics. But we have our own suffering and our own experience.”

May Sabe Phuy said the previous National League for Democracy (NLD) government “they had been really working hard to compromise with the military. But what the military wants is absolute power. Negotiations or compromising with them will not produce any result. That is how we strongly view (the situation).”

“You can give so many reasons to engage with the State Administration Council, it can be because of humanitarian assistance, you have to provide financial resources for the people who are suffering in the country. But all this is seen as engaging with the illegitimate junta.”

“If the UN and the Special envoy, if they are able to meet with the illegitimate junta publicly, why don’t they also meet with the pro-democracy movement, the NUG that the majority of the people of Myanmar recognize as a legitimate government?” May Sabe Phuy asked.

Naw Hser Hser said that “actually we have a lot of pro-democracy actors, ERO, NUG, NUCC and so forth but we did not see the Special Envoy meet them officially or publicly. But for the military junta, she meets officially and publicly, so this raises a lot of questions in our mind as to why she did that and why she did not meet publicly and officially with the pro-democracy groups that struggle a lot to date. We therefore encourage her to meet with the pro-democracy activists publicly. This is one point.”

She noted that the Burmese conflict had been going on for decades and raised in a lot of international advocacy forums, with war and genocide happening not just since 2021 but over 70 years.

Ethnic groups like the Kachin and Karen have faced a lot of crimes against humanity and genocide but we did not get a chance to report.

When we look at the past and to date, they are the same perpetrator, Naw Hser Hser said.

“We want the Secueity Council to come forward with a solution for the Burmese and Myanmar people that have suffered and struggled along the way,” she noted, pointing for the need for an embargo including fuel due to the increased air strikes against the people.

May Sabe Phyu told the panel that people on the ground ask to be heard. There have been many calls on the UN at the beginning with us keeping pushing the UN for the people.

She said that the UN role is to provide peace and stability around the world. But tangible action was needed, not just rhetoric.

May Sabe Phyu highlighted two recent massacres by the junta of civilians but the junta’s human rights abuse is not getting much media coverage.