Myanmar: Building norms of accountability and integrity in ethnic health systems

(Participation in U4's workshops is by invitation only, and is organised through the hosting U4 partner agency.)

This workshop provides a focused space for dialogue on accountability and integrity within ethnic health systems operating in Myanmar’s conflict-affected border regions. It is grounded in the recognition that many ethnic health organisations function not simply as service providers, but as part of broader systems of non-state governance, where authority is closely tied to the ability to deliver welfare and respond to community needs. In these contexts, health provision is a central source of political legitimacy, shaping how communities understand trust, responsibility, and fairness.

Rather than promoting formal anti-corruption tools or compliance-driven approaches, the workshop explores how accountability is understood and practiced in real-world conditions characterised by fragmented authority, insecurity, and complex political economies. Participants will reflect on the dilemmas they face in delivering services, where trade-offs between access, safety, and integrity are often unavoidable, and examine how informal norms, relationships, and expectations shape decision-making in practice. The aim is to surface how accountability already operates within these systems, and where tensions and opportunities for strengthening it may lie.

Using the health sector as an entry point, the workshop anchors discussions in concrete experience while opening broader reflection on governance, legitimacy, and authority beyond a single sector. It emphasises mutual learning and collective reflection, enabling participants to share challenges, compare approaches, and identify realistic, context-sensitive ways to strengthen accountability. In doing so, the workshop seeks to generate grounded insights that can inform future engagement by practitioners, donors, and supporting organisations, while remaining attentive to the political and social realities that shape governance in Myanmar’s borderlands.