KOWI - Kokang and Wa Initiative

Background

The Kokang and Wa Initiative, KOWI, is a broad partnership aiming to provide for the basic human needs of poor farmers and their families in the Kokang and Wa to live in dignity without their primary income traditionally derived from opium cultivation. The KOWI partnership grew out of a Joint Humanitarian Needs Assessment Mission, in the course of which UN agencies and international NGOs traveled to the Kokang and the Wa regions, met with local authorities as well as farmers, and gauged the availability of alternative income sources for poppy farmers. Recognizing that the vast majority of opium poppy farmers cultivate the illicit crop to offset chronic food shortages, the mission report expressed concern that the opium bans in the Kokang and Wa region would force farmers out of their primary income-generating activity long before adequate alternatives were in place.

The mission thus recommended a two-pronged strategy: first, the provision of emergency and pre-emergency interventions to sustain the opium reductions and avoid a humanitarian crisis. Second, a phased, multi-sectoral program of activities in Kokang and the Wa Regions, spread over three cycles of each 5 years. In light of its mandate and experience, the mission also recommended that UNODC serve as the coordinating agency for this partnership.[ top]

Coordination Framework

Because of its prominent role in Myanmar's opium production, UNODC has had a presence in the Wa for many years. In the Kokang, the Japanese aid agency JICA has been carrying out an alternative development project. However, in light of the imposition of opium bans in the Kokang in 2002, in the Wa in June 2005 and the absence of alternative sources of income, both agencies recognized that the ensuing needs would by far exceed their assistance capacities.

Building on their experience in these two regions, the two agencies thus agreed to take the lead in supporting and facilitating the entry of other aid agencies to the regions. The KOWI programme was developed as a single coordinating framework, where agencies carry out separate activities but share a common goal: to meet the basic humanitarian needs of former opium farmers and their families. Both UN agencies and international NGOs have since implemented assistance activities in the region.[ top]

Technical Coordination Units

To facilitate coordination among the different KOWI partners, two Technical Coordination Units (TCUs) will be established: one in Pang Sang, the capital of the Wa Special Region, and one in Laukkaing, the capital of the Kokang Special Region. The TCUs will assist in coordinating joint activities; collect, analyze, and share baseline data; monitor and evaluate partnership projects; and serve as a focal point in dealing with the local Authorities and Government regarding local operations. The TCUs will also provide logistical support for KOWI partners, especially as they first enter the region.[ top]

Timeframe

The Joint Kokang-Wa Humanitarian Needs Assessment Team proposed a fifteen year programme of projects in different sectors in three five-year cycles. The KOWI programme cycle is as follows:

2004 - 2008: Pre- and Post-Emergency Cycle

Phase 1: 2004 - 2005: Pre-Emergency Wa / Post-Emergency Kokang

Phase 2: 2006 - 2008: Post-Emergency Wa and Kokang

2009 - 2013: Enhancement Cycle

2014 - 2018: Sustainability Cycle

Strategy

The KOWI partner agencies met extensively in 2003 to develop the programme framework and to agree on basic strategic principles with respect to project interventions. Overall, it was agreed that partner agencies would work closely together in an integrated manner sharing information and supporting each other where possible in order to maximise the impact of each initiative.

At the village level, it was agreed that it is crucial for programmes to be community-based with the full participation of project beneficiaries, to build local capacities and thus ensure that programmes can continue even as international assistance is phased out.

Finally, it was agreed that an integrated, multi-sectoral approach is essential to ensure the sustainability of assistance. Health, education, livelihood (including agriculture, livestock, and income generation), infrastructure, and information-focused programmes are inter-twined and mutually supporting. Individual projects under the KOWI may then address some or all of these sectors, within the broader strategic framework.[ top]

Partner Agencies

Since UNODC and JICA were already engaged in assistance activities in the region, the KOWI programme formally started with the entry of two NGOs in the Wa: AMI and Malteser joining the KOWI partnership and initiating programmes in association with UNODC on 1 July 2003. Since then WFP, CARE, ADRA and World Vision have also initiated programmes under the common framework. Existing and interested partners include the following: