Educate Myanmar's Youth: Fund 3 Scholarships

The Institute of Chin Affairs Inc. (ICA) is a non-profit, 501 registered organisation founded in May 2021 by members of the Chin diaspora. ICA’s programmes include fundraising to support salaries for Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) teachers on the border with Myanmar, supporting the establishment of camp based schools for refugee children, as well as pioneering the Myanmar Refugee Fellowship Programme, formerly funded by the Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship Programme (DISP), under USAID. This programme supports 14 undocumented students from Myanmar to join Masters programmes in Northeast India, studying subjects including Business, English and Political Science. All students are members of Myanmar’s Civil Disobedience Movement, leaving their jobs and previous studies to stand against the illegal junta takeover in February 2021. ICA has worked for 3 years to build trust with higher education institutions and state government departments to bring about this programme, which is the first scholarship programme for Myanmar refugees in the Northeast. However, due to the cancellation of the DISP programme under USAID, the vital funding for scholarships has been withdrawn.

Since launching this fundraiser, ICA has made some gains through the GlobalGiving platform, institutional donors and private support. With the political situation in Northeast India worsening, and the global funding landscape changing rapidly in the wake of the cuts to USAID, there has never been a more challenging time for fundraising. Our students have successfully completed their first year and are entering the second year of their Master degree, and over half the students have received funding for the rest of their degrees. However, the other half still require support, and ICA will continue to try and raise money from institutional and private sources in this endeavour.