Myanmar Women's Affairs Federation is a non-governmental organization

Non-governmental organization

A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...

 based in Myanmar

Myanmar

Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....

 in promoting the welfare and advancement of Myanmar women. This organization is noticed by UN

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

, WWF

Working Women's Forum

The Working Women's Forum is a women's organisation in southern India. It was founded in 1978 by Jaya Arunachalam in Madras . The WWF aims to empower poor women in southern India by providing microcredits, a trade union, health care and training...

, Asia Regional Cooperation to Prevent People Trafficking (ARCPPT), and ASEAN, China Women Affair Organization. It has been listed as a GONGO

GONGO

GONGO stands for Government-Organized Non-Governmental Organization, which may have been set up by governments to look like NGOs in order to qualify for outside aid, or mitigate specific issues related to in-country work or international relations...

 for being a harsh critic of Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi, AC is a Burmese opposition politician and the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy. In the 1990 general election, her National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 81% of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained...

 and is purportedly ruled by wives of the Myanmarese junta.

The organization was formed December 20, 2003 with the aim to enable them to participate fully in its national development. It is a voluntary non-governmental organization for the advancement of all women, regardless of nationality

Nationality

Nationality is membership of a nation or sovereign state, usually determined by their citizenship, but sometimes by ethnicity or place of residence, or based on their sense of national identity....

, race or religion

Religion

Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

. Criticisers

The Myanmar Women's Affairs Federation has the following objectives:

1. To enhance the role of women in the reconstruction of a peaceful, modern and developed nation.
2. To protect the rights of women
   Women's rights
   Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
   
   .
3. To ensure better economy
   Economy
   An economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area...
   
   , health
   Health
   Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
   
   , education
   Education
   Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
   
    and general welfare of women and to take measures for their life security.
4. To instill and foster in women a greater appreciation of their cultural heritage, traditions and customs.
5. To systematically protect women from violence
   Violence
   Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
   
    and provide means for rehabilitation where necessary.
6. To diminish and finally eliminate trafficking
   Human trafficking
   Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
   
   in women and children as a national task.
7. To collaborate with international as well as local organizations, in ensuring the rights of women in accordance with the local traditions and customs.

The first workshop organized by MWAF on Trafficking in Persons was held November 24, 2006. MWAF has also held educative talks on the prevention of Trafficking in Persons.