The Karen National League, as a non-armed Karen organization, seeks to uplift the lot of the Karen people and bring about the rule of law and true democracy to Burma. It engages in any and all lawful activities incidental to the foregoing purposes.

KNL Activities in 1998: A Report from the General Secretary
January 1, 1999, San Francisco

The Karen National League seeks to bring about advancement in human development for the Karen people and the realization of democracy and the rule of law in Burma. In striving for these goals, KNL realizes that several of the things it must do are help prepare young Karens for leadership and initiate development programs in a coordinated manner. KNL therefore, holds meetings on a regular basis such as the recent one in Canada, the helping of organizing Karens in Eastern Canada, and the teleconference in October among the member rganizations of KNL for the purpose of coordination and exchange of ideas. KNL is not an armed organization and it freely strives to cooperate with the United Nations and its agencies and other non-governmental and governmental organizations in its endeavors. The following are some of the things KNL has done in the year 1998.

KNL believes that educational development among the younger generation of Karen people and other ethnic nationalities is not only critical but essential to effective fostering of democracy and mutual understanding between diverse nationalities. Only a country in which a respect for democratic principles and of differences exist, can there be freedom. And, freedom for everyone in Burma is what we are ultimately striving for. In order to achieve our goals, KNL has developed understanding and cooperation with several Burman and non-Burman organizations. For example, the president of KNL participated in the Conference on Advancement of Women in the UN Human Rights Machinery in early 1998, which was organized by the Bureau of International NGOs Committee on Human Rights. Also, in cooperation with the Burma UN Services office, a KNL representative jointly participated in the lobbying at the UN Human Rights Commission conference in Geneva.

With the arrangement of Burma Action Group based in London, the President of KNL also made a trip to London in April this year and met with several U.K. Parliamentary Members in order to promote international awareness on human rights violation in Burma. Presently, we are working closely with the Jubilee Campaign which has its base in the U.K, and the Committee on Internal Displaced Persons, which maintain its operational base in the Thai-Burmese border. We are doing these things in order to be able to provide dire needed assistance to displaced people inside Burma and along the Thai-Burmese border.

In terms of education, KNL currently has several educational projects going on in Asia where Karens reside. A recent project we are involved in deals with cooperating with the United States Students Association (USSA) were we are in the process of trying to set up a two-week training program for young Karen refugee students from the Thai-Burmese border. The training will focus on understanding of basic democratic principles, organizing skills and the introduction to other international student movements. Our Department of Project and Planning has managed to provide scholarship to eight students and one of those is from inside and will be attending a university in the United States.

Research Division under Political Affairs Department of KNL has recently published a paper on the review of the 50-year struggle of the Karens. There are also ongoing research projects on Karen culture, micro lending feasibility, and the causes for the brutalities committed in Burma. Our hope is that with these research, we will be better able to understand and coordinate our efforts in striving for our goals.

Finally, KNL's Information and Communication Dept. maintains a Karen web site which aims to promote international awareness on the internal and external situation of Human Rights abuses in Karen State and other ethnic areas of Burma. The Web site also provides a valuable forum for discussion on democracy and human rights through its Bulletin Board Service (BBS) which draws the attention of human rights activists and Karen sympathizers around the world.

Saw Nyar Klo General Secretary, Karen National League (KNL)

Released by: Communication and Information Division P.O Box 320 518 San Francisco, CA 94132 U.S.A. Email: KNLcomm@aol.com

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