Capacity Incubation
Strengthen capacities for democratic leadership through the design or reform of institutions such as political parties, parliaments, government departments, and local associations.
ISP-Myanmar grounds its capacity building program in an approach that emphasizes the role of institutions, organizational culture and broader contextual factors in influencing governance. As a result, we seek to strengthen capacities for democratic leadership through the design or reform of institutions and organizations, such as political parties, parliaments, government departments, and local associations in civil society to improve strategy and policy making processes.
Our activities involve the provision of analysis and research on policy issues of topical importance, training to strengthen capacities for policy analysis and development and assistance in developing actionable recommendations for the policy community. ISP’s leadership engagement and capacity building program has worked with a variety of groups. Over the past four years, ISP has developed a proven track record of providing trainings and workshops suited to the needs of its partners.
Federal Unit Governance in Myanmar: A Practical Workbook
“Federal Unit Governance in Myanmar: A Practical Workbook” was published in December, 2025. This practical workbook was developed by the ISP-Myanmar’s Capacity Building Department.
Myanmar’s complex ethnic diversity, colonial legacy, and history of authoritarian rule have profoundly shaped its political landscape and ongoing struggles. Since its independence in 1948, the country has wrestled with persistent demands for autonomy and self-determination from its many ethnic nationalities. The 1947 Panglong Agreement embodied early federalist aspirations, envisioning a union that respected ethnic diversity and guaranteed meaningful self-governance. Yet decades of military dictatorship, rigid centralization, protracted civil conflict, and entrenched authoritarianism eroded these federal ideals. Today, as Myanmar seeks a path toward democratic transformation and shared sovereignty, federalism remains the cornerstone for resolving ethnic conflicts and building a nation that is both unified and diverse.
Bridge Education Program (BEP)
ISP-Myanmar launched a special course on conflict and security studies named “Bridge Education Program” (BEP) in September 2021. The program aims to assist youth and women leaders, whose learning opportunities have been disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic and the military coup, with the aim of offering them access to an alternative learning platform, which offers training for them to develop technical skill-sets and conscientize their collective deliberation with the goal of value transformation. The BEP is a university foundation level program, an intensive three months course covering these following different modules:
(1) Community Conflict Mitigation and Conflict Resolution
(2) Federal Unit Governance
(3) Economic Ways of Thinking
(4) Policy Research
(5) Introductory Academic Program
Throughout these periods from late 2021 to early 2024, the ISP-Myanmar attracted more than 2374 applications, and the capacity building department has successfully completed six BEP batches producing 281 alumni with some continuing their further foreign studies abroad and contributing to the local communities.
Emerging Leaders in Governance (ELG)
The ELG program promotes learning and critical thinking
The training equips for tackling daily challenges amid a decade-long civil war, democratic deficits, and poor governance.As part of its capacity building initiative, ISP has launched an Emerging Leaders in Governance (ELG) program, which aims to promote learning and critical thinking. The ELG draws on its network of scholars and researchers to provide a well-structured program on governance studies, offering a graduate diploma.
The program provides participants with a theoretical understanding of federal and democratic governance issues through an empirical-based approach drawing on issues in Myanmar. The training is designed to provide participants with tools useful for addressing the ongoing daily challenges presented by decade-long civil war, democratic deficits and poor governance.
Emerging Young Researcher Initiative (EYRI)
The EYRI provides technical and financial support for research by university students
ISP believes that youth are important agents for change and can contribute to the country’s political development. To encourage the development of research skills by young scholars, ISP has implemented the Emerging Young Researcher Initiative aimed to provide technical and financial support for research by university students on current issues in Myanmar.
Evidence-Based Policy Workshops and Trainings
We engage with political parties and state and regional governments and parliaments
We aid organisations in adopting evidence-based policies through workshops, fostering institutionalisation.
A major component of ISP’s capacity building activities is its engagement with political parties and state and regional governments and parliaments. A goal of the program is to assist political organizations in their development of policy and strategy formulation and the recruitment of new generation leadership with skills to meet the challenges of Myanmar’s political transition. To achieve this, ISP supports evidence-based policy workshops and trainings aimed to helps these organizations institutionalize their organizational structure and functions.