Originally from Myanmar, Yadanar’s journey into activism and gender justice was shaped from a young age – by the contradictions she observed in society and the deeply equitable values instilled by her parents. “My father was the one who’s always in the kitchen. My mother is the one who goes to work. I have like two elder brothers, and we have to involve in the house chores equally,” Yadanar tells MECCA M-POWER.
“So I didn’t really see any norms at the household level. But I do notice that when I go visit my friend’s house, I can see, like, for example, they don’t mix the women’s clothes and the men’s clothes together for the washing, because of course, our lower body [was seen as] not as clean as men….That’s the myth or that’s the belief that most of Myanmar people have. So I’m thankful for my parents. And in terms of education as well, my parents prioritised all of our education equally.”
As she pursued higher education, one experience in particular left a lasting mark. “I feel it’s not fair. Why am I treated like this? I applied for a medical university. And can you guess that the entry mark for the medical university is different for girls and boys? Girls need at least 30 to 40 marks higher than boys. Yeah, I got the entry mark, but I’m like, why? You know why boys and girls have different entry mark?” At the time, Yadanar didn’t have the understanding or language to describe it as gender discrimination – “that injustice stayed with me until today,” she reflects.
While working at a hospital as a young medical professional, she gravitated toward obstetrics and gynecology. It was there that she saw how often female patients continued to be dismissed, judged, or denied autonomy in their care. “That’s when I started to advocate more about putting the patient at the centre of healthcare and respecting the patient’s autonomy.”
After completing her medical studies and hospital internships, she joined the Young Women’s Christian Association, where she worked closely with women and adolescent girls. “I knew nothing about women’s rights. I knew nothing about gender equality,” she says. But the experience was transformative: she discovered that young women had voices and power – they just needed a platform to use them, and be heard and make change in their communities.
This early work helped shape her approach today. Until June, Yadanar led the Myanmar workstream at IWDA (International Women’s Development Agency), collaborating with grassroots actors to support gender justice on the ground.
“Our partners are the one who are living in the community who are implementing the activities, despite all these everyday air strikes, conflicts. They’re the ones who know more than us what they should do and what they need. So we really respect that and we always listen to our partners. Like for example, even designing this program that I’m involved in, we had several workshops with partners to come up with a design rather than we bring the design and just ask for the inputs. So I would say it’s an equal partnership and engagement of the partners in design and implementation. That’s what I love about IWDA and we also know when to step up for the partners.”
One program in particular, supported by IWDA, has resonated deeply with her. “And they’re [this group] doing amazing work to have women to have the Safe Spaces shelter – and also supporting the GBV survivor to have access to medical-legal support. And not only that, more comprehensive in a way that, they support the women survivors to get the livelihood for rehabilitation.” It’s a powerful real-life example of IWDA’s gender-transformative programming in action – focused on shifting systems, power dynamics, and deeply entrenched beliefs to break the cycle of inequality.
Despite the immense challenges young women face in Myanmar and across the region, Yadanar says their courage continues to inspire her, and that actively listening to them is vital. “They’re organising, building, and transforming communities. The most powerful lesson we can learn, or that I have learned from working in the Asia and thePacific is that meaningful youth engagement is not just about visibility or just an ‘add-on’ to a project,” she says. “Engaging young people is actually a redistribution of power – we shift the power, and the decision-making, to young people and support them and their leadership. They’re capable. We don’t have to wait until we finish a series of capacity-building training to listen to them. We just support them, and they can show you what they can do.”
For Yadanar, change doesn’t always have to be monumental to matter. “It might not be big, or a very visible change. Sometimes, it’s just touching one person’s life – and that can have a long-lasting ripple effect and impact on the ground.” She pushes back on the idea that we must wait for the ‘right time’ to act.
“We can start small by asking like, what do people in my community need today? And with the privilege and with the skillset I have, where can I start?”