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Myanmar Environmental Legal Services

Yangon, Myanmar
Joined March 2019

Myanmar Environmental Legal Service works to protect the environment, to improve environmental governance and to implement environmental related laws in Myanmar.

Presence in: Myanmar
Focus: Environmental Justice

Foundation of MELS

Myanmar Environmental Legal Services (MELS) was initiated and founded by a public interest environmental lawyer who have been providing environmental legal aid for more than three years as Bertha Justice Fellows and staff of Earth Rights International. The establishment of MELS is counseled by the Vermont Law School and the Asian Research Institute for Environmental Law with support and assistance from relevant environmental public welfare organizations.

 

MELS Vision Statement

To protect the environment, to improve environmental governance and to implement environmental related laws in Myanmar.

MELS aim

MELS aims to promote and enhance Myanmar’s rule of law and achieve environmental justice through providing legal aid, filing public interest litigation cases, carrying out case-based research, developing national and international exchanges and cooperation programs, and building the capacities of qualified lawyers.

MELS mission statement

  • To provide free legal services for victims of environmental pollution and damage in order to push for justice.
  • To improve public awareness of environmental law and environmental rights in Myanmar through education and advocacy.
  • To promote environmental public interest litigation, the development of environmental public interest law, and establish and implement an environmental legal aid mechanism in Myanmar.
  • To monitor policies and practices relating to environmental litigation, and advocate for the development of a more equitable environmental legal regime in Myanmar.
  • To build the capacities of environmental public interest lawyers through the development of national and international networks designed for knowledge sharing.