16 OCTOBER 2025

PEACE can be achieved only through political means – by engaging in dialogue and negotiation to find solutions. It is necessary to work collectively to attain peace by ending armed conflicts and pursuing dialogue and coordination. In the country’s peace process, a significant milestone was the successful establishment of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), which enabled all stakeholders to sign and commit to ending hostilities in Myanmar.

For the nationwide ceasefire, all parties engaged in coordination and dialogue. Through extensive discussions and negotiations, the outcomes that emerged led to the establishment of the NCA. On 15 October 2015, the NCA was successfully signed. The Agreement did not come about easily; it was the result of more than 5,000 rounds of peace negotiations since the very first invitation to the talks, culminating in the signing of the accord.

Since gaining independence in 1948, Myanmar has experienced nearly eight decades of internal armed conflicts, during which the ethnic national peoples have not yet been able to fully enjoy the true essence and benefits of independence. The ongoing armed conflicts and current situations clearly reflect this reality. The root causes of these conflicts have been found to stem primarily from differences in views and attitudes among the ethnic national groups themselves.

Internal armed conflicts have hindered the nation and its people from achieving development and progress. The lack of development has, in turn, lowered socioeconomic conditions and prolonged the cycle of armed conflict. Those who suffer the most from these consequences are the citizens of the country as a whole, particularly the local people living in the conflict-affected areas, who bear the heaviest burdens.

For the nation to achieve both internal peace and durable peace, the core interests of the State, political parties, and ethnic armed organizations are engaging in ongoing dialogue. To end armed conflicts and attain long-term sustainable peace, all ethnic nationalities must work together and cooperate closely along the path of these negotiations.

The purpose of signing the NCA is to initiate a nationwide ceasefire and to lay the foundation for lasting peace, the rights of ethnic nationalities, and democracy. Therefore, all stakeholders need to continuously and jointly implement the NCA’s key provisions, which emphasizes that “to achieve lasting and sustainable peace in this country, we, the signatories to this NCA, pledge to each other to diligently work together to implement all provisions contained in this agreement completely, successfully and without fail in an accountable, responsible and transparent manner.”