The ethnic group Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the Myanmar government are forming a mediation team to help them through the first phase of implementing a joint monitoring mechanism.  The mediation team will include 10 representatives with five members from each side of the conflict.  Each five person side of the team will be headed by Kachin State Border Affairs and Security Minister Colonel Than Aung on the government side and by Zaw Thuang on the KIO side.

The group was assembled recently at the Office of the KIO Technical Team in the capital of Kachin State.  The intention is to have the team meet one time per month to discuss the issues at hand and assess the status and progress of the situation.  The intention is to also have the 10 person team create a five-point fundamental set of principles to be followed and an 18 point set of rules by which each side will need to abide.

The decision to form a joint monitoring team for mediation purposes was agreed upon in October of 2013.  The groups then recommitted to the mediation process in May.  In the interim, there were clashes between the government and KIO in three areas in the Kachin State in early April 2014.  Both groups are hoping the mediation between both sides will bring peace to the area and make it easier for both sides to receive recognition and have their desires heard.  With both sides equally participating, it could be the step forward needed to resolve the conflict between the government and ethnic group.