Believe it or not, Burma's cyclone survivors are resiliently rebuilding their lives some two months after the cyclone disaster, despite a lack of support from the military authorities.

Referring to the survivors’ toughness in recovering from the misery of Cyclone Nargis—which left an official toll of 84,537 people dead and 53,836 missing—Surin Pitsuwan, secretary-general of Asean, said, “To see the smiles on the faces of the children who survived the fury of the cyclone—and the refusal to surrender and the determination to get up and get on with their lives—is indeed an inspiration to all of us.”

That is the most welcome news—an international official’s gratitude to Burma’s civil society, especially Buddhist monks, who have played key roles by acting as conduits between private donors and those in need. Thanks to them and a number of Burmese citizens working for local and international humanitarian agencies, the cyclone survivors are now overcoming a potentially devastating second wave of death through disease and starvation, something that the outside world was gravely concerned about just a few weeks ago.

In fact, Burmese civil society was, until recently, at its weakest state in decades. Successive regimes have sought to stamp out civil society and permit only state-controlled organizations that further the regime’s interests.

Civil society re-emerged during the nationwide pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988, with an explosion of students’ and monks’ organizations, political parties and an independent media.

This time, however, the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis has given rise to a solid number of local private relief groups involving celebrities, medical groups, businessmen, charity groups and other like-minded individuals. 

However, Burma is a place where civil society is still under strict scrutiny by the military authorities, and the balance of power is still heavily weighted in favor of the army. There is still a lack of willpower within the military toward political and economic reforms.

Burma’s ruling generals, instead, are continually arresting activists, and violating the human rights of people, especially those from ethnic minorities, in the run-up to elections in 2010.

The impressive effort of Burma’s civic organizations has shown they could play a key role in cultivating hope, justice, pluralism and, ultimately, democracy.

However, the responsibility to protect them and to encourage and support the emergence of a broader, better organized civil society is still absent.

It is true that short-term challenges for the UN and Asean—not only as official partners of the junta in coordinating the international aid effort, but also as promoters of Burma’s political reconciliation—are to save as many lives as possible, to provide safe water, food and shelter, and to ensure there is no second wave of death.

But a high priority on the list of long-term goals in Burma must be established that steps toward building a stronger civil society are put in place to alleviate the looming economic and humanitarian crises.