Myanmar work will continue, vows National Endowment for Democracy

One of the more discreet elements of Myanmar's transformation is the enduring role of the National Endowment for Democracy, the US taxpayer-funded body that for years has bankrolled and fostered human rights efforts, non-violent resistance movements and media activism inside the country.

The continuing work of the endowment traces a line from the fast-changing streets of Yangon back through the decades to the vision of then-US president Ronald Reagan, and further back to the intense US congressional debates of the 1970s to remove such work from the shadowy corridors of the Central Intelligence Agency. It can be seen as US "soft power" in action.

Reagan launched the endowment - mandated and funded through Congress via the State Department but officially a private, non-partisan and non-governmental body - in 1983. A week before Christmas he sent from the White House what he wanted to be a "message of hope" and a "noble vision" at the height of the cold war.

"We must work hard for democracy and freedom, and that means putting our resources - organisation, sweat and dollars - behind a long-term programme," he said.

The fruits of those sentiments have been on show during democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi's 17-day visit to the US - her first since her release from long years of house arrest last year. The fact that President Thein Sein - a former junta general - praised Suu Kyi in his speech to the UN General Assembly last week showed just how deeply Myanmar's reforms are taking root.

While Suu Kyi's other Washington stops - the White House and the US Congress - garnered more attention, her trip to the endowment's office was nonetheless significant.