Myanmar youth activist and strike leader Nan Lin confirmed to DVB that he will accept the 2026 Democracy Award from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) on behalf of the “pro-democracy community organizers of Burma’s Spring Revolution,” set to place at George Washington’s Mount Vernon in the U.S. state of Virginia in September.
“For me, it is a very proud moment. However, this award is truly for all our comrades participating in the mass movement. I am deeply honored to accept it on their behalf. This serves as a great source of strength for our comrades, our movement, and our people,” Nan Lin, 30, told DVB in an exclusive interview.
An NED spokesperson, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that pro-democracy activists worldwide should be inspired by Nan Lin and other leaders in Myanmar’s non-violent Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), which was established in response to the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021.
“Movement leaders working in highly repressive contexts can learn from Nan Lin and his peers across Burma’s community organizer networks, particularly their ability to adapt, organize creatively, and sustain hope under pressure,” the NED spokesperson told DVB.
The creativity recognized in Myanmar’s resistance to the 2021 coup is being spearheaded by pro-democracy leaders like Nan Lin, who told DVB that non-violence is the movement’s “soft power,” while armed resistance to the military serves as its “hard power.” But he acknowledges that the two sides have yet to be effectively coordinated.
Many CDM members went underground to avoid arrest while others fled to Myanmar’s border to receive military training from long-established ethnic armed organizations. This led to the establishment of the People’s Defence Force (PDF), new armed units meant to fight to restore democracy in Myanmar.
Nan Lin started his non-violent activism during the democratic transition under former military general-turned-President Thein Sein’s Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) administration, which governed Myanmar from 2011-16.
He was jailed in 2016 and tried under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code for instigation and the Peaceful Assembly Law for public protest.
But he was released after several months in jail once the National League for Democracy (NLD) administration, which defeated the USDP in Myanmar’s first “free and fair” elections since 1990, came to power in 2016.
The NLD governed up until it was ousted in the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021.
Following the 2021 coup, Nan Lin co-founded the University Students’ Unions Alumni Force, an anti-regime group, in an undisclosed resistance-controlled area of Myanmar.
He has since organized several non-violent protests against the coup in both regime and resistance-controlled territories.
In a personal essay published in The New York Times in 2023, Nan Lin described his life as “dangerous and lonely” but that he continued to organize against the regime online.
He, alongside other prominent pro-democracy activists Tayzar San and Khant Wai Phyo, staged a protest at Mandalay’s Zay Cho Market in December calling on the international community to condemn the regime’s 2025-26 “sham” elections before voting began on Dec 28.
For this, the three were charged under the regime’s new Election Protection Law for “publicly denouncing” the polls.
In 2025, Nan Lin joined the “Flower Strike,” which takes place every June 19 since Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention began in 2021. Over the last five years Myanmar netizens have raised awareness about her isolation by sharing photos with flowers on social media to commemorate her birthday.
“NED sees peaceful community organizers as an essential part of Burma’s broader pro-democracy movement…Recognizing them with the Democracy Award honors their courage, leadership, and sacrifice, including the many peaceful organizers who have lost their lives simply for exercising their fundamental right to assemble,” the NED spokesperson added.
Pro-democracy activists in Myanmar’s commercial capital Yangon, who spoke to DVB on the condition of anonymity, said that rising commodity prices have driven monthly living expenses to at least one million MMK ($232 USD), adding that donations they receive from supporters has dwindled over the last year.
Yangon residents criticized the regime online after the price of eggs reached 700 MMK ($0.16) each in July, a sevenfold increase from pre-coup levels.
Nan Lin said that the resistance is currently facing a “low tide” and that receiving the NED 2026 Democracy Award gives activists like him “immense strength” to raise the tide once again.
Despite this award from the U.S. and acknowledgement of Myanmar’s struggle for a return to democracy since 2021, the U.S. government has failed to provide any meaningful support.
The Trump administration halted more than $39.5 million USD earmarked for human rights, democracy, and media advancement in Myanmar, according to a report by Human Rights Myanmar released in February 2025.
This came after the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was dismantled by President Trump in January 2025.
The aid stoppage impacted 107,000 registered refugees from Myanmar living in nine camps along the border in Thailand, according to The Border Consortium (TBC).
The funding cuts also impacted news gathering done by independent media outlets, many of which operate along the 1,501 mile (2,416 km) long Thai-Myanmar border.
“If the international community truly respects the Myanmar people’s struggle, they must stand with us, impose heavier sanctions on the junta, and provide practical assistance to ensure accountability,” Nan Lin concluded.
