Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) will co-host a Day of Prayer for Burma in central London on Saturday 8 March as part of an international initiative to end the oppression of Burma's minority populations, particularly the largely Christian Karen group.

The Global Day of Prayer for Burma is an annual event initiated in 1997 by Christians Concerned for Burma at the request of Burma's democracy leader, Nobel Peace Prize recipient Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

It is hoped that several hundred people will join in the prayer day hosted by CSW, Partners Relief and Development, Karen Aid and the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP).

Speakers include Oddny Gumaer, author of a new book on Burma called Displaced Reflections and co-founder of Partners Relief and Development, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) working with Internally Displaced People in eastern Burma.

Benedict Rogers, CSW's Advocacy Officer for South Asia and author of A Land Without Evil: Stopping the Genocide of Burma's Karen People, will also speak.

Mr Rogers has made over 20 visits to Burma and its borderlands, including the Karen, Karenni, Shan and Mon peoples on the Thai-Burmese border, the Chin people on the India-Burma border and the Kachin on the China-Burma border. He has recently returned from visiting the Thai-Burmese border and Burmese refugees in Malaysia.

CSW's Advocacy Director Tina Lambert said: "The Global Day of Prayer for Burma is a crucial event for focusing people's thoughts and hearts on the crisis in Burma.

"With recent events including the regime's brutal crackdown on protests last September, continuing offensives against civilians in Karen State and further human rights violations in all parts of the country, prayer for Burma is now even more vital than ever."

CSW condemned the recent assassination of the Karen leader Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan, and the regime's efforts to rubber-stamp its rule by introducing a "sham constitution through a sham referendum which would exclude Burma's major democratic and ethnic representatives".

These developments combined "make it so important for churches around the world to remember Burma, and we hope many people will be able to join us in this important event in London", she added.

On Sunday 9 March churches around the world are urged to pray for Burma during their services.

The Global Day of Prayer for Burma will take place at the Emmanuel Centre, 9-23 Marsham Street, London SW1P 3DW (nearest tubes: Victoria and Westminster) from 10am-4pm.