Regional Steering Committee Statement of the ASEAN Civil SocietyConference / ASEAN People’s Forum 2017 (ACSC/APF)
ASEAN CIVIL SOCIETY CONFERENCE/ ASEAN PEOPLES FORUM PH 2017·VRIJDAG 17 FEBRUARI 2017 “ASEANFOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE” Statement of the ASEAN Civil Society Conference /ASEAN People’s Forum 2017 (ACSC/APF) Regional Steering Committee 17 February 2017 As the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)marks its 50th year, we, civil society organizations (CSOs) and people’sorganizations in the region remain critically engaged in asserting alternativeforms of regional integration that addresses the long-standing issues andconcerns affecting the peoples of Southeast Asia. There have been several concerns raised by CSOs in thepast years of its engagement with ASEAN including the lack of genuine people’sparticipation in ASEAN decision-making, the rising inequalities among memberstates, prevailing inaction on human rights issues, and the dominance ofelite-centred and market-oriented development strategies among others. Over the years, these issues have provokedwide-ranging responses and resistance against the current neoliberalintegration model espoused by ASEAN. Consequently, it has also prompted CSOsand people’s organizations to lead the way for establishing new forms ofregional integration based on existing and emerging alternatives at thecountry-level – alternativesthat are based on people-to-people interactions rather than state-to-staterelations or purely market-oriented solutions to the region’s problems. As Chair of the ASEAN this year, the Philippinegovernment is hosting the ASEAN Summits this April and November. A number ofASEAN high-level meetings have also been lined up to take place in the country.Similarly, the ASEAN CivilSociety Conference/ ASEAN Peoples’ Forum (ACSC/APF) is also set to holdparallel activities to voice out the people’s concerns and issues in theregion, as had been our practice for the past eleven years. ThisFebruary 15 -16, we, representatives of CSOs and social movements from elevencountries in Southeast Asia have come together for the First RegionalConsultation Meeting (RCM) leading up to the main Conference in August 2017. The ACSC/APF is a network of Southeast Asian civilsociety organizations and social movements that engages the ASEAN processes to address the issues andconcerns of the people –human rights and access to justice, peace and humansecurity, trade, climate change, migration, job and livelihood and socialprotection. Its constituents include workers, thepeasantry, urban poor, fisherfolk, women, children, LGBT community, indigenouspeoples, migrants, older persons, workers, youth and persons with disabilities. Even as we advance alternatives to the current ASEANregional integration model, we continue asserting the meaningful participationof Southeast Asian peoples in government discussions especially on issues thataffect our lives. By doing so, we seek to contribute in building an ASEANregion that is truly of the people, by the people, and for the people. ### Philippines - (CHAIR) Ms. Jelen Paclarin, Women’sLegal and Human Rights Bureau / PhilWomen on ASEAN Philippines - (CHAIR) Prof. Eduardo C. Tadem, Freedomfrom Debt Coalition Brunei - Ms. Siti Zaleha Kaprawi, Women Graduates Association,Women Council of Brunei Darussalam Cambodia - Ms. Srey Sotheavy, Alliance for ConflictTransformation (ACT) Indonesia - Mr. Harry Sandy Ame, AGRA (Aliansi GerakanReforma Agraria) Lao PDR - Mr. Cher Her, The Association for VulnerableChildren and Community Development Malaysia - Ms. Lee Shook Fong, Centre for IndependentJournalism Myanmar - May Shi Sho, Karin Development Network Singapore - Mr. Soe Min Than, Think Centre Thailand - Sunsanee Sutthusanee, Pro-rights Foundation Vietnam - Dong Huy Cuong, Vietnam Peace andDevelopment Foundation Regional - Deborah Christine Stothard, Forum Asia
