ASIA’s democracy is in crisis.
This was noted by Gus Miclat, Executive Director of the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID), in a plenary and workshop discussions during the recently concluded General Forum of the Solidarity for Asian Peoples Advocacy (SAPA) held in Bangkok, Thailand last 5-6 February 2007.
IID anchored a panel on peace and human security during the said Forum.
ASIA’s democracy is in crisis.
This was noted by Gus Miclat, Executive Director of the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID), in a plenary and workshop discussions during the recently concluded General Forum of the Solidarity for Asian Peoples Advocacy (SAPA) held in Bangkok, Thailand last 5-6 February 2007.
IID anchored a panel on peace and human security during the said Forum.
Mr. Miclat, who served as resource person in the plenary and workshop discussions of the Forum in his capacity as regional initiator of Southeast Asia Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), noted that some of the challenges facing Asia at present are the crisis of democracy highlighting questions of legitimacy, governance issue and backsliding and democratic deficits.
He added that the region is also characterized by intra-state conflicts and struggles for self-determination. Territorial disputes or inter-state and border issues are also present in the region. While the impact of the “war on terror”, the post-cold war politics and the growing Japanese militarization are issues of immediate concern.
With Mr. Miclat were other panelists, namely: Mr. Yoshioka Tatsuya, from GPPAC Northeast Asia, and Executive Director of PEACEBOAT;; Dr. Rifaat Hussain, regional initiator of GPPAC South Asia and Director of the Regional Center for Strategic Studies; and Ms. Chalida Tajaroensuk from Thailand, Coordinator of Empowering People for Strong Civil Society (People’s Empowerment).
The panel on peace and human security aimed to address some of the objectives of the SAPA general forum such as to identify key engagements with inter-governmental and regional bodies; to surface the strengths and gaps in these engagements; to determine possible areas of cooperation; and to identify advocacy issues that will need broader support from SAPA.
At the end of the conference some initiatives were identified. These initiatives are:
(1) on the area of networking – alliances in the national, sub-regional and regional levels should be strengthened through people to people dialogue, knowledge and information sharing and networking with community-based groups and organizations;
(2) on campaigns – support be extended to on-going peace processes and ceasefires, creating shadow processes, generating media projection/impact, and support for the Article 9 campaign;
(3) on lobbying/engaging inter-governmental bodies – support lobby efforts in institutionalizing mechanisms within the sub-regional and regional bodies for conflict prevention and for civil society inputs.
These identified initiatives have to be sustained and support from the SAPA membership has to be generated.
SAPA was established in 2006 as an open platform for consultation, cooperation and coordination among Asian social movements and civil society organizations including NGOs, peoples organizations and trade unions who are engaged in action, advocacy and lobbying at the level of inter-governmental processes and organizations. It aims to enhance cooperation among its members and partners to increase the impact and effectiveness of their engagement with inter-governmental bodies. The two-day conference served as a forum to discuss challenges to civil society and social movements in Asia in the area of peace and human security. (Antonio Manaytay and Ma. Carmen Lauzon with reports from Ruby Rose Lora)
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