Welcome to the first issue of the SOLIDARITY!, the quarterly E-newsletter of IID.
This is a re-launch of the same IID publication printed initially more than 28 years ago when IID was still in its gestation period.
At IID’s precursor organization, Center for International Learning (CIL) – Tuluyan San Benito based in Quezon City in the Philippines, the rst issue of Solidarity – sans the exclamation point (!) – was born. It was produced by the then motley IID team of 5 people who believed in a better world if peoples from both the “South” and “North” and those in the “East” and “West” embrace the notion of “people-to-people internationalism”. Start-up and bold ideas and opinions such as “south-south solidarity” and questioning the relevance of the UN at a time of continuing strife even at the twilight of the Cold War were some of the issues that we tackled in the maiden issue.
This was a generation or so ago when there was no Internet, no smartphones, and no personal computers. Our rst issue was literally cut and pasted from typewritten texts from a then borrowed “high end” IBM typewriter then to be laid out afterwards, photocopied, stenciled and mimeographed for distribution and mailed to partners, friends and donors. A Japanese-American volunteer intern who was the son of an Asian Development Bank high-ranking of cial did the tedious layout chore for us. Fast forward to 28 years or so after, a French volunteer-intern is helping us produce: edit, write and layout this re-launch issue together with the current Manila team of IID.
SOLIDARITY! has had other conceptions as IID unfolded: Kapatiran (Pilipino for “solidarity” or “fraternity”), Estafeta (referring to a child courier cum messenger of the clandestine movement in East Timor during their self-determination struggle of which IID was advocating and supporting then) and Dialogue—which all presented varying perspectives that focused on lingering con icts between and among peoples, classes and states including post-Cold War issues.
SOLIDARITY! will now be a quarterly online publication that will promote IID’s discourse on human security, democratization and people to people solidarity. IID currently conducts policy advocacy and campaigns on issues on Burma/ Myanmar, Mindanao/Philippines, Southern Thailand, West Papua, Timor Leste and the Southeast Asia region at large focusing on processes related to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Guided by IID’S discourse on people-to-people dialogue and south-south internationalism, we are committed to publish relevant and timely articles that revolve not only around our thematic concerns but also of our immediate partners and networks in the Asia-Paci c region and beyond.
SOLIDARITY! aims to publish articles about pressing issues that have relevant impact on the lives of peoples in the region including analyses and opinion coming directly from civil society actors, peoples movements and grassroots formations engaged in various and akin advocacy initiatives.
This first issue will feature among others articles and analyses on the recent elections in Burma/Myanmar particularly on women peace-builder partners who won, and an update and analysis of the Mindanao peace process in relation to the stalled process to legislate a Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL). A personal essay by our French intern on her re ections on the recent Paris carnage and its broader implication and relation to the peace processes in the Philippines and the region will also be highlighted.
SOLIDARITY! will be circulated to various social media platforms such as Facebook, blogs, Facebook pages and groups and the official website of IID (www.iidnet.org).
May we invite you to read and enjoy this issue as we look forward to your feedback, contributions and yes, solidarity!
https://iidnet.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Solidarity1stEdition-ver3.pdf
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