Thailand Centers

 

Known Centers based in Thailand

If your center is not in this list and you want to be added, please contact HURIGHTS OSAKA and we will assist you.

 

 

Thailand Centers Alternative Asean Network On Burma (Altsean-Burma) Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR) Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) Asian Research Center for Migration (ARCM) Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) Asia-Pacific Network of People with HIV/AIDS (APN+) Committee for Asian Women (CAW) Institute for Community Rights Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies Mekong Region Law Center

 

 

Alternative Asean Network On Burma (Altsean-Burma)

 

Year Established:1996

 

Short Historical Background

 

The Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma (Altsean-Burma) is a network of organizations and individuals based in ASEAN member-states working to support the movement for human rights and democracy in Burma. The network is comprised of human rights and social justice civil society organizations (CSOs), political parties, think tanks, academics, journalists and student activists. It was formed at the conclusion of the Alternative ASEAN Meeting on Burma held at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, in October 1996.

 

It also works in coordination and cooperation with key groups outside the ASEAN region.

 

Objectives

 

Altsean-Burma aims to support the movement for human rights and democracy in Burma within the context of ASEAN. In doing so, it also works with CSOs to strengthen the human rights and democratization agenda in ASEAN. While its focus has been on Burma, it works with our partners to support human rights causes within the region. It regards the political participation of women as an essential element of democracy and therefore incorporates this approach into its work.

 

Programs and Activities

 

1) Advocacy and Campaigns

Altsean-Burma develops and implements a range of regionally-based advocacy activities in active partnership with strategic organizations, networks and individuals concerned with human rights and democracy in Burma and in ASEAN.

 

In the context of ASEAN, Altsean-Burma has contributed significantly to multi-sectoral advocacy that resulted in a breakthrough shift in ASEAN’s position on Burma. An important alliance with the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) has been essential to this breakthrough. The AIPMC is a grouping of legislators from ASEAN pushing for democratic reforms and change in Burma.

 

Altsean-Burma provides background briefings, media liaison support, and on-record commentary on issues relating to human rights and democracy in Burma and Southeast Asia.

 

2) Research, publications and campaign resources

Altsean-Burma produces various resources that are used as tools for advocacy and campaign work by legislators, activists, journalists, researchers, diplomats and other decision-makers.

 

3) Women Internships & Alumni Program - Barman & Ethnic

This program is geared to developing the understanding by the women of Burma of various aspects of human rights and democracy, with an emphasis on valuing diversity. The program is focused on developing skills in problem-solving, negotiation, risk assessment and management, project management, networking, advocacy, leadership and other organizational skills.

 

Altsean Burma’s women’s internship has successfully produced a significant number of young women leaders who have made great advances in women’s political participation and continue to transform the movement for human rights and democracy in Burma.

 

Altsean-Burma maintains contact and strategic support to former interns through the Intern’s Alumni Program. The alumni program helps to develop links and ongoing cooperation between former interns from different locations, organizations & ethnic groups.

 

4) Women of Burma Program

 

The Women of Burma project is a women-specific program that bridges the internship, capacity building, women’s solidarity, and resources production. Its key aim is to promote the role of women in the struggle and generate greater solidarity among women of Burma and support from non-Burmese women’s movements.

 

5) Women of Burma Day campaign

 

June 19 (Aung San Suu Kyi’s birthday) has been dedicated as Women of Burma Day groups around the world and is used as the day for focusing attention on the struggle of women against Burma’ s military dictatorship.

Altsean-Burma produces women’s specific research and publications, such as the periodic “The Situation of Women of Burma” report cards on the situation of women in Burma and the Burma Women’s Voices book series. The Burma – Voices of Women series is a published in two languages – English and Burmese.

 

6) Burma Women Writers’ Program

 

The Burma Women Writers Workshops aim:

• To assist women of Burma to develop creative writing skills;
• To build the confidence of women of Burma to express themselves and their opinions through writing short stories, letters, articles and poems;
• To enable women from diverse ethnic backgrounds and a variety of experiences and perspectives to contribute to the “Burma - Women’s Voices series;
• To assist women to provide similar workshops in their own organizations and communities.

 

7) Capacity-building (trainings)

• Advocacy Capacity Building - Altsean-Burma provides a range of strategic capacity building initiatives for people of Burma involved in the pro-democracy movement, with an emphasis on encouraging the participation of women, youth and diverse ethnic groups. Our capacity-building initiatives are developed in response to need and demand, and based on extensive consultation.
• Economic Literacy Training for Burma Activists Program - The Economic Literacy Training is a multi-stage series aimed at developing the skills of Burma activists to use economic points for human rights advocacy, and to increase their ability to engage in economic policy development debates, both now and in a future transition period. It aims to enable Burma activists, advocates and their organizations to:
• Develop a general understanding of key economic issues in the context of Burma;
• Develop skills to use economic data and economic arguments to promote human rights and democracy in Burma; and
• Actively participate in the development of economic and development policy for Burma’s transition.
• Security Analysis & Policy Program - The SLT training explores both traditional approaches to ‘security’ and non-traditional approaches which are particularly relevant to Burma and Burma advocacy. The broad concept of security and security issues covered in this training includes human security, economic security, environmental security, trans-national crime, drug trafficking and human trafficking. It also looks at human security in the Burma/Thailand borderlands and the issue of refugees and internally displaced people.

 

Publications

 

• Burma Bulletin (monthly)
• Burma Issues and Concerns
• Briefing notes
• Campaign resources: t-shirts, posters, postcards, stickers, calendars, video

 

Altsean Burma issues special reports in the form of reports, briefers, factsheets among others on emerging human rights issues in Burma:

• DIRE HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCY: The urgent need to address human security consequences of junta violence - 26 April 2022
• ASEAN onBurma/Myanmar: An increasingly poor excuse for UN Security Council inaction - 10 March 2022
• Burma/Myanmar junta destroys the economy - 7 February 2022
• Junta guards power by jailing political opponents - 5 February 2022
• Burma/Myanmar: sanctions piling up but not yet good enough - 1 February 2022

 

Myanmar ESG Files: How “responsible investment” is enabling a military dictatorship with Inclusive Development International and ALTSEAN-Burma - March 9, 2022

 

Women's Voices of Burma series:

• Women's Voices Across Boundaries - March 2020
• Burma - Women's Voices for Peace - May 2010
• Burma - Women's Voices for Hope - May 2007
• Burma - Women's Voices for Freedom - May 2005

 

Address

 

Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma

P.O. Box 296 Lardprao Post Office, Bangkok 10310

THAILAND

ph (668) 1850 9008

fax (66 2) 2754261

e-mail: altsean[a]altsean.org

www.altsean.org; www.unscburma.org

 

 

 

Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR)

 

Year Established: 1988

 

Short Historical Background

 

In June 1988 a group of professionals and social activists involved with urban poor development activities in various Asian countries established the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR). The first activity the group implemented was a Regional Campaign against evictions in Korea. This led to a number of new regional activities with a larger number and broader range of contact groups. ACHR evolved into a regional network and representative for Habitat International Coalition, for Asia. It has also become the main regional network on human settlements and urban issues consulted by many United Nations agencies such as UNCHS, UNDP and ESCAP.

 

Objectives

 

ACHR aims

1. To act as a pressure group and for crisis intervention in specific problems (including fact-finding missions and regional campaigns) of the urban poor;
2. To disseminate information on issues of the urban poor;
3. To provide opportunities for community organizations to facilitate sharing of experiences at the community level and for international members to deepen understanding of the major forces affecting the urban poor;
4. To facilitate experience sharing and exchange among groups especially among the grassroots groups and non-governmental organizations (NGOs);
5. To provide professional consultation based on needs for groups working on urban poor issues;
6. To coordinate with related international and local agencies especially with regard to regional activities;
7. To support the empowerment of local urban poor organizations and strengthen links among each other;
8. To support the grassroots struggle for housing with an aim to develop the process that enables people to strengthen their own capabilities;
9. To research on key issues on urban poor and innovative initiatives in the region; 
10. To advocate for the right to housing at international, national and local levels;
11. To create space for change and facilitating dialogue on local situations through by organizing activities with local groups;
12. To support and encourage young professionals to get involved in community development work and deepen their understanding of the people's process.

 

 

Programs and Activities

 

Training & Advisory Program (TAP) – this is a system of mutual learning and support, based on Asian experiences and processes, for Asian grassroots community organizations, NGOs and urban poor development professionals.

 

Eviction Watch & Housing Rights - this program aims to document and reduce the number of forced evictions throughout Asian cities as well as introduce alternative methods for solving housing-related problems in Asian cities.

 

Community Environmental Improvement Facility – this aims to improve local governance through the creation of community-led environment development planning, budgeting and implementation processes centered around the concern for improving the local environment.

 

Young Professionals - a program to influence the decision-makers of the future by providing opportunities for young graduates to work with and for urban poor communities. Its also aims at change in learning institutions concerned with city development and planning.

 

Advocacy - senior ACHR members in Asia attempt to act as advocates on behalf of the region’s urban poor, at the local, national, regional and international levels - to highlight their views and interests and those of the poor to promote solutions to city problems.

 

Country Projects – in countries in Asia where community based development is either non existent or weaker than in other Asian cities ACHR has established country-level programs to catalyze and then strengthen local grassroots organizations of the urban poor.

 

Publications

• Housing by People In Asia (bi-annual newsletter)
• News on TAP (bi-annual newsletter)
• Young Professionals Newsletter
• Evictions/Housing Rights Abuses in Asia, Denis Murphy and Minar Pimple, editors (compiled from " Eviction Watch monitoring reports), November 1995
• Housing Finance for the Poor, a joint publication of HIC / ACHR / IIED / UNDP, 1994
• Housing The Poor: Asian Experiences, Fr. Jorge Anzorena, 1994
• Housing Crisis in Central Asia, Arif Hasan
• How Communities Organize Themselves, Kenneth Fernandes
• Working with Government, Arif Hasan.

 

ACHR "Housing by People in Asia" Newsletters

• Issue 17 - November 2007
• Issue 18 - August 2013
• Issue 19 - September 2014
• Issue 20 - May 2022
• Issue 21 - June 2022

 

Other Information

 

The activities of the Asian Women and Shelter Network (AWAS) are linked to all the ACHR programs and activities.

 

Address

 

Asian Coalition for Housing Rights

73 Soi Sonthiwattana 4, Ladprao 110

Ladprao Rd Bangkok 10310, THAILAND

ph (662) 538 0919

fax (662) 539 9950

e-mail: achr[a]loxinfo.co.th

www.achr.net

 

 

 

Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)

 

Year Established: 1991

 

Short Historical Background

 

The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) is a membership-based regional human rights organization working to promote and protect all human rights, including the right to development through collaboration and cooperation among human rights organizations and defenders in Asia.

 

FORUM-ASIA was founded following a consultation among human rights and development non-governmental organizations in Asia held in Manila on 17 December 1991. Its regional Secretariat has been located in Bangkok, Thailand since 1994.

 

It presently has forty member-organizations in fifteen countries in South, Southeast and Northeast Asia. It is committed to building a peaceful, just, equitable and ecologically sustainable community of peoples and societies in Asia, where all human rights of all individuals, groups and peoples – in particular, the poor, marginalized and discriminated – are fully respected and realized in accordance with internationally accepted human rights norms. It has NGO Consultative Status with the United Nations (UN) and advocates human rights issues through engagement with governments, inter-governmental organizations and the UN for the better promotion and protection of all human rights.

 

As one of the leading organizations in the regional platform, FORUM-ASIA seeks to facilitate dialogue, capacity-building and networking among human rights defenders, civil society actors and organizations in Asia to achieve a full realization of all the human rights and human development in the region.

 

Objective

 

FORUM-ASIA aims to strengthen its leading and coordinating role in building a regional human rights movement through effective engagement with states and other stakeholders in Asia.

 

Programs

 

FORUM-ASIA has six program units under three sections: a functional program and two substantive program branches – the Country Program Branch (CPB) and the Advocacy Program Branch (APB).

 

The Country Program Branch works closely with member-organizations that primarily deal with human rights issues on the ground and organize international campaigns jointly with members and partners by providing necessary support and assistance when needed. Under this program, there are two sub-regional programs, namely the South Asia (SA) Program and East Asia (EA) Program.

 

The Advocacy Program Branch promotes effective engagement with the state and other stakeholders for human rights accountability, as well as the rule of law through effective advocacy at inter-governmental bodies and processes. Under the Advocacy Program Branch, there are two programs, namely the UN Advocacy (UNA) Program and the Human Rights Defenders (HRD) Program. The UNA Program aims to enhance the impact and effectiveness of advocacy at UN human rights bodies and processes. It covers the UN Human Rights Council and UN human rights treaty-monitoring bodies.

 

The HRD Program aims to strengthen protection and assistance for HRDs and activists and to promote the role of HRDs in accordance with internationally recognized human rights norms and standards. The HRD Program covers the promotion of the 1998 UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, training and networking among HRDs and National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs).

 

Activities

 

1. Advocacy: Strengthening advocacy campaigning as well as solidarity actions at the national and international levels
2. Building Capacity: Strengthening the capacity of human rights defenders and organizations in advocacy, campaigning and networking
3. Coalition-Building: Promoting coalition-building and networking among human rights organizations and other stakeholders at the national and international levels
4. Developing Organization: Enhancing the effectiveness and sustainability of organizational management and development, including information and communications strategy.

 

Special Concern

 

Human rights defenders, establishment of the rule of law and combating impunity, abolition of the death penalty, human rights education and learning, advocacy at the regional and international levels and intergovernmental bodies.

 

Publications

• Asian Human Rights Defender (AHRD)
• 2nd Asian Regional Human Rights Defenders’ Forum: Reference Materials
• Compilation of E-Newsletters No. 1-26 (Feb-Nov 2006)
• Public Statements
• International Human Rights Law: A Compilation of Human Rights Treaties and other instruments
• Compilation of Legal Frameworks for National Human Rights Institutions in Asia
• United Nations Reform Initiatives (1993-2003)
• United Nations Reform Initiatives (2004-2005)
• Background Document on Peace and Democracy in Nepal
• Key Documents Related to Human Rights Defenders (Volumes 1 and 2)
• Selected Documents on Millennium Declaration + 5
• Asian Highlight - Issue One: Presentation of Special Procedures Reports
• Report: Presentation of Special Procedures Reports at the Council's Fourth and Fifth Regular Session
• Human Rights Council Session IV - High Level Segment Report
• Performance of National Human Rights Institutions in Asia 2006
• Freedom of Expression and the Media in Thailand
• Talking About Taboos: Asia Pacific women reflect on issues of Sexuality
• Neither Wolf, nor Lamb: Embracing Civil Society in the Aceh Conflict
• Surfing Rights in Asia
• Aceh: The Untold Story
• Making Institutions Count: Strengthening Support for Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) in Asia by National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) (2022)
• Fundamental Freedoms in South Asia (2021)
• Booklet: The Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and other Resources – a booklet for defenders
• Going Nowhere: Fact-finding Mission Report on Indigenous Communities, Fisherfolk: Harassment, Poverty and Climate Change in Indonesia (2021)

 

Other Information

 

FORUM-ASIA has members in Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Timor-Leste and Thailand.

 

Address

 

Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)

S.P.D Building 3rd Floor, 79/2 Krungthonburi
Road, Khlong Ton Sai, Khlong San, Bangkok,
10600 Thailand
ph (662) 1082643-45
fax (662) 1082646

e-mail: info[a]forum-asia.org

www.forum-asia.org

 

 

 

Asian Research Center for Migration (ARCM)

- Chulalongkorn University

 

Year Established:1987

 

Short Historical Background

 

The Indochinese Refugee Information Center (IRIC), a unit of the Institute of Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University, was established in 1987 to observe and study refugees and displaced persons from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and, later, Myanmar/Burma, who were seeking asylum in Thailand. Due to resettlement abroad and repatriation, few Indochinese asylum seekers remain in Thailand and other Asian nations. Yet starting around the same period, major concerns emerged with respect to regional migration (both legal and illegal), the magnitude of this migration, and the lack of in-depth knowledge about it throughout Southeast Asia. In late 1994, in consultation with, and with the encouragement of national and international institutions, the Institute of Asian Studies decided to broaden IRIC's terms of reference with the aim of establishing a regional center focusing on migration from a global perspective and providing services to both the public and the private sectors. On 1 January 1995, IRIC was renamed the Asian Research Center for Migration (ARCM).

 

Objectives

 

The ARCM aims

 

1. To act as a centralized source of migration-related information for the South-East Asia region, by researching and documenting regional migratory movements and the impacts of such movements;
2. To conduct research on key migration topics, including migrant workers, refugees and other transborder movements of people;
3. To strengthen links with other academic institutions, governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and international organizations;
4. To build a significant resource and information base, and disseminate information in relevant formats;
5. To organize lectures, seminars, training and consultancies for individuals and organizations in the region.

 

Programs and Activities

 

Academic Activities

• Run a computerized, easily searchable catalog of the books, journals, papers, video tapes, maps, and other such materials available at ARCM
• Collect and make available information on cross-border migratory movements and the impacts such movements have in the realms of politics, social environment, health, economy, labor, and law
• Strengthen links with other people and organizations interested in cross-border migration, both within and outside of Southeast Asia
• Establish ARCM as a centralized source of migration-related information for Thailand and to a lesser degree -- other parts of mainland Southeast Asia

 

Service

• Place ARCM's catalog at the disposal of public and private parties, including Internet access
• Undertake surveys, studies and analyses upon request on specific subjects related to migration
• Devise recommendations for problems and policies related to migration

 

Publications

• Children Caught in Conflicts: The Impact of Armed Conflicat on Children in Southeast Asia
• Research report: Lack of Laborer in Thailand, 2000 (in Thai)
• Research Project: Follow the Result of Registration for Immigrant Worker: Process and Problems, 2001 (in Thai)
• Immigrant Workers Policies, short and long term of solving problems, 2001 (in Thai)
• Thai Migrant Workers in East and Southeast Asia : The Prospects of Thailand's Migration Policy in the Light of the Regional Economic Recession (Returnees to Thailand)
• Research Report on Migration and Deception of Migrant Workers in Thailand
• Academic Conference Report: Dimension of Thailand Research for International Migration in Globalization (in Thai)
• Mobility and HIV/AIDS in the Greater Mekong Subregion
• Thailand-Lao People's Democratic Republic and Thailand - Myanmar Border Areas (Trafficking in Children into the Worst Forms of Child Labour: A Rapid Assessment)
• Thailand: Improving the Management of Foreign Workers (in Thai)
• Module and Handbook of Awareness-Raising Workshop on Migrant Welfare and Obligations (in Thai)
• Thailand Policies Towards Migrant Workers from Myanmar
• Assessing the Situation of the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Samutsakhon (in Thai/Eng)
• Cross Border Migration between Thailand and Lao PDR: A Qualitative Assessment of Lao Migration and Its Contribution to HIV Vulnerability
• Report on Tsunami Affected Thai People in South Thailand
• Report Tsunami Emergency Response Evaluation: Burmese Migrant Population
• Running The Gauntlet: The Impact of Internal Displacement in Southern Shan State
• Cross Border Migration between Thailand and Lao PDR: A Qualitative Assessment of Lao Migration and Its Contribution to HIV Vulnerability
• Uprooting People for their Own Good? Human Displacement, Resettlement and Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region
• Rapid Assessment on Child Labour Employment in the Border Area Between Thailand and Cambodia - Srakaew, Chantaburi and Trad Provinces
• Thai-Laos Informal Border Trade (Mukdahan-Savannakhet) (in Thai)
• Multisectoral Needs Assessment of Border Villages in Mae Hong Son Province
• Cross-Border Population Movement and HIV/AIDS Along Thai-Malaysia Border: Sadao, Songkhla Provinces and Sungai Kolok, Narathiwas Provinces
• Female Labour Migration in South-East Asia: Change and Continuity
• Thai Migrant Workers in East and Southeast Asia: The Prospects of Thailand's Migration Policy in the Light of the Regional Economic Recession (Final Report) (in Thai/English)
• Thai Migrant Workers in East and Southeast Asia: The Prospects of Thailand's Migration Policy in the Light of the Regional Economic Recession (Conditions in Destination Countries)
• Needs Assessment for Migrant Children in Thailand: A Case of Burmese Children in Ranong (in Thai)
• Needs Assessment of Host Communities in Burmese Border Refugee Camp Area: Tasongyang and Pobpra District, Tak Province (in Thai)
• Cross-border Migration and HIV/AIDS Vulnerability at the Thai-Cambodia Border Arunyaprathet and Kholng Yai
• Cross-border Migration and HIV Vulnerability in the Thai-Myanmar Border Sangkhlaburi and Ranong

 

Other Information

 

ARCM has computerized its catalog of materials (books, papers, reports, journals, newsletters, articles, news clippings, maps, slides, and video tapes) on migration and related issues.

 

Address

 

Asian Research Center for Migration (ARCM)

Institute of Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University

7th floor, Prachadhipok-Rambhai Barni Building,

Phyathai Road, Bangkok, 10330 THAILAND

ph (662) 218-7462, 218-7415 , 218-7419

fax (662) 255-1124, 255-8854

e-mail: arcm[a]chula.ac.th, supang.c[a]chula.ac.th

www.arcm.ias.chula.ac.th

 

 

 

Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD)

 

Year Established:1986

 

Short Historical Background

 

The Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) is Asia-Pacific’s leading feminist, membership driven network. It has consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. Its 180 members represent groups of diverse women from 25 countries in the region. For nearly 25 years APWLD has been empowering women to use law as an instrument of change for equality, justice, peace and development. It does research, training, advocacy and activism to claim and strengthen women’s human rights.

 

Launching in December 1986, women-delegates from across Asia met in Tagaytay, Philippines to discuss the most pressing socio-legal issues facing women and to explore possible areas of collaborative action. The outcome of this meeting was the formation of the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD), the first regional response to the challenges of Nairobi.

 

In 1986, women-lawyers and other activists in the region formally launched APWLD and set up a secretariat in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Secretariat relocated to Chiangmai, Thailand in October 1997.

 

Its diverse membership provides the strength and expertise that both drives and executes four program areas which include Women and Power, Feminist Law and Practice, Breaking out of Marginalisation and Grounding the Global 

 

Our Work

 

APWLD empowers women in the region to use law as an instrument of change for equality, justice, peace and development. APWLD uses research, training, advocacy and activism to claim and strengthen women’s human rights as enshrined in UN international human rights instruments.

 

Our Beliefs

 

We believe that law can be transformative as well as repressive. We seek to dissect, engage with and transform laws, legal practices and the systems that shape and inform them. We believe that the fusion of patriarchy with militarization, fundamentalisms and neo-liberal economic globalization is responsible for gross violations of women’s rights.

 

We believe that equality, development and the realization of human rights can only happen when women, particularly marginalized women, are empowered to lead policy and legal debates and articulate solutions. We believe that a transformative form of democratic leadership can bring about the structural changes required to claim and advance women’s rights.

 

Our Structure

 

Our diverse membership provides the strength and expertise that both drives and executes our program activities. APWLD is governed by a Programme and Management Committee comprised from a larger Regional Council of active members. Our Secretariat in Chiangmai carries out day-to-day operations and provides for program implementation as well as financial and technical support.

 

Objectives

 

APWLD aims

1) To enable women in the region to use law as an instrument of change for the empowerment of women in their struggle for justice, peace, equality and development;

2) To promote basic concepts of human rights in the region as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and other relevant international human rights instruments.

 

Programs

 

Rural and Indigenous Women (RIW) Program - strengthens the capacity of RIW to address issues of globalization and influences the agenda of peoples and social movements on the impacts of globalization on rural and indigenous women from a feminist perspective.

 

Violence Against Women (VAW) Program - strengthens the effectiveness of human rights mechanisms, specifically the UN Special Rapporteur mechanism, to address violence against women. It builds capacities of women's groups to advocate for the elimination of existing and emerging forms of VAW in the Asia Pacific; and enhances conceptual clarity among women's organizations working on VAW, its causes and consequences.

 

Women's Human Rights Working Group (WHR-WG) - promotes integration of the women's human rights framework in APWLD's programs and activities; identifies and undertakes actions on critical issues related to women's human rights particularly in Asia Pacific; and enhances the understanding of emerging issues of women's rights in the programs of APWLD and among members.

 

Women's Participation in Political Processes (WPPP) Program - focuses on advocacy and capacity-building strategies centered on promoting women's agenda within political processes and increasing the representation of women in leadership positions. The program supports advocacy at regional and international levels on women's rights to participate in all aspects of decision-making. It pushes the prioritization of women's issues in mainstream political institutions.

 

Women and Environment (WEN) Program - addresses issues of environmental destruction and degradation and the displacement of women and men due to mal-development projects. Committing to the campaign of food sovereignty, WEN further develops and deepens the framework of food sovereignty from a feminist perspective and builds the capacity of women's groups to advocate for food sovereignty and other related rights at the national, regional and international levels.

 

Activities

International, regional and national activities in each program are conducted such as:

• Trainings (Feminist Legal Theory and Practice Training, Regional and National Gender and Politics Training Workshop);
• Research (Special Economic Zones, Collation of Laws on Women's Political Participation, Women's Strategies in Electoral Processes);
• Advocacy (Commission on Status of Women, UN Commission on Human Rights, Development of the Resource Kit on Food Sovereignty, lobbying for rural and indigenous women's rights at international forums, building of marginalized women's movement in the Asia-Pacific);
• Fact Finding Missions (Women and Environment Program);
• Consultations, Seminars, Conferences (Women's Strategies in Electoral Processes, Asia Pacific Regional Consultations with the UN Special Rapporteur on VAW);
• Monitoring of UN and International/Regional Strategic Forums;
• Campaigns (VAW and Access to Justice, Recognition of Domestic Work as Work, Rights of Migrant Domestic Workers, International Campaign on Food Sovereignty);
• Publications (FORUM NEWS, APWLD's quarterly publications, publications of each program).

 

Special Concerns

 

Initiatives on Cross Cutting Issues - undertaken to respond to urgent issues of the time; and to respond to specific requests from APWLD members and partners. Some activities done under cross -cutting issues are: the International Campaign on Women Human Rights Defenders, and the Women in Disasters Project.

 

Publications

• Political Economy of Violence Against Women: The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women Consultation, 2007
• Defending the Rights of Indigenous Women in Asia Pacific UNSRVAW consultation 2008.
• Feminist Legal Theory & Practice Training Manual
• Anti Terror Laws and Their Impact on Rural Women in Asia
• Saya Migran: a domestic worker’s guide to understanding and asserting our rights
• Your Life is in Your Hands - Fiji Tax free zones
• Collation of Papers and Proceedings of the 20th Anniversary of the Women, Law and Development networks with Comité de América Latina y el Caribe para la Defensa de los Derechos de la Mujer (CLADEM) and Women in Law and Development Africa (WiLDAF) held in Bangkok, Thailand, November 2007
• Mining and Women in Asia: Experiences of Women Protecting their Communities and Human Rights against Corporate Mining
• Demanding Protection for Foreign Domestic Workers and All Women Migrants - the 2008 Joint Regional Consultation with UN Special Rapporteurs UNSRs) on the human rights of migrants (Jorge Bustamante), and on contemporary forms of slavery including its causes and consequences (Gulnara Shahinian(, held on 24-25 October 2008 in Manila, Philippines co-organized by APWLD, Coordination of Action Research on AIDS and Mobility (CARAM Asia) and the Global
• Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW)
• The Hidden Pillars: A Study on the Contribution of Indonesian Domestic Workers to the Quality of Life of Hong Kong and Malaysian Employers
• Guidelines for Gender Sensitive Disaster Management (Updated)
• Seethings & Seatings: The Asia-Pacific Conference on Women in Politics and Governance
• In Solidarity: Proceedings of the Third Regional Human Rights Defender Forum and the Asia Pacific Regional Consultation on Women Human Rights Defenders
• Due to high demand, APWLD reprinted three key publications in 2009: Negotiating Culture: Intersections of Culture and Violence Against Women in Asia Pacific; Seethings and Seatings: Strategies for Women’s Political Participation in Asia Pacific; and Fundamentalisms in Asia Pacific: Trends, Impact, Challenges and Strategies Asserting Women’s Rights
• 2022 publications

Climate Justice FPAR Country Briefers (Thailand, Nepal, Vietnam, Indoenesia, Pakistan, Philippines)
Decent Work for Women Migrant Workers Country Briefers (Hong Kong,Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Bangladesh,
Empowering women to claim ownership over land and water bodies in Rampal and Sundarban areas
Empowering Nebulal women to defend their rights to land, livelihoods and decent work
Empowering young women to resist Sombo Hydropower project in defence of their land and livelihoods
Beisumpuikam women interrogating discriminatory Naga customary law to demand women’s land ownership
Peasant women of Koto Garo reclaiming land seized by plantation companies
Empowering landless migrant and former refugee women to claim their right to accessing land from the state fund in the Chui region
Indigenous Majhi women resisting the construction of Sunkoshi hydropower dam in Manthali, Ramechhap to protect their land rights
Organising rural women in Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to investigate the impact of land grabbing and corporate control on their community
Lumad women defending their indigenous right to ancestral land and resources in Mindanao
ISDS vs Women's Human Rights
Recognising and Empowering Migrant Sex Workers as Workers to Gain Legal Protection and Access
to Health
Protection, Not Restrictions! Organising and Mobilising Returnee Migrant Workers to Lift Gender-Based Migration Bans and Restrictions

 

Other Information

 

FORUM NEWS and some of our publications are available at www.apwld.org

 

Address

 

Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD)

189/3 Changklan Road

Amphoe Muang, Chiang Mai 50100

THAILAND

ph (66) 53 284527, 284856

fax (66) 53 280847

e-mail: apwld[a]apwld.org

www.apwld.org

 

 

 

 

Asia-Pacific Network of People with HIV/AIDS (APN+)

 

Year Established: 1994

 

Short historical background

 

APN+ is the network of PLHIV living in Asia Pacific region. It was established in 1994 at a meeting in Kuala Lumpur by forty-two PLHIV from eight countries. It was established in response to the need for a collective voice for PLHIV in the region, to better link regional PLHIV with the Global Network of PLHIV (GNP+) and positive networks throughout the world, and to support regional responses to widespread stigma and discrimination and better access to treatment and care.

 

Objectives

 

APN+ aims

1. To provide leadership by actively advocating from the regional level for the equal rights of all PLHIV as well as ensuring full participation and representation in the response to HIV and AIDS;
2. To further develop the capacity of APN+ networks in the areas of skills, knowledge and attitudes, responding to identified needs and using a range of internal and external resources that allow organizations and individuals to grow and sustain their networks;
3. To strengthen the exchange of knowledge and information among PLHIV, their networks and other key stakeholders through undertaking research, developing publications, providing training and securing adequate resources for the purpose of responding effectively to the needs of PLHIV in the region;
4. To build and strengthen the network of all PLHIV organizations at regional, sub-regional and national levels in meaningful partnership with governments, donors and civil society as a way of advancing the APN+ positive agenda;
5. To develop the capacity of the APN+ secretariat and steering committee in core leadership and management areas in ways designed to efficiently and effectively support network members in achieving their own country missions and objectives.

 

Programs and Activities

 

Women of APN+ (WAPN+) - this is a newly-formed women's working group of APN+ whose vision is the "empowerment of women living with HIV and AIDS in the Asia-Pacific region to provide a united voice, improve the quality of our lives and ensure our leaders protect our rights." WAPN+ aims to:

1. Share information on a range of issues to HIV-positive women throughout the region
2. Increase the capacity of HIV-positive women to take on leadership roles
3. Strengthen and help establish national networks of women living with HIV.

 

APN+ MSM Working Group – this was launched at the beginning of 2007. As of September 2007 the APN+ MSM Working Group has twenty-four members from thirteen countries. The MSM Working Group undertook the following activities for 2007:

1. Advocacy and collaborations: such as with Purple Sky (Mekong) Network, APCOM and AP Rainbow
2. Research: positive MSM focus groups in four countries
3. Capacity building for positive MSM: skills training for our members
4. Communications: e-group for members
5. Resource development: positive MSM information resources
6. Positive MSM activities at ICAAP8 (Sri Lanka August 2007): presentation, skills building workshop and satellite meeting.

 

Publications

• APN-who we are
• Asia Pacific Participant's Manual and Training Resource on Basic HIV Counselling Skills
• Baseline Survey of GIPA and stigma and discrimination in Greater Mekong Region
• Lifting the Burden of Secrecy (A Manual for HIV Positive People Who Want to Speak Out in Public)
• Lifting the Burden of Secrecy (A Training Module for HIV positive speakers)
• Valued Voices APN+ GIPA Toolkit
• We Have Rights (Rights Advocacy Tool)
• AIDS Discrimination in Asia
• Project Report May 07
• APN+ Tsunami Report
• International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) Newletter
• Facilitators and barriers for retention in HIV care between testing and treatment in Asia—A study in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Lao, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines and Vietnam - 2017
• Community-Initiated HIV Testing Services in South Asian Cities for Men Who Have Sex With Men and Transgender Women - 2017
• Desk Review Report – Improving Community Based/Led HIV Testing Among Transgender People and People who Inject Drugs in Asia - 2019
• Living Longer with HIV in Asia Pacific - 2019

 

Address

 

Asia Pacific Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS

5/20 Ocean Tower II, 17th Floor.
Soi Sukhumvit 19 , Klong Toey Nua, Wattana

Bangkok 10110 THAILAND

ph (662) 2597488-9

fax (662) 2597487

e-mail:  apnplus.communication[a]gmail.com

www.apnplus.org

 

 

 

Committee for Asian Women (CAW)

 

Year Established: 1987

 

Short Historical Background

 

The Committee for Asian Women (CAW) was founded as a church-affiliated organization based in Hong Kong, when women workers in the region had neither a voice nor a space to struggle for their rights. In the eighties, CAW was successful in facilitating the emergence of women workers organizations, as well as the empowerment of women leaders, the gender sensitization of trade unions and the labor sensitization of women's movements. CAW's specificity has from the very beginning until now intertwined labor and women's concerns and linked up women's organizations and trade unionism. This integration of issues is CAW's exceptional achievement and constitutes its organizational profile.

 

CAW is a regional network of forty-three women workers groups in fourteen Asian countries with the goal of empowering women workers to protect, advocate, and advance their rights. Since its birth more than thirty years ago, it has been doing pioneering work to build solidarity among women workers in various countries in Asia.

 

It envisions a world where all people are free to develop their potential without any form of domination and exploitation based on class, gender, color and religious belief. This is a world where the common wealth is used for the common good, workers enjoy the fruits of their labor, women prevail against patriarchy, and women workers determine their own destinies.

 

Objectives

 

The mission of CAW is to support the self-empowerment of Asian women workers and the formation of their movements. CAW shall provide a platform for Asian women workers to claim their space, time and voice, to struggle against global capitalism and patriarchy, and to advance their rights. Essential to all this is the ongoing challenge of redefining work to encompass reproductive and domestic labor, and work in the informal economy, in addition to paid work.

 

CAW therefore aims

1. To raise the consciousness of women workers in Asia as to their rights as women as workers to realize their common situations and problems, and to work for organized responses to these;
2. To support organizing efforts of the women workers to affect favorable changes in their lives;
3. To be a regional platform for women workers in Asia to facilitate and represent the voice of women workers in Asia;
4. To promote improvement in the lives of women workers in Asia;
5. To support women workers in their efforts to create alternative systems – both at home and in the workplace;
6. To create organizing spaces for women workers.

 

Programs and Activities

 

CAW works for the improvement in the lives of women workers especially where they are most vulnerable and least organized. The programs CAW adopted toward this end consist of the following:

1. Formal economy/ Informalization of work - focuses on trade agreements and their implication on local industries that employ women workers;
2. Informal Economy - supports empowerment of women workers towards legislative and policy protection for domestic workers, waste collectors and agricultural workers;
3. Women Workers Rights in Conflict and Suppression - builds solidarity among women workers in areas of conflict and political suppression towards peace, democracy and decent work for women;
4. Information, Communication and Media - disseminates information on women workers’ issues through the Asian Women Workers Newsletter, CAW researches and reports, website and mass media;
5. Asian Labor Solidarity Movement Building – builds linkages with other peoples' movements to enhance women workers’ movements toward regional and global labor consciousness;
6. Women Workers’ Leadership Training and Education Program - builds women workers’ leadership capacity on national, regional and global issues towards the strengthening of women workers’ movements in Asia.

 

Publications

 

CAW’s most recent publications:

• Asian Women Workers Newsletter (Quarterly every year)
• CAW Forum on Women Workers in Areas of Armed Conflict and under Politically Suppressive Regimes (2006)
• Impact of Globalisation: Uniting Women Workers of Asia in Action (2006)
• Bridging the Gap: Women Workers & Media (2007)
• Women Migrant Workers under the Chinese Social Apartheid (2007)
• Disrobing NAMA (2007)

 

Other Information

 

The documentation center of CAW acts as a resource center for many activists and students working in the area of women and women workers. CAW has an extensive collection of books, newsletters and journals spanning three decades. CAW is updating and developing its documentation center into a feminist labor resource center. The information in the resource center is expected to be put in the Internet and shared with cyber users all over the world by the end of 2008.

 

Address

Committee for Asian Women (CAW)

386/58 Ratchadapisek Soi 42,

Ladyao, Chatujak, Bangkok 10900

THAILAND

ph (662) 930 5634 - 5

fax (662) 930 5633

e-mail: cawinfo[a]cawinfo.org

https://caw-asia.net/

 

 

 

Institute for Community Rights

 

Year Established: 1999

 

Short Historical Background

 

In early 1990s, a group of academics started assisting hilltribe people regarding the exercise of their right to their farmland and the nationalization of the forest resources. The group took part in the founding of the Assembly of Indigenous Peoples of Thailand, and the Assembly of the Poor. It also acted as one of the advisers of both networks. The group assisted poor communities affected by dam-building projects, and the poor farmers on their right to their farmlands. It also undertook research on the social and environmental aspects of community right. In 1999, the group decided to institutionalize their efforts by establishing the Institute for Community Rights, with Professor Nithi Leosiwong, PhD, as its Chairperson and Professor Chaipant Prabhasavat as Director. The Institute established five working groups for its members.

 

Objectives

The Institute aims

• To promote and support the general public's understanding of the people's rights and duties, especially community rights;
• To  explore, research, and disseminate research findings about community natural resources management systems;
• To support and promote the capacity of the civil society to become self-sufficient, and facilitate its organizational strengthening.

 

Activities

The Institute undertakes the

- Dissemination of knowledge on natural resources management through training courses, seminars, and dialogues on community rights

- Implementation of the project on the establishment of the Association for Human and Community Rights Protection.

 

Special Concerns

The Institute has

- Joint research project with the Thailand Research Fund, as a research consultant in the field of development of Thailand

- Participated in the the network of "Asian Public  Intellectuals"

 

Publications

• Lessons from Mae Ta Chang River Basin
• Community Water Resource Management in Fourteen River Basins in Thailand
• Comparative Research on Community Water Management: Thailand, Japan, Indonesia
• People's Voice Magazine

 

Other Information

 

The Institute has established the Peace for Social Publishing Company.  It is also studying the feasibility of establishing a radio station and a people’s television channel.

 

Address

 

Community Rights Institute

3 Soi 1, Wualai Road, Haiya Muang, Chiangmai 50100 THAILAND

ph/fax (6653) 201796

e-mail: chaipant.prabhasavat[a]gmail.com

 

 

Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies

- Mahidol University

 

Year Established: 1996

 

Short Historical Background

 

The Center for Human Rights Studies and Social Development (CHRSD) was established in 1996 by Mahidol University with the aim of providing education and research opportunities in the area of human rights. It was renamed the Institute for Human Rights and Peace Studies in 2011. The Institute runs an international Graduate Program in Human Rights, leading to a Masters of Human Rights, and a number of research and other activities. It also offers an International PhD course in Human Rights and Peace Studies, and a Masters of Human Rights and Development in Thai language.

 

The Masters of Human Rights is the only Masters human rights program offered in the South East Asian region. It attracts students from around the world, and students from about twenty countries have graduated or are completing their research.

 

Objective

 

The Institute aims to develop the ways and means by which human rights are transformed into social and political realities at the community, national and international levels. It does so primarily through educating human rights practitioners, but also through outreach programs to community and international organizations, and by conducting cutting edge research on issues of crucial importance to human rights.

 

Programs and Activities

 

1. Study Program

The Institute is currently running three graduate study programs, namely:

1) MA in Human Rights (International Program)

2) PhD in Human Rights and Peace Studies (International Program)

3) MA in Human Rights and Development (in Thai language)

 

2. Training Program

The Institute runs human rights training upon request to enhance academic human rights knowledge for practitioners in the region. From 2002-2006, it also ran annual Southeast Asian Advanced Program on Human Rights and Asian Thematic Training on Human Rights with the support from the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Lund University, Sweden.

 

3. Research

The Institute supports research which contributes to the greater understanding and increasing reach of human rights to all levels and groups in society. Research supported by the program aims to both develop academic knowledge of critical concern to human rights, and provide practical applications of human rights activities in a wide diversity of fields.

 

4. Networking

The Institute is an active component of the human rights network of organizations from the grassroots level, to the national and international levels. It works with non-governmental organizations, government offices, and regional groups who are active in the field of human rights. It facilitates communication between students, researchers, academics, civil society and practitioners. It also works in cooperation with many organizations which share the same goals of promoting human rights and contributing to society.

 

Publications

• A Critical Analysis of the United States' Treatment of Detainees at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in the Context of International Law - Maria Therese Godskesen
• Capital Expansion and Migrant Workers: Flexible Labor in the Thai - Burma Border Economy - Dennis Arnold
• Good Governance and Legal Reform in Indonesia - R. Herlambang Perdana Wiratraman
• The Impact of TRIPS on Thailand's HIV/AIDS Drug Policies: Human Rights Concerns in the Context of Global Trade - Mukdawan Sakboon
• Non-Formal Primary Education in Bangladesh: An Examination of its Compliance with the Right to Education - Shihab Uddin Ahamad
• Communication and Human Rights - Mike Hayes (editor)

 

Address

 

Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies

Panyaphiphat Building, Mahidol University

999 Phuttamonthon 4 Rd.,

Salaya, Nakhon Pathom 73170, THAILAND

ph (662) 441-0813-5

fax (662) 441-0872-3

e-mail: ihrpoutreach[a]mahidol.ac.th; ihrpma[a]mahidol.ac.th; ihrpphd[a]mahidol.ac.th

https://ihrp.mahidol.ac.th/en/

 

 

 

Mekong Region Law Center

 

Year Established: 1994

 

Short Historical Background

 

The concept of the Center formed during the first conference on Law and Legal Development in the Mekong Region, held in Chiang Mai in September 1992. After 18 months of development work by an international committee made up of legal experts from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, the MRLC was formally established at the inaugural conference of the Mekong Region Law Center in Phnom Penh, held in June 1994. The forming instrument was the MRLC Charter, which was signed by delegates from the member countries and adopted at the inaugural conference.

 

In 1995, The Mekong Region Law Center Foundation was registered under the law of Thailand - Reg. No. Gor Tor 438.

 

Objectives

 

The goals of the MRLC are:

1. To promote public consciousness of legal rights and responsibilities and to encourage respect at all levels of society for the rule of law;
2. To foster prosperity and economic growth within the Region and attract investment into the Region; and
3. To assist and contribute to the process of legal development within the countries of the Region.

 

Programs

 

MRLC programs are conducted in four legal fields:

1. Business and International Trade Law

2. Environmental and Resource Management Law

3. International Law Public and Private

4. Human Rights and Administration of Justice

 

Activities

 

1. Training

Training workshops on various issues (such as trafficking of women and children) at national and Mekong levels

2. Conferences/workshops

3. Internship

4. Legal databases (through publications and web-site)

5. Research

 

Special Concerns

 

Publications

• Proceedings of the 1997 Regional Conference on 'Illegal Labor Movements: The Case of Trafficking in Women and Children', (in English) August 1999;
• The Proceedings of the June 1999 Cambodian National Workshop on Trafficking in Women and Children, (prepared and produced by the Cambodian MOJ in Cambodian and English) late 1999;
• The Proceedings of the December 1999 Vietnamese National Workshop on
• 'Elimination of All Forms of Trafficking in Women and Children' (prepared and reproduced by VietnaLawyers' Association), (in English and Vietnamese) mid of 2000; and,
• The proceedings of the November 2000 Thai National Workshop on 'Trafficking in Women and Children', (the main part is in the Thai language) June 2001

 

Other Information

 

 

Address

 

Mekong Region Law Center (MRLC)

Room 207/2, 2nd Floor, Dome Administration Building

Thammasat University, Rangsit Campus

Pathumtani 12121, THAILAND

ph (668) 981 6297

fax (662) 866 0775

e-mail: mrlcbkk[a]loxinfo.co.th, psukont[a]yahoo.com, mekongregionlawcenterbkk[a]yahoo.com

www.mekonglawcenter.org