Bangladesh needs a democratic system and a robust judiciary to protect the rights of women and girls Bangkok/Dhaka/Manila/Paris (8 March 2024)–The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day, “Invest in women: Accelerate progress,” deeply resonates with the current situation in Bangladesh. Investing in women and girls means safeguarding their well-being, protecting their rights, providing inclusive [ Read more ]

55th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council Item 2: Interactive dialogue on the High Commissioners update on the situation in Myanmar Oral statement delivered by Ahmed Adam On behalf of Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) 1 March 2024   Mr President, High Commissioner, your reports and statements documenting the ongoing [ Read more ]

  55th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council Item 2: Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan Oral statement delivered by Hafizullah Saeedi On behalf of Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) 29 February 2024   Mr. President, Special Rapporteur, we commend your important [ Read more ]

(Bangkok, 22 February 2024) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) and CIVICUS are deeply concerned over the intensifying regression of Thailand’s civic space. We are calling on the Thai Government to do more in upholding fundamental freedoms including freedom of expression, press freedom, and freedom of peaceful assembly. On 8 February [ Read more ]

(Bangkok, 19 February 2024) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) and CIVICUS call on the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to dismiss the politically motivated defamation lawsuit against Soeng Senkaruna, deputy head of the Human Rights and Land Rights Section and Senior Human Rights Investigator of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development [ Read more ]

(Bangkok/Jakarta, 13 February 2024)—Dubbed as the world’s ‘biggest democracy,’ Indonesia is set to hold its general elections on 14 February 2024. Indonesian civil society organisations, however, are concerned whether their beloved country is truly deserving of such a title given the problems surrounding the upcoming elections, including issues of nepotism, abuse of power, and electoral [ Read more ]

(Bangkok/Kathmandu, 7 February 2024) – As Pakistan–a nation of nearly 250 million people–gears up for its general elections on 8 February 2024, the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) underscores the importance of fair and free elections as part of a country’s democratic process. Pakistan’s 2024 electoral landscape is marked by various challenges, [ Read more ]

(Bangkok, 5 February 2024) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) is deeply concerned over the arrest of three Cambodian activists–alongside their families –in Thailand. On 2 February 2024, Lem Sokha, Phan Phana, and Kung Raiya were arrested for planning to organise a protest on 7 February which coincided with Cambodian Prime [ Read more ]

Through a Solidarity Panel Discussion, human rights organisations celebrate the resilience of the Myanmar people’s resistance movement while also urging ASEAN to take concrete actions against the junta. “There should not be a fourth year where the junta’s failed coup still exists. We stand in solidarity with the people of Myanmar,” this sentiment echoed Myanmar [ Read more ]

I. Context The Asian Development Bank (ADB) commits itself to the achievement of a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, as it remains to be a major source of development finance in the region. However, five decades of its operations in the region have often led to negative development outcomes, as developing [ Read more ]