1st Regional Workshop on Minority Issues in Southeast Asia
14 December 2007 3:33 am
In cooperation with UN offices and other non-governmental organisations, FORUM-ASIA will organise the ”1st Regional Workshop on Minority Issues in Southeast Asia” in Bangkok in January 2008. About 30 leaders of minority communities and minority rights organisations in the region are expected to attend the workshop.
Date: 21-23 January 2008
Venue: Bangkok, Thailand
Course Description
In cooperation with UN offices and other non-governmental organisations, FORUM-ASIA will organise the ”1st Regional Workshop on Minority Issues in Southeast Asia” in Bangkok from 21 to 23 January 2008. About 30 leaders of minority communities and minority rights organisations in Southeast Asia are expected to attend the workshop.
The cooperating UN offices include the Office of the Regional Representative of the Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the UN Development Programme, while the NGOs are the International Movement Against Racial Discrimination (IMADR) and the Minority Rights Group (MRG). The occasion will be honoured by the presence of Prof. Gay McDougall, the Independent Expert on minority issues of OHCHR, who will deliver the keynote address.
The participants are expected to share their experiences and explore ways to strengthen their capacity to further carry out their advocacy work using relevant UN human rights standards and mechanisms.
The workshop is designed to identify issues and challenges in line with the mandate of the IEMI and other international human rights bodies, and to facilitate and strengthen networking among minority groups and human rights defenders working on minority issues in Southeast Asia.
It will be also an introduction to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (Declaration on the Rights of Minorities), the newly created Forum on Minority Issues Human Rights Council, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and other relevant human rights treaty bodies.