ASEAN Peoples’ Forum “disappointed” over snub from government officials
21 October 2009 12:00 pm

Second
ASEAN Peoples' Forum and 5th ASEAN Civil Society Conference were held
in Cha-am, Thailand, from18-20 October 2009, in parallel with the ASEAN
Summit. The main concerns of the participants have been crystallised in
the statement below, issued on 22 October.
Second
ASEAN Peoples' Forum and 5th ASEAN Civil Society Conference were held
in Cha-am, Thailand, from18-20 October 2009, in parallel with the ASEAN
Summit. The main concerns of the participants have been crystallised in
the statement below, issued on 22 October.

We, more than 500 delegates at the 2nd ASEAN Peoples' Forum (APF II) /
5th ASEAN Civil Society Conference (ACSC V), representing various civil
society organizations and , movements of workers from rural and urban
sectors as well as migrant sector, peasants and farmers, women,
children, youth, the elderly, people with disability, urban poor,
indigenous peoples, ethnic minorities, fisher folks, stateless persons
and other vulnerable groups, gathered together in Cha-am, Thailand,
18-20 October 2009 to discuss the main concerns confronting the peoples
of ASEAN and developing key proposals for the 15th ASEAN Summit.

We
would like to extend our deepest condolences and solidarity with
victims and survivors of the natural disasters currently affecting
lives of people in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and
the Pacific. We call for ASEAN to ensure the protection for the
population affected by natural disasters encompasses all relevant
guarantees which include civil and political rights as well as
economic, social and cultural rights. These rights are attributed to
the people through fundamental human rights and international
humanitarian law. We urge governments to take concrete measures to
eliminate all forms of discrimination, especially against women and
minorities, in the relief, humanitarian assistance and development
processes following the occurrence of these disasters.

We
reaffirm the fundamental principles of democracy, human rights and
dignity, good governance, the best interests of the child, meaningful
and substantive peoples' participation, and sustainable development in
the pursuit of economic, social, gender and ecological justice so as to
bring peace and prosperity to the ASEAN region.

We are deeply
disappointed by the absence of our government officials in this
meeting. This is a step backward on ASEAN's commitment to promote a
people-oriented ASEAN. It runs contrary to the principles in the ASEAN
Charter that encourages people's participation. We call on ASEAN to
recognise the role of civil society and institutionalize people's
participation and engagement in all the ASEAN processes and pillars.

Human
conditions and issues confronting the peoples cut across all current
pillars of the ASEAN. ASEAN governments must adopt a more holistic
approach with regards to development, equal and just treatment of the
peoples, and harmonize its policies and practices of all its pillars.
Particularly, human rights violations experienced by women and
girl-children are often compounded by the intersection of different and
multiple layers of discrimination resulting from the intersection of
gender with other systems of power, such as race, class/caste, rural
location, ethnicity, immigrant status, sexual orientation and gender
identities, citizenship, religion and other factors. Furthermore, the
principle of free, prior and informed consent of for all peoples,
especially indigenous peoples must be pursued in the fulfilment of all
political, economic and social agreements under the ASEAN. The ASEAN
must ensure that its development initiatives do not further aggravate
global warming.

To read the complete statement, please click here (APF website).

For more news and statements from the forum, please click here (APF website).