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International Conference on Human Rights in Southeast Asia

Conference to be held on 14-15 October and organised by a newly established network of universities in Southeast Asia.

When: 14-15 October 2010

Where: Bangkok, Thailand

The conference is organised by a newly established network of universities in Southeast Asia, all of which are involved with and carry out human rights education and/or research.

The Southeast Asia Human Rights Studies Network (SEAHRN) was established in 2009 under the framework of RWI’s cooperation with the Centre for Human Rights Studies and Social Development (CHRSD) at Mahidol University in Bangkok.

The conference is one of the first activities of this network. It will feature a number of invited speakers and researchers, as well as provide a meeting space for academics and civil society.

Background

Human rights are a rapidly emerging area of study at universities in Southeast Asia and there is an increasing body of research work being done by academics and researchers, including graduate students, in the region.

Currently, there are only a small number of universities with degrees or majors in human rights though a large number of universities are exploring the possibility of placing human rights on the curriculum. This demands many universities in the region to develop their capacity to teach and conduct research in human rights.

The need to continue developing academic capacity is necessary to complement civil society achievements in human rights advocacy in the region.

The demand to enrich the academic discourse on human rights in the region likewise occurs in the context of a number of regional developments such as the formalization of the ASEAN Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights, the incipience of the ASEAN Commission on Women and Children and the mandate to evolve an ASEAN Declaration on Human Rights.

These call for targeted research and dissemination of results at the regional level to promote evidence-based policy making and hence contribute to the goal of building a “people-centered ASEAN”.

The conference intends to bring together academics, researchers, graduate and post-graduate students, civil society organizations and government and inter-government agency representatives who work on the research and greater understanding of human rights in Southeast Asia.

It seeks to enrich the knowledge and discourse on contemporary human rights in Southeast Asia through a dynamic dialogue among stakeholders from the academia, civil society and governments.

It further aims to provide a venue to explore the ways researchers and civil society have begun to make critical contributions to deepening the understanding of human rights-based framework and actual issues through in-depth engagement with localized sites within the Southeast Asian region.