Thematic Engagements with ASEAN
Regional Advocacy Platforms
Since 2006, the region has seen the proliferation of open platforms used by civil society organizations to engage ASEAN, putting forward policy proposals and alternatives in the governance of the ASEAN community. These open platforms have allowed greater synergy within civil society--crossing nations, crossing various themes, crossing sectoral interests, and allowing strategic and tactical unities to take place viz. governments and ASEAN.
These are led by convenors, co-convenors and have no full-time secretariats. Resources are shared by members to enable multi-centric action and advocacy to take place. Processes such as e-networking, consultations, submission writeshops and workshops, dialogues and delegations are used.
A pioneer in such open regional advocacy platforms has been the Solidarity for Asian Peoples’ Advocacies (SAPA) which has been active in the South East Asian region since 2006. It has various thematic Working Groups and Task Forces. Outside of the SAPA, there are the Indigenous Peoples’ Task Force on the ASEAN (composed of the Asia Indigenous Peoples’ Pact, Forum-Asia, and various country based indigenous peoples’ organizations) (Forum-Asia 2010), and the Southeast (Forum-Asia Women’s Caucus on ASEAN (composed of national and regional organizations of women in South East Asia).
Over the last fi ve years, since 2006, South East Asia has seen a number of thematic regional advocacy campaigns with the ASEAN. They have shown a variety of paths towards their regional advocacies, and have not had the same successes and failures in their advocacies. The campaigns are dependent on civil society’s capacity to root itself in thematic country constituencies, as well as the capacity of regional organizations to sustain country awareness and constituency building and to mount a regional advocacy
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campaign that involves consultations and unity building, organizing delegations, dialogues, media campaigns, and organizing writeshops for preparing submissions to the ASEAN.
Human Rights
Key players have been the Regional Working Group on an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism, as well as the SAPA Task Force on ASEAN and Human Rights. They have advocated for the protection and promotion of human rights in ASEAN, and the institutionalization of an ASEAN human rights commission and human rights court based on international standards and treaties, notably the Universal Declaration on Human Rights of the United Nations. Their advocacies have been directed towards the Eminent Persons Group and High Level Task Force on the ASEAN Charter, the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), and the ASEAN Commission on Women and Children (ACWC). The SAPA TFAHR 2010, together with SAPA Working Group on ASEAN is targeting the AICHR Thematics initiatives such as those on corporate social responsibility, and the ASEAN Declaration on Human Rights.
Labor and Migrants
International trade union federations’ regional centers have taken the lead in advocacy on an ASEAN Social Charter, together with regional migrant organizations. These are the ASEAN Trade Union Council (ATUC), and the ASEAN Services Trade Union Council (ASETUC), joined by Union Network International (UNI-APRO), Building and Woodworkers International (BWI) and the Public Sector International (PSI). The ASETUC has taken the lead in bringing to light the impact of ASEAN economic integration on workers and trade unions; in particular, the construction sector, fi nancial services sector, government services sector, and the health care services sector. ASETUC has called for increased social protection, economic justice, and compliance with international core labor standards and decent work in ASEAN.
CSOS’ Engagement with ASEAN: Perspectives and Learnings
The trade union advocacies, together with migrant advocacies, have been on the protection of labor and of migrant labor, through the promotion of the notion of equal protection of labor and migrants in ASEAN member countries (Chavez 2006). Following the Cebu ASEAN Summit Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Welfare of Migrant Workers in 2006, trade unions together with migrant organizations and networks have taken the lead in advocacy on a legally binding, regional Instrument for the Protection and Promotion of Migrant Workers.
The Task Force on ASEAN Migrant Workers and the Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA) have pushed for equal protection of migrant workers and their families, as well as the recognition of ‘illegal’ (viz. ‘legal’) migrant workers, and the recognition of domestic workers as workers with the ASEAN Committee on Migrant Workers (ACMW). Also included in their calls are the elimination of practices of violence, discrimination and other forms of stigmatization against migrant workers (SAPA WGA 2010; SAPA TFAMW 2010; SAPA TFAMW 2011).
Trade Issues
The EU-ASEAN FTA Campaign Network brings together European NGOs and South East Asian movements, and focuses on the inter-regional partnership of the EU and ASEAN, as embodied in the EU-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement. In 2007 and 2008, they campaigned on the right to information and participation, dialogued with trade negotiators, and eventually resisted the EU-ASEAN FTA, citing adverse impacts of the agreement through campaigns in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Europe, as well as on impacts on Bio-IPR and access to medicines. (EU-ASEAN FTA Campaign Network 2010)
EU-ASEAN negotiations have been put on hold as ASEAN insists on negotiating as one with the European Union, while the EU does not want to negotiate with Cambodia, Laos and Burma. On top of this, many FTAs are being negotiated by the ASEAN with other
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partners. A challenge for civil society regional trade campaign networks currently is the question of readjusting from engaging the regional processes back to bilateral negotiations, which seem to be the track that most trade partners are now doing (SAPA WGA 2010).