ASEAN & CIVIL SOCIETY ADVOCACY

Yuyun Wahyuningrum, Senior Advisor on ASEAN and Human Rights, HRWG Indonesia, wahyuningrum@gmail.com 2013

ENGAGING ASEAN
Civil Societys history of nonengagement in first 30 years; mutual distrust between CS and ASEAN
Private sectors Individual/ Citizen

Victims/Survivors

Different perspectives on civil society ASEAN Charter language on peoples participation in ASEAN (Art 13)
ASEAN

Lack of mechanisms for CS participation in ASEAN

current practice by the ASEAN, i.e. CSO accreditation process

Governments Think Tank

Civil Society Groups, Lawyers

Who and what is civil society?

Civil society refers to the arena of uncoerced collective action around shared interests, purposes and values. In theory, its institutional forms are distinct from those of the state, family and market, though in practice, the boundaries between state, civil society, family and market are often complex, blurred and negotiated. London School of Economics Center for Civil Society www.ise.ac.uk Civil society comprises the realm of organizations that lie between the family at one extreme and the state at the other (Hegel 1821) Civil society is the sphere of institutions, organisations and individuals located between the family, the state and the marketin which people associate voluntarily to advance common interests (Anheirer 2004) [Civil society as] an anti-hegemonic force in society, whose purpose is to aggregate the interests of power of the marginalised members of society (Habermas 1996)
associations of citizens (outside their families, friends and businesses) entered into voluntarily to advance their interests, ideas and ideologies. The term does not include profit-making activity (the private sector) or governing (the public sector) (Cardoso et al.
(2004), We the peoples: civil society, the United Nations and global governance. Report of the Panel of Eminent Persons on United Nations-Civil Society Relations, UN document UN A/58/817, http://www.un.org/reform/a58_817_english.doc)

Civil society is bourgeois society that maintains the dominant economic

Purpose
advocate a collective good (Mueller 2004); typically public interest groups prime characteristic and motivation is a search for meaning and the application of principled beliefs (Khagram et al. 2002), rather than the use of authority (state) or the drive for profit (business Role in building social capital, provision of social justice. Is democracy more likely and of better quality where there is a strong CS?

Contemporary dimensions of civil society

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) therefore are a wide array of organisations: community groups, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), labour unions, indigenous groups, charitable organisations, faith-based organisations, professional associations, and foundations (World Bank 2006). Civil society embraces: Institutionalised groups: such as religious organisations, trades unions, business associations and co-operatives. Local organisations: such as community associations, farmers associations, local sports groups, non-governmental organisations and credit societies. Social movements and networks (DFID 2006).

Non-state actors
NON-STATE ACTORS: non governmental organisations, organisations representing indigenous peoples, organisations representing national and/or ethnic minorities, local traders' associations and citizens' groups, cooperatives, trade unions, organisations representing economic and social interests, organisations fighting corruption and fraud and promoting good governance, civil rights organisations and organisations combating discrimination, local organisations (including networks) involved in decentralised regional cooperation and integration, consumer organisations, women's and youth organisations, teaching, cultural, research and scientific organisations, universities, churches and religious associations and communities, the media and any non-governmental associations and independent foundations, including independent political foundations. gather the main structures of organised society outside government and public administration; are independent of the state; are active in different fields;

NGOs NGOs Civil Society Organisations Non State Actors

CSO Platforms in engaging ASEAN

Name
ACSC/APF ASEAN Disability Forum (ADF) ASEAN Youth Forum ASEAN Grass-root People Assembly ASEAN Community Dialogue

frequent
annually annually annually annually annually

Engaging the body

ASEAN SUMMIT Head of States/Governments

ASEAN Committee Permanent Representatives (CPR) ASEAN Ministers Meeting (AMM) ASEAN Secretary General (ASG) ASEAN Human Rights Mechanisms ASEAN Senior Official Meeting on SWD

CPR

Civil Society Forum to AMM on human rights Informal Dialogue between CSO and ASG Jakarta Human Rights Dialogue in ASEAN GO-NGO Forum on Social Welfare & Development

annually annually annually annually

Foreign Ministers Secretary General AICHR, ACWC SOM officials

ASEAN Community Dialogue, 2012

Informal Dialogue with ASEAN Secretary General, 2012

Meeting with Minister Foreign Affairs, 2012

ASEAN Civil Society Conferences/ASEAN Peoples Forums 2005-2012

Year 2005 2006 2007 2009 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Place Shah Alam, Malaysia Cebu, the Philippines Singapore The Name of the Event 1st ASEAN Civil Society Conference (ACSC) 2nd ASEAN Civil Society Conference (ACSC) 3rd ASEAN Civil Society Conference (ACSC)

Bangkok, Thailand 4th ASEAN Civil Society Conference (ACSC)/ 1st ASEAN Peoples Forum (APF) Hua Hin, Thailand Hanoi, Vietnam 5th ASEAN Civil Society Conference (ACSC)/2nd ASEAN Peoples Forum (APF) 6th ASEAN Peoples Forum (APF)

Jakarta, Indonesia ASEAN Civil Society Conference (ACSC)/ ASEAN Peoples Forum (APF) 2011 Phnom Penh, Cambodia Brunei ASEAN Civil Society Conference (ACSC)/ ASEAN Peoples Forum (APF) 2012 March & November ASEAN Civil Society Conference (ACSC)/ ASEAN Peoples Forum (APF) 2013 - April

CSO/NGO participation
Malysia 2005

Cebu 2006

Singapore 2007

Bangkok 2009

Cha Am 2009

Hanoi 2010

Jakarata 2011

Phnom Penh 2012

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

Thematic Engagements with ASEAN

Human Rights Labor and Migrants Agriculture and Trade Issues Food Sovereignty and Land-related issues Extractives Industries: mining, gas, oil Large scale development projects: dams Environment/ Climate Change/ Climate Justice Housing Rights Gender Child Rights Youth Participation Refugees / Stateless Peoples/ Internally Displaced Peoples Indigenous Peoples Communication Rights and Freedom of Information Burma Peace and Conflict Etc.

Our collective knowledge we produced through

8 years ACSC/APF?
ASEANs Alternative Regionalism (Source: HRWG Study, 2011)
Particularly: Women & Youth, Indigenous People / Ethnic Minority, and CSOs Democracy Human Rights Transparency Accountability

CSO Participation in Decision Making Process

(1,2,3,6,7)

Adoption of Basic Universal Values

(3,4,5,6,7)

Against unjust FTA, privatization, Reject neoliberal economic policies

Holistic rights-based approach on Developmen t (1,2,4,5,6,7)

Adoption of UN Bodies related Conventions

(1,2,4,5,6,7)

Mainly: ILO, UNFCCC, CEDAW, UNCRC, UNDRIP, &MDGs

Perspectives and Learning on Engagement with ASEAN

Gaps in CS capacities (countries, regional viz. country) Multiple capacities needed: articulating a peoples agenda; mounting regional and national campaigns; rooting regional campaigns on the national level; bringing different thematic constituencies behind regional campaigns; convincing the public; having champions in govt
CS dependence on grants and CS-donor relations CS roles in governance evolving CS not homogenous, diff views on engagement Governments and GONGOs continuing distrust of CSOs

Changes brought about by CS engagement with ASEAN

policy changes: human rights and other rights
institutional mechanisms: AICHR, ACWC, discussions on mechanisms for CS participation

changes in attitudes, outlooks

Strategy: Simultaneous Approaches

Regional Lobby, Network & Advocacy

Top Down: Creation of demand in regional level through regional organizations.

ASEAN secretariat ASEAN Representatives/Bodies International Institutions

ASEAN

National Lobby, Network, Advocacy & Campaign

Bottom Up: Pushing for need of making ASEAN HR Mechanism through civil society advocacy.
Individual member countries CSOs/NGOs (Nat & Regional)

INSIDERS VS Outsiders
PRESSURE FROM THE OUTSIDE through confrontational tactics: marching, attacking the red zone, showing the weakness or the contradictions of the system, raise public consciousness, show the king is naked ENGANGEMENT with policy-makers trying to provoke change from within Accept the rules of the game in order to gain access to policy arenas

Insiders use techniques like persuasion, lobbying, campaigning

Critiques: Who is representative of CS/global public good? Risk of watering down criticism in favor of

INSIDE

OUTSIDE

Dimension of engagement

Repertories of action and strategies towards policy processes

Cooperative attitude: active engagement in policy-making processes through lobbying, advocacy and participation in multistakeholder processes. Policy processes are seen as potential gain. Insiders are the least independent from the political process.
Confrontational attitude: engagement through pressure from the outside (counter-summits, campaigns, norm change) and disruptive direct actions. Policy processes are perceived as threats.

INSIDE

OUTSIDE

Indonesias Experiences & Engaging ASEAN

Indonesias Experience
Our process toward democracy has informed that the pressures for a change both came from inside and outside the country have proved to be effective and strategic.

Organized society and the participation of civil society are the key to our economic and political reform in Indonesia.
Apart of using international mechanism, we started to shape the opinion of diplomatic community
UN, EU on draft law on mass organization to get more supports to our position ASEAN, OIC on expanding civil society space in closed countries and at the institution Request further protection for activists/ human rights defenders

Now, we are not only working with foreign diplomats but also Indonesian diplomats

Government has regular briefing with Foreign Diplomats and bilateral talk
It is always effective to have e-list of diplomatic community for information distribution, i.e. ASEANcats@googlegroups.com Lately, we have a successful campaign on freedom of religions and beliefs, LGBTIQ, ASEAN Human Rights Declaration

USING ASEAN
Popularizing the concept of Civil Society in ASEAN Member States Civil Society Space: Expanding its space at national and regional level
ACSC/APF, ADF, AGPA Country cases: Vietnam, Brunei, Burma

Institutionalizing democratic dialogue

Informal Dialogue with ASG ASEAN Community Dialogue with CPR Jakarta Human Rights Dialogue Informal Meeting with Head of States

Setting norms and shaping practices in ASEAN and its member countries: Charter, TOR AICHR, AHRD