Book on Political Space for Advocacy Now Available!
"Breaking Through: Political Space for Advocacy in Southeast Asia" is now available at the SEACA Secretariat Office. The book is an assessment of the factors affecting the shrinking or expanding of civil society's space for advocacy, and a survey of the way CSOs launch and sustain their advocacies.
Date: May 24, 2007   10:42:38am

Political space research tackles role of civil society in Southeast Asia
Asian civil society members held roundtable discussions to examine the political space for advocacy in Southeast Asia to deepen their understanding on civil society, its nature, role, and relationship with government, military, church and the people.
Date: April 12, 2007   10:51:03am

Research on Political Space for Advocacy in South East Asia Region
SEACA supports advocacy capacity building of South East Asian civil society organizations to influence policy making at national, regional and international policy platforms.

It has been said that increasingly, the democratic space in South East Asia is fast shrinking—due to various factors, among them—external security factors brought on by the 9/11 attack on the United States of America, and the security threat posed by Islamist groups in South East Asia such as the Jeemah Islamiya. These have been used by South East Asian governments to clamp down on legitimate actions of civil society under the guise of national security. Various internal factors unique to specific countries have also impacted on the democratic space of South East Asian countries—liberation movements in Burma, in the Indonesian provinces of Aceh, the Maluku, and West Papua, in southern Thailand, and in Mindanao, southern Philippines. There are also the fragile democracies currently in various states of crises—Cambodia, East Timor, and Vietnam. Not without its current and historical political problems are the countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.

This research project then aims to examine and assess the political space for advocacy in South East Asian countries such as Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.

This research project aims to deepen the understanding among CSOs and other stakeholders of the context of advocacy in the region, particularly the political space in which policy and programmes are negotiated between citizens and the state.
Date: August 11, 2006   01:35:50pm

Research on Regional Responses to Transboundary Issues
South East Asia is often described as a very diverse region in terms of historical and colonial experience, political and economic systems, faiths & religions, races, and cultural experiences. Nevertheless, there are emerging trends & issues in the different South East Asian countries that present a regional face, often transboundary in character, and therefore demands a regional response.

Among these issues are: Regionalism, ASEAN regional integration, the ASEAN Charter, CSO engagement and the ASEAN; Unfair trading regimes and the prospect of regional fair trade; Migration and the rights of migrant workers; Resource related conflicts—water, dams, gas pipelines, mines; Privatization of utilities—gas, electricity, water, education, health services; Security and surveillance issues relating to the “War on Terror,” impacting on human rights/human security and communication rights; Ethnic and internal conflicts and the displacement of peoples; Burma as a regional problem; Natural calamities and disasters and their environmental and social implications; Trafficking of women and children; Health issues—avian flu, SARS, HIV/AIDs.

This research project then aims to examine and assess emerging trends and issues that are currently manifesting a transboundary character, and how these affect several countries and therefore demand a coordinated, regional response.

This research project aims to deepen the understanding among CSOs and other stakeholders of the context of advocacy in the region, particularly the potential for effective regional responses to transboundary issues.
Date: August 11, 2006   01:28:19pm