The 10th Informal ASEM Seminar on Human Rights, entitled “Human Rights and Gender Equality”, was held in Manila, the Philippines, 7-9 July 2010, hosted by the by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Human Rights Center of the School of Law of the Ateneo de Manila University.

The seminar tried to identify the current trends in Europe and Asia regarding gender equality & rights and was the first attempt to link Human Rights and gender equality within the ASEM framework—in an informal and unofficial manner. This was the largest dialogue event of this nature with over 100 participants made up of individuals from NGOs, the media, women and gay rights activists, legal aid centres, academics focussing on gender studies and women’s rights, lawyers and officials of each of the 45 ASEM countries of the European Union and Asia, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat and the European Commission (EC). 

The formula for this seminar employed was as follows:

• the participation of two representatives from universities and NGOs invited by the organisers and one official representative for each of the 16 Asian ASEM countries, and in order to have balanced representation between Asia and Europe, 1 representative from the civil society and 1 official from each of the 27 European ASEM countries, as well as the European Commission and ASEAN Secretariat;
• an agenda structured around the main topics related to the subject of the seminar, with discussions held in working groups;
• closed-door debates to allow free and direct exchanges of view; and,
• a set of recommendations elaborated collectively to be sent to the relevant institutions in ASEM countries as informal contribution to the official Asia-Europe dialogue.

The Seminar series is co-organised by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Raoul Wallenberg Institute (delegated by the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), which has acted as the Secretariat of the Seminar since 2000. Supervision of the seminar is entrusted to a Steering Committee, composed of the Seminar’s three co-organisers as well as representatives of the ministries of Foreign Affairs of China and Indonesia, as well as the European Commission.