Human Rights and Governance
From historical experience to innovative solutions on contemporary problems, the field of governance poses myriad opportunities for the mutual benefit of both Asia and Europe. Regionally, nationally and even at the individual level, addressing human security and human rights issues begins with good governance.
Beginning 2011, the scope of ASEF’s governance landscape has grown to encompass policing and conflict management. The organisation secures open, informal and non-confrontational arenas to propagate the exchange of ideas, thus uniting the two continents in dialogue on related topics.
7th Asia-Europe Roundtable (AER) – Brussels Briefing: Framework Document for an Early Warning System in Minority Conflicts
10 February 2011
Brussels, Belgium
Regional early warning responses to minority conflicts received paramount attention at the 7th Asia-Europe Roundtable – Brussels Briefing, spurred on by the findings at the 7th AER Workshop, Early Warning Systems in Minority Conflict, held in Singapore on 20 to 21 May 2010. Targeting specific policy makers, it raised a framework for the development of such systems and the feasibility of its implementation at an institutional level, studied potential improvements in regional early warning structures and responses, and turned the spotlight on the significance of regional partnerships.
Set against the backdrop of the current debates on the responsibility to protect, the framework was presented by Ms. Sol Iglesias, Director, Intellectual Exchange, Asia-Europe Foundation, and Dr. Noel Morada, Director, Asia-Pacific Centre on the Responsibility to Protect, while Mr. Justin Davies, Director, C@M Solutions and former Advisor to Pieter Feith, EU Special Representative in Kosovo, offered a commentary.
In partnership with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Office for Regional Cooperation in Asia, Singapore Institute of International Affairs, and the Europe-Asia Policy Forum.
Public Launch of ‘Good Policing: Instruments, Models and Practices’ in Brussels and Jakarta
15 March 2011 and 28 April 2011
Brussels, Belgium and Jakarta, Indonesia
Heralding the launch of Good Policing: Instruments, Models and Practices, two public briefings were held on the topic in Brussels entitled “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Asian and European Experiences in the Security Sector”, and Jakarta under the heading, “’Who will Guard the Guards Themselves’: Human Rights and Accountability in Policing”. The latter represented a collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KONTRAS). It was attended by Commissioner General Imam Sujarwo of the Indonesian National Police who praised the publication, which is being translated into Bahasa Indonesia by the Jakarta office of the Hanns Seidel Foundation, as a useful guide for Indonesian police academies.
Both briefings emphasised the significance of the established international and regional norms that set the tone for police work, as well as the challenges in establishing ethical policing standards. With regard to the alignment of Human Rights standards and policing practices, the discussions signaled the importance of training and cross-regional capacity-building projects in cooperation with institutional counterparts.
In partnership with the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
8th Asia-Europe Roundtable
23 – 25 May 2011
Bali, Indonesia
The 8th Asia-Europe Roundtable set out with the dual objectives of analysing the emerging trends in conflict prevention and transformation, as well as indentifying the best methods for Asia and Europe to collaborate on future conflict challenges. Equipped with a scenario-building methodology, participants leveraged various tools to identify possible future scenarios of Asia-Europe cooperation on security and conflict issues and develop recommendations to address these. Noted futurist, Prof. Sohail Inayatullah led the exercises, while Mr. Jusuf Kalla, Indonesia’s former Vice President, delivered the keynote address.
In partnership with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Office for Regional Cooperation in Asia, Singapore Institute of International Affairs, and the Europe Asia Policy Forum.
11th Informal ASEM Seminar on Human Rights "Regional and National Human Rights Mechanisms"
23 – 25 November 2011
Prague, Czech Republic
More than 100 government officials and members of civil society comprising non-government organisations, national human rights institutions, the legal field and academia gathered for the latest seminar in this long-running series, paving the way for an open discussion on regional and national mechanism-building.
Experience and insight dominated at the event set amidst the Baroque surroundings of the Czernin Palace, and added to existing knowledge on national and regional human rights standards, governance and best practices in Asia and Europe. Immediately following the event, key recommendations aimed at augmenting regional and national mechanisms were sent to ASEM governments. The full proceedings of the seminar will be published in April 2012.
In partnership with the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the Raoul Wallenberg Institute (delegated by the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs), the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Czech Republic.
Briefing on Improving Regional Security Architectures through an Asia-Europe Strategic Partnership
13 December 2011
Brussels, Belgium
Featuring key panellists, Alistair Macdonald of the European External Action Service and Justin Davies of C2M Solutions, the Briefing explored avenues for enhanced inter-regional cooperation on common concerns among Asian and EU economies in managing on-going conflict. It highlighted concerns about the ability of traditional regional institutions to engage different, non-traditional security issues. It was also noted that the shift to a more inclusive approach that gave regional institutions both tools and support to engage emerging crises necessitated that the form and function of future cooperation between regions receive careful consideration.
The European Policy Centre hosted the event during which, The Future of an Asia-Europe Strategic Partnership in Conflict Transformation – a publication based on the 8th Asia-Europe Roundtable – was unveiled.
In partnership with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Office for Regional Cooperation in Asia, Singapore Institute of International Affairs, and the Europe Asia Policy Forum.
Europe-Asia Policy Forum Final Conference
15 – 16 December 2011
The Hague, The Netherlands
The final event organised under the Europe-Asia Policy Forum (EUforAsia) partnership, the Re-engaging Europe with Asia conference comprised workshops on economic integration and security, as well as panel discussions on cooperation with regard to higher education and energy sustainability. The Netherlands Institute for International Relations Clingendael played host to the event which studied the European Union’s evolving relationship with Asia, its subregional bodies and Asian countries.
The conference marks the conclusion of three years’ cooperation amongst the four members of the EUforAsia consortium, which has been responsible for two international conferences, six roundtable workshops, two briefings and several sets of recommendations for Asia’s and Europe’s policy makers since 2009.
In partnership with the Europe-Asia Policy Forum (International Institute of Asian Studies, European Policy Centre, Singapore Institute for International Affairs) and Netherlands Institute for International Relations Clingendael.
