governance
Respect for human rights, rule of law, effective participation, and accountability of public institutions are some areas that lay the foundation for good governance. Both Asia and Europe have much to benefit from sharing information and exchanging best practices from their respective legal, judicial and political frameworks. The Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) encourages informal, open and non-confrontational dialogue between government and civil society representatives in this field, through its current programmes on human rights, democratisation and justice, and public diplomacy.
The Informal ASEM Seminar on Human Rights series is the central element of ASEF's work under the theme of Governance. Initiated by the Foreign Ministers of Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) at their first meeting in 1997, this Seminar series remains the only multilateral human rights dialogue platform between Asian and European government representatives and civil society members.
In 2013, ASEF launched a new initiative on public diplomacy: the Asia-Europe Public Diplomacy Training Initiative conducts the training of young Asian and European diplomats engaged in public diplomacy efforts.
Asia-Europe Public Diplomacy Training Initiative
26-28 June 2013
Switzerland
24-26 October 2013
Singapore
The Asia-Europe Public
Diplomacy Training Initiative is set up by the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), the DiploFoundation, Switzerland, and the National Centre for Research on Europe – University of Canterbury, New Zealand. Being funded by the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland and ASEF with the support of the European Union, the initiative aims to enhance public diplomacy efforts among ASEM members through a practical skills-oriented training.
The initiative targets young diplomats who work in Asia or Europe Departments in ASEM Ministries of Foreign Affairs or who are posted at embassies in ASEM countries and deal with public diplomacy. The training allows them to gain deeper understanding of their counterparts, which will benefit them in their daily work. In particular, it will:
- enable participants to deepen their knowledge of perceptions of Asia and Europe;
- provide practical skills to formulate, develop and deliver effective public diplomacy campaigns through real-life examples and case studies;
Partners:
Sponsor:
- offer the opportunity to interact with counterparts from ASEM members and build networks; and
- promote awareness of the ASEM process and bi-regional dynamics among diplomats.
The meeting in Geneva, Switzerland brought significant progress in the coordination of the project. The coordination meeting in Singapore ensured the consistency of written contributions and material input from contributors towards implementation in 2014.
13th Informal
ASEM Seminar on
Human Rights
21-23 October 2013
Denmark
The 13th Informal Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Seminar on Human Rights: Human Rights and the Environment connected over 135 government and civil society representatives. This seminar addressed the inter-connections and the new challenges posed by environmental degradation on the promotion and protection of human rights. The working group discussions focused on:
- interaction between
sustainable development, enviroment and human rights; - access to information,
participatory rights, and
access to justice; - actors, institutions and
governance; and - climate change and human
rights implications.
Participants identified 12 key messages, including the need to emphasise a human rights-based approach in environmental matters, especially in international climate change negotiations and sustainable development discussions.
Danish Minister for Environment, Ida AUKEN, speaking
at the 13th Informal ASEM Seminar on Human Rights
Partners:
Stakeholder engagement is important not only at the 'official level', but also with the general public. Access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice are key to effective public engagement in environmental issues. These recommendations were subsequently sent to the ASEM governments.
Asia-Europe Democratisation and Justice (AEDJ)
14-16 November 2013
Myanmar
Through research and workshops, the Asia-Europe Democratisation and Justice (AEDJ) project on Political Parties and the Citizen studied 8 unique case studies on the relationship between political parties and civil society organisations (CSOs) in 2013.
The workshop expanded the case studies to address the challenges that political parties and CSOs face in their interactions and presented policy recommendations to improve the effectiveness of such interactions. The workshop participants also shared their expertise with over 20 representatives from Myanmar from various political parties, NGOs and academia. Both international and local participants identified common trends and challenges that political parties in Asia and Europe face and put forward the lessons learned. The outcomes from the research and workshop have been compiled into a publication.
Partners:
