Shrinking Civic Space – Experiences of Media and Human Rights Defenders in Asia

7:00-9:00 pm, Friday 7 December 2018

Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand

Free Admission & Food will be served before the event

The event will be live-streamed through FORUM-ASIA’s Facebook page

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Civic space is shrinking across Asia due to increasing restrictions on people’s participation in civic and political life. Few groups are more under pressure than the media and human rights defenders. Both are facing harassment, incarceration and even being killed in countries across the region. However, in most instances the two do not manage to overcome their differences to become allies in their common struggle for civic space. In part this stems from mistrust and misunderstanding, but also the reality that the media and human rights defenders have very different mandates.

So how are both media and human rights defenders confronting the challenges related to the crackdown on civic space in Asia at the moment? Are there trends or commonalities across the region? And what are the differences or similarities in the experiences of reporters and activists?

The event today aims to provide a dialogue platform for media and human rights defenders from Asia to share their experiences and views. It will take place on 7 December 2018 from 7:00-9:00 pm at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand.

Media contacts in Bangkok:

For more information or if you want to set up an interview with any of the speakers, please contact Marte Hellema, Programme Manager Communication and Media for FORUM-ASIA at [email protected] or[email protected].

About the organiser:

The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) is a membership-based human rights and development organisation in Asia with a network of 67 members in 21 countries across the region. FORUM-ASIA works to promote and protect all human rights for all, including the right to development, through collaboration and cooperation among human rights organisations and defenders in Asia and beyond. www.forum-asia.org