15 June 2011

H.E. Amb. I Gede Ngurah Swajaya

Chair, ASEAN Committee of Permanent Representatives

H.E. Dr Surin Pitsuwan

Secretary-General of ASEAN

H.E. Bagas Hapsoro

Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for Community and Corporate Affairs

H.E. Dato’ Misran Karmain

Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community

Your Excellencies:

Greetings from the Solidarity for Asian Peoples’ Advocacies (SAPA) Working Group on ASEAN and the SAPA Task Force on ASEAN Freedom of Information (TF on ASEAN FOI).

SAPA is an open platform of national and regional civil society organizations that come together for joint strategizing towards engaging inter-governmental organizations such as the ASEAN. The Working Group on ASEAN is a collaboration among various NGOs, peoples’ movements, coalitions and campaign organizations that seek to engage ASEAN issues and processes. It has played an active role in the ASEAN Civil Society Conference, and works on specific advocacies on human rights, migrants’ rights, economic development and social justice, and democratization, among others. One of its Task Forces is the TF on ASEAN FOI, an initiative to push for the recognition of the public’s right to know and access to information in ASEAN.

SAPA takes its cue from the ASEAN Charter, which enshrines the aspiration of building a “People-Oriented ASEAN”. Article 1.13 of the Charter stipulates that one of the purposes of ASEAN is to “promote a people-oriented ASEAN in which all sectors of society are encouraged to participate in, and benefit from, the process of ASEAN integration and community building.” Article 12 (d) gives the ASEAN National Secretariats and Directorates General the task of “contributing to ASEAN community building” with various sectors and entities.

It is in this spirit that SAPA is keen on continuing to meaningfully engage the ASEAN and to enhance the engagement process. SAPA and its Task Forces are looking at multi-level engagement processes with the ASEAN.

Article 16 (2) of the ASEAN Charter mandates the Committee of Permanent Representatives to prescribe the rules of procedure and criteria for engagement with “entities associated with ASEAN”. We would like to request for an update on this mandate. While there are existing Guidelines on ASEAN Relations with Civil Society Organizations, dated 6th April 2006, published on the website of the ASEAN Secretariat, we would also like to request for a copy of the ASEAN’s latest revised Guidelines for Civil Society Accreditation, ASEAN’s Guidelines for Engagement with Civil Society Organizations, or any working draft thereof, for our information and future action. Having access to and being able to contribute to such important documents will help ensure inclusive and representative engagement and participation of diverse and multiple sectors of society in Southeast Asia.

Article 16 (2) of the ASEAN Charter mandates the Committee of Permanent Representatives to prescribe the rules of procedure and criteria for engagement with “entities associated with ASEAN”. We would like to request for an update on this mandate. While there are existing Guidelines on ASEAN Relations with Civil Society Organizations, dated 6th April 2006, published on the website of the ASEAN Secretariat, we would also like to request for a copy of the ASEAN’s latest revised Guidelines for Civil Society Accreditation, ASEAN’s Guidelines for Engagement with Civil Society Organizations, or any working draft thereof, for our information and future action. Having access to and being able to contribute to such important documents will help ensure inclusive and representative engagement and participation of diverse and multiple sectors of society in Southeast Asia.

We look forward to your prompt and favorable response.

Thank you very much.

Respectfully yours,

For the SAPA Working Group on ASEAN:	For the SAPA Task Force on ASEAN FOI:
1. Burma Partnership	1. Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)
2. SAPA Task force on ASEAN and Burma	2. Institute for Freedom of Information (i-FOI)
3. Agribusiness Action Initiatives	3. Focus on the Global South
4. Focus on the Global South (Regional)	4. Forum Asia
5. Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUMASIA)	5. South East Asian Committee for Advocacy(SEACA)
6. South East Asian Committee for Advocacy (SEACA)	6. Bantay Kita (Philippines)
7. Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA)	7. Foundation for Media Alternatives
8. Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID)	8. People’s Empowerment Foundation Thailand
9. Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma (ALTSEAN)	9. Institute for Essential Services Reform(IESR)
10. International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development(INFID)
11. ODA Watch
12. Think Centre
13. SAPA Task Force on ASEAN and Migrant Workers
14. Human Rights Education Institute of Burma
15. Union Network International Asia Pacific Regional Organization (UNI Apro)
16. Coordination of Action Research on AIDS and Mobility(CARAM) Asia
17. Human Rights Working Group (Indonesia)
18. Southeast Asia Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
19. Task Force Detainees of the Philippines
20. SAPA Task Force on ASEAN and Human Rights

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