FORUM-ASIA is pleased to announce that United Nations Democracy Fund
(UNDEF) has agreed to support its project on Combating Impunity and
Promoting Fundamental Freedoms through Civil Society Democratic
Dialogue with Policy Makers in Asia for the period of two years.
(Bangkok, 6 November 2009) The Asian Forum for Human Rights and
Development is pleased to announce that United Nations Democracy Fund
(UNDEF) has agreed to support its project on Combating Impunity and
Promoting Fundamental Freedoms through Civil Society Democratic
Dialogue with Policy Makers in Asia for the period of two years.

Beginning in November 2009, the project will be implemented by
Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) Secretariat
based in Bangkok, in cooperation with its members at the national level
as well as with its parrners from various sectors across Asia..
Currently, FORUM-ASIA has 46 members across Asia.

While executing this project, FORUM-ASIA will cooperate with the
ASEAN People's Center to enhance its advocacy and lobby with ASEAN,
which has its secretariat office based in Jakarta and the office of
FORUM-ASIA in Geneva for advocacy at the United Nations Human Rights
Council level.

"Civil society networks and solidarity will immensely benefit from
this cooperation with UNDEF," said FORUM-ASIA executive director Yap
Swee Seng, at the signing ceremony between UNDEF and FORUM-ASIA in
Bangkok today.

"Given the increase dynamics of civil society's efforts within the
past six years to engage and influence inter-governmental process of
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), South Asian Association
for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), East Asia Summit, ASEAN Regional
Forum (ARF), and Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), there has been a lot of
rich experiences gathered by various civil society networks and
coalitions. We believed this new initiative would further enhance and
strengthen the cooperation and coordination among the different
movements to advance human rights and democracy in this region," added
Yap.

"These can be done by sustaining the role of watchdog to
constantly monitor, evaluate and response to the various
inter-governmental processes, outcome documents and their
implementation," Yap further said.

The proposed two-year project will cover South, Southeast and Northeast
Asia and aims to improve the transparency, accountability and integrity
of the policy making institutions.

To
achieve the said objective, this project will carry out a series of
activities ranging from building the capacity of civil society to
actively engage governments, documenting democracy struggles and
organizing democratic dialogues of civil society with
inter-governmental institutions such as AICHR, ASEAN, SAARC, ASEM, Bali
Democracy Forum, and East Asia Summit.

"At the end of the project, not only political space for civil
society to influence public policies will be created and sustained but
also stakeholders' dialogue will be institutionalized as one of the
critical methods to develop people-centered public policies," said Yap.