Just in time for the “Strengthening Global Peace and Security for Development” conference this November, the Council on Foreign Relations released a new report last month that calls for the increased role of regional international organizations (RIGOs) in conflict prevention and peacemaking worldwide.  In the Council’s special report Partners in Preventive Action: The United States and International Institutions, researchers Paul B. Stares and Micah Zenko explore how RIGOs are already improving security within their respective regions such as the Organization of American States' dispute resolution mechanisms and the African Union's African Standby Force. They recommend that the U.S. support and cooperate with such institutions.  Through collaboration with RIGOs on conflict monitoring, intelligence sharing, and aid disbursements, the U.S. can seriously enhance peacemaking efforts. 

Partners in Preventive Action, though a call to U.S. policymakers,also underscores the need for RIGOs to develop their capacities in effectively dealing with transnational threats.  To meet this increased responsibility, strategic partnerships with civil society organizations must be formed for enhanced legitimacy, more effective early warning, and greater diplomacy. 

Only by working collaboratively with all stakeholders can challenges be met and lasting peace achieved.  It is no mistake that both the Strengthening Global Peace conference and the Council on Foreign Relations report emphasize the necessity of partnership.   

“The Arab League needs to develop itself to keep up with this change in the region and needs to meet the needs of the Arab street, and that can be done with greater cooperation with civil society and not just governmental organizations.”

Tarek Abd al-Kader is theacting minister and head of the Media and Communications Sector at the Arab League. With over three decades at the institution, he has a unique perspective on its internal happenings and its effectiveness in the region. He sat down for an interview with Al-Masry Al-Youm recently to talk about the role of the Arab League in this period of tumult and change, and how that role might develop.

To see the whole interview please visit: http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/469889

The People’s SAARC Conference was held in New Delhi on 21-23 April 2010 while the heads of the states of SAARC countries are meeting in Bhutan.

The members of social movements, civil society organizations, labour unions, peasant movements, other working people’s organizations and women’s groups have gathered here in Delhi from 20th April to 23rdApril, 2010 as part of the process of Peoples SAARC to forge a vision for a People’s Union of South Asia. This year’s Peoples’ SAARC is a culmination of a process of more than a decade. It reaffirms the South Asian Peoples commitment to creating a better South Asia free from all forms of discrimination, exclusion and domination. It also calls for the peoples of all SAARC countries to struggle against militarism and jingoism, and for secularism. In our diverse societies of minorities of all kinds, a secular society is crucial for national and societal harmony, human rights and national unity. It calls for equal respect among all countries irrespective of size, and power.

More information: http://www.peoplesaarc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1:peoples-saarc-new-delhi-declaration-2010&catid=5:peoples-saarc-declarations&Itemid=3

This year the ASEAN Civil Society Conference (ACSC) 2011 was hosted by civil society groups in Jakarta from the 3rd – 5th May, 2011 at Hotel Ciputa in Jakarta. The ACSC was attended by more than 1300 participants from all over ASEAN. Apart from the plenaries, there were more than 33 workshops that were held under 16 thematic clusters.

APRRN began engaging with the ACSC process only since 2010. In 2010, APRRN was nominated as the Refugee Focal Point in the SAPA Task Force on Human Rights in ASEAN. As a part of SAPA APRRN, in 2010 along with members such as People’s Empowerment Foundation (PEF), the Thai Committee for Refugees (TCR) and SUARAM organized the first workshop on refugees at the APF in Hanoi in 2010.

In 2011, APRRN along with members such as the Thai Committee for Refugees (TCR), Asylum Access Thailand, Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) and others organized a refugee and statelessness workshop in Jakarta. The workshop was held on the 4th of May, 2011 and attended by 60 participants. The panel for the workshop consisted of four panelists: Veerawit Tianchainan (TCR), Medhapan Sundaredeja (AAT), Febi Yonesta (LBH Jakarta) and Dr. Enni Soeprapto. The panel was moderated by Anoop Sukumaran.

Veerawit Tianchainan spoke about the master plan on ASEAN connectivity and refugee management as well as the gaps and necessary steps of refugee protection. Febi Yonesta, presented on the issue of Indonesian law and refugee protection where he outlined Indonesia’s policy on refugees and challenges faced by them. Dr. Enni Soeprapto’s presentation was one which weaved various threads from the histories of various countries in the ASEAN, the recent histories of refugees and their travails in the region as well as the policy and political conditions that gave rise to peculiar situations. The panel was followed by a lively discussion. The workshop came up with a number of recommendations for the ACSC drafting committee to consider, some of which were also incorporated in the final statement.

Source

http://refugeerightsasiapacific.org/2011/05/12/report-on-the-2011-asean-civil-society-conference-asean-people%E2%80%99s-%C2%A0forum-2011/

OAS Permanent Council Working Group on Human Rights Seeks to Engage Civil Society

August 12, 2011

The Special Working Group created by the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) to “Reflect on the Workings of the IACHR with a view to Strengthening the Inter-American Human Rights System,” agreed at its meeting of August 11 to conduct a process of broad consultation, convening civil society organizations and the different social stakeholders in the Hemisphere to present their contributions on the matter.

In this first stage of the process, the Working Group invites all those who so wish to present written documents not exceeding 2,000 words with their recommendations on the reforms that should be undertaken in the operation of the IACHR to strengthen the Inter-American Human Rights System.

The Working Group was created by the Permanent Council on June 29, 2011, with the goal of further developing the process of reflection on the operation of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in the framework of the American Convention of Human Rights and its Regulations, achieve the strengthening of the Inter-American Human Rights System (IAHRS) and present its recommendations during the first regular session held by the Council in the month of December of 2011.

Source: http://www.oas.org/en/media_center/press_release.asp?sCodigo=E-796/11