April 21, 2015 - April 24, 2015
CSO Event
The ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN People’s Forum (ACSC/APF) is an annual forum of CSOs in ASEAN, which is normally held parallel to the ASEAN Summit of Heads of State. The first ACSC/APF started in 2005 in Shah Alam, Malaysia when Malaysia under the premiership of Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, was the chair of ASEAN.
ACSC/APF 2015, 21 – 24 April 2015
Wisma MCA, Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN People’s Forum (ACSC/APF) is an annual forum of CSOs in ASEAN, which is normally held parallel to the ASEAN Summit of Heads of State. The first ACSC/APF started in 2005 in Shah Alam, Malaysia when Malaysia under the premiership of Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, was the chair of ASEAN.
Participants of this forum come from civil society organisations, NGOs, people’s organisations, and people’s movements. In this meeting, CSOs bring up broad issues from different sectors and concerns, such as human rights, development, trade, environment, youth, and culture, affecting many countries in the region.
Since 2005, the ACSC/APF have been a critical platform for civil society to deliberate about the challenges faced as a region especially in promoting peoples participation in good governance and citizenship and the promotion and protection of human rights, the rule of law, democracy and peace at local and regional levels. It brings together ASEAN civil society that represents a cross-section of the peoples and holds ASEAN governments accountable as they deliberate on the future of the region, especially on the direction and processes of regional integration.
The ACSC/APF in 2015 is of particular importance and significance in view of:
- The ASEAN Community will be coming into being at the end of 2015 as envisioned by ASEAN. How this ASEAN Community has impacted the livelihood of the peoples in the region and how much say did the peoples in the region have in the process of determining the direction and shaping the regional community, is a matter of concern which needs a holistic, critical and thorough review by civil society, especially in view of the plan of ASEAN governments to craft a new long term plan for the region post 2015.
- The ACSC/APF process has made a full cycle of rotation among the 10 ASEAN member states in the last 10 years and is back to Malaysia as the hosting country. It is timely for civil society organisations in the region to take stock and critically reflect on the direction, strategies, processes and impacts of the ACSC/APF in the past 10 years in terms of influencing the policy decision making of ASEAN in the regional development and integration. This will help civil society in the region to chart a new course of directions and actions in addressing the new challenges in the post 2015 context.
