ASEAN Youth Movement Newsletter - Winter Issue 2010

8/14/2019 ASEAN Youth Movement Newsletter - Winter Issue 2010

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ASEAN YOUTHMovement

Getting to know AYM

Mobilizing Southeast Asian Youth

Issue :Winter 2010

01vol.

I think people need to re-look into what they should use tomake progress for country orsociety. Some people say GrossNational Happiness (GNH) andsome people say Gross Domestic

Product (GDP). I don’t knowwhich one is the right answer forour country or for society’s

out the progress as we movealong.

Donaldson Tan, Singapore

P e a c e

E n v i r o

n m e n t

C u l t u r e

L o c a l

W i s d o m

E d u c a t i o n

F a i r T r ade

H u m a n R i g h t s



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I

Introduction to ASEAN Youth MovementBetween 2008 and 2009, the Collaboration or the Young Generation in

Mekong region (CYM) - a regional program o the Thai Volunteer ServiceFoundation (TVS) - initiated a new process or the young generation

to share their experiences, ideas, and local and regional socio-cultural

situations. The Mekong Youth Camp, ASEAN Youth Camp and ASEAN

Peoples’ Forums were important spaces or a growing youth network to

approach ASEAN policy-makers. More than 150 youth rom nine ASEAN

countries participated in these activities and through their strong

intention to build a youth network, ASEAN Youth Movement has

developed to bring together more youth in our region.

ASEAN Youth Movement is a space or youth activists, students, NGOs,

entrepreneurs and youth allies (to name a ew types o participants) to

come together, share their experiences and support each other’s

eorts or a better society. We are not an organization - we are trying to

create a communication network, which can bring together,

organizations, networks, groups or clubs interested in connecting

with others and exchanging inormation.

We call ourselves a movement because many o our participants are

activists - actively participating in society, working in community

development, politics, the environment, human rights and many

other issues. The most important thing is that we are all active youth,

and when we come together, we believe that we can call ourselves

a movement. We aim to bring youth together and support our riends’

eorts or social change through youth-driven media andcommunication.

We have organized the ASEAN Youth Movement and plan to continue

with seasonal newsletters to represent the activities and ideas o youth

in many dierent ASEAN countries. Human Rights, the environment,

health, gender and social justice are all issues we continue to support

and help publicize throughout ASEAN. We are working based on youth

volunteerism and grassroots energy, and hope or our movement or

a better region to continue rising!

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M e s s a g

e f r o m t h

e e d i t o r i

a l t e a m

II

Warm greetings to all o brothers and sisters in our

ASEAN youth amily rom every corner o thisSoutheast Asian land and warmly welcome you to ourvery rst issue o ASEAN Youth Movement Newsletterand nally, it is in your hands, riends!

We would like to introduce the readers about our journey’s movement - to know us, eel our hearts andshare our walk o lie. This issue mainly covers majorevents in October, and other interesting

activity update in the last ew months romour riends across the region.

Hear the voices o ASEAN youth through ‘Youth Voices’,and see how and why sustainable developmentalternatives are needed in the region and then learnhow Thai youths got prepared or the ASEAN YouthForum in last September and nd out what they

learned rom the ‘Thai Youth Preparation Forum’.

Remember wearing in pink T-shirts, running aroundthe venue the whole days and overnight discussionshave a made a meaningul reward o ‘More Than aStatement ’ and ollowed by our comprehensive ‘YouthStatement ’.

Friendship is born. A warm visit to riend’s work area

and homeland is made. Our sister, P’Ae rom Friendso Burma kindly shares this story with us ‘The Legend o Keng Sua Ten Dam’ and read the love or thenatural environment through the eyes o youngchildren o the Mekong River on ‘My Mekong River ’.

We hope our rst issue will be a good start or oursustainable movement and other million youths inASEAN. We believe ‘youth eort’ can make positive

change in the uture.

Our journey is not over yet. Till next issue!

ASEAN Youth Media Team

Our journeyhas begun!

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I Introduction to AYM II Editor’s Message

1 Our Words

3 Thai Youth Preparation Forum

8 More Than a Statement

14 To Peace in ASEAN

15 The Legend o Kang Sua Ten Dam

20 ASEAN Youth Statement

26 My Mekong River

27 AYM Activities Updates

29 Regional Updates

34 Diary o Hope

Content Editorial Team

PUBLISHER

ASEAN Youth Movement

EDITORIAL STAFF

Bennett HaynesBoonson Ransikarbum

Jaruwan Supolrai

SENIOR EDITORS

Supawadee Petrat

Somkid Mahissaya

CONTRIBUTORS

Tipakson Manpati

Aphatsorn Sombunwatthanakhun

Pichate Benjamart

Pimsiri Petchnamrob

Bennett Haynes

Miles Baker

Monorum Som

Pham Trong Nhan

Ryan Gan

Donaldson Tan

Nikki Deln

Ahmad Fikri Arie

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Aphatsorn Sombunwatthanakhun

Jamon Sornpetchnarin

Jaruwan Supolrai

Monorum Som

Pimsiri Petchnamrob

GRAPHIC DESIGN & ART WORK

Darunee Lahkoon

EDITORIAL OFFICE

Thai Volunteer Service Foundation (TVS)

409 Soi Rohitsook, Pracharajbampen Rd.,

Huay-Kwang, Bangkok 10320 Thailand

Tel/Fax: (66) 2691 0437-9

[email protected]

www.aseanyouthmovement.org

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Our words:Youth voices for“a people-oriented” ASEAN

Interview compiled by Tipakson Manpati

Donaldson Tan, Singapore

“I think people need to re-look into what

they should use to make progress orcountry or society. Some people say GrossNational Happiness (GNH) and some peoplesay Gross Domestic Product (GDP). I don’tknow which one is the right answer or ourcountry or or society’s progress, but I think we will nd out the progress as we movealong.”

Hoy Vathana, Cambodia

“ASEAN is something new to me and it ishopeul or youth. I want to see ASEAN bringnew, good things. I want to see youthparticipation in developing ASEAN. ASEANshould understand problems that youthand all people ace, so we can engage insolving problems and develop ASEANtogether.”

1 ASEANYOUTHMOVEMENT



Ole, Lao PDR

“Gathering ASEAN countriestogether helps promote its role inthe world and people are getting toknow this region more and more.

I want our ASEAN to exchange,share and help its member coun-tries to be in solidarity.”

Nguyen Anh Tuan, Vietnam

“I think our ASEAN region is acommunity. Though we have many dierences suchas culture, and economic status, we are insolidarity. I want to see a peaceul ASEAN.Every child has the right to go to schooland live in good environment, withoutpollution.I want all ASEAN countries tocreate more chances or youth to

participate in decision-making processes.”

Che-Anne Matriz, The Philippines

“Our region o ASEAN is very importantchance or better social development.At present, what the region lacks isurther cooperation. For example, inthis ASEAN People’s Forum, not allASEAN countries are present. I think it will be great i there are civil societyorganizations, and o course, youthorganizations are present in this kind

o activities.”

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by AYM Media Team

by AYM Media Team

How do we engage with ASEAN? Is it only an economic spaceor government trade representatives? Can we propose alternativesto large-scale development and “ree” trade? Or is youth participation just another marketing tool? How can we hold ASEAN accountable? These are important questions or many young Thai activists andorganizers, but certainly dicult to answer. The Thai Youth PreparationForum or APF 2009 rom September 5-6, co-organised by the Thai

Volunteer Service Foundation, ActionAid Thailand and Youth or LocalWisdom Network (Seubsan), was an opportunity to approach thesequestions and brainstorm concrete ways o participating in ASEAN. On the morning o the 5th we shared our reasons or joining the orumand our expectations or the weekend’s outputs. Jeerawan Yohtsamut(Ying), a senior at Thammasat Rangsit University and a volunteer withActionAid Thailand, came to the Forum to learn more about ASEAN.Ying added, “Our thoughts need a space, and coming together with

youth that work in rural communities, Bangkok youth can learn moreabout other areas and activities. We can mix together thosewho know about ASEAN – the ‘academic’ types – with rural activists.”

With these concerns in mind, we organized a morning seminar onASEAN. P’Kratae (Supawadee Petrat) o the Thai Volunteer ServiceFoundation (TVS) presented a basic history o ASEAN, which led intoa panel presentation rom Thailand’s Ministry o Foreign Aairs andthe Oce o Welare Promotion, Protection and Empowerment

o Vulnerable Groups. Representing civil society organizationswas Yuyun Wahyuningrum o Forum-Asia.

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Thai Youth Preparation

Forum

3



4

The Ministry o Foreign Aairs views the ASEAN Charter as a “bible” to maintain political will o ASEAN members and hold up commitments orhuman rights and people’s participation. Yet how “strictly interpreted”this bible will be is another issue, and is where civil society will have animportant role. As Yuyun pointed out at the end o her presentation,

youth can be a part o “knocking on the door” until we get a responserom ASEAN and human rights are upheld. The ASEAN Inter-Govern-mental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) will meet in January 2010– this will be an important opportunity or urther engagement.

Our orum brought together a range o participants, including youthactivists rom northern Thailand working with Burmese reugees, younglawyers working in Thailand’s three southern-most provinces, labororganizers in Bangkok actories, young women working in Ubon

Rachathani’s urban communities, and a range o youth supportingalternative education activities that ocus on local wisdom and cultures.

We also connected with a representative rom the government’s “YouthCongress” – Nuanpan Thamanovanish (Pang), a student at Chulalong-korn University who is developing some new ideas about cross-culturaleducation. As part o the Youth Congress, students like Pang havedirectly connected with the government and presented their policy

ideas and proposals. Pang shared with us her idea that all ASEANlanguages should be part o Thailand’s school curriculums and that thehistories o rural areas should be taught to young students. She arguedthat by learning more about these histories, we could improverelationships between neighboring countries, understand their culturesand their potential or growth.

An engaging discussion came out o her suggestions, with Vichian Talaa(Yun) and Wipawadee Panyangnoi (Tuck) rom Friends o Burma

responding that the type o historical education Pang proposed won’twork, and or several reasons. When we look to Thailand’s history o oppression and control over territory, the powerul people will alwayswant to keep history the way it wants it to be. Diversity is a challenge –when we learn about history, we need local people to be a part o thisprocess – not just national-level processes and national culture. Thisexchange showed early on the dierences in opinion betweenconventional students and student - activists.

Education has clearly become a very important issue to Thai youthinvolved in this preparation process. Pichate Benjamart (Chate),an alternative education volunteer rom TVS also continued to discuss

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education, rst by pointing out how many dierent ethnicities werepresent in the room. Education in the conventional system orgetslocally based approaches to learning. We may not need a completepicture o history, but we need an opportunity to learn about the local.

Nattawat Theeralerttham (Top) a student coordinator or Young Progres-sives Southeast Asia (YPSEA) joined the discussion by presenting hisnetwork’s eorts or youth participation in ASEAN. YPSEA is working onan initiative to push ASEAN leaders or change in education, health andhuman rights. They have developed a “Youth Charter” which representsthe YPSEA development and implementation process. Top also pointedout that YPSEA wants to “stand together and make this Charter arepresentative voice or our allies.” The English version o their YouthCharter has been submitted to the Department o Foreign o Aairs. The

challenge or YPSEA - given that many youth are still unsure o themselves and unprepared or expressing their ideas and arguments -is to make their eorts accessible to more youth.

When we look to civil society, we see diverse ethnicities and identities,movements or an alternative society and strong people’s organizations. The ASEAN Civil Society Conerences and ASEAN People’s Forum (APF)have broadly pushed or human rights and people’s participation.

Focusing on an environment “pillar” and youth involvement have alsobecome an important part o APF’s current work. The state uses phrase“empowering young people through education” and their “YouthSummits” have generated some mechanisms or youth participation. Yetthe state’s processes are still vague to people’s movements and the civilsociety organizations seeking out the state or engagement.

By nding clear connections to ASEAN policy and proposals, we canpresent our concerns and own concepts or policies or make new

proposals. “I we have the belie to change society or the better, weneed to conclude how we want to work with ASEAN. Long term or not?”P’ Kratae pointed out, and let students take over. Tuck suggested thatyouth can be a mechanism to tell ASEAN’s structures that people’sparticipation needs to be genuine. Adesorn Guntamunglee (Tle) alsoechoed his amous words, “corporations are araid o NGOs.”When people’s organizations are strong, they hold corporations andgovernments accountable.

At the community level, participation is deep and clear, with peopleworking or sustainable alternatives. At the public level, we organizecampaigns and create connections between issues. At the policy level,

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participation takes the orm o advocacy to represent marginalizedpeoples. We need to connect theselevels and work or concrete change.

The ASEAN presentation and student-led exchange throughout Saturdayaternoon helped us to understandpossibilities or engagement. ForSunday it was time to pursue specicand concrete issues related to youthand brainstorm or media campaigns.We will use this opportunity to shareinormation and ideas about ASEAN

in the communities we live and work.For most participants, a lot o questionsabout people’s participation are stillunanswered. But continuing to bea part o this learning process andyouth movement will help make ourvoices heard.

KEYWORDS:

ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission

on Human Rights (AICHR) – a regional

body intended to “promote and protect

human rights and undamental reedomso the peoples o ASEAN” and “to uphold

the right o the peoples o ASEAN to live in

peace, dignity and prosperity.” The AICHR

is an important point o ocus or ASEAN

civil society.

accountable – an organization or

institution is expected to explain its

actions or decisions and be responsible

oppression – unjust treatment or controlover a group o people

advocacy – public support or a specic

issue or policy

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CHECK OUT OUR VIDEO ON YOUTUBE

GO TO YOUTUBE.COM AND SEARCH

FOR ASEAN YOUTH MOVEMENT

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We came together or two main reasons. First, we aimed to produce anew, comprehensive Youth Statement that represented our consensuson key issues in the ASEAN region. Second, we hoped to strengthen our

youth network to acilitate communication and exchange o ideas,support youth activities and share inormation between youth workingat the local-level. The ASEAN Youth Forum was co-organised by ThaiVolunteer Service Foundation, ActionAid Thailand and Youth or LocalWisdom Network (Seubsan) and brought together 60 youth partcipantsrom 9 countries rom Southeast Asia countries. We planned or theYouth Forum to be a platorm to build recognition or youth voices incivil society and engage directly with ASEAN.

Erwin, a student activist rom Java, Indonesia pointed out early on,“youth are casualties o globalization.” This statement may seem vague,but it makes an important point. The economic, socio-cultural andenvironmental changes occurring in ASEAN are having real, negativeimpacts on youth and we are increasingly aware o them. SoutheastAsian countries have young populations, yet there is little being done bystate governments to support a sustainable uture or the nextgeneration. Whether it is unemployment in Indonesia or Cambodia,unequal access to education in Lao PDR or Burma, gender inequality in

Vietnam, socio-political apathy in the Philippines or Singapore, andmigrant labor throughout the Mekong sub-region, there are seriousproblems and challenges acing youth. Economies have expanded

More Than A Statement

8

by Bennett Haynes

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greatly and many youth own ancy cell phones and motorbikes, butwhat are we to or all ASEAN Youth?

On our second evening, I sat or dinner with a Vietnamese environmetalresearcher o Khmer Krom heritage, a Lao youth organizer

o Vietnamese decent, a brother and sister rom the Tai Yaicommunity in Shan State, Burma, and a Thai student activist rom therural northeast. We sat together, speaking Thai, Lao, Vietnamese, Tai Yaiand English, while sharing ideas about important issues.Our conversation ranged rom regional history o migration, the climatecrisis and carbon trading, agribusiness and livestock eedlots, globaleconomic bodies like the G8, BRIC and ASEAN, and nally, the construc-tion o dams on the Mekong and Salween rivers. Ater dinner, it hit methat I was working with a unique group o young people that genuinely

care about society and are working or positive change.

But or many grassroots activists, ASEAN’s economic ocus is a majorproblem. Some youth reject ASEAN on this principle, while othersquestion the viability o bilateral trade agreements. To all o us, such anemphasis on the economy speaks to ASEAN’s ignorance towardsimportant social and environmental issues. Yet how do we want toengage with an institution that we don’t agree with? There is an undeni-

able value in actually meeting person-to-person, bringing peopletogether or a common cause (though not necessarily a stress-reeprocess).

Statement process: Education, Environment, Human

Rights and Economics

Our participants knew that we needed a clear, specic set o recommendations. We shared common ground on human rights,impacts rom the nancial crisis, human tracking, governmentcorruption, natural resource exploitation and environmentaldestruction. We also understood the potential or confict betweenbordering nations, especially rom the Mekong and Salween dams andthe increasing presence o Chinese investors and corporations in naturalresource-rich economies.

The problems associated with the conventional education system aresomething many youth are already ocusing on. Vietnam youth

9ASEANYOUTHMOVEMENT



organizations such as the Vietnam Students Union are working toaddress this issue, but are unable to take a rights-based approachbecause o government intervention. Indonesian, Philippine and Malayyouth organizations are all ghting against privatization o schools andpushing or youth participation in education system decision-making.

Thai youth rom the Youth or Local Wisdom Network called or reorm inthe conventional education system and made concrete suggestionsabout the need or alternative education, which includes and supportslocal communities.

Though the Lao government seems convinced by the “battery o Southeast Asia” concept, Lao youth are able to articulate very clearly theconnections between large-scale development projects, such as dams,and impacts on community and environment. Development in Laos has

meant a widening gap between the wealthy and poor (especially interms o education) and environmental destruction. Youth in otherASEAN countries (including those not direct beneciaries o Mekonghydropower) saw this as an important issue and were supportive o astrong statement regarding the environment. Moving beyond ourdemands to stop large-scale hydropower development, we urge moresupport or local, renewable and community-managed orms o alternative energy.

Further, biouel plantations are not the answer to our energy needs.Such mono-cropping is already destroying community ood resources in Thailand and is increasingly present throughout the region. As Usup, a Thai activist based in Chiang Mai pointed out, we must also look beyondood security, understanding that it isn’t “connected to our rights, it justtalks about having something to eat…but ood sovereignty is aboutrights, our choices to plant what we eat, the saety o this ood and thediversity o oods to eat.”

Given the dedication to human rights by the Thai Volunteer ServiceFoundation and ActionAid Thailand, the protection o human rights wasa key issue or our orum. As one Burmese youth living in a reugee campon the Mae Sot border pointed out, “we have our own rules and laws,but they are only in the books.” These youth were incredibly brave tostand in ront o ASEAN and speak honestly about the Burmese people’sstruggle. The unveiling o the AICHR at the 15th ASEAN Summit madeclear that civil society’s interests were not taken into account, but we will

continue this work or justice and community rights regardless o ASEANsupport.

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The regional economy was a major sticking point or our group’sprocess. Donaldson Tan’s in-depth understanding o regional politics,economics and even engineering eventually became an essential part o our critical engagement with ASEAN. Several Thai grassroots activistswere initially rustrated by Donald’s insistence about economic issues,

such as the inevitability o ree trade and Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).During the discussion on Fair Trade, Athit, a youth leader rom Lao PDR“Are we youth or politicians?” Can, an activist based in Chiang Mai,Thailand continued, “we are agricultural countries, and we need to

exchange and help our neighbors. It’s more about exchange than tradeor racing to get rich.”

But through hours o exchange and debate, we orged common groundabout the need or air trade and intervention on corporate exploitation

o workers and natural resources. We are believers in the power o localeconomies and the role o youth social entrepreneurs in thosecommunities. This is where ASEAN should put its support i they trulywant to strengthen the regional economy.

Network process

When we rst met each other, Che-Anne, a student activist rom YPSEAin the Philippines, called our network’s goal, “greater collaboration orgreater space.” Later, while introducing the Philippines’ situation to thegroup, she concluded that “participation is not just about airinggrievances, we need to propose concrete solutions.” Based on our YouthStatement, it’s clear that we’ve proposed concrete solutions. But can webring a network together? Can we call it an “ASEAN Youth Movement”?

Our access and use o communication tools remains an obstacle inthis process. At our Media Team meeting, Burmese youth explainedthat e-mail rom several major providers is unavailable, and mostimportantly, they must be very careul with what they send and receive,and how public that inormation can become. Most youth working inrural communities have irregular access to e-mail. When we use thesetools, we tend to prioritize our communication as well. How can we makecontributing to aseanyouthmovement.org or inorming riends aboutan upcoming event a priority?

The English language also remains a point o some contention. For some Thai activists, English represents the loss o culture and local languages,




and or Che-Anne, rom the Philippines; the ability to speak Englishfuently is a legacy o her countries history o colonialism. Yet or others,learning English is an essential tool or communicating to a largeraudience and accessing inormation or abroad. These dieringunderstandings o English will be an important challenge or keeping

our network connected.

The orum’s acilitator, Aphatson Sombunwatthanakun (P’Ae),introduced concepts o a “transnational civil society” and “regionalpeople’s movement” to our group. We’ve created a group o riends innine out o ten ASEAN countries, but how do we generate a “space” or usto work together. On one level, this space requires urther unding,so that we can host more orums and meetings to develop uturecollaborative projects. On another level, this space requires commitment

rom our Youth Forum’s participants. I youth are committed to urthercommunication and coordination, and bring their riends and allies intothe process, we can begin to open a space and engage the local withthe transnational and regional levels.

Conclusions

“I believe in the struggle o the people, not meetings amonggovernment ofcials “ – Usup

Many youth don’t expect that much rom ASEAN. The ailure o government leaders to participate in the ASEAN Peoples’ Forum wascertainly disappointing, but not surprising. The rejection o civil societyrepresentatives in the Interace dialogue with ASEAN was just the icingon the cake. How can ASEAN claim to be “peoples’ centered” while

reusing to dialog with the people themselves?




Many youth have said, “This doesn’t just stop at the ASEAN Summit.”Our voices are coming rom grassroots communities and pursue ASEANas another space or exchange. There are important common issuesbetween many ASEAN countries: incomplete or unequal educationalsystems, youth job insecurity, a widening gap between urban and rural

youth, environmental and social impacts rom large-scale developmentand chemical-intensive agriculture.

At the end o her discussion on human rights and ASEAN, Dr. SripraphaPetchmeesri, now a member o the ASEAN Inter-governmental HumanRights Commission (AICHR), told us all, “Being noisy is useul as well.”It is clear that we will need to keep making government leaders listen tous.

We’ve developed a progressive agenda and taking action at the ASEANPeoples’ Forum (APF) was a rst step. Running around the event in pink t-shirts and carrying signs that ranged rom “Local Wisdom” to “NOEU-ASEAN FTA,” we made clear to the rest o civil society that youth arecommitted to working on regional issues. We believe that working orchange ourselves is the most important.

KEYWORDS:

The Group o Eight (G8) – reers to France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada, the United

Kingdom, Russia and the United States, nance ministers rom these countries meet

together annually in an inormal orum to discuss global economic and political issues.

The G8 will be replaced by the G-20 (the world’s 20 largest economies) this year.

BRIC – reers to the economies o Brazil, Russia, India and China, they emcompass over

25% o the world’s land coverage and 40% o the world’s population. These countrieshave begun some political cooperation, but are not an ocial organization or alliance.

apathy – lack o interest or concern

statement – a clear expression o something in writing

movement – a group o people working together to advance a shared idea




To P e a c e i n A SEAN

Pichate Benjamart or Chate is an alternative education volunteer rom Thai Volunteer Service Foundation, based on Por Island in Krabiprovince, southern o Thailand. His poem was beautiully written and

dedicated to people in ASEAN struggling or their better lie.




It had been more than ten yearssince I heard about the struggleo people against a dam called

‘Kang Sua Ten’ in Phrae province,Northern Thailand. This is arst time that I got a chanceto visit one o the strongestpeople’s movements in Thailandsince they have been strugglingin 1980s. To protect theircommunities and the last golden

teak orest o Thailand.

We got up in an early cold morn-ing on 28 November 2009 totravel by a pickup truck romChiang Mai to Kang Sua Ten inPhrae province. To join a treeordination ceremony that localpeople there organize or media

and people rom other placesto learn about their struggleand their way o lie. I traveledtogether with Karen youth romYouth Training or DevelopmentProgram (YT), all o us were 11people.

P’Ning is the coordinator o this

organization and Can is one o the YT sta. It was exciting or meto visit Can’s home since I have

The Legend

of Kang Sua

Ten Damby Aphatsorn Sombunwatthanakhun or P’Ae, Friends o Burma, Thailand




known him or a long time. The young Karen alsowas exited or visiting another people movementbesides their land and orest movement in ChiangMai. Their parents and communities also havebeen struggling or their community rights to live

and protect their orest or more than 15 years.

Finally, we arrived Sa-iab community at about 11o’clock. Unortunately, we missed the treeordination in the morning so later on Kul and P’Noibrought us to visit some other places around thecommunities. We took a rest or lunch at thelearning center o Takon Yom (sediment o YomRiver) Youth Group is located right in the middle o

community. I was impressed with all o colorulfags and signs around the center and community.Big signs painted with the strong words to showtheir oppositions against the dam such as “Theorest alive-the people alive, build a dam-peopledie”, “Our River, Our Lives”. There are also severalfags o other people’s movement that they havebeen a member such as Assembly o the Poor and

La Via Campesina, the national and internationalpeasants’ movement in Thailand and othercountries.

We visited some places in Mae Yom National Park together with Kul, P’Noi, a journalist and peoplerom another province. Yom River is one o the ourmain rivers in the North fow to Chao Phraya River incentral plateau. Kang Sua Ten Dam was planned

since 1985 or irrigation propose which will create abig reservoir and food over the whole 10 commu-nities in Sa-iab in Song district and some othercommunities in Chiang Muan district in Phayaoprovince. Due to the local people movements aswell as other alliances throughout the country andother countries, this project has been pendingamidst the controversial debates in Thai society ormore than decade. Particularly the issue o last

golden teak orest in Thailand that people havebeen protecting ater the cancellation o concession in 1995. The concerns beside




environmental and social impacts rom fooding arealso about the risk o earth quake in the area.

Kul took care o us in his community or the wholetrip. He and his wie, Bank, work together or an

active environmental organization called LivingRiver Siam, they are also a part o our NorthernActivist Community in Chiang Mai. Kul and Canhave been working or their community about tenyears ago.

They were strong leaders o Takon Yom youth groupsince they were younger. Can is now a member o Amnesty International (AI) and he also helps on

supporting the Karen youth and other youthmovements in Thailand. There are also other youngpeople rom Takon Yom that become activists ordevelopment workers that have been supportingother people and environmental movementsthroughout country more than 10 people. Thinand Tho, sister and brother work or EarthRightsInternational, are also have been successully

supporting the youth in Mekong region.

P’ Ning, she has been working with youth group andlocal people here since she was a student inBangkok. She is one o the activists that supportedthe people’s movement and youth group. Shewalked through the community and had a chat tolocal people like her own home. She arrived hererst time in 1994 since Kul and Can were high school

students and continued working or several yearshere beore working with other youth groups in theSouth. Now she works with Karen youth group inChiang Mai. She never let the movements since shewas student as well. Another activist who is an idolor the young people here is P’Harn, or HarnnarongYaowalert, a member o National Economic andSocial Advisory Council on natural resource sector.

It is amazing to see these young people that grewup with the problems and pressure together withtheir parents and community. Although the dam

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issue in their own community is not very stable yet, they are still able tosupport other people’s movements strongly. Most o them graduated at

bachelor degree and some also got master degree. Actually they areable to nd some other good jobs or making money but they choose tostand beside the movement and their own community.

The continuity rom generation to generation has shown the longcommitment o activists and local people working on dam as well asother environmental issues. According to the huge benets rombuilding the dams economically and politically, the local people therecannot stop their struggle. Their power o their spirits have been

spreading out everywhere and become seeds o hope in other places.

Teak orest will be fooded

under the reservoir

Teak logs are reused or new house building

that will last long or hundred years







ASEAN Youth Statement


OurVOICE

POWERMOVEMENT!



We represent youth rom Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia,Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. We gatheredtogether in Petchaburi, Thailand rom October 15 to 17 2009 to shareour issues, concerns and experiences in our respective countries.

As the uture o ASEAN, we arm our role in shaping the developmento our region and want to express to the ASEAN leadership that we:


Believe in youth potential to become leaders at the local,national and regional level.

Conscious o the solidarity and unity amidst the diversityo belies and cultures in the region

Recognize that education is a state obligation towardsthe people, particularly youth.

Fully aware o the impact o Climate Change on the survivaland livelihood o local communities.

Alarmed by the exploitation o migrant workers in

South East Asia.

Are deeply concerned by the lack o transparency withinASEANand the lack o opportunities or civil society’s participation.

Assert youth, stateless peoples, women, children, ethnic groups,dierently-able people and other groups must have the right toparticipate in decision- making process or sel-determination andcommunity-based sustainable development. Local wisdom and

environmental resource management are essential parts o thecommunity rights-based development process.

Supporting the establishment o the ASEAN Inter-governmentalHuman Rights Commission (AICHR).

Emphasizing social responsibility o state and private actors ineconomic development.

Urging for further the ASEAN way o initiating positive andpeople-centered reorms and creating policies and mechanismsor a people’s centered development.



Calls or the ASEAN member states to establish amechanism or youths to participate and monitoring thedevelopment o community-based education curriculum

and ormal education that osters appreciation, under-standing and cooperation domestically and within ASEAN,including education on positive history, peace, humanrights, gender and cultural sensitivities, environmentalawareness, special education and lie-skills.

Demands the ASEAN member states to allocate at least 6%o the Gross National Product and give higher budgetallocation rom the National Budget to the development o

ormal and alternative education.

Endorses the establishment o an educational undequally based on the economic capacity o each countrycontributed by all ASEAN member states to support betteraccess to good quality relevant education or all, especiallymarginalized youths.

Recommends the sharing o best practices in all orms o education among ASEAN member states.

Calls for the recognition o local, national and regionalindependent youth groups/networks which will serve ashub or inormation exchange, policy advocacy andmonitoring o issues such as human rights, peace building,cultural exchange, sustainable development, etc.

Emphasizes the need to empower and protect the culture,environment and other distinct identities o the localcommunities, especially marginalized and ethniccommunities.

Promoting youth voluntarism and support community-based vocational education to encourage youth to returnback to their homeland and serve their own communitydevelopment and sustainable livelihood.

Supports the ormulation o an ASEAN Youth Policy byyouth representatives rom a diversity o backgrounds. The

PILLAR 1 : SOCIO-COLTURAL




policy-making process should begin with the current YouthCharter.

Demand ASEAN member states to promote air tradeand give higher priority to social, cultural, environmentalimpacts in economic planning, by implementingarmative actions such as, but not limited to:a. Protecting rights and ood sovereignty o small-scaleproducers such as armers and shermen.b. Monitor and intervene in anti-competitive practices by

industrial rms in the shing, agricultural and cottageindustries against small-scale producers.c. Monitor and protect migrant workers’ rights.

Recommends ASEAN members to use Gross NationalHappiness (GNH) to replace Gross Domestic Product as anindicator to measure socio-economic progress.

Calls upon ASEAN member states and civil society topromote and monitor on eectiveness o Corporate SocialResponsibility (CSR) in the private sector.

Urges ASEAN member states to accommodate youthentrepreneurship by protecting local markets againstunair competition due to market liberalization.

Reminds the ASEAN member states to commit to the

expansion o domestic economic inrastructure based onneeds o local communities.

Calls upon the ASEAN member states to collectivelyaddress the negative impacts o trade imbalances due toASEAN Free Trade Agreements.

Demand or civil society to be able to conductindependent assessment o economic, social and

environmental impact with the genuine participations o local communities prior to trade negotiations.

PILLAR 2 : ECONOMICS




Urges the expansion and strengthening o “decent work”standards according to the ASEAN Charter, especially inregards to young workers, by conducting assessments o local employment.

Demands the ASEAN Inter-Governmental Human RightsCommission (AICHR) to be an independent body which iscapable o conducting investigation on violations o human rights in a air, accountable and transparentmanner.

Demands the AICHR to be pro-active on the rights o youths and students such as but not limited to the rights:to organize and conduct Human Rights campaigns; toorm youth and student unions; to political and civilexpression such as peaceul demonstration; to educationand academic reedom.

Secure ASEAN and its members to implement theUniversal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) as well asollow other international Human Rights mechanism toprotect and promote all human rights.

Recommends the revision o the ASEAN Charter inthe principle o ”Non-intervention” according to serioushuman rights violation cases to allow:a. strengthening mechanism to protect human rights in

the region.b. building peaceul settlement o internal and trans-boundary conficts on a regional level.

PILLAR 3 : PEACE AND SECURITY




Calls upon ASEAN member states to decrease dependencyon ossil uels and jointly develop sustainable alternative

energy without negative impacts to environment andpeople.

Urges ASEAN member states to promote the transero energy-ecient and/or environmentally riendlytechnologies.

Demand the ASOEN to cooperate with civil society topressure corporations to internalize social and

environmental costs in their projects and industrialprocesses based on established international protocols onEnvironmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Social ImpactAssessment (SIA) and Health Impact Assessment (HIA).

Demands the ASOEN to support the management andprevention o all trans-boundary environmental impactsrom destructive development projects.

Calls upon or ASOEN to recognize local knowledgeor sustainable livelihood or local and natural resourcemanagement.

Demands the elimination o the use o large-scalehydro-power and nuclear power plants rom CDM.

PILLAR 4 : ENVIRONMENT




My Mekong River

The Mekong River is ertile and there are many kinds o sh. I am happywhen I see beautiul scenery and nature o the Mekong. My grandpa goes tosh in the Mekong. Sometime, the villagers plant vegetable on an emptyland o the Mekong or ood and sale. The Mekong River is essential or thevillagers living. The Mekong River has many kinds o sh and some villagers

go to sh or their ood. Atmosphere and scenery o the Mekong is beautiul.Sometime, tourists come to visit and take pictures o the Mekong. Strand inthe Mekong has small bushes and beautiul and colorul shells hide in therocks. In April, the Mekong has many ponds. There are shrimps rest in theMekong rocks and people go to get them or ood.

Some people might think that the Mekong is not important, but or me it isvery beautiul place and essential or all villagers living. I like to see theMekong and riverine animals live happily. So, we must help each other to

protect the Mekong River and or its beautiul nature.

The Mekong River is important orlives. It is the borderline riverbetween Thailand and Lao. Inthe past, sherman and villagers ingeneral will nd ood rom the river.

The river fows through manycountries. It is a very long river.

by Preeyanut Kamsai, Sixth grade student, HuayKhob-Huay Hiam School,

Pak Chom, Loei province, Thailand.

This essay was compiled and translated by Tipakson Manpati

or Saiaew , our riend rom Mekong School Alumni. Saiaew joined

Thailand’s Children’s Day this year in Pak Chom district, Loei

province (the Northeastern or Esan region), together with

a group o active youths rom northeast universities. She kindly

shared this with us, which had written by one o students

participating in the writing competition on the topic o ‘My Mekong River’.




Updated rom Mook ,Tuck, Netting, and other riends.In Bangkok, Thailand. On 23 November 2009, ASEANYouth Movement joined with many organizations

such as Friends o Burma, NGO-COD North, TACDB and TERRA in ront o the Parliament House to protestagainst Hutgyi dam construction on Salween River.Moreover, building Hutgyi Dam is also conficted areain Karen state which means human rights violationwould severely happen in this area. Though the PM.Abhisit Vejjajiva or any Minister did not appear andreceive petition letter, it was handed to Ajaan SriprapaPetchmeesri, ASEAN rights committee or continuously

process.

Stop Hutgyi Dam

Youth Partnership or Human Rights

Learn more about each event at www.aseanyouthmovement.org

Updated rom Miles on 10 December 2009, Bangkok, Thailand - The newly -organized Youth Partnership or Human Rights (YPHR) hosted its rst Human

Rights Workshop at the October 14th Memorial Foundation Building. The workshop educated youth on important Human Rights issues andmechanisms to strengthen networking between YPHR member groups, andto raise awareness about current human rights issues in Southeast Asia. YPHRis the organization including over 15 organizations, and it ocuses on humanrights. Besides, the activity was held ater the inaugural Human Rights Festivalin Ubon Ratchathani Province early this year, the second HRF ollowedsuccessively, organized and led by groups o university students rom Councilo International Educational Exchange (CIEE) and Khon Kaen University.

ASEAN Youth MovementActivities Update




Updated rom P’Ae who is a member o Northern Activists Communityand Northern Peasants Federation (NPF) on 9 December 2009 joint with

the Northern Climate Change Network and other civil society groups aswell as students and youth groups in Chiang Mai organized theClimate Justice Campaign according to the Asian Climate Action Day inCopenhagen, Denmark. The parade o tricycle and bicycles went tosubmit the peoples’ letters to dierent consulates to demand them tocut greenhouse gas emission and pay the debt that they have made onclimate change. Local Thai people, indigenous peoples, oreigners and journalists more than over 200 lives had joint together to the American,

British, French, Chinese and Japanese consulates. The question is “Will

do they ollow the submit letter to cut those gas?”

For more inormation www.obcm.wordpress.com

Climate Justice! From Chiang Mai!

Updated rom Bennett on 21 December 2009, Thai Volunteer Service Foundationand ActionAid Thailand hosted the orum called “Road to Peace” whichaddressed the current political confict and opened a space or youth to exchangeand develop ideas or supporting peace and solidarity between the peopleo both countries between Thai and Cambodia. Furthermore, this kind o democratic space allows or ree speech and our right to inormation to acilitate

civil society’s participation in government policy and politics. When youthactivists, well-respected academics and NGOs can gather to examine this crisisand think about solutions in solidarity with our riends in Cambodia, a peoples’centered process takes place that we ail to see in the government.

Road 2 Peace




Regional Update

Cambodia UpdateReported by Monorum Som, CVS, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Seven hundred participants attended ‘The International Volunteer Day ’ on December 5th-6th. The two-day eventwas organized by United Nation Volunteer (UNV),Cambodian Volunteer or Society (CVS), YRDP, VSO, YouthStar and other 37 co-organizer organizations. The mainpurpose o this event was to promote volunteerism toyouths and make collaboration about volunteerismin Cambodia. The highlight o the event was announcing

a ‘volunteer directory book’ and about volunteerorganizations in Cambodia. Newsletters and magazinesabout voluntarism activities and community developmentprojects were distributed to participants. This conerencehas widened their perspectives on volunteerism locally andinternationally and it encouraged them to take a rst step inthe volunteer walk o lie. Volunteerism is very importantor people in Cambodian society, especially the newgeneration. People cannot live alone in society. We need

to give helping hands to build a better society together!

For more inormation about this movement,

go to www.volcammember.com




A delegation o 15 youths rom ECO Singapore, representing the youthsector o Singapore civil society, attended the Copenhagen ClimateChange Conerence (COP15). They were there to lobby other delegates,to engage media and to work with other participants to infuenceinternational climate change policy. At the height o the leaked danishtext controversy, Amira Karim staged an intervention at the plenarysession, condemning developed nations o carbon colonialism. The ECO

Singapore delegation discovered that Asian youths are generallyunder-represented at such international conerences. Towards the endo the COP15, ECO Singapore announced their plan to launch a AsianYouth Climate Network, seeking youths rom all over Asia, to cometogether to infuence international climate change policy.

ECO Singapore can be contacted at [email protected]

Singapore UpdateReported by Donaldson Tan, The Online Citizen




The recent landmark ruling by the MalaysiaHigh Court to allow the Catholic newsletterHerald to use the word ‘Allah’ in its MalaysiaLanguage edition, was ollowed by a spateo attacks on several churches.

Malaysia Update

Indonesia Update

Reported by Ryan Gan Malaysia Youth and Students Democratic Movement (DEMA)

Reported by Ahmad Fikri Arie, Initiatives o Change (IoC), Jakarta Indonesia

One hundred twenty students rom 50 high schools andpesantrens (Islamic Boarding School) in Solo, Central Java andBandung, West Java-Indonesia declared SAVE-Indonesia(Students Against Violent Extremism). In their declaration, thestudents stated 10 points, among them; accept dierences,respect diversities, anti violence and discrimination, and peaceloving. The declaration is part o a series o programs IndonesianStudent Peace Camp in 2009 which was held on 17-20 December

2009 in Tawangmangu, Karanganyar, Central Java and on 27-30December in Lembang, Bandung West Java. Camp theme“Seeding Peace, Harvesting Harmony” was organized by the

A dialogue was needed to promote understanding between dierentreligions without resorting to violence. Hence, on 11 January 2010,a orum, titled ‘Allah’: Siapa yang punya? (‘Who owns ‘Allah’?), was

co-organized by Free Public Forum, University Malaya Islamic StudentsOrganization, and the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall(KLSCAH) Youth. The panelists included academics, religious leaders andpoliticians.

The orum on 11 January 2010 at the KLSCAH was attended byapproximately 900 people rom dierent backgrounds. Theorum lastedor 3 hours. Dierent opinions and arguments were presented during

the orum and the event proceeded calmly without any untowardincident. "This refects that Malaysians are mature enough to openlydiscuss issues without resorting toviolence," said the organiser o thepublic orum on the “Allah” issue.




November 10-11, 2009 - Dong Thap University in the south o Vietnamhosted the annual conerence “Social Workers: The Factor o Change” andcelebrated the “12th Anniversary o Social Work” in Vietnam. The two-day conerence brought together around 300 participants romall over Vietnam, including social worker students, lecturers, researchersrom social work program and social workers and NGOs rom both localand international organizations. In the conerence, participants learnedand shared about their experiences on community development andthe uture o social development in Vietnam. Further, social worker

students rom several universities in Vietnam perormed in culturalshows and exhibited their social development projects. Next time, the13th Anniversary will be hosted in Ho Chi Minh City.

Center or Pesantren andDemocracy (CePDes) Jakartato work with Initiatives o Change (IoC) Indonesia andNahdlatul Ulama Students

Association (IPNU). This campactivity began with concernthe emergence o radical andviolent movements that usedoctrines and dogmatisms o religious values by targeting

students as its main goal. The students peace camp seek to protectIndonesia youth rom exclusive, intolerant, and discriminatory attitudesand attempt to provide them with inclusive, tolerant, and peaceul

attitudes. For our days, participants get a lot o experience open andhonest dialogue; recognize the identity, leadership, anti-violencemovement, confict management and team building games. Studentsrom these institutions trained so that they will be able to urtherdevelop network in their schools or environments. Through thisprogram, it is expected that intolerance, violence in the name o religion and terrorism will become a never reccurring history.

To learn more about IoC’s project, go to http://ioc.wordpress.com

VietnamUpdateReported by Pham Trong Nhan, social worker student,

Dong Thap University, South Vietnam




Philipines

Update

Generation Peace or GenPeace rom the Philippines celebrated theInternational Day o Peace on 21 September 2009. The objective o activities was to use the day as a starting point or the discussion o dierent peace and confict issues in the country. The rst activitywas Peace mosaic and the wall o peace. The wall o peace wascreated by youth leaders rom dierent communities and youthorganisations.

The second one was A GenPeace Mini-Documentary: A Story o Peace,the dierent youth peace stories were gathered and made intoa mini-documentary which highlights the dierent realitieso violence in the country. And last activities was Peace DayCelebration. It is the celebration o the International Day o Peace bygathering dierentstakeholders to peace government leaders, NGOs,youth and students organisations, religious, women and spiritualormations. They made the human peace sign, unveiled the peace

wall and the screening o mini-documentary.

Moreover, on 6 October 2009, GenPeace supported the initiative, andmarched the symbolic ½ kilometer-walk in Manila. Banners callingor peace, nuclear disarmament and non-violence were waved alongthe way. The international marchers rom Latin America, Europe andAsia also participated. Schools and youth organizations mobilizedparticipants to the event that had the gymnasium jam-packed andreally estive.

Reported by Nikki Delfn,

Generation Peace, the Philippines




The Collaboration or Young Generation inMekong Region or CYM, Thai VolunteerService’s regional program has just releasedthe ‘Mekong Youth Diary for Peace: Listento Our Voices, Join the Change’. Over 2,000copies have been given away to thousand o youth across the Mekong region in Burma,Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

DIARY OF HOPE

CYM Team has ten copies o the diary to give away.Raise your voice or peace on the topic o ‘My Dream

about Mekong Region’, in no more than 100 words.

The ten most interesting entries will receive a diary

and have their words published in our website.

Email to [email protected].

HURRY UP, deadline is March 31, 2010! Who knows?

You might be the winner o a cool diary rom us!

The goal o this diary or peace is to tell the story o peoples’ alternativesthrough the eyes o the young generation and to raise awareness aboutsustainable development to the public. In doing this, it aims to increasethe dialogue between young activists and across country borders,in an attempt to fnd a more sustainable solution to development or theentire region.

Through this work, CYM has realized the importance o peace buildingto overcome prejudices, biases and nationalism that have createdhostilities throughout our history. We believe that this Mekong YouthDiary or Peace will be one o the creative channels to bring the voices o Mekong youth together to be heard or change.

We hope that this collective piece o work will lead us to join hands anddevelop mutual understanding, trust, riendship and solidarity as weseek to build a better society together.

Read more about the online diary and raise your voice of peace, be sure to check it out

at www.mekongyouthdiaryforpeace.wordpress.com

A Chance to WIN a copy of the Mekong Youth Diary for Peace!




Documents

ASEAN Youth Movement Newsletter - Winter Issue 2010