EVENT

EVENT 2022.02.10

Tokyo Democracy Forum (TDF) 2022 - Defending Civic Space in a time of COVID-19 pandemic with a focus on SDG16+

Date&Time: 14-15 February 2022, 13:15-15:15 BKK Time

Registration: https://bit.ly/TokyoDemocracyForum2022

Download the flyer here.

Registration Deadline: 9 February 2022

Background:

1.Tokyo Democracy Forum (TDF) 2022 is a joint initiative by the Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation (JANIC), Asia Democracy Network (ADN), and Asia Development Alliance (ADA), to defend civic space through mutual dialogues and cross-border cooperation in Asia.

2.The TDF is to take place virtually for 2 days, 2 hours per day on 14 and 15 February (Monday and Tuesday) 2022 with the support from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), as a part of the online conference “HAPIC”, organized by JANIC.

3.Under the proposed theme, ‘Defending Civic Space in a time of COVID-19 pandemic with a focus on SDG16+’, the TDF is expected to address various challenges, threats and oppressions to civil society organizations and civic space in Asia, as well as opportunities and strategies for international civic engagement on democracy, human rights and SDGs, in particular, the SDG16+ “Fostering peaceful, just and inclusive societies which are free from fear and violence”.

4.Civil society organizations and researchers working in Asia are to be invited to join the TDF as partners, such as Action for Sustainable Development (A4SD), Asia Civil Society Partnership for Sustainable Development (APSD), CIVICUS, Communities of Democracies (CoD), Forus, Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP), Transparency, Accountability and Participation (TAP) Network etc.

5.The main objective of the TDF is to increase awareness of shrinking civic space, human rights, and the importance of SDG16+ among CSO leaders, policymakers, governments, academia, and corporations across Asia. The TDF will provide a platform for a wider range of stakeholders to share experience on advocacy initiatives, implementation, challenges, and progress with regards to SDGs.

6.The following topics are to be addressed as the theme of the session.
1) How Asian CSOs views on civic space, human rights, and democracy have changed after the COVID-19 pandemic.
2) Challenges, threats and oppressions to civil society organizations and civic space in Asia.
3) Recommendations to the UN, Regional Organizations and Regional Development Bank, and governments in Asia for defending civic space.

7.The TDF is a part of the CoD and ADN’s efforts to promote international networking and research-based discourse on advocacy for democracy and civic space in Asia through International Democracy Forums held in various countries since 2018.

Presenters:

Abdul Awal, Chairperson, Campaign for Good Governance (SUPRO), Bangladesh

Harsh Jaitli, Chief Executive Officer, Voluntary Action Network India (VANI), India

Arjun Kumar Bhattarai, Secretary General, NGO Federation of Nepal (NFN), Nepal

Zia ur Rehman, Chief Executive, AwazCDS-Pakistan, Pakistan

Sovanna Ry, Policy, Legal and Advocacy Manager, Cooperation Committee for Cambodia (CCC), Cambodia

Linh Phuong Nguyen, Executive Director, Management and Sustainable Development Institute (MSD), Vietnam

Asel Kurmantayeva, Civil Society Development Association (ARGO), Kazakhstan

Mandkhaitsetsen Urantulkhuur, Executive Director, Centre for Human Rights and Development, Mongolia

Eunji Kim, The Korea Center for Sustainable Development (KCSD), South Korea

Shamshod Yunusov, Program manager, Nationwide Movement “Yuksalish”, Uzbekistan

James Gomez, Regional Director, Asia Centre

Beckie Malay, Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP)

Gopal Krishna Siwakoti, President, INHURED International

Anselmo Lee, Regional Coordinator, Asia Civil Society Partnership for Sustainable Development (APSD)

Contact:

Aoi Horiuchi, Senior Advocacy Officer, Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation (JANIC)

janic-advocacy@janic.org