Refugees aboard two boats next to each other at sea

Civil Society and Shrinking Political Space: the future of human rights in Southeast Asia

Wednesday 3rd May 2017, 6.30 - 8.00pm; Room 9.04, Tower 2 
Speaker: Dr James Gomez; Chair: Dr Jürgen Haacke

Civil society in Southeast Asia has come under threat from shrinking political space, funding challenges and internal competition over issues and resources. In this context what is the future of human rights in the region?

This lecture examines Southeast Asian civil society engagement with human rights mechanisms such as the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights and national human rights institutions. The speaker will sketch out a vision for human rights engagement in a region which is slipping back into authoritarianism.

Download and listen to the podcast here

Speaker

gomez-james

James Gomez is the Executive Director of Asia Centre, based in Bangkok, Thailand. He provides the strategic vision and direction for the Centre’s operations and oversees its Human Rights Programme.


Chair

haacke-jurgen

Jürgen Haacke is Director of the Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre and Associate Professor of International Relations at LSE.