AICHR hosts second ASEAN Community Council Dialogue on Human Rights

JAKARTA, 3 September 2023 – The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) hosted the second ASEAN Community Council Dialogue on Human Rights on 24 August at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The purposes of the dialogue were to consult ASEAN Sectoral Bodies on how human rights values, as stipulated in the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (AHRD), could be mainstreamed in the three pillars of ASEAN and used to foster collaboration between AICHR and sectoral bodies in three ASEAN Communities to advance the implementation of AHRD.

In her opening remark, the Chair and Representative of Indonesia to AICHR, Ms Wahyuningrum emphasised that AHRD provides a framework for human rights cooperation and consultation between AICHR and ASEAN Member States as well as with ASEAN Sectoral Bodies in advancing ASEAN as a rule-based, people-oriented and people-centred community. She further underscored the importance of dialogue on human rights within the ASEAN Community to bring a whole-of-community approach to the promotion of the implementation of AHRD.

The Dialogue was chaired by AICHR and attended by 50 participants from ASEAN Sectoral bodies from three ASEAN Communities, such as the ASEAN Senior Official Meeting on Social Welfare and Development (SOMSWD), ASEAN Committee on Women (ACW), ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM), ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC), ASEAN Committee on the Implementation of the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers (ACMW), ASEAN Defence Senior Official Meeting (ADSOM), ASEAN Senior Law Officials Meeting (ASLOM), and ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (SOM-AMAF). ASEAN Entities such as the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (ASEAN-IPR) and the ASEAN Interparliamentary Assembly (AIPA) also participated in the Dialogue.

Participants appreciated the dialogue as a platform to update each other and share best practices on the implementation of human rights in ASEAN. They suggested for AICHR, in its capacity as an overarching body on human rights, to organise it regularly.

The dialogue took note of the progress and challenges shared by ASEAN Sectoral Bodies in realising human rights in their respective mandates and functions. Challenges to the implementation of AHRD include the increasing number of traditional and non-traditional security threats in the region, different cultural sensitivities and local contexts in different ASEAN Member States regarding human rights, and disparities of compliance on human rights in the region.

Furthermore, the dialogue also came up with follow-up plans such as the possibility of AICHR to develop guidelines and practical advice on the implementation of AHRD for ASEAN Sectoral Bodies and Entities, conduct awareness activities on human rights as well as joint activities based on common themes on human rights, strengthen an inclusive database and data collection across sectoral bodies on human rights, and build institutional capacity and partnership.

The dialogue was jointly organised by AICHR Indonesia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia.

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