Joint Press Release – The 8th Interface Meeting between the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and the Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism (WGAHRM), 14 May 2025, ASEAN Headquarters/ASEAN Secretariat
The 8th Interface Meeting between the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and the Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism (WGAHRM), an Entity under Annex 2 of the ASEAN Charter, was held on 14 May 2025 at the ASEAN Headquarters/ASEAN Secretariat.
The AICHR was led by its Chair, Edmund Bon Tai Soon, and the WGAHRM was led by Braema Mathiaparanam. The meeting was attended by AICHR Representatives and Alternate Representatives, including Timor-Leste as Observer, members of WGAHRM, and officials from the ASEAN Secretariat.
AICHR Representatives/Alternate Representatives and WGAHRM members shared information on their respective human rights work and priorities and discussed thematic issues and developments on human rights in the region, including the rights of migrant workers, women and children, and persons with disabilities, the right to development, business and human rights, transnational organised and financial crimes, digital rights, data privacy, human rights and the environment, right and access to information, climate-related human rights matters, human rights cities, online harm, artificial intelligence, freedom of expression, emerging geopolitical issues impacting human rights, economic inequalities, measures to strengthen the balance discharge of AICHR’s mandates, and the ASEAN Enabling Masterplan 2025: Mainstreaming the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The meeting looked forward to the continued constructive engagement and reaffirmed the shared commitment by AICHR and WGAHRM to deepen cooperation and collaboration to advance human rights in ASEAN. It concluded with appreciation extended to Malaysia and the ASEAN Secretariat for the meeting arrangements.
