Asia Centre Media Hub: Driving Civil Society Organisation (CSO) Advocacy in the Region 

Asia Centre Media Hub: Driving Civil Society Organisation (CSO) Advocacy in the Region 

Launched in 2018, the Asia Centre Media Hub was established to enhance the visibility of the Centre and its partners’ work by producing and disseminating digital content that highlights their activities and research outputs. As a dedicated media unit, the Media Hub plays a vital role in amplifying the voices of civil society, particularly amid limited mainstream media coverage and an increasingly crowded digital landscape. The Media Hub's wide range of digital content includes podcasts, videos, infographics, and written commentaries, as well as tools that not only support the Asia Centre’s advocacy work but also empower CSOs to promote their…

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Call for Partnership: Asia Centre Digital Security Training Programme 2025 Kicks Off

Call for Partnership: Asia Centre Digital Security Training Programme 2025 Kicks Off

From June 2025 to May 2026, Asia Centre, with the support of Google, will begin its Digital Security Training (DST) programme aimed at mitigating the negative impact of misinformation, digital threats and cybersecurity risks within the Asia-Pacific region.This training programme is designed for high-risk users and digitally vulnerable communities in the Asia Pacific region. The training is targeted at youths, women, government officials, people with disabilities, marginalised communities and community leaders. Under this project, Asia Centre offers two types of training activities:1. End Beneficiaries TrainingInterested organisations that agree to partner with Asia Centre will need to jointly identify a tentative…

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Red-Tagging and Foreign Interference in the Philippines

Red-Tagging and Foreign Interference in the Philippines

In the Philippines context, red-tagging refers to individuals and organisations that are black-listed because they do not fully support the views or actions of the government. Red-tagging consequences may include vilification, surveillance, harassment, unlawful arrests, enforced disappearance, and even killings. Often, the red-tagging rhetoric incorporates the idea of foreign interference and civil society organisations are accused of subverting Filipino society for the benefit of foreign agents. This way, the Philippines government uses national security as the argument to red-tag members of CSOs, journalists, and activists. In this podcast episode, Jonathan De Santos discusses how the Philippines government incorporates the rhetoric…

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Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence in Cambodia: Impact on the Civic Freedoms of Women Journalists and Human Rights Defenders

Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence in Cambodia: Impact on the Civic Freedoms of Women Journalists and Human Rights Defenders

Download Full Report The increasing use of digital platforms for advocacy by women in Cambodia has been accompanied by a rise in technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), a form of harassment perpetrated online. While all women and girls are at risk, those highly visible in the public sphere – such as women human rights defenders (WHRDs), Indigenous advocates, journalists, and civil society leaders – face heightened exposure. Despite its severity, TFGBV remains poorly documented in Cambodia. This report examines TFGBV targeting high-profile women in advocacy and argues that it is an extension of gender-based violence (GBV), sustained by patriarchal structures and…

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Unfiltered Voices, Unstoppable Change: Oxfam Youth Assembly 2025 #Nofilter

Unfiltered Voices, Unstoppable Change: Oxfam Youth Assembly 2025 #Nofilter

IntroductionUnder the theme "#NoFilter: The Asian Youth and Emerging Realities of the 21st Century," the Assembly provided a platform for young leaders to discuss and strategise around pressing social issues, including intersectional inequalities, climate change, civic space restrictions, and digital justice.The 2025 Oxfam Asia Youth Assembly, held on 6-7 March, 2025, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, brought together 47 in-person youth participants from Sri Lanka and 30 virtual attendees from across Asia. Co-organised by Oxfam, Asia Centre, and DevPro, the event marked the culmination of the 2024 Oxfam Asia Young Leaders Fellowship Programme.The event was structured over two days:Day 1 was…

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Shaping Justice: How Media is Transforming Crime Investigations in Thailand

Shaping Justice: How Media is Transforming Crime Investigations in Thailand

Download The article “Shaping Justice: How Media is Transforming Crime Investigations in Thailand” examines how growing public distrust in Thailand’s law enforcement has led media outlets to take on a more prominent role in investigating crime and exposing corruption. As confidence in the police diminishes, the media emerges as a critical platform for whistleblowers, citizen journalists, and independent experts. Yet, while this shift promotes transparency and accountability, it also raises concerns about sensationalism, misinformation and the risk of undermining formal investigative processes.

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Bolstering Youth Engagement in Politics, Governance and Civil Society Needs Concrete Short-to-Long-term Action Plan

Bolstering Youth Engagement in Politics, Governance and Civil Society Needs Concrete Short-to-Long-term Action Plan

Strengthening youth engagement in politics, governance, and civil society requires a concrete action plan spanning short-, mid-, and long-term goals. This was the central message of the “Asia Global Democracy Coalition Regional Forum 2025: Youths, Democracy & Electoral Legitimacy in Asia”, co-hosted by Asia Centre and the Global Democracy Coalition. Held on 4 April 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand, the hybrid forum brought together 33 on-site participants and 62 online attendees, aged 18 to 65, from across Asia representing students, academics, CSOs, diplomatic representatives and research institutes.Sanjay Gathia, Programme Manager at Asia Centre, opened the event by reflecting on key insights…

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Asia Centre Signs MoU with Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation

Asia Centre Signs MoU with Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation

On 18th March 2025, during the 8th Yushan Forum, Asia Centre signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation (TAEF) in Taipei, Taiwan.The signatories were, for the Asia Centre, its Regional Director, Dr. James Gomez and for the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation, its Chairman, Dr. Michael Hsiao Hsin-Huang. During the MoU signing, Prof Michael Hsiao announced that the Asia Centre, in collaboration with TAEF and the Advanced Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences at National Chung Hsing University are jointly planning a conference entitled “The Evolving Crisis of Democracy in Asia: Challenges and Resolutions”. The planned conference…

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Social Media: A Double-Edged Sword in Thailand’s Cyber Scam Crisis

Social Media: A Double-Edged Sword in Thailand’s Cyber Scam Crisis

Download The article “Social Media: A Double-Edged Sword in Thailand’s Cyber Scam Crisis” examines the role of social media in cyber scams in Thailand through two high-profile cases: the iCON Group case, a pyramid-based investment and sales scam, and the case of Chinese actor Wang Xing, who was trafficked to a scam compound in Myanmar, along the Thai border. These two cases show the complex relationship between fraud operations and digital platforms, where social media facilitates exploitation to lure victims while, at the same time, being used for scrutiny and public accountability.

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Asia Centre’s Internship Programme

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Asia Centre’s Internship Programme

RecruitmentFrom 2016 to January 2025, Asia Centre’s Internship Programme has hosted 56 interns, with a 1:2 male to female ratio for a total of 187 months. The interns were either undergraduates or postgraduates enrolled at universities in Australia, East Africa, Europe, Southeast Asia, South Asia, East Asia, Southern Africa, and North America.There are three locations that the Asia Centre offers for internships: Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Johor Bahru (Malaysia), and Bangkok (Thailand). Interns will be placed in various locations according to their skills and the project needs of the Centre.Interns applying to Asia Centre begin the process by filling in the…

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