The opportunities for greater engagement and exchange between Africa and Asia are numerous and can lead to mutual benefit for the regions. This was key-takeaway from Africa-Asia roundtable held at Asia Centre on 5th October 2017. Bandung Revisited: Africa-Asia Relations in the 21st Century was convened in partnership with Stenden University Thailand and attracted a diverse audience of over 30 including members of the African diaspora in Thailand. H.E Ambassador Geoff Doidge, Embassy of the Republic of South Africa to the Kingdom of Thailand, opened the event by looking back at the contributions of the 1954 Bandung Afro-Asian conference, which championed…

Asia Centre’s International Faculty Club gained momentum as people gathered for the second installment dedicated to interdisciplinary discourse and networking. Held on 1 Sep at Asia Centre’s premises, the event attracted about 25 participants from different academic and professional backgrounds, all keen to engage on subject matters outside of their comfort zones. Six speakers took to the floor to share their research and experience on a range of issues from philosophy to architecture,  to fundraising and on environmental governance.Eva Rappoport, a Mahidol University Ph.D student, presented her research on spirit possession in Javanese culture, set to the backdrop of a…

After the Second World War, Japan’s search for a guiding framework for renewed relations with Southeast Asia led to the adoption, 32 years after the end of the war, of the Fukuda Doctrine on 18 August 1977. The doctrine had at its core a “heart to heart” approach to its foreign policy in the region. However, forty years later, at Asia Centre’s roundtable discussion on Japan-ASEAN Relations in a Multipolar World, it became clear that Japan needed to develop a human rights dimension to its foreign policy with Southeast Asian countries in order to distinguish itself from other major Asian…

An effective national human rights institution (NHRI) requires a creative, purposive interpretation of the mandate, and a proactive approach to implementation, this was one of the key takeaways from Asia Centre’s International Conference on National Human Rights Institutions in Southeast Asia: Challenges of Protection held on 13 and 14 July at the Centre’s premises in Bangkok, Thailand. The conference brought a diverse group of participants including representatives from United Nations, NHRIs and civil society for critical discourse into the effectiveness of the regions NHRIs. The conference also featured the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons,…