AsiaDHRRA participated in the Philippine-Japan Symposium: “Empowering the Poor in the Philippine Society toward 2015: Partnership Building between Philippine and Japanese NGOs in Poverty Alleviation” held on 24- 25 November 2006 at the Market, Market! Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, Philippines. The year 2006 marks the 50th year of the resumption of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Japan.

AsiaDHRRA set up a trade booth selling its publications and showcasing its partnership with Japanese NGOs like JaDHRRA and Ainokai. It also provided support as workshop facilitators and helped in the secretariat. PhilDHRRA likewise actively participated as PJP member, anchoring the workshop preparations and won the best booth exhibit, with its member VICTO.

AsiaDHRRA is a member of the Philippine-Japan Partnership Program (PJP) which originally came about in early 2005 as an initiative to explore and advocate for more progressive ways of channeling Japanese ODA to the Philippines through NGO/CSO mechanisms. PJP now looks into strengthening the partnership between and among Japanese NGOs working in the Philippines and Philippine NGOs.

PJP is being anchored by CODE-NGO. A similar partnership building process takes place in Japan through the Japan-Philippine Partnership Network (JPN) and is being facilitated by ACC21.

AsiaDHRRA joined the 3rd Congress of the World Rural Forum (WRF) with the theme “Towards Development and Solidarity-Challenge and Commitment”, last October 19-21, 2006 in Basque, Spain. It was attended by around 300 participants from 32 countries, from four continents – Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe, mainly rural development organizations: agriculturists, cooperatives, civil society organizations (farmers organizations, NGOs) business group, governments,and multilateral agencies (FAO, UN, IFAD) and the IMF.

Together with AsiaDHRRA were representatives from PhilDHRRA, AFA and its members SorKorPor and Ainokai. AsiaDHRRA’s participation in the Congress enabled it to actively contribute in defining WRF’s work in Asia, to develop new partnerships and gain new ideas and perspectives on issues affecting farmers and humanity in many parts of the world and the many encouraging initiatives by different groups around these issues.