Alongside its aim of sustaining the orientation and demystification process of its partners about ASEAN, AsiaDHRRA, together with the Asian Farmers Association (AFA), helped arrange a dialogue between farmer leaders and their NGO partners with the ASEAN Secretary General H.E. Ong Keng Yong.

The dialogue concluded the two-day regional workshop of AFA entitled: Firming up Asian Farmers’ Campaign on ASEAN Regional Integration in Agriculture” last March 10-13, 2007 in Kalibata, Jakarta, Indonesia. The main outcomes of the regional workshop which looked into implications of regional integration to small farmers, bio-fuels, and the ASEAN Charter were presented to H.E. Ong and relevant ASEAN Secretariat officers, advisers, and staff. H.E. Ong was very pleased with the summary call to action from the delegates which he positively responded to during the dialogue. Concretely, there was call from the farmer leaders of AFA and partners CSOs for greater access to ASEAN information, for more participation in ASEAN events and substantial meetings of relevance to the farmers and agriculture sector, including the drafting of the ASEAN charter. H.E. Ong also liked the idea of an ASEAN Farmers’ Day as a bid to popularize concern for small farmers and help bring back dignity of farming in the region.

Dr. Termsak Chalermpalanupap, Special Assistant to the SG of ASEAN, Resource Person on the Charter, responded to questions related to the Charter building process and gave encouragement to CSOs to sustain inputs to the High Level Task Force (HLTF) which was mandated to write the key provisions on the Charter; Dr. S. Pushpanathan, Principal Director, Bureau for Econommic Integration and Finance, clarified questions and concerns related to trade agreements being entered into by ASEAN, cautioning CSOs that there too are positive benefits to these agreements.

The AsiaDHRRA Secretary General handed over to the H.E. Ong copies of two SEACA publications on regional CSO initiatives in 2006, which AsiaDHRRA and partners were part of, namely the 7-country consultations on ASEAN, and the 2nd ASEAN Civil Society Conference in Cebu which was organized by the Solidarity for Asian Peoples’ Advocacy (SAPA). Along this, she emphasized the pro-activeness of the broad CSO movement in the region to engage ASEAN, including its willingness to leverage and mobilize resources towards shared ASEAN agenda of a truly caring and sharing society.

AsiaDHRRA viewed the acceptance of the request for a dialogue a progress in both Afa and AsiaDHRRA’s relation with ASEAN and in general, the on-going CSO process of engaging ASEAN. The very professional manner by which the ASEAN secretariat prepared for and handled the dialogue showed their sincerity to build good relationship with civil society and hopefully their recognition that the cause of small farmers in the region should be given attention by policy makers. The delegation was warmly welcomed by H.E Ong and his people, notably without much fuss on security and dress code protocols, which the farmer leaders appreciated.

The dialogue was concluded with a commitment to sustain communication and pro-active engagement towards closer cooperation in the near future. Special thanks was given by the delegation to Dr. Azmi B. Mat Akhir, Senior Assistant for Special Duties, Office of the Secretary General,who coordinated the delegation’s visit, being the main contact of AsiaDHRRA and AFA, as former head of ASEAN’s Agriculture Bureau.