The Second Asian Rural NGO Leader’s Dialogue, themed “Defining and Nurturing Asian NGO Leadership Amidst Globalization” originally set to be held on November 15-20, 2004 in Bangkok, Thailand has been rescheduled sometime in the first quarter of 2005.
What is ALD?
The Asian Leaders’ Dialogue is a central component of a 3-year project under AsiaDHRRA’s Leadership Development Program.The first round of the Asian Rural NGO Leaders’ Dialogue conducted in October 2003 in Cyberjaya, Malaysia looked into the challenges faced by NGO leaders amidst globalization. Their voices were fully captured in the book “Asian NGO Leadership Amidst Globalization” and in the Cyberjaya Declaration, which highlighted their critique of globalization, their personal commitments as development practioners, and the challenges they see as a regional community. They also re-affirmed the need for a mechanism for continuous exchange and dialogue among civil society leaders. This mechanism will serve as learning and caring circle for Asian NGO leaders and a venue for continuing discourse on Asian leadership towards developing NGO leaders, especially second liners. It is hoped that through the ALD, leaders will strengthen their solidarity and thus build the needed social capital for on-ground cooperation and stronger advocacy at the regional level.
Development practioners also noted the lack of available resource book or written materials on Asian CSO leaders and their experiences. The ALD is likewise viewed as an opportunity to document leadership strategies and to the profile key NGO leaders in Asia to enhance existing literatures that would inspire social development workers to hone their leadership potentials geared towards improving the quality and standards of NGO rural development work.