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HOMENET SOUTHEAST ASIA JOINS ASEAN FORA,  ICT TRAINING
LAUNCHING OF JOURNAL ON RIGHTS FOR 2/3 OF ASIA

Representatives of Homenet Southeast Asia and the various national Homenets participated in the ASEAN Social Forum held in Manila 26-28 November 2008, the ASEAN People's Forum held in Bangkok 20-22 February 2009, and the ASEAN ICT Homeworkers' Training held in Bangkok 13-24 February 2009.

The ASEAN Social Forum , according to H.E. Marilyn J. Alarilla, Director-General of the Philippines-ASEAN National Secretariat, was envisioned to be “a constructive and cooperative process between government representatives and civil society groups,” through which they can “renew their partnership, and exchange their views, experiences, and recommendations on how best they can cooperate with each other through the normal processes of the various ASEAN Sectoral Bodies.”  It was held at Hyatt Hotel with participants coming from various government ministries of ASEAN member states, as well as selected NGOs, trade unions, people's organizations, and development foundations.

The ASEAN People's Forum (also known as the Fourth ASEAN Civil Society Conference),   held at Chulalongkorn University , was more a civil society initiative on the theme “Towards a Peoples' ASEAN,” with more than a thousand delegates participating. Homenet Southeast Asia co-organized a workshop on “Women, Trade, and Corporate Investments” with the Committee on Asian Women (CAW) and the International Gender and Trade Network (IGTN).  Dr. Voravidh  Charoenlert, board member  of Homenet Thailand, served as resource speaker, and a Homenet SEA slide show entitled “Solidarity Initiatives from the Ground Up” featuring solidarity economy, social protection, and policy advocacy activities of the various member homenets was presented. Through the efforts of Homenet SEA delegate Josephine Parilla, the concluding statement  of the ASEAN People's Forums contained references to the particular concerns of informal workers, including decent work, access to social protection, and support for livelihood initiatives especially during times of crises.

A special feature of the workshop was the launching of the Asian Labour Law Review 2008 featuring “Rights for Two-Thirds of Asia,” a publication of the Asian Monitor Resource Centre(AMRC) in cooperation with CAW and Homenet SEA.  The journal published  papers  prepared by researchers and advocates from PATAMABA, Homenet Indonesia, and Homenet Thailand.

Representatives from ten countries , majority homebased workers and others coming from the ministries  or commissions of information and communication technology,  participated  in the ASEAN ICT Homeworkers' Training at the University in Bangkok.  Mary Lucette dela Rosa represented PATAMABA(Philippines), Poonsap Tulaphan served as resource speaker for Homenet Thailand, and                          from Homenet Laos.

The training consisted of a basic introduction to ICT, sharing of country experiences  and good practices on how homeworkers applied ICT,  field visits to telecenters  based in communities, and hands-on application involving the creation of country websites.

At the end of the training, the ASEAN ICT Homeworkers' Network was formed, with Mary Lucette dela Rosa elected as President. Josephine Parilla  of the Homenet SEA secretariat spoke during the graduation rites and shared the Homenet SEA experience in using ICT for knowledge sharing and advocacy.