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HOMENET SOUTHEAST ASIA JOINS ASEAN PEOPLE’S FORA, ICT TRAINING FOR ASEAN HBWS, SEATRANET DIALOGUES

     Leaders of Homenet Thailand participated in the ASEAN People’s Forum held 19 October  in Cha-am, Petchaburi, Thailand.  Homenet Southeast Asia took an active role in the preparations for  the plenary discussion on  the ASEAN Economic Pillar entitled  “Deconstructi-ng the ASEAN Economic Ambition: A Conversation among Advocates, Analysts and Activists,”  Other participating organizations were Focus on the Global South,  AsiaDHRRA, Asian Farmers Association, Committee for Asian Women, Institute for Global Justice, EU-ASEAN FTA Campaign Network,  FTA Watch Thailand, MAP Foundation, Thai Labour Campaign, ASEAN Youth Union, and  Network International-Asia Pacific Regional Office (UNI-Apro).  The main objectives of the conversation were: a) to shed light on the most urgent economic issues faced by ASEAN, and how they impact on common people; b) to highlight how different groups respond to these issues and their impact; c) to solicit ideas on how we can collectively move forward; and d) to see whether there is enough interest and energy to actually move forward together on specific common issues. 
    
     The plenary recommended  that  ASEAN must give priority to building a people’s community and recognize the potentials of grassroots/alternative economies. It should support and provide the legal framework to promote local people's initiatives, identify good models and replicate them. It should invest in capacitating people to participate in trade instead of favoring transnational corporations. ASEAN should review the impact of all agreements it has signed, together with the people. Its economic integration must become a means to allow people to live well and enable developing countries and marginalized communities to achieve sustainable development.The plenary also urged ASEAN to recognize the role of civil society and institutionalize their participation in building a democratic, just, and “people-centered” ASEAN. ASEAN must maximize consultation with involved and concerned sectors during the entire policy formulation process —from the creation of working groups, preparation

of drafts and actual policy implementation.  Feedback and evaluation of effectiveness of policies must involve the people.

     Earlier this year, representatives of Homenet Southeast Asia and the various national Homenets  participated in the ASEAN People's Forum  (20-22 February) and the ASEAN ICT Homeworkers' Training (13-24 February),  held in Bangkok.

     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.

SEATRANET GENDER AND TRADE
 DIALOGUES

Cecilia Susiloretno of Homenet Indonesia, Poonsap Tulaphan of Homenet Thailand, and Rosalinda Pineda Ofreneo of Homenet Southeast Asia/Philippines participated in separate  dialogues  between SEATRANET trade training institutions in ASEAN and interested gender experts/stakeholders within each country, to help reflect more understanding of gender issues within trade within their respective program.

      All of them pointed out the disadvantages faced by homebased workers and other women in the informal economy in dealing with trade policies and practices which result in their economic marginalization and ruin, especially in the light of the current financial crisis.  They also argued for fair trade, where the benefits go to the producers who are protected and empowered to take advantage of existing trade opportunities in both the domestic and international markets.

    According to Nancy Spence, who facilitated the dialogues held in October in seven countries in ASEAN, gender and trade impacts have become an

increasing area of interest to countries seeking to ensure balanced trade policy that benefits all of its citizens. It is important that these training institutions have a current view of the country level  issues that impact significantly upon women from trade negotiations and impacts.  This planned  dialogue provided an  opportunity to raise and highlight issues  from a gender perspective that will directly benefit trade policymakers and trainers.

SEATRANET is a network of education and training institutions in South East Asia that have agreed to work cooperatively in the delivery of high quality, cost-effective, short term training in trade policy - training to meet the needs of government, civil society organizations, importers, exporters and other stakeholders. . . These include the International Institute for Trade and Development (ITD) in Thailand, Phnom Penh International University in  Cambodia, Economic Research Institute for Trade (ERIT), Lao  PDR, Foreign Trade University in Vietnam,  Philippine Trade Training Centre (PTTC), and  Trisakti University International Business School in Indonesia.

ICT FOR ASEAN HOMEWORKERS

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 Sukhothaithamthirat Open University in Bangkok also in February. Mary Lucette dela Rosa represented PATAMABA(Philippines), Poonsap Tulaphan served as resource speaker for Homenet Thailand, and there was also a representative 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.