AEPF 7 – Clusters
The AEPF is organised around three clusters comprising the Forum’s major themes:
- Peace and Security
- Sustainable Social and Economic Rights, and Environmental Justice
- Participatory Democracy and Human Rights
- To provide a space where participants can develop common analysis of the situation in Asia and Europe.
- To gather key peace and security figures and campaigners in Asia and Europe, paving the way for the revival and consolidation of Asian regional network on peace and security. To help activate an Asia network to prepare and strategise for further collaboration and cooperative efforts beyond AEPF-7 in Beijing and plan on future activities in between interregional caucuses.
- To provide an opportunity to initiate efforts to link up with key European organisations and individuals dealing with peace and security issues.
- To provide an opportunity to establish initial links with civil society organisations in China.
- to highlight alternative development paradigms to be the focus of research, advocacy, and campaigns beyond the AEPF-7.
- to highlight topics dealing with the Millennium Development Goals, food sovereignty and security, the implications of investment flows for the society and the ecology, free trade agreements, corporate social responsibility, migration, decent work and labour rights, alternatives to privatisation of essential services, alternative financing for development, climate change and ecological justice, alternative energy policies, and social security.
- To provide an opportunity to initiate efforts to link up with key European organisations and individuals dealing with Sustainable Social and Economic Rights, and Environmental Justice issues.
- To provide an opportunity to establish initial links with civil society organisations in China.
- to facilitate the consolidation of an Asia-Europe interregional network of democracy and human rights activists and scholars alike to begin active cooperation in between the biennial interregional forums.
- to consolidate and coordinate, at the national and transnational levels, people-cantered, participatory democratic forces—progressive civil society, social movements, and media as without more inclusive politics, accountable government and women’s rights, the most marginalised—disabled people, people living with HIV/AIDS, urban poor, workers, migrants, refugees, indigenous peoples—will continue to have their rights denied.
- to facilitate the consolidation of the democratic forces—civil society, media, and social movements—through the creation of a platform where Asian civil society, together with their European counterparts, can reflect upon their analysis of the political-economic situation in the regions of Asia and Europe so as to come up with common strategy and joint responses on democracy and human rights issues;
- provide a venue where civil society and social movements in the AEPF network could plan and discuss the conduct of the post-AEPF-7 activities in every country that can be coordinated at the inter-regional level;
- to consolidate the legitimate demands and aspirations of Asian and European civil society in recommendations for “Peoples’ Agenda for Democracy and Human Rights” which will be advanced at both the ASEM and beyond.
- a common strategy of collective action with ideas for concrete and practical projects for AEPF-7 and beyond
- an activated inter-regional network of organisations, individuals, and scholar-activists working on issues of democratisation and human rights