As part of the Global People’s Assembly, the Asia Development Alliance organised the first Asia SDG 16 Plus Forum. As co-organiser, Forus, together with several other national, regional and global partners, brought the voices of the network together, to reiterate a shared belief in inclusive institutions, a just society and democratic values - especially following the recent events happening across the region.

From India to the Phillippines to Aghanistan and Myanmar, speakers called for stronger global solidarity, peace and justice. Several speakers and participants talked about how the pandemic has been used across the region to increase crackdowns on civil society and activists. From Thailand to Indonesia, social movements are reacting, becoming a popular power drive to push for changes in democracy.

Amitabh Behar, CEO, of Oxfam India, spoke of the courage of Afghan women who have been protesting in the past weeks. He argued how today authoritarian regimes form East to West, are using the language of democracy while shrinking space for civil society. Yet, people’s power is challenging draconian laws.

"We need to rebuild democracy bottom up, pretty much block by block," Amitabh said.

Deirdre De BURCA, Advocacy Coordinator, at Forus, talked about how the situation in Myanmar and Afghanistan represents a major blow to the peace process across the region at large. She spoke about the importance of a “deeper, positive peace”, reinforcing shared values from across the region on ethics and positions. She recommended to develop regional and national workshops to engage with grassroots communities to develop indicators for SDG 16 plus, for effective monitoring and tracking.

"SDG16+ is a catalyst for the achievement of the whole 2030 Agenda," Deirdre said.

Khin Ohmar, Burmese activist and founder of Progressive Voice called for international solidarity: "In Myanmar, the situation on the ground is now beyond breaking point and there is no sign that the military will stop these atrocities." However, “Myanmar hasn't fallen because people have not given up”.

Jan Mohammad from the Afghanistan National Education Coalition (ANEC) insisted on the importance of education for the defense and promotion of human rights. “Today’s Afghanistan is the result of wrong politics,” Mohammad said. "The situation in the country will affect the whole region. The people of Afghanistan are suffering now, but who’s next?”

Rilli Lappalainen, from Forus member FINGO, talked about best practices from Finland and their journey from civil war 100 years ago, to transparency and accountability today. "Civil society is a mentality implying that for example, everybody needs to work together, have transparency together," Rili explained.

A global Solidarity Civil Society Organisations’ statement on behalf of the SDG 16 Plus Forum and People’s Assembly is being produced as a result of the event.

Watch the full event here.

Pic credits: Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona