"I expect the dialogue to yield mutual understanding between civil societies and their governments. I also hope the meeting will be followed by concrete actions and cooperation beneficial for the ASEAN peoples," said the vice president here on Tuesday when opening the ACSC/APF 2011 at the Ciputra Hotel, Jakarta.
Boediono said the holding of the civil society conference in parallel with the ASEAN Summit 2011 in Jakarta was an effort to form a dialogue forum involving common people and government officials. "We, from the government side, would like to hear recommendations from civil society," he said.
Meanwhile, chairwoman of the 2011 ACSC/APF Idah Sukmaningsih in her speech said it was important to involve civil society in the efforts to develop ASEAN. She expressed hope that there would be a special mechanism for civil society to give recommendations to ASEAN leaders.
The 2011 ACSC/APF is an annual meeting held alongside every ASEAN Summit. It is a forum that gathers common people and government officials to have a dialogue. The event is also meant to increase the awareness of people in the region about the mechanism and activities conducted by ASEAN as an organization.
The forum is expected to strengthen partnership among people and government officials in ASEAN, deliver people`s recommendations to the leaders of ASEAN while also building solidarity and cooperation among nations in Southeast Asia.
This year`s ACSC/APF meeting in Jakarta is participated in by 1,330 people coming from ASEAN countries, Timor Leste, China, Japan, South Korea, Sweden and the Netherlands.
Among the themes that are usually discussed in the meeting are democracy, climate change, children and teenager`s rights, rights of the disabled, agriculture, labor rights and refugees. (*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
