(VNF) - More than 20 delegates from Vietnamese civil society Organisations gathered at a conference in Hanoi on February 28^th to get prepared for the 2017 ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN People’s Forum (ACSC/APF 2017), slated for March 21^st-23^rd in Philippines.

Theme of the ACSC/APF 2017 is “the people -- the various sectors, communities -- coming together, and willingness to partner with the government towards a just, humane, and equitable Southeast Asia”.

Discussions at the forum will focus on five following issues: Increasing inequalities and the continuing dominance of corporate power; Informalization of the labor market and increasing migration concerns; Environmental degradation and the climate crisis; Peace and human security; and Human rights and access to justice.

Mr. Dong Huy Cuong, Deputy Director of the VUFO’s Multilateral Affairs Department, reported the results of the First Regional Consultation Meeting for ACSC/APF 2017, held on February 15^th-17^th, in Philippines.

Participants heard reports on the results of the First Regional Consultation Meeting (RCM) on ACSC/APF 2017 held from February 15^th-17^th, in Philippines, as well as Vietnam’s preparations for the event.

In the first RCM, Philippines highlighted that new forms of regional integration must be developed to make the ASEAN more people-oriented and people-centered.

The meeting also discussed the preparation and participation of Vietnamese NGOs in the forum.

Accordingly, delegates approved the nomination of seven representatives to participate in the Steering Committee, the Drafting Committee, the Program Committee, the Culture Committee, the Finance Committee, the Campaign Committee and the Media and Information Committee.

Delegates also agreed to establish specialised working groups to share information, coordinate the organization and participate in activities within the framework of the forum.

Representatives of the Vietnamese people’s organizations discussed the preparations of Vietnam for ACSC/APF 2017.

The Second Regional Consultation Meeting will be focused on the program and the joint statement of ACSC/APF2017 and the preparations for the forum of the host country.

The ACSC/APF is a network of Southeast Asian civil society organizations and social movements that engages the ASEAN process in order to bring attention to the issues and concerns of its constituencies. Its constituents include workers, the peasantry, urban poor, fisher folk, women, children, LGBT community, indigenous peoples, migrants, older persons, employees, professionals, students and people with disabilities.

In the past 11 years since it started, the ACSC/APF was able to gather an average of at least 1,500 civil society representatives across the region in every Forum – the last was in Dili, Timor-Leste in August 2016.

The ACSC/APF yearly activities of engagement process include National consultations and workshops, National and regional meetings with government counterparts, Regional Consultation Meetings, Crafting the ACSC/APF Statement, Parallel conference, and Interface./.

Translated by Minh Phuong