The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) – funded Southeast Asia Regional Cooperation in Human Development (SEARCH) project announced that it is providing at least $75,000 to the Human Rights Resource Centre for ASEAN (HRRCA). The funds will be used to support part of the HRRCA’s start-up costs including the official launch and its research program.
“The HRRCA greatly appreciates the support that the people of Canada are providing through the SEARCH project. We are well aware of the key role that SEARCH has played in promoting civil society involvement in human rights in the region and are pleased that SEARCH views the HRRCA as an organization that it can support” said Marzuki Darusman, Founding Director and Chairman of the HRRCA.
Canada’s Ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia, to the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and to ASEAN, H.E. Mackenzie Clugston, said that “the Human Rights Resource Centre for ASEAN will complement the regional human rights architecture in Southeast Asia by carrying out valuable research and supporting capacity development. We also very much support the HRRCA’s initial focus on research into the rule of law and women and children’s rights.”
The HRRCA’s work will also complement and support the work of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and overall will provide a strong regional focus on human rights research, capacity building, training and teaching.
The HRRCA encompasses a network of partner and affiliated institutions that tap into the region’s rich academic research community. Current partner institutions include the University of Indonesia, Ateneo University School of Law (Philippines), the University of Malaya (Malaysia), and the Law School of the
National University of Singapore. The Islamic University of Indonesia, which has a strong interest in human rights education, is the HRRCA’s first affiliate institution. The HRRCA offices are located at the Depok Campus of the University of Indonesia.
Through collaboration with these partner and affiliated university-based institutions across ASEAN, the HRRCA’s research, training, and capacity building projects will contribute to the development of human rights throughout the region.
The HRRCA will hold its official launch in Jakarta on October 19. Senior officials from Indonesia, ASEAN, the United States and Canada are scheduled to attend.
