The Australian Human Rights Institute will cooperate with Asia Centre on conferences, seminars and workshops under a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the first the Institute has signed with a rights group in Asia.
Asia Centre is a not-for-profit organisation that aims to create social impact in the region.
It was first established in Bangkok, Thailand in 2015 and in 2018 a second Centre was established in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Asia Centre serves as a think-tank, meeting space, project partner and social enterprise.
One of the first activities for the two organisations will be the Asia Centre’s fifth annual conference in July 2020.
The conference, Hate Speech in Asia: Challenges and Solutions will examine the upsurge of violent incidents triggered by hate speech and disinformation. The conference seeks to address the issue of hate speech from an evidence-based and solution-grounded approach, while upholding freedom of expression.
The Institute’s first Visiting Human Rights Defenders, Naila Rizki Zakiah and Firmansyah Sarbini, have been invited to present on social protection of gender and LGBTIQ stakeholders.
The Institute will also cooperate on the hosting of New Colombo Plan Scholars at Asia Centre and explore collaboration around the Dignity by Design project, which promotes a vision for dignity and respect for human rights throughout the built environment lifecycle.