The Southeast & East Asia office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation has three main partner organisations at the regional level.
The Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats
CALD is the only regional alliance of liberal and democratic political parties in Asia. Established in 2003, it offers a unique platform for dialogue and co-operation between liberal political parties and like-minded organisations and individuals on development issues and concerns in the region. Through its dynamic forums, CALD endeavors to uncover liberal solutions to the daunting challenges of Asian democracies. CALD is based in Manila.
Currently, nine member parties hold full member status in CALD. They compromise of the Democrat Party of Thailand, the Democratic Progressive Party of Taiwan, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the Liberal Party of the Philippines, the Liberal Party of Sri Lanka, the National Council of the Union of Burma, Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia, Sam Rainsy Party, and Singapore Democrat Party. Observer member parties are the Democratic Party of Japan, the Nation Awakening Party of Indonesia, The Democrat Party of Hong Kong, and the Civil Will Party of Mongolia.
CALD partners with various liberal foundations in the region. These include the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, Liberal International, and the Alliance for Liberals and Democrats from Europe. The Council organizes international conferences on vital issues affecting the region, and regular workshops on communication, political management, and women in politics. Along those lines, CALD also organizes regular activities and workshops for its own working groups, namely the CALD Women’s Caucus and the CALD Youth Caucus.
The Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism (Working Group)
The Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism (Working Group) is a regional coalition of NGOs, parliamentary human rights committees and individual activists. The coalition brings together national working groups on human rights from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
Supported by FNF, the Working Group began advocating the establishment of an effective ASEAN human rights mechanism in 1996. Over the years, several regional workshops and roundtable discussions took place. In 2000, the Working Group submitted the idea of an ASEAN human rights commission to the ASEAN foreign ministers. Nine years later, the ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) was formed in order to “promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of the peoples of ASEAN”. The AICHR provides a common platform where ASEAN member states, despite their socio-political differences, can openly articulate human rights related concerns. AICHR is planning to draft an ASEAN Human Rights Declaration.
While the establishment of the AICHR is a significant step, the Working Group has by no means concluded its tasks. The AICHR´s Terms of Reference created a toothless tiger: AICHR-decisions are reached by consensus, slowing down the process and creating division between democratic and non-democratic members. The Working Group, supported by FNF, aims to push for amendments of AICHR´s Terms of Reference, which are to be reviewed in 2014. It is unacceptable that human rights violations still take place in ASEAN member states, most notably in border-regions of Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia, where government forces and separatist movements of ethnic minorities fight each other. Myanmar and Vietnam imprison dissidents. Malaysia and Singapore’s internal security laws allow for detention without charge or trial. Most countries in the region ban peaceful public protest, curb freedom of expression and control the media.
The Economic Freedom Network Asia (EFN)
EFN Asia is a network of research institutes, practitioners, think-tanks, and individuals who share the aim of promoting the benefits of a market economy, civil society and individual liberty to enhance human development and economic growth in Asia.
With a clear vision of a liberal world and a free Asia, the formation of EFN Asia was initiated by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty in 1998. It is one of the Foundation's key principle mechanisms to help individuals fulfil their potential and create an open society.
EFN provides a platform for political dialogue, public education and academic exchange in order to encourage political decision-makers, political advisors and the general public to debate the merits of a free market economy, private ownership, equal competition and the limitation of state intervention in market processes. At EFN Asia, we believe in private ownership, personal choice, voluntary exchange, competition, free market access and rule of law.
The Network cooperates with the Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) index in Asia, to further analyse the economic development, and the strengths and weaknesses of Asian economies in a global context. Since 1998, EFN Asia has organised a series of successful annual conferences and workshops to discuss specific relevant issues, assess the methods and indicators of the EFW index from an Asian perspective, and disseminate ideas about economic freedom to a broader audience.
Since its launch, the Network has grown throughout Asia and beyond. The Network currently comprises 4 international partners, 15 member institutes and 10 individual members. EFN Asia also seeks partnerships with other like-minded organisations within and outside Asia.