The South East Asian Committee for Advocacy is a programme that focuses on advocacy capacity building of civil society organizations (CSOs) in South East Asia. The SEACA programme is an outcome of a series of consultation processes among CSOs in the South East Asian region and a meeting in Manila in September 1999 attended by representatives of national networks of NGOs and People’s Organizations from eight countries in the region, and Asian regional networks sponsored by the Catholic Institute for International Relations (CIIR) and supported by the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom.

 

Civil Society Engaging ASEAN

A major component of the SEACA One-Year Transition Program entitled “Enhancing Advocacy for Pro-Poor Policy and Programs in South East Asia” is that one entitled Civil Society Engagement Processes on the ASEAN.

The objectives of SEACA are a) to continue to support advocacy initiatives of civil society organizations, networks and social movements that are aimed at improving the living standards and quality of life of people and ensuring that the rights of marginalized sectors are respected, and b) to advance advocacy for pro-poor ASEAN policies.

SEACA thus supports processes that enable civil society to participate in the on-going crafting of the ASEAN Charter, the review and formulation of the ASEAN accreditation framework and the establishment of institutional mechanisms for civil society participation in ASEAN policy making.