Justice and Peace
APAY calls for a peaceful restoration of democracy in Myanmar
The whole YMCA community across the Asia-Pacific region woke up in shock and distress to the news that the military had seized control of the country. They detained the State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of the National League for Democracy. Since the military coup, we heard nothing from neither Aung San Suu Kyi or from the deposed President Win Myint.
Only recently, we celebrated with the people of Myanmar on their successful and peaceful general elections where the NLD captured over 83% of the elected seats. The whole country was waiting in eagerness for the newly elected legislators to begin their new mandate when the parliament session reopens.
In recent years, the democratically elected government of Myanmar had struggled hard to regain the trust of the people and the international community. While the global COVID-19 pandemic hampered the government’s hard work to rebuild the economy, they were able to improve its Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in recent years. Still, in recent months, the people of Myanmar have been struggling between maintaining their livelihood and keeping the COVID-19 pandemic under control.
The coup d'état, led by the armed forces chief Min Aung Hlaing, has installed an 11-member junta. The military has declared a yearlong state of emergency with the transfer of legislative, executive, and judicial powers to the Commander in Chief. The coup d'état disrupted the internet connections and phone lines throughout the country. The military has arbitrarily arrested the pro-democracy activists and there are reports of increased random detentions. With deep concern, we watched the news of soldiers in armored cars visibly roaming Naypyitaw and Yangon, raising fears of lethal violence.
This military coup is a serious aberration to the democratic reforms that have been slowly taking place since 2015. The Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs joins with the international community in condemning the military coup that has disrespected the will and aspirations of the people in Myanmar as expressed in the recently concluded General Elections. We denounce the military’s actions and call for the immediate, unconditional release of all those who are detained. We urge for the restoration of the communications lines and install the democratically elected authorities to power.
We offer our strong support and solidarity to the people of Myanmar and pray for the restoration of that peace and justice. We pray that the coup will not derail all earlier efforts to help the people to regain their decent livelihood under this COVID pandemic.
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Letter to International Community from Myanmar
Date: 3 February 2021
To: All Diplomatic Missions in Myanmar; all States and International Agencies Maintaining Relations with Myanmar
We are reaching out to express our grave concern regarding the illegal takeover of the Myanmar government by the military forces. While they have used claims of election fraud to justify their actions, we wanted to clarify that there is no provision under the Constitution or the laws of Myanmar justifying their intervention. In fact, their actions are in blatant violation of the 2008 Constitution—which they themselves drafted—as the power to declare a state of emergency is strictly reserved to the democratically elected president of the Union of Myanmar. Their actions amount to a slap in the face to the millions of Myanmar citizens who put their lives at risk in order to vote in the middle of a pandemic, as well as a betrayal of all of the promises they’ve made both to our citizens and to the international community.
As such, we cannot and will not accept as legitimate the new Myanmar-imposed government, which has been installed by the armed forces against the will of the citizens of Myanmar,and is thus illegitimate.
We urgently appeal to all embassies in Myanmar and all members of the international community to join us in rejecting this illegal military government. We further urge you to refuse to recognize this illegitimate government and to refuse to cooperate with it.
The faith of Myanmar democracy is on the line. We need the help of the international community to help us in our struggle to re-impose the rule of law and to recognize the democratically elected government, per the results of the 2020 elections.
From the bottom of our hearts, and on behalf of the people of Myanmar, we greatly thank you!
Vaccine for Peace
Last Updated (Tuesday, 02 February 2021 13:14)
Equal Distribution of Vaccine is The Only Way!
Criticism is mounting that wealthy countries are "buying up" the Covid- 19 vaccines. WHO Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said "The world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure. And the price of this failure will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the World's poorest countries…, and ultimately this actions only prolong the pandemic."
At the end of December 2020, officials including the president were vaccinated against COVID-19 with Russia's Sputnik V. Nearly a month later (January 23, 2021) 60 million people worldwide have been vaccinated. But Still, no single Western-approved vaccine has been administered in any African countries, with a 2.5% mortality rate. The polarization of the vaccination is going on in a cruel manner. For reference, the global mortality rate is 2.14 percent.
Besides, rich countries with 16% of the world's population purchased 60% of the world's vaccine supply (Global Health Innovation Center of the Duke University). Even the countries with 1% of the world's confirmed cases have already secured more vaccines than all countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, which have more than 20% of the world's confirmed cases. Canada has secured vaccine five times than its population, bringing international criticism.
The Covid-19 global pandemic is hard to control without international co-operation as most countries pay more attention to public opinion in their countries than to international cooperation. Buying up food and masks, which continued to happen last year, is being repeated even in the situation of vaccination. If this continues, vaccination of the world's population may become difficult even until 2024.
The ghost of vaccine polarization wanders around the world under a pandemic hell. It's a vicious cycle. As the result, the spread and mutation of Covid-19 and the psychological virus of polarization will continue indefinitely around the world. Can we allow this to happen?
Larry Brilliant, an expert on fighting pandemics, said, "Unless everyone in the world is safe, no one can be safe." Vaccines are giving an answer to effective management of Covid-19, at the same time throwing the fundamental question of coexistence of humankind.
The vaccine mercilessly exposed the challenges of global society that have long existed, such as polarization and climate justice . How would it be possible to realize global coexistence beyond the international politics towards hegemony and the greed machine called ‘capital’ infinitely re-generating itself?
First of all, in the absence of a global government, it is necessary to strengthen the governance of the UN and WHO, where the interests of the hegemonic countries are realized against those of the Global South. And the effective management of Covid-19 will eventually fail with nationalistic approaches in the world where interdependence among nations have been intensified in the name of globalization.
Furthermore, global action is needed for solidarity of global civil societies and coexistence of the world. It is needed to ensure more vulnerable people, such as healthcare workers who are voluntarily exposed to the virus, the elderly, essential workers, refugees, and migrant workers be vaccinated first. It is critical time for everyone to step up to grip the last opportunity towards building a world of coexistence based on justice and equity.
YMCA, the biggest youth organization that was grounded in grassroots movement all over the world, have served our people and communities in every corner of the globe to combat the pandemic. YMCAs were struggling with millions of people even when we ourselves faced with many challenges and difficulties.
Now, when the world is suffering from unprecedented chaos and despair and international cooperation, which is the key to solving this crisis, are not working, YMCAs are called to go beyond the borders and cooperate with the peoples across the world. And the first step is to play a role in the "equal distribution of vaccines" through which the values of human rights, justice and equity can be realized in the international communities.
A Year Through Zoom!
Last Updated (Monday, 25 January 2021 19:35)
A Year Through Zoom!
ICF looks back on a year with many challenges due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and its related restrictions. However, like so many others, ICF took its activities online as much as possible in order to keep offering a space for young peace-builders of the region to learn, exchange and connect. The year 2020 was concluded with an online series of four workshops on the Intersection of Religion, Gender, and Human Rights.
The workshops took place every Thursday from November 19th to December 10th. The different sub-themes on each respective Thursday were:
| Religion, Femicide, and Various Forms of Sexual Abuse | “Women who are the victims of violence and sexual abuse usually do not get justice for themselves. Though the result is not a hundred percent, people are now raising their voices for justice for the victims of violence and sexual abuses. People are breaking the silence against violence, and this is a good sign.“ – Psyche Mankin from Bangladesh in her reflection on the first session. |
| Religion and LGBT Communities: „Is God’s Love Exclusive for Straight People?“ | |
| Health as Human Rights and Peace Issue | |
| Women’s Rights are Human Rights. |
Southeast Asia Gender Justice and Social Transformation Workshop
Last Updated (Friday, 03 August 2018 16:42)
Gender injustices are violations of human rights
APAY Southeast Asia Gender Justice and Social Transformation Workshop
Participants of the APAY Southeast Asia Gender Justice and Social Transformation Workshop held in Manila, Philippines last June 26-30, 2018.
All forms of gender injustices are violations of human rights. This statement summarizes the learning and advocacy put forward by the participants of APAY Southeast Asia Gender Justice and Social Transformation Workshop held last June 26-30 , 2018 and locally hosted by the YMCA of Manila, Philippines. The participants comprising of lay leaders and staff from the National YMCA Movements of Cambodia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand strongly believe that personal and organizational actions must be geared towards resisting all forms of oppression, exploitation and discrimination against women.
The learning process started with self-reflection activities that focused on how each person has lived with the expectations on gender roles and responsibilities reinforced by various social institutions. Understanding on these personal experiences was followed-up by input presentation on the concepts of gender and situation of women in societies. Both these sessions affirm the current state of discrimination regarded to women in the region.
Among the injustices identified during the sharing of local/national realities include child marriage, women/girl trafficking, domestic violence and other forms of gender-based violence, low salary of women, sexual exploitation, poor working conditions and limited participation of women in leadership roles. These realities were amplified during the dialogue with non-government organizations such as Migrante International and Gabriela that worked with grassroots women and girls in communities within and outside Philippines. The dialogue was combined with actual community visit and testimonials from women who were victims of exploitation and other forms of discrimination.
Migrante International is an active defender of the rights and welfare of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) by raising public awareness on their plight and providing a critical analysis of the Philippine government’s labor export policy program as the main factor responsible for the commodification of Filipino workers. Gabriela on the other hand is a grassroots-based alliance of Filipino women that aims to build a strong women’s movement that fights for the rights of women against all forms of violence, discrimination, and oppression.
Read more: Southeast Asia Gender Justice and Social Transformation Workshop
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