UP IHR participates in the ASEAN University Network-Human Rights Education’s (AUN-HRE) annual members’ meeting

The UP Institute of Human Rights (UP IHR), represented by Director Professor Elizabeth Aguiling-Pangalangan and University Researcher Atty. James Gregory Villasis, took part in the annual network meeting of the ASEAN University Network- Human Rights Education (AUN-HRE) held online on 31 January 2023. The meeting was called to inform the members of the status of the Network’s past human rights projects as well as to seek comments, suggestions, and collaborations for its future programs.

The meeting was presided over by AUN-HRE’s Chair/Convener, Professor Vachararuttai Boontinand who also concurrently serves as the Director of Mahidol University’s Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies. Professor Boontinand briefed the members about the past activities of the network and sought recommendations on how to further encourage stakeholders from Southeast Asia to take part in these endeavors. She also requested members’ comments and suggestions about the proposed programs for 2023 aimed to mainstream human rights in the region. Speaking for the UP IHR, Professor Aguiling-Pangalangan suggested active coordination among network members for the widest dissemination of information about the network’s human rights programs. She also encouraged the AUN-HRE secretariat to align the schedule of activities with the academic calendar of its member universities.

AUN-HRE is a network of Southeast Asian universities created to promote human rights education and research opportunities and serve as a platform for collaboration and capacity-building among member universities for the strengthening of human rights education in the region. The UP IHR, on behalf of the University of the Philippines system, has been an active network member since AUN-HRE’s inception in 2009. The Institute has likewise provided its expertise in past projects of the Network. Other institutions present during the meeting are representatives from Ateneo De Manila University (Philippines), Can Tho University (Vietnam), University of Malaya (Malaysia), University Sains Malaysia (Malaysia), Mahidol University (Thailand), University of Brunei Darussalam (Brunei), and Universitas Gadjah Mada (Indonesia).