Strategizing Collective Responses to Intensified Attacks on Defenders of Rights to Land, Water and Livelihood: Local Site-Based Struggles and Beyond

Event Background

In the name of tackling the climate crisis, we are witnessing a stepped up effort led by powerful corporate and state interests to designate still free-flowing stretches of rivers as new sites for hydropower dam build-out and vast areas of land as open for extraction of ‘transition’/’critical’ minerals. When community members and their allies raise questions and defend collective rights to ancestral lands, water, clean air and livelihood, authorities across the region have responded with force – ranging from militarization, weaponization of vague laws to criminalize, incarcerate and even forcibly disappear outspoken leaders, and ordering the effective closure of civil society groups. In this context, what are ways we can strategically leverage efforts to push back against impunity for such attacks, hold institutions accountable, demand redress and assert that continuing such a pattern of crackdowns is both unacceptable and intolerable? Discussants will bring forward a range of perspectives, from engaging in regional and global arenas to community-based organizing. This event is hosted by International Rivers and is a part of the MEAW 2024.

Since​ ​its inception in 2019, MAEW has brought together diverse groups, networks, and me​chanisms to address critical regional issues from environment to democracy, climate justice, agriculture, and food sovereignty. Topics like free trade agreements, the Be​lt and Road Initiative, and Special Economic Zones have also been discussed, alongside the climate crisis, waste management, and the ecosystems of the Mekong​ and Salween Rivers.

MAEW is c​o​mmitted to highlighting problems and driving discussions on prevention and soluti​ons, particularly those raised by local communities. Their event unites progressive​ voices across the region to tackle common, cross-border challenges created by do​minant ideologies, economic models, and powerful actors. To date, MAEW has hoste​d​ over 200 speakers and artists, engaging thousands of participants each year i​n meaningful exploration, dialogue and creative expression.

This year, MAEW will once again bring together the diverse groups and networks of international and local stakeholders and participants from around the Greater Mekong Subregion to Bangkok, from 24 – 29 September 2024 for the Annual Mekong Environmental Awareness Week which will be hosted across different locations. SEA Junction has the pleasure of being a venue to host 5 discussion panels across three days as follows:

27 September 2024:

• Panel discussion “Land and Forests: Special Economic Zones, Transnational Capital, and Land Grabbing.”
  • Time: 13.30 – 16.00 (Afternoon Session)
  • Speakers: Pornpana Kueycharoen (Land Watch Thai) and Somnuck Chongmeewasin (Eastern Economic Corridor Development Study Group – EEC Watch)
  • Organizers: MAEW and SEA Junction in partnership with Land Watch Thai and EEC Watch

• Panel Discussion “Strategizing Collective Responses to Intensified Attacks on Defenders of Rights to Land, Water and Livelihood: Local Site-Based Struggles and Beyond”
  • Time: 18:00 – 19:30 (Evening Session)
  • Organizers: MAEW and SEA Junction in partnership with International Rivers

28 September 2024:

• Panel discussion “Mekong Dams, River Crisis, and Future Solutions: Can Science Help?”
  • Time: 10.00 – 12.30 (Morning Session)
  • Speakers: Kolatat Phaiboonnukulkit (RIFFAI Project -Remote Information Future Forecast Artificial Intelligence Project), Thitipan Pattanamongkol (The Feature Magazine – Sarakadee)
  • Organizers: MAEW and SEA Junction in partnership with Ubon Monitoring Group on Flood and Mekong Dams (UMFD)

• Panel discussion “International Financial Institutions: Investment in Southeast Asia”
  • Time: 14.00 – 15.30 (Afternoon Session)
  • Speakers: To be announced
  • Organizers: MAEW and SEA Junction in partnership with Accountability Counsel

29 September 2024:

• Panel discussion “THAI BAHT-MYANMAR GAS: The Neighbor’s talk”
  • Time: 10.00 – 12.00 (Morning Session)
  • Speakers: To be announced
  • Organizers: MAEW and SEA Junction in partnership with ETOs Watch

For more information/reservation, please contact us at info@seajunction.org or message us in any social media channel.

Organizers

International Rivers protects rivers and defends the rights of communities that depend on them. They are a global organization with multiple regional offices who work directly with river dependent communities around the word, build activist and resources networks and conduct investigative research to inform global policies makers on decisions that directly impact the lives of the vulnerable communities people. More information at https://www.internationalrivers.org.

Mekong/ASEAN Environmental Week (MAEW) is an annual regional platform that aims to promote venue of exchange and dialog among people, civil society groups, and other key actors on the topics of development, natural resources, and the environmental and social impacts of large-sc​ale projects in the Mekong and Southeast Asia. Their mission is to strengthen and su​stain a movement for justice and solutions to the region’s environment and li​velihood challenges, focusing on supporting marginalized communities and amplif​ying their voices. More information on MAEW 2024 at https://shorturl.at/4wtdt.

SEA Junction, established under the Thai non-profit organization Foundation for Southeast Asia Studies (ForSEA), aims to foster understanding and appreciation of Southeast Asia in all its socio-cultural dimensions, from arts and lifestyles to economy and development. Conveniently located at Room 407-8 of the Bangkok Arts and Culture Center or BACC (across MBK, BTS National Stadium), SEA Junction facilitates public access to knowledge resources and exchanges among students, practitioners and Southeast Asia lovers. More information at http://seajunction.org/.

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