• In April, a meeting between the Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and the Asia Pacific and the Africa Working Groups of GAAMAC was held online to exchange ideas and address concerns ahead of the 2024 R2P Report.

• On 2 December, the GAAMAC Asia Pacific Working Group hosted a virtual workshop to address the ongoing crisis in Myanmar and to share perspectives on regional implications, diplomacy, and the prospects for accountability and human rights.

In 2023, the Asia Pacific Working Group continued the dissemination of its report: Preventing Hate Speech, Incitement and Discrimination: Lessons on Promoting Tolerance and Respect for Diversity in the Asia Pacific. 

• On 3 May 2023, the GAAMAC Asia Pacific Working Group held a dissemination workshop in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This hybrid event was hosted by the Liberation War Museum, a GAAMAC Steering Group member, and presented the Asia Pacific Working Group 2021 report on hate speech and incitement in the region and its key recommendations. The event was attended by 55 participants (60% women and 40%men).
  Read more

• On 20 and 21 June 2023, Dr. Cecilia Jacob (Co-Chair of the APWG) attended UNESCO’s sub-regional launch event in Nepal on their new policy guide – Addressing Hate Speech through Education: a guide for policy-makers. The Co-Chair was invited to contribute to an expert plenary and to lead a workshop based on the group’s 2021 report.
  Read more

Following the publication of a report on hate speech in the Asia Pacific in 2021, two workshops and one webinar contributed to the dissemination of its findings.

• On 5 September, the Asia Pacific Working Group held a workshop in Bangkok, hosted by the Chulalongkorn University. 29 people attended in-person and online, among whom were representatives from the UNDP Bangkok regional office, civil society groups, and academia/think tanks. The key findings of the cases studies on hate speech were presented by Noel Morada and Cecilia Jacob (Co-Chairs of the Asia Pacific Working Group), and co-authors Marc Batac, Alif Satria and Khadija Rashid.

• Two days later, on 7 September, a second workshop was held in Jakarta. There were 17 in-person and online participants, which included some representatives from the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation, media, civil society representatives, and academic/think tank experts. Participants expressed their appreciation for the APWG members and the GAAMAC for organising the workshops and indicated continuing interest in the group’s work and future engagement in the region through collaborative research and capacity building on prevention of hate speech and incitement.
  Read more

• On 12 October, the author of the Malaysia case study in the 2021 report was invited to participate in a webinar by another of GAAMAC’s partner, the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience. Along with a civil society expert from Sri Lanka, Dr Ruji Auethavornpipat shared his insight and recommendations on hate speech against migrants and minorities.
  Read more

In total, 46 people participated to the Asia Pacific Working Group’s activities.
35% women / 65% men
83% CSO / 15% regional or international organizations / 2% States

• In 2020, a series of case studies were initiated on hate speech and incitement against the Rohingya population in Myanmar, ethnic minorities in India, and the Bangsamoro population in the Philippines. The research continued in 2021 in three more countries – Malaysia, Pakistan and Bangladesh – and, in the wake of Covid-19, researches also documented how the global pandemic influenced dynamics of discrimination and hate speech.

• In November 2021, this research was compiled in the peer-reviewed report Preventing Hate Speech, Incitement, and Discrimination: Lessons on Promoting Tolerance and Respect for Diversity in the Asia Pacific and presented at GAAMAC’s fourth Global Meeting.
  Listen to Dr Cecilia Jacob, editor of the report, presenting its main findings