FORSEA’s Charter spells out its duty to pursue, through our educational initiatives, the advancement of human welfare, the protection of vulnerable national minorities, the propagation of fundamental human rights, labour rights, gender equality, the fostering of harmony between faith-based communities, the spread of ecological consciousness, and the promotion of a democratic ethos among future generations across Southeast Asia.
Peoples’ Charter for Southeast Asia
| 1. | We the peoples of Southeast Asia embrace the universal fellowship of humans, irrespective of legal status, political creed, religious faith, culture, gender and sexual orientations, class, vocation, or geography. |
| 2. | Further, we believe all women and men are equal before just laws and entitled to full, equal and fundamental rights. |
| 3. | We believe in the ultimate sovereignty of the people, not of states, which are mere inventions as tools for governance. |
| 4. | In the application of peoples’ sovereignty, we believe in democracy, either as representative or participatory form of government as the best vehicle for fair and equitable exercise of power among peoples. |
| 5. | By democracy, we mean the majoritarian rule with safeguards and group rights for minorities within a territorially defined political state, both in theory and practice. |
| 6. | We further understand democracy not merely as a technical procedure but also a way of life for pursuing peoples’ will, hopes and desires. |
| 7. | We reject unequivocally the concentration of power in the hands of a single social entity, be it a political party, an institution, armed forces, a social class, or an individual. |
| 8. | We are fully cognizant of the anti-democratic tendencies arising from the institutional linkages among economic and political powers, and state security apparatuses, and we commit ourselves to opposing these accordingly. |
| 9. | We believe the well-being of humans must be placed above the interests of economic institutions. |
| 10. | With our future generations in mind, we the peoples of Southeast Asia fully accept our global responsibility to ensure that our economic activities, both production and consumption, do not further erode the habitability of our planet earth. |
FORSEA’s Charter in other languages
Bahasa Indonesia | Burmese (Myanmar) | Chinese | English | Japanese | Khmer (Cambodia) | Lao (Laos) | Malay (Malaysia) | Filipino (Philippines) | Tamil (Malaysia, Singapore) | Thai (Thailand) | Vietnamese (Vietnam)
