The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) adopted in 1948 by the international community,proved that human rights  were being accepted as universal norms that needed to be respected, protected, and promoted. The phrase in the UDHR “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” means that  everyone is equal in claiming their rights without distinction. This is supported by the first paragraph of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Actions preambular, where it recognizes human rights as a universal norm by stating that “All human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated.” UDHR as a foundation of international treaties later became the foundation of other international human rights instruments including Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The existence of CEDAW in international law marks the importance of protection and promotion of women’s rights and gender equality between men and women, but in the process of gender equality to some women it is more challenging especially to women from minority communities, like indigenous women. Report from the United Nation (UN) special rapporteur on violence against women by Reem Alsalem stated that indigenous women and girls experienced systematic discrimination in indigenous and non-indigenous justice system (United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, 2022). Furthermore, the Human Rights Committee in their General Comment No. 28, art. 3 highlight that the inequality of the enjoyment of rights by women is deeply embedded in tradition, history and culture including religious attitudes.  read more

On Tuesday (30/05), the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies (CESASS) UGM hosted Filipino international relations student, Shynna Nor M. Siawan, in the Country In Focus. CIF is a discussion to get to know Southeast Asian countries from a native perspective. Shynna shared her story about the background and culture of the Philippines in front of the college students.

On the second floor of the PSSAT building, Syhnna opened her presentation by introducing the geographical location of the Philippines. Like Indonesia, the Republic of the Philippines is an archipelago. There are 7,600 islands so there are many beach attractions worth visiting. Syhnna recommended El Nido and Puerto Pricesa in Palawan Province. If you prefer mountain views, she recommended Mayon Volcano and Chocolate Hills. read more

Last Friday (26/05), Centre for Southeast Asian Studies (CESASS) UGM organised Country In Focus, a discussion agenda to get to know Southeast Asian countries from the natives. In this session, Thoon Nadi Lynn, an international communication student from Myanmar, introduced the beauty of Myanmar’s culture and history. Prof. Dr Rini Rachmawati, S.Si., M.T. as the Head of CESASS  was also present to give a speech on 2nd floor of CESASS building. 

Geographically, Myanmar is located in the west of Southeast Asia. Most of its citizens are Buddhist so there are many Pagodas and Viharas. In his presentation, Thoon also introduced popular tourist attractions in Myanmar, such as the heart-shaped lake Rih Lake, the highest mountain in Southeast Asia Hkakabo Razi, the beautiful white sandy beach Ngapali Beach, and the historic palace Mandalay Palace.  read more

On Wednesday (24/05), Center for Southeast Asia Social Studies (CESASS) UGM welcomed students from Kajian Organisasi Internasional (KOIN), Department of International Relations, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional “Veteran” Yogyakarta. The 15 students were welcomed by Prof. Dr. Rini Rachmawati as the Director of CESASS. 

The purpose of this visit is to know the profile of PSSAT, forms of cooperation, as well as challenges and obstacles while working in the field of research. In addition, students also learnt the process of social studies and the variety of research produced by PSSAT.  read more

On Tuesday (28/03/2023), an international relation student Gadjah Mada University, named Shynna Nor M. Siawan presented her advocacy project entitled “Provision to ban FGM (Sunat Perempuan) in Indonesia to Global Arena”. The sharing session is part of intern’s activity in Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies Gadjah Mada University. She shared this topic because she want to spread awareness that FGM has become big issue in the world. 

At the beginning of her presentation, Shynna said that Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) or Sunat Perempuan is an ancient tradition of removing the female external genitalia (performed on children) with no medical prescription. Commonly, it is happened in islamic countries such as Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, Africa, ect.  They do FGM for some reason like purity, cleanness, and control sexual desire for woman. Unfortunately, This practice has been passed down from generation to generation. Many young women end up practicing FGM because they have been indoctrinated that it is the right thing to do. read more

On March 21/2023, a weekly sharing session via zoom was conducted by Mr.Aniello Iannone who comes from Italy. He presented and lead the sharing session with his Master’s Degree thesis topic, “Responding to Anti-human trafficking: The Role and Challenges of NGOs in Indonesia”. He is been a lecturer at the Faculty of Social and Political Science in Universitas Diponegoro (Undip) Semarang and a researcher who explores various topics focusing on democracy, politics, political economy, and international relations in Indonesia and Southeast Asia regions. His thesis was intended to find out the challenges faced by NGOs that are working on Human Trafficking issues, the law enforcement towards anti-human trafficking in Indonesia, and the motives of people who got trafficked. He used qualitative research analysis, specifically the interview method, and 3-5 NGOs in Indonesia had been interviewed.  read more

On 15 March 2023, CESASS student interns conducted a weekly sharing session at the PAU Building. Putu Prisca Lusiani, a postgraduate student from the International Relations Department at Fisipol UGM, volunteered as the speaker for this week’s session, titled “Indonesia’s Chairmanship in ASEAN 2023: What to Expect?” She considered the topic relevant because Indonesia is the largest member country of ASEAN. Thus, other member countries expect Indonesia to be able to solve several problems that have happened over the decades, including the political instability in Myanmar. read more

Last Friday (3/3), a weekly agenda known as the “sharing session” was held for CESASS internship students. The speaker for the week was Wiweko Rahadian Abyapta, an undergraduate student from the Faculty of Law at Universitas Gadjah Mada, who is also an intern from the first batch of this year. Wiweko presented a topic titled “Sustainable Agriculture in the Philippines” from a policy-making perspective. He shared this topic because he won Best Policy Paper at the Young ASEAN Leaders Policy Initiative 2023. read more

On Monday (6/3/2023), an intern named Dyny Wahyu Seputri, who is pursuing a Master’s degree in American Studies at Gadjah Mada University, presented her thesis research entitled “Towards a Transnational View: Pencak Silat in the United States of America” in a forum at the PSSAT office. The forum was the 39th Seachat, which is one of the internal activities at PSSAT. The speaker presented her ideas on the direction of the development of Pencak Silat martial arts in the United States. read more

On 9th February, 2023, an intern, Yumna Amalia Maghfirah, presented about the Philippines Beauty Pageant industry and how it helps the country itself diplomatically and economically, and how the Filipinos support the beauty pageants. SEA CHAT #38 was attended by 13 Indonesian interns and 3 international interns from Myanmar and the Philippines. 

The speaker started the presentation by explaining how the beauty pageant emerged from the ancient Greek and 19th century until the 21st century through different major shifts year by year. Later in the 1950s, this developed as decolonisation and rising nationalism. When the beauty pageant became an example of “women empowering women”, and with the purpose of using femininity to represent world issues and raising awareness for culture, the Philippines also applied this as national aspiration.  read more