Continuing our series on the human rights and environmental impacts of corporate and government practices on the seas and oceans in the Asia Pacific region is the Third World Ocean Assessment, released by the United Nations on World Oceans Day. The assessment highlights the threat posed by microplastics, climate change and rising sea levels, and emphasises the importance of including Indigenous forms of knowledge in ocean governance and stronger inter-state collaboration to protect the ocean.  READ THE REPORT and READ THE PRESS RELEASE. 

In this issue, we profile DTP Timorese alumnus Feliciano da Costa Araujo (Jhano), provide information about DTP's programs and webinars, news from alumni, partners, and the region, and calls from the UN for your engagement.

New DTP Workshops on Business and Human Rights and Human Rights Education/Training

DTP is organising two new human rights workshops with its regional partners. The first, to be held in Bangkok in September (13-18), around the UN Regional Forum on Business and Human Rights, will shape a new regional capacity-building strategy on Business and Human Rights in Asia.  If you are planning to be in Bangkok, then please register your interest here.

The second workshop will focus on sharing experiences and lessons learned in human rights education and training in Asia, with the aim of fostering greater collaboration among organisations and movements at this critical time for human rights movements. If you are interested in learning more and taking part in the background survey, please register here.

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For information about our alumni, click here. If you want to get in contact with any of DTP's alumni, please contact the DTP secretariat at [email protected].

2026: REGIONAL CONSULTATION AND CONSULTATION ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S RIGHTS CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAMS

Chiang Mai, Thailand, 25-27 June 2026:  Held in partnership with the Asia Indigenous People's Pact (AIPP). The consultation brought together representatives of Indigenous People's organisations and networks from across Asia to reflect on over 20 years of DTP's capacity building programs, and to set future directions for DTP's Indigenous People's programs. READ MORE

2026: HUMAN RIGHTS AND CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES IN INDONESIA, AN INDONESIAN DIASPORA FORUM

UNSW Sydney, Australia, 18 June 2026: Held in collaboration with Gerakan Sydney Untuk Bersuara (GUSAR). The event featured Saurlin Siagian (Commissioner of KomnasHAM), Herlambang P. Wiratraman (Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Universitas Gadijah Mada), and Gita Putri Damayana.  Drawing on their respective areas of expertise, the speakers examined the challenges facing democratic governance, civic participation, and human rights protection in contemporary Indonesia. READ MORE

2026: BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS, THE OECD GUIDELINES, AND NATIONAL CONTACT POINTS

Jakarta, Indonesia, 8-12 May 2026: Held in partnership with INFID and the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights. Twenty-six participants from across Indonesia gathered in Jakarta to share experiences of how business impacts human rights and the environment, with a focus on the potential of the OECD Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct to drive critical change and accountability. READ MORE

2026: SPECIAL ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION ON CHILD RIGHTS AND DIGITAL RIGHTS, WITH DR VICTOR KARUNAN

DTP was pleased to host eminent human rights activist Victor Karunan in late April. Victor shared with us “The Youth Charter: Advancing the 2030 Global Development Agenda”, the outcome of a meeting of more than 170 young delegates representing over 45 countries convened in Malaysia for the Future Action Summit in November.  READ MORE

2026: HUMAN RIGHTS, CLIMATE CHANGE AND BUSINESS IN THE PACIFIC 

Suva, Fiji, 23-27 March, 2026 in partnership with PIANGO, FCOSS and OHCHR-PRO. The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development, Professor Surya Deva, was the lead trainer on the program, which hosted 23 participants from 10 countries, including DTP's first-ever participants from Palau and Niue. The program was opened by the Honourable Filimoni Vosarogo, Fiji’s Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources, Regional Pacific Representative of the OHCHR Heike Alefsen, and Emeline Siale Ilolahia, Executive Director of PIANGO. READ MORE

2025: HUMAN RIGHTS DAY WORKSHOP ON ENGAGING WITH UN ANTI-TORTURE MECHANISMS

Sydney, Australia, 10 December 2025, in partnership with STARTTS and the Whitlam Institute. Nineteen refugee and migrant community leaders participated in a capacity-building workshop lead by Steven Caruana on Human Rights Day. Read the program report here.

2025: PACIFIC VOICES FOR CLIMATE CHANGE

Australia - November 12 - December 3, 2025 in partnership with PIANGO. 15 climate advocates from seven Pacific countries participated in this intense knowledge exchange and capacit- building program. They met with academics, climate experts, parliamentarians, government officials and civil society. Australia's Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon Matt Thistlethwaite M, was a special guest speaker at the Closing Reception hosted by DTP’s Chair, Michael do Rozario,o at Corrs Chambers Westgarth. The program was funded by DFAT’s Australia Awards Fellowships Program. WATCH DEBRIEF VIDEO FROM VANUATU FELLOWS and READ DRAFT REPORT HERE.

2025: BUILDING RESILIENCE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY THROUGH CAPACITY BUILDING

2025: 33rd ANNUAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND PEOPLING PROGRAMMES' DIPLOMACY TRAINING PROGRAM

See program highlights short video VIEW HERE

2025: REGIONAL INDIGENOUS PEOPLES HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS EXCHANGE - LEARNING AND TRAINING 2025

OPTIMISING UPR STAKEHOLDER REPORTS WEBINAR - 8 July 2026 - DTP and UNPR INFO co-hosted a webinar and training session on the UPR with Timorese NGOs.  Joshua Cooper facilitated the session to assist NGOs in Timor-Leste in preparing submissions for the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR).  La'o Hamutuk Institute shared their submission covering the rights to adequate food, water, health and education. READ MORE

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER (HRD) GUIDELINES: A DTP AND FRONT LINE DEFENDERS WEBINAR SERIES

Watch Webinar 1: What are the HRD Guidelines?

Watch Webinar 2: HRDs and Diplomats - Reflections from Practice (May 2026)

BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS: THE OECD GUIDELINES ON RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS CONDUCT AND THE NATIONAL CONTACT POINTS (NCP) WEBINAR SERIES

Watch Webinar 1: Introduction to the Australian NCP

Watch Webinar 2: Promoting Human Rights through the Supply Chain

Watch Webinar 3: Free, Prior and Informed Consent

INDONESIAN ALUMNI WEBINAR SERIES: HUMAN RIGHTS, CLIMATE CHANGE, BUSINESS AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: INDONESIA'S FOOD ESTATE IN WEST PAPUA AND ITS IMPACTS 

Watch Webinar 1: Community Impacts of the Food Estate

Watch Webinar 2: Impacts on Community and Climate

Watch Webinar 3: Merauke and Indonesia's Climate Bomb

WEBINAR SERIES - HUMAN RIGHTS, DIGITAL RIGHTS AND AI An Introduction to Governing Digital Rights and Children's Online Rights

WEBINAR SERIES – Ending Impunity for Violators of Human Rights - The Magnitsky Acts and Australia in partnership with STARTTS. WATCH HERE 

HUMAN RIGHTS WEBINAR SERIES - UN Human Rights Accountability Mechanisms in partnership with STARTTS. WATCH HERE

GENOCIDE WEBINAR SERIES - three webinars on Genocide and the Genocide Convention in partnership with STARTTS. WATCH HERE

UN DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES (UNDRIP) WEBINAR SERIES NOW AVAILABLE HERE.

THAILAND FORUM-ASIA has urged Thailand to halt the deportation of Chinese investigative journalist Bai Zhaodong, warning he faces a real risk of persecution, torture and enforced disappearance if returned to China, where he faces allegedly fabricated charges linked to his reporting on corruption. READ MORE

SOUTH KOREA FORUM-ASIA has raised concern over the National Human Rights Commission of Korea's failure to revoke a 2025 resolution on former President Yoon Suk Yeol, warning that a deepening leadership crisis is undermining the Commission's independence ahead of its accreditation review in November. READ MORE

EAST TIMOR DTP Patron and President of Timor-Leste, José Ramos-Horta, presented a copy of Timor-Leste's declaration of independence to the National University of Vanuatu's Vice-Chancellor, Jean-Pierre Nirua. President Ramos-Horta acknowledged Vanuatu's early support for Timor-Leste's independence, recalling his meeting with Vanuatu's first Prime Minister, Father Walter Lini, at the United Nations in the 1970s. READ MORE

INDIA Business and Human Rights Centre reports that UN human rights experts hold concerns for the five Indigenous human rights defenders detained in Assam, warning that the case could discourage peaceful advocacy against projects affecting Indigenous land and rights. The defenders were arrested following protests over a proposed luxury tourism project.  READ MORE

ISRAEL/PALESTINE/CHILDREN'S RIGHTS Professor Noam Peleg, a DTP board member and trainer, writes that the international community has failed in its duty to protect Palestinian children, arguing that repeated expressions of "deep concern" are meaningless without concrete action, and calling on states to halt arms transfers to Israel, impose sanctions, and pursue prosecution through international courts. READ MORE

INDONESIA INFID has convened a civil society coalition to monitor Indonesia's OECD accession process, raising concerns that human rights and business accountability standards, including a National Contact Point mechanism for corporate complaints, are not being adequately addressed within what is largely an economic negotiation. READ MORE

OHCHR calls for contributions from human rights defenders on the topic of the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment to inform a thematic report to the 64th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Deadline 21 August 2026. READ MORE

UNICEF is calling for applications for the Pre-COP31 Australia and Pacific Youth Climate Dialogue (Pre-COP31 APYCD), a regional platform bringing together young people to exchange perspectives and collectively define children and young people's priorities and recommendations ahead of the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31). Deadline 20 July 2026. READ MORE

The OHCHR Special Rapporteur on Climate Change calls for contributions from human rights defenders on technologies related to climate change and their impacts on human rights, to assist in drafting a 2026 Report to the UNGA and a 2027 Report to the Human Rights Council. Deadline 30 September 2026. READ MORE

OHCHR calls for contributions from human rights defenders to assist the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development study on 'Peace and Security and the Right to Development.' Deadline 15 September 2026. READ MORE

OHCHR calls for human rights defender input into the annual thematic study on the rights of persons with disabilities on the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the CRPD. DEADLINE: 1 September 2026. READ MORE

OHCHR and the University of Peace invite registrations for an E-learning course, “Mainstreaming the Right to Development in Voluntary National Review Reporting”, application deadline 8 August 2026. APPLY HERE

The UN Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum for Asia-Pacific will be held in Bangkok between 15 and 17 September 2026. The forum's theme will be Building Resilience, Advancing Rights. READ MORES and REGISTER HERE

UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND has released the report Preventing Atrocity Crimes in Bangladesh: Eight Strategic Priorities for a Fragile Democracy.  The report sets out priority strategies for strengthening atrocity prevention, spanning security sector accountability, youth and gender-centred deradicalisation, democratic and judicial reform, minority protections, media resilience, and trauma-informed approaches to social cohesion. READ MORE

UNIVERSITAS SEBELAS MARET The 9th Conference on Human Rights: 'Peace, security, and environmental justice in Asia: Advancing human dignity for sustainable futures' will be held online via Zoom and in person at the Faculty of Law, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Indonesia, 10-12 August 2026. REGISTER HERE

INTERNATIONAL SERVICE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS has launched a free online course, "Advocacy for Environmental Human Rights Defenders: A Pathway," on the ISHR Academy, offering a conceptual, legal and strategic resource to help environmental human rights defenders and their allies turn local environmental struggles into coordinated international and regional advocacy. READ MORE

BRAZILIAN INSTITUTE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS, with the support of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, has published “UPR: A Practical Guide for Civil Society Coalitions to Engage in Implementation Mechanisms”, a practical tool for national coalitions working within the UPR mechanism READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION: “Collective Voices: Back to Basics” is a series of podcasts of around 20 minutes each, on international labour standards and workers’ rights READ MORE  

DTP’s 2025 Annual Report is available here.  In 2025, DTP provided training to 186 human rights defenders across eight programs in Asia and the Pacific.  We know from our alumni the value of this training, and we see it in their decades-long work for human rights across Asia and the Pacific.

Het Actie Fonds (The Action Fund) is seeking grant applications from frontline grassroots movements, including for their Climate Justice Grant program. Grants of up to €2,500 per year per group are available for projects that enable movement building and the development of radical strategies toward climate justice READ MORE

The Lighthouse Global Protection Fund delivers emergency assistance to human rights defenders and civil society organisations operating in high-risk environments worldwide.  Grants are available to eligible groups READ MORE

Tifa invites applications from civil society organisations, grassroots groups, and informal collectives from East and Southeast Asia for the Re-D Fund.  The fund provides microgrants to civil society groups using digital technologies to expand civic participation, advance rights-based reforms, and strengthen organisational resilience in the digital era. Deadline 5 June 2026 READ MORE

DTP acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we work, the Bedegal people of the Eora Nation. We recognise their lands were never ceded, and we acknowledge their struggles for recognition and rights and pay our respects to the Elders – past, present – and the youth who are working towards a brighter tomorrow. This continent always was and always will be Aboriginal land.

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