Call for Applications: EU-ASEAN Perspectives Dialogue III

In 2016, the Young Initiative on Foreign Affairs and International Relations (IFAIR) is hosting the third edition of the successful EU-ASEAN Perspectives (EUAP) project, which brings together students and young professionals from Europe and Southeast Asia in online and offline formats to discuss current affairs in interregional affairs. The theme of EUAP III is:

“Gender Equality – Progress and Challenges from an Interregional EU-ASEAN Perspective”

About the Online Conference
In 2015, Gender Equality was named one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. As the two most advanced regional projects, the European Union (EU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will play a major role in the implementation of initiatives to achieve Gender Equality within their member countries. Some of the major challenges for policy-makers to overcome are a continuing shortfall of female economic and political empowerment. Regional stakeholders also need to develop a meaningful definition of Gender Equality in the context of local culture and customs. Against this background, the 3rd Interregional EU-ASEAN Perspectives Dialogue will investigate how the two regions can cooperate on effective policy-making that enforces Gender Equality.
Participants from the EU and ASEAN will exchange on three policy fields of Gender Equality that are persistent in the two regions:
1. Political participation;
2. Economic empowerment;
3. The dynamic between Gender Equality and culture.

How it works
The virtual conference will be held between 30 July and 7 August 2016 via online videoconferencing
technology, and will consist of:
– Kick-off plenary meeting;
– 2 rounds of workshops (30-31 July and 6-7 August 2016) in smaller breakout
groups where the 3 focus policy fields will be discussed in depth;
– Concluding plenary debate with presentations by all breakout groups.
The insights and ideas resulting from the dialogue will be published by IFAIR as the third instalment in the EUAP Policy Paper Series and presented to interregional policy makers at a live event at the start of November 2016. Participants are encouraged to become co-authors of the publication, and to discuss its findings with policy makers, civil society and the general public at the concluding live event.

This year, IFAIR has teamed up with the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) and its Inter-Regional Dialogue on Democracy (IRDD), a platform that brings together regional organizations to share best practices and foster synergies across different areas related to democracy support. The policy discussions and recommendations from the 3rd Interregional EU-ASEAN Perspectives Dialogue will feed in as the voice of young people to the IRDD Guidebook for Regional Organisations on Gender Equality and the Political Empowerment of Women.

Who can apply?
Applications are encouraged from graduate students and recently graduated researchers, as well as young practitioners in EU-ASEAN relations or Gender Equality. Applicants should:
– Be from an EU or ASEAN member country;
– Ideally, have a background in Political Sciences, Economics or International Relations and have done some coursework relevant to the field of Gender Equality;
– Have an excellent working knowledge of English, the official language of the dialogue.
How to apply?
Please fill in the application form from the project website (http://ifair.eu/en/euap-iii/) and send it to florian.winkler@ifair.eu, together with a CV of 1 page maximum. The deadline for the applications is 1 June 2016. Shortlisted candidates might be invited to a brief online interview. You will receive a confirmation of your acceptance by 26 June 2016.
More information
To receive detailed and up-to-date information about the upcoming dialogue, as well as reports and outputs from past events, go to the EU-ASEAN Perspectives webpages on ifair.eu.