📣 SHAPE-SEA and HCMC University of Law Kick Off National Seminar, forge Regional Partnerships to Advance Research and Academic Enquiry on Human Rights, Peace, and Sustainable Development in Southeast Asia

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam — SHAPE-SEA, in partnership with Ho Chi Minh City University of Law, kicks off a two-day National Seminar on Human Rights, Peace, and Sustainable Development from 26 to 27 May 2025. The event brings together regional experts, academics, students, and civil society actors to engage in meaningful dialogue and share early-stage research from emerging scholars particularly from Vietnam and the sub-Mekong region.

The seminar coincides with SHAPE-SEA’s 10th anniversary, marking a decade of nurturing homegrown scholars and advocates across Southeast Asia through mentorship and collaboration. It serves both as a moment of reflection and as a renewed call to strengthen and expand academic and civic networks dedicated to social justice, peace, and human rights in the region. Distinguished speakers emphasize that human rights, peace, and sustainable development are not isolated academic concepts but guiding principles that must be rooted in the lived realities of communities and applied across disciplines and sectors, with the seminar thereby providing interdisciplinary knowledge and capacity to around 60 Vietnamese and Southeast Asian participants.

With less than four years remaining to achieve the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals, this seminar offers a timely space for reflection and collaboration.

“Our work emphasizes that the SDGs, like the concepts of human rights and peace, are not static goals but dynamic and evolving processes. A rights-based approach is both crucial and necessary to address today’s interconnected challenges, and universities and research institutions in Vietnam have steadily increased their engagement in human rights and peace scholarship. As such, the seminar provides a localized yet regional platform to critically examine how these fields must evolve to meet the needs of our time.” says Dr. Vachararutai Boontinand, Executive Director of SHAPE-SEA—a programme hosted by the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies (IHRP) and supported by The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.

The two-day seminar explores the complex linkages between gender, the environment, and sustainable development, particularly in the Vietnamese context, while addressing challenges and opportunities brought by the digital era, recognizing these as interconnected domains. Another key objective is to amplify emerging scholars’ voices from the Research Grants Programme 2024 by providing space to share research journeys, highlight empowering factors, and exchange practical insights. Through dialogue and shared learning, the seminar fosters a deeper understanding of how these fields can evolve in response to pressing regional and global issues.

Lecturers and experts from the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies, Mahidol University, join as resource speakers, sharing their expertise alongside other distinguished regional voices and academic experts. Their participation highlights IHRP’s role in forging regional partnerships and strengthening regional citizenship among Southeast Asia’s homegrown academics and emerging scholars. A Stakeholders’ Dialogue engages representatives from SHAPE-SEA, AUN-HRE, SEAHRN, and local partners to explore sustainable pathways for collaboration, institutional support, and academic capacity-building. Moving forward, SHAPE-SEA aims to center community voices and drive structural transformation through education, research, and policy advocacy. #

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SHAPE-SEA Now & Beyond: Amplifying Voices, Co-creating Change

10 Years of Education, Research, and Advocacy