Welcome to the site of Young Progressives Southeast Asia (YPSEA)!

A simple blog site. Yes, this is just a simple blog site! However, all things must be started from simple matters. This blog is created in the spirit of the young progressives who just held their 2nd conference in Jakarta, from 1-3 August 2005. Our first conference was held in Manila, 13-15 October 2004. In these conferences the young progressives in Southeast Asia decided to go further to enhance democracy in their respective countries. They decided to progress, equipped themselves by sharing ideas and experiences and build a network of young leaders in the region. This blog is just a first step of making the network works better. And by this network we will build Southeast Asia as a region of social justice and democracy.Countries that were represented in the 2nd Regional Conference of Progressive Young People in Southeast Asia, 1-3 August 2005 in Jakarta: Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Timor L'este.

Southeast Asia is known as the “highway of conquerors” to mean that this is where, more than many other regions in the world, external forces have had a determinant impact on. When the countries in the region began the process of decolonization, groups occupying the margins of Southeast Asian political discourse, which include the women, the economically disadvantaged, and the young, have slowly began articulating their voices, albeit in incremental steps.Political participation is essential for an efficient and emerging democracy. It is, therefore, of prime importance to involve the young generation in politics to gain new insights and implement changes. If the society does not listen to what the young people say, their perspectives and criticisms, hopes and aspirations, campaigns and strategies, the society has neglected its own future.

It is this potent link between young people and political participation that the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Philippine Office explored and sought to reaffirm through the series of regional seminars of young progressives in Southeast Asia. The initial thrust was to focus more on "young people" rather than use the term "youth," which for most implies age-specific concerns and limited engagements. Another aim was to gather like-minded "progressives" who either as young politicians or members of political parties or as activists in social movements, or NGO workers, or media practitioners actively engage their institutions and governments to make real the timeless concepts of equality, social justice, democracy, human rights, gender equality and peace, among